Colin Edward Thompson (born 18 October 1942) is an English-Australian writer and illustrator of children's books.

Colin Edward Thompson was born on 18 October 1942 in Ealing, then in Middlesex and now in west London, United Kingdom.

[1] Thompson studied art for two years at college in Ealing and Hammersmith, where he met his first wife.

In the following years, Thompson had success in this category four more times, winning the award for best picture book in 2006 with The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley.

[5] His titles that were finalists in other years are The Violin Man, Dust, and The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness, in 2004, 2008, and 2009 respectively.

[8] Thompson was added to the International Board on Books for Young People honour list in 2002 for his illustrations in Falling Angels.