Daniel Pennac (real name Daniel Pennacchioni, born 1944 in Casablanca, Morocco) is a French writer. He received the Prix Renaudot in 2007 for his essay Chagrin d'école.
After studying in Nice he became a teacher. He began to write for children and then wrote his book series “La Saga Malaussène”, that tells the story of Benjamin Malaussène, a scapegoat, and his family in Belleville, Paris. In a 1997 piece for Le Monde, Pennac stated that Malaussène was the son of Jerome Charyn's New York detective Isaac Sidel.
His writing style can be humorous and imaginative like in “La Saga Malaussène”, but he can also write “Comme un roman”, a pedagogic essay. His Comic Débauche, written jointly with Jacques Tardi, treats the topic of unemployment, revealing his social preoccupations.