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Richard Platt

Author profile

gender

male

website

http://www.richardplatt.co.uk/

About this author

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(1953–)

Richard Platt is the author of more than sixty informative books for young readers, and he also writes for innovative multimedia projects. Some of his most popular works have been collaborations with illustrator Stephen Biesty on the "Cross-Sections" series. After a failed attempt to forge a career as a photographer, Platt discovered that he had a knack for writing. "I started writing about photography: first magazine articles, then books," he explained on the Walker Books Web site. "I got a job editing children's books, then went on to write them."

In the 1990s, Platt teamed up with popular juvenile illustrator Biesty for several books, beginning with Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections Book, published in 1992. The following...more (1953–)

Richard Platt is the author of more than sixty informative books for young readers, and he also writes for innovative multimedia projects. Some of his most popular works have been collaborations with illustrator Stephen Biesty on the "Cross-Sections" series. After a failed attempt to forge a career as a photographer, Platt discovered that he had a knack for writing. "I started writing about photography: first magazine articles, then books," he explained on the Walker Books Web site. "I got a job editing children's books, then went on to write them."

In the 1990s, Platt teamed up with popular juvenile illustrator Biesty for several books, beginning with Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections Book, published in 1992. The following year, a second volume in the series, Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man-of-War, proved equally interesting for late-elementary-age readers, especially those enchanted by seventeenth-century battleships. Alongside Biesty's cutaway illustrations, Platt provides explanatory text that indicates the purpose and activities in each section of the ship. The hardships of life aboard such vessels for their often 800-member crews are not overlooked, either, and the drawings depict food rations crawling with maggots and a doctor's pail containing severed limbs. Ellen Mandel, writing for Booklist, asserted that Platt's "intriguing text" serves to make "this meticulously presented book a treasure of factual content and visual imagery."

For Stephen Biesty's Incredible Everything, Platt provides informative paragraphs to accompany the illustrations for many everyday products, such as athletic shoes and compact discs. Much of the text revolves around the manufacturing process. Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body is a lesson in human anatomy, with sections on each of the body's systems and several major organs; the digestive system alone takes up four pages. Platt has also worked with the illustrator on Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Castle and Stephen Biesty's Incredible Explosions.

Working with publisher Dorling Kindersley, Platt has authored several titles in their "Eyewitness" series, some of which have appeared in the United States under the Knopf/Borzoi imprint. Pirate details the world of corsairs, privateers, and crime on the high seas throughout history. A reviewer for Science Books and Films, Richard B. Woodbury, praised the work as "a veritable miniencyclopedia or minimuseum" and "a pleasure to look at." Spy chronicles the history of espionage and the decisive role intelligence-gathering triumphs have played in history. Of particular emphasis are the code-breaking endeavors by Allied intelligence networks during World War II. Shipwreck, also part of the "Eyewitness" series, investigates famous sea disasters and rescues. Like the other books in the popular series, Shipwreck is lavishly illustrated. Chris Stephenson, writing in School Librarian, called it "an excellent source of historical evidence and nautical information."

Platt has also written several books about inventions. His The Smithsonian Visual Timeline of Inventions, which appeared in 1994, won praise from reviewers for its comprehensiveness. Platt divides the development of technology throughout the ages into five sections, including agriculture, conquest, and communication. The timeline begins at 600,000 BCE, around the time humans likely began using fire, and includes predictions for innovations that may occur in the near future. Cathryn A. Camper, reviewing The Smithsonian Visual Timeline of Inventions for School Library Journal, praised Platt's skilled use of illustration and text, which the critic felt "teaches a sophisticated form of literacy similar to" that provided with multimedia learning tools—an area in which Platt already had a great deal of writing experience. "Readers will delight in the colorful pictures and the text, which gives just enough information to satisfy curiosity," opined Voice of Youth Advo(less)

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Books by Richard Platt

Average rating: 4.03 · 622 ratings · 130 reviews · 117 distinct works

	Castle Diary by Richard Platt, Chris Riddell (Illustrator) 369 avg rating — 118 ratings — 9 editions	My rating:
	Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Castle 421 avg rating — 61 ratings — 7 editions	My rating:
	Pirate 402 avg rating — 47 ratings — 14 editions	My rating:
	As One Devil to Another 438 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2012	My rating:
	Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter by Richard Platt, Chris Riddell 408 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2001 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science by Richard Platt, Kitty Blount (Editor) 344 avg rating — 25 ratings — 5 editions	My rating:
	Spy 426 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1992 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Through Time: London by Richard Platt, Manuela Cappon (Illustrator) 364 avg rating — 14 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	Roman Diary: The Journal of Iliona of Mytilini: Captured and Sold as a Slave in Rome - AD 107 by Richard Platt, David Parkins (Illustrator) 338 avg rating — 13 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:
	Spiders' Secrets 440 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2002 — 5 editions	My rating: