Celia Rees (born 1949) is an English author of children's literature, including some horror and fantasy books.She was born in 1949 in Solihull, West Midlands but now lives in Leamington Spa with her husband and teenage daughter. Rees attended University of Warwick and earned a degree in History of Politics. After university, she taught English in Coventry secondary schools for seventeen years, during which time she began to write.During her time in teaching she asked several of her pupils why they wouldn't read the books they were given and what they wanted to read about. The pupils said that they wanted books with action, horror, danger, magic and pirates.All of these are main themes in Rees' books.