| Jeremy
Strong
Karate princesses, seasick pirates and demon vacuum cleaners...where
else could these characters spring from but the playground
that is the quirky imagination of Jeremy Strong?
THE BASICS
Born: Eltham, South East London, November 18th 1949
Jobs: Head Teacher, Teacher, Caretaker, Strawberry Picker,
Jam Doughnut Stuffer (yes, really!)
Lives: Somerset
First book: Smith's Tail, 1978
THE BOOKS
Jeremy Strong's work is characterised by humour and direct
child appeal. He thinks his writing has been influenced
most of all by Spike Milligan, but also by falling on his
head when he was three years old. He was not allowed to
read comics as a child, and consequently discovered The
Beano at the formative age of sixteen. Jeremy Strong's ideas
come from everywhere - his childhood, his children, over-hearing
conversations, something he sees - and he constantly makes
notes.
WHAT HE SAYS...
"My sense of humour got stuck at age ten."
"When I was about eighteen I started writing very
serious stories for adults, but none of them was published.
By the time I was twenty-one I was writing stories for children
and I quickly realised that I loved writing funny stories
and making people laugh."
"I have no axes to grind, and no neuroses to reveal.
(At least, I don't think I have. You may think otherwise.)"
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT JEREMY STRONG...
"The slapstick comedy and parental retribution are
wittily handled."
Sunday Times on The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour-Dog
"We all loved Jeremy Strong's The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour-Dog."
Mail on Sunday
"A lively, amusing farce where junior minds try to
pit themselves against adversity." Scotland on Sunday
on The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour-Dog
"Strong (writes with) humour, invention and grasp
of human nature."
Books For Keeps
"Piracy on the high streets leads to a glorious sequence
of mad misunderstandings and domestic catastrophes."
The Independent on Indoor Pirates
"Great fun."
Young Telegraph on Karate Princess To The Rescue
"The obvious silliness of There's a Pharaoh in our
Bath is pitched at just the right level for younger readers."
Yorkshire Post
"Jeremy Strong's feel for the funny throwaway line
is sound to the last page." Books For Keeps on My Dad's
Got An Alligator!
"Jeremy Strong's comic tale...crackles with good humour
and invention." TES on Lightning Lucy
“Full of farcical, slapstick comedy, this is an entertaining
read.” Junior on The Beak Speaks
AWARDS:
The Children's Book Award 1997 for The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour
Dog
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 1998 (Shorter
Novel category) for Pirate Pandemonium
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2000 (Shorter
Novel category) Highly Commended for Dinosaur Pox
|
