The Kings Birthday Suit

The King's Birthday Suit
on Lollies shortlist!

THE KING’S BIRTHDAY SUIT has been shortlisted for the 2023 Laugh Out Loud Awards! Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books and with joyous illustrations by the brilliant Claire Powell, the book has royalty, fashion and a BIG BARE BOTTOM!
VOTE NOW at MORE INFO link below! #lollies2023

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Dogs in Disguise wins

Dogs in Disguise wins
Shropshire Picture Book Award!


DOGS IN DISGUISE by me and John Bond, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, has won the 2022 Shropshire BookFest Picture Book Award! I am especially honoured because the award is voted for by over 1200 children at 26 schools all over Shropshire. Thank you to all those who chose our book!

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Octopus Shocktopus wins

Octopus Shocktopus WINS
national Children's Book Award!

OCTOPUS SHOCKTOPUS! by me and Steven Lenton and published by Nosy Crow has WON the Federation of Children’s Book Groups 2022 Children’s Book Award – both the Younger Readers category AND the overall award! I am especially delighted because the FCBG CBA is the only national UK award voted for solely by children. 

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Spookermarket

OUT NOW!
SPOOKERMARKET

Welcome to the SPOOKERMARKET – the spooky superstore for witches, trolls, zombies and every other ghoul. Tonight there’s upset in the aisles when the Genie of Till Thirteen is let loose. Can store boss Queenie Sweeney stop the genie’s pranks? SPOOKERMARKET is hilariously illustrated by Steph Laberis and published by Puffin. Perfect for Halloween – or any other time!

The Royal Leap-Frog

OUT NOW!
The Royal Leap-Frog

THE ROYAL LEAP-FROG is my second picture book for Bloomsbury Children’s Books inspired by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by the brilliant Claire Powell. A flea, a grasshopper and a frog head to the palace to let the king decide which if them can jump the highest. After much hilarious hullaballoo and custardy chaos, the jumping match has a surprise winner….

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I Am Cat

OUT NOW!
I Am Cat!

I am Cat. Cat is me. A most superior thing to be.
Ever wondered what life is like from your moggy’s point of view? Well, now you can find out as I AM CAT! takes you through a cat’s day. Illustrated by Chris Chatterton and published by Macmillan, it’s our second collaboration after I AM DOG!

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Snow White in Space

OUT NOW!
Snow White in Space

SNOW WHITE IN SPACE is the second in the Futuristic Fairy Tales series by me and the brilliant Chris Jevons, featuring favourite fairytale characters as super-cool astronauts leading their own missions and learning about space along the way. SNOW WHITE IN SPACE follows GOLDILOCKS IN SPACE and is also published by Hodder.

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG
flies again!

I have been honoured to write the first picture book version of Ian Fleming’s only children’s book, the 1964 classic CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. Steve Antony’s glorious illustrations reimagine the famous flying – now electric! – car for a new generation of younger readers. It is published by Hachette in collaboration with the Ian Fleming Estate.

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Where the Sea Meets the Sky

OUT NOW! Where the Sea Meets the Sky

A brave baby sea otter sets off to seek the horizon – and finds it a bit more of a challenge than she expected…. WHERE THE SEA MEETS THE SKY is illustrated by brilliant newcomer Riko Sekiguchi, whose artwork for the book won the Carmelite Picture Book Prize. It is published by Hachette Children’s Books.

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Welcome to my website!

 

Photo 2019Hello! Here you can find out about me and my books. If you want to learn a bit about my background and how I became a children’s author, that’s in the ABOUT section. To see any of my books, click on the BOOKS section at the top of the page, or on one of the RECENT BOOKS on the right. On this site you can also find out about how to get in touch if you would like me to come to your book event or visit your school, library or bookshop.

downloadKBS LOLLIESI try to update the site as regularly as I can, and you are very welcome to contact me if you have any ideas for anything you’d like to see. No, that doesn’t include a picture of me standing on my head in a giant bowl of custard dressed as a purple chicken. I accidentally deleted that photo from my camera. To make up for it, here is a picture of me in my pram with a poodle. It was taken by a man called Reg, who was married to Vera, who was the sister of Gladys, who was my step-grandmother. I was about six months old.

Peter Bently in his pram with a poodle

Peter and poodle

FXIaBrTXkAIH8MTLooking at my face in the picture, I’m not sure how thrilled I was to find a whopping great pooch in my pram. It was, after all, bigger than me. But clearly it didn’t put me off dogs for life. If it had, I might never have written Dogs in Disguise, I Am DogThe Great Dog Bottom Swap, Hot Dog Hal, or my picture book version of The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

 

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