Background
She is the daughter of the English hymn writer David Mowbray, and sister of the artist Gillian Lever.
She is the daughter of the English hymn writer David Mowbray, and sister of the artist Gillian Lever.
She attended The Broxbourne School, Hertfordshire, from 1977 to 1984.
Chancellor (née Mowbray) is the second of four girls. She read Modern & Medieval Languages at Newnham College, Cambridge from 1985-1988. Chancellor is a children"s writer of fiction and non-fiction.
Her work includes Harriet Tubman (A&C Black, 2013), Code Breakers (Barrington Stoke, 2009), Escape from Colditz (Barrington Stoke, 2007) and two collections of illustrated children"s stories, I love reading Phonics (Octopus Publishing, 2012) and Reading Heroes (Parragon, 2008).
She has adapted 365 stories from The Bible (Children"s Everyday Bible, Dorling Kindersley, 2002). Chancellor’s non-fiction ranges from historical biography to topical issues (Moving to Britain, Franklin Watts, 2008) to matters of general interest (Everything You Need to Know, Kingfisher, 2007).
She has written extensively for a variety of publishers, and has been translated into several languages. Chancellor has written over seventy children"s books
She has a particular interest in writing for older children with reading difficulties, writing for Barrington Stoke, an award-winning independent publisher leading the way in this field
In December 2012 she appeared in the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Christmas University Challenge where teams of alumni battled for the coveted trophy. Chancellor trained as a primary teacher before becoming a children"s book editor at Dorling Kindersley. She speaks at book festivals and literary events.
In 2009 Chancellor became a fellow of the Royal Literary Fund.
She was the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge, her alma mater, from 2009-2012.