Laura and Isabel, mother and daughter and authors of Carolina Purpurina, pose together in a garden.
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aura and Isabel are mother and daughter, and both share a love of writing and literature. When the chance came to publish Isabel’s texts, it was Laura who transcribed, corrected and shaped the manuscripts, inspired by Carolina, her eldest daughter. They look back on editing this book with great fondness: it gave them moments of rare closeness. Choosing the typeface, picking the drawing and the cover design… Together they went through sketches and characters, debated details and chose the images that best matched the story. Though agreeing was not always easy! They are looking forward to this new chapter now that the book is out: sharing it and meeting readers, at events or through social media.

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sabel Plantinet

Born in Madrid in 2014, she is the second of four children. At five, during the 2020 lockdown, she began her first diary: one sentence and one drawing a day. That habit of watching everyday life and putting it on paper is still at the heart of how she writes.

Many of her early texts grew out of moments shared with her older sister, Carolina. Out of those school compositions came the character of Carolina Purpurina, a girl in a wheelchair who meets difficulty with humour, imagination and optimism. In May 2024, aged nine, she published her first book, Carolina Purpurina. Brillantes aventuras sobre ruedas; Brillantes aventuras de gira and Brillantes aventuras y misterios followed, the latter built on real historical research and set mainly in Valladolid.

Since then she has presented the series in more than a hundred schools across Spain and Europe, at book fairs and at meetings with readers of every age. Her books, translated into five languages, speak of disability and rare diseases through adventure and through ordinary life, focusing on everything children can do.

She now combines her first year of secondary school with writing. She loves reading, travelling, football and collecting old toys: a curiosity for the stories hidden in objects from the past, which also surfaces in her plots.

Coming soon: No siempre llueve en París

Her first novel for young adults, written for readers aged 12 to 18. Set between Spain and France — chiefly in Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye — it weaves together growing up, friendship, first love and mystery. With it, Isabel steps outside the world of Carolina Purpurina for the first time.

Portrait of Isabel, author of Carolina Purpurina, smiling in the garden.
Isabel Plantinet sitting at her desk, chin resting on her hand, in front of a wall decorated with the Eiffel Tower and the words “Paris mon amour”.

Awards:

  • Winner of the Milton Little Writers English literary competition (June 2023).

  • First prize in the FECOSVA Christmas story competition in Valladolid (December 2023).

  • Winner of the International Women’s Day short story competition, Madrid (March 2024).

  • Special mention in the Milton Young Writers English literary competition (June 2024).

  • Legado Valores 2024 award from Tribuna Grupo, together with her family (November 2024).

  • Winner of the Chamberí short story competition, Madrid (December 2024).

  • Winner of the International Women’s Day short story competition, Madrid (March 2025).

Portrait of Laura, co-author of Carolina Purpurina, in a red blouse in the garden.
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aura Rivera Casares

 

Born in Valladolid in 1979, she holds a law degree, though she never practised. Her passion for journalism made her the first woman to edit the magazine Artículo 20, and she has won several short story prizes. She won the National University Debating League in 2000 and was a finalist in 2001. She has also written for the university supplements of the newspapers El día de Valladolid and El Norte de Castilla. For ten years she lived in Paris, holding senior roles in several multinational companies. In 2012 she returned to Spain, where she now balances her career with raising her four children, passing on to them her love of books.