Francesca Isabella Simon (born February 23, 1955) is an American author who resides in London. She is most famous for writing the Horrid Henry series of children's books. She is the daughter of screenwriter, director and playwright Mayo Simon. Simon was born in St Louis, Missouri, U.S. she grew up in California and studied at Yale and Jesus College, Oxford, where she majored in medieval studies and Old English. Simon changed careers and worked as a journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and Vogue (US). Simon's favourite writer is Anthony Trollope. After she gave birth to her son, Joshua, in 1989, she began to write children's books full-time. Simon is one of the UK's best-selling children's writers; she has published over 50 different books, including the immensely popular Horrid Henry series, which has sold over eighteen million copies, and is published in 24 countries. Simon lives in London with her husband, Martin Stamp, and her son. Their Tibetan spaniel, Shanti, is memorialised in the short story "Shanti" that Simon wrote for inclusion in the Paws and Whiskers anthology by fellow author Jacqueline Wilson published in February 2014. The Royal Opera House has announced that it will stage an opera based on Simon's book The Monstrous Child, about the Norse god of the dead, Hel, as an angry teenager. The opera is composed by Gavin Higgins with libretto by Simon, and is scheduled for 2019.

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