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Jess Butterworth
Represented By: Sallyanne Sweeney
Jess spent her childhood between the UK and India, and grew up hearing stories about the Himalayas from her grandmother.
As soon as she was old enough, she went on her own adventures in search of story ideas. She's lived in Australia and the States and is now settled in the Gloucestershire countryside with her husband, two little ones, and fluffy cat. She holds a BA(hons) and MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University.
Jess has published ten books for young people, including bestselling Running on the Roof of the World and award-winning Lost on Gibbon Island. Her articles about creative writing, and short stories, have featured in publications such as the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and Scoop magazine. Jess has visited over a hundred schools and talked to thousands of young people about reading for pleasure, alongside running creative writing workshops.
Represented By: Sallyanne Sweeney
Jess spent her childhood between the UK and India, and grew up hearing stories about the Himalayas from her grandmother.
As soon as she was old enough, she went on her own adventures in search of story ideas. She's lived in Australia and the States and is now settled in the Gloucestershire countryside with her husband, two little ones, and fluffy cat. She holds a BA(hons) and MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University.
Jess has published ten books for young people, including bestselling Running on the Roof of the World and award-winning Lost on Gibbon Island. Her articles about creative writing, and short stories, have featured in publications such as the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and Scoop magazine. Jess has visited over a hundred schools and talked to thousands of young people about reading for pleasure, alongside running creative writing workshops.
Published Works
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
A vivid, warm and atmospheric adventure set in the mountains of India, about a girl who is determined to protect the wild leopards of the mountain from poachers, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell.
I thought we’d live here forever … but then, I thought Mum would be here forever too.
When Ruby’s dad uproots her from Australia so he can set up a hotel in the mountains of India, Ruby is devastated. She’s sure that India will never feel like home – everything is so different, she doesn’t speak the language and all her memories of her mum, who passed away, are back in Australia.
But when the wild leopards of the mountain are threatened by poachers, and Ruby is the only one who might be able to save them, she realizes that maybe she’s meant to be on this mountain after all…
“The determined characters who persevere, who show a growing independence of mind to overcome difficulties and strive to achieve a goal by working together, all while being part of a spellbinding story, make this a must-have book.”
- Times Educational Supplement“[T]enderness ... emanates through every pore of this beautifully crafted tale of ‘standing up and being counted’... the perfect novel for children.”
- Literary Curriciulum“A vivid, warm and atmospheric adventure set in the mountains of India.”
- Upstart Magazine
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
SWIMMING AGAINST THE STORM was nominated for a Carnegie Book Award and won the Hearst Red Magazine Big Book Award in 2019.
Heartland middle-grade adventure set in the swamps of Louisiana, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell and Lauren St John
Our land is sinking. It’s disappearing into the water. And no one knows how to save it.
Twelve-year-old Eliza and her sister Avery have lived their entire lives in a small fishing village on the coast of Louisiana, growing up alongside turtles, pelicans and porpoises. But now, with sea levels rising, their home is at risk of being swept away.
Determined to save the land, Eliza and her younger sister Avery secretly go searching in the swamp for the dangerous, wolf-like loup-garou. If they can prove this legendary creature exists, they’re sure that the government will have to protect its habitat – and their community.
But there’s one problem: the loup-garou has never been seen before. And with a tropical storm approaching and the sisters deep, deep in the swampland, soon it’s not just their home at risk, but their lives as well…
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
An epic race for survival that follows four children and their dog through treacherous waterways, dense forests and the deep, dark wilderness of Wales. From author Jess Butterworth comes a beautifully written adventure story in a vibrantly described setting – perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell.
One day, as Cara and her siblings are trying to clean up the canal where they live, they pull out a mysterious locked safe. Though none of them can open it, they’re sure it’s something special.
That night, a thief comes after the safe. The children flee, traveling with their boat as far as they can, before continuing into the forest on foot. But soon they’re lost in the mountains with a snowstorm about to land and food supplies running low.
Will Cara and her siblings be able to survive the wilderness with nothing but their wits, their bravery and one very large dog to help?
WHERE THE WILDERNESS LIVES was shortlisted for a Tir Na N-og award.
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
From award-winning author Jess Butterworth comes another beautifully written adventure set on top of a super volcano, about coming to terms with grief, letting go of anger at the world and finding hope and joy in the most unexpected of places.
11 year-old Emma and 12-year-old Sebastian live halfway across the world from each other, but when a terrible shooting leads to the loss of people close to each of them, they end up meeting in the Rocky Mountains. Bonding through their shared grief, they quickly become friends, and decide to search together for an elusive rainbow pool as a way of saying goodbye to the ones they lost.
But they soon find themselves lost on top of a super volcano, dodging bubbling mud spots, steaming hot springs, and rainbow filled calderas. As rain threatens, they’re forced to construct a makeshift camp and encounter moose, wolves and a grizzly bear. But when they run out of food, their adventure becomes a race for survival as they try and find their way out of the wilderness.
Told through multiple viewpoints and set between the US and the UK, this is another heartfelt middle grade adventure from award-winning author Jess Butterworth.
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
Do you like exploring, animals and adventure?
Then join The Adventure Club this summer! A brand new illustrated series for younger readers about animals and adventure from much-loved author Jess Butterworth – writer of classic adventure stories in vibrantly described settings.
Tilly has no plans for the summer holidays and is dreading months of boredom — that is until she becomes part of The Adventure Club and wins a place to go track and monitor endangered red pandas in Nepal!
In the Himalayas, she meets other members of the club, rides on yaks, plants a bamboo forest and even spots the secretive red panda.
But then the red panda Tilly and her team has been monitoring disappears. Will Tilly be able to help find it, or will her first ever adventure end in disaster?
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
It’s time for another Adventure Club trip!
When Tilly learns that the monsoon rains in India are late and the tigers in a local sanctuary have disappeared searching for water, Tilly is worried. The sanctuary is surrounded by busy roads and cities. It’s not safe for tigers. She decides that this is a job for The Adventure Club.
She gathers the team – Julia, Steve, Leo and Anita – and they travel to India in search of the tigers.
At the sanctuary Tilly encounters elephants, antelopes and crocodiles … but where are the tigers?
Join the Adventure Club with Tilly to find out!
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
It’s time for the third Adventure Club trip, and this time Tilly and the Adventure Club are off to the Arctic circle in search of polar bears!
There, they journey across the ice on sleighs pulled by huskies, camp in tents, and watch the northern lights, braving sub-zero temperatures.
But on a boat trip, disaster strikes! The team find a narwhal caught in a fishing net. It’s a race against time to free the narwhal. Will they succeed? And will the Adventure Club team spot a single polar bear before they have to leave?
Join the Adventure Club with Tilly to find out!
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
Do you like exploring, animals and adventure? Then join The Adventure Club! A new illustrated series for younger readers about animals and adventure from much-loved author Jess Butterworth – writer of classic adventure stories in vibrantly described settings.
It’s time for the fourth Adventure Club trip, and this time Tilly and the Adventure Club are off to Borneo. When the team find an orphan orangutan alone in the wild after a fire, they rescue it and the baby orangutan takes a special liking to Tilly. But can the Adventure Club train to the baby to live in the wild without her mum? And if they do, how will Tilly ever be able to leave her behind?
Join the Adventure Club to find out!
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
Winner of the Oxfordshire Book Awards' Best Junior Book; Shropshire Bookfest's Big Book Award 2024; Inspiread Book Award 2024.
Shortlisted for: Our Best Book Award in Leicester 2025; Hull James Reckitt Book Award 2024; Sheffield Book Award 2024; Portsmouth Book Award 2024. Chosen for Booktrust's BookBuzz.
The Last Bear meets The Life of Pi in this beautifully-written survival story set on a Cambodian island, following a ship-wrecked girl named Lark, and a baby gibbon who becomes her companion. Together, they must evade poachers and find their way home.
‘If you’re reading this, hopefully you’ve come to rescue me. My name is Lark Taylor, and I’ve been shipwrecked on an island. The last mainland I was on was Cambodia, miles and miles away from home…’
When Lark’s mum takes her family with her on a research trip to Cambodia, Lark never expects that she’ll end up stranded on a deserted island, with no one but a baby gibbon for company. But that’s exactly what happens.
Lost and with no idea how to survive in the jungle, Lark must learn the ways of the wild from the gibbon.
And in return, try to help the gibbon find her way home …
Illustrator: Jess Butterworth
Genres: Children’s
RUNNING ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD won the Warwickshaw Book Award and was chosen as a future classic for BookTrust. It was longlisted for Waterstones Children’s Book Award.
There are two words that are banned in Tibet. Two words that can get you locked in prison without a second thought. I watch the soldiers tramping away and call the words after them. ‘Dalai Lama.’
Tash has to follow many rules to survive in Tibet, a country occupied by Chinese soldiers. But when a man sets himself on fire in protest and soldiers seize Tash’s parents, she and her best friend Sam must break the rules. They are determined to escape Tibet – and seek the help of the Dalai Lama himself in India.
And so, with a backpack of Tash’s father’s mysterious papers and two trusty yaks by their side, their extraordinary journey across the mountains begins.