| Michael has lived in a number of places and has had an even larger number of jobs! After going to Art School he trained as a graphic designer and photographer. He soon became a freelance photographer, and his clients included the Financial Times, the News of the World and various advertising agencies. When Michael fancied a change he stored all his belongings and went to Paris, and later hitch-hiked across Europe, where he ended up picking apples on a kibbutz in Israel. |
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Michael has written several books for children, including The Poltergoose which
actually started life as a slip of the tongue one breakfast time, and twenty minutes of
scribbling later Michael had the bones of the plot, as well as the names of the
Three Musketeers, "who were already answering back!".
The Poltergoose, the first instalment in the hilarious and acclaimed Jiggy McCue series,
was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards. Further titles include The Snottle,
The Toilet of Doom, Killer Underpants, Nudie Dudie, Neville the Devil
and the latest title Ryan's Brain. The Iron, the Switch and the Broom Cupboard publishes in June 2007.
Michael's novel for young adult readers, A Crack in the Line, is the exciting first book in the Aldous Lexicon Trilogy. Small Eternities and The Underwood See follow in the footsteps of A Crack in the Line, which won the North East Children's Book Award and was shortlisted for the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. |
Michael now lives in Cambridgeshire, where he writes full time.
Use this link to visit Michael's website at www.wordybug.com
"Hilarious." - The Independent
"Quirky, cheeky fun that children will love." - Books Magazine
"This is the funniest book I've ever read." - Shelley Meikle, Teen Titles
Questions and Answers
What are your favourite children's books?
My current favourite is Raymond Briggs' Ethel and Ernest. When I was a
child I had many favourites, including anything by E. Nesbit - Five Children and It,
The Story of the Treasure Seekers, etc, The Chronicles of Narnia (just coming out and not
yet famous), Sam Pig by Alison Uttley, The Jungle Book and Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard
Kipling and the hilarious Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge (who I dedicated The Killer
Underpants to for the enormous pleasure he gave me back then).
Which famous person would you like to meet and why?
Paul Gauguin, because he changed his profession completely (as I've
done, more than once), loved colour (as I do) and painted in the South Seas (as I once longed
to do).
What is your perfect sandwich?
No sandwich can beat a stick of French bread straight out of the oven,
tucked under the arm and eaten while walking through the streets of Paris on a cold winter
morning.
Which animal would you like to be and why?
A grizzly bear. I like the idea of being bigger than everyone else and
growling at them.
What is your earliest childhood memory?
When I was little I had a bedroom overlooking the river. One Sunday
morning I looked out of the window and saw a punt drifting by with no one in it. I wondered
about that for a very long time. Still do.
Bibliography
| Jiggy McCue The Iron, the Switch and the Broom Cupboard (June 2007) The Killer Underpants Maggot Pie Neville the Devil Nudie Dudie (Winner of the Doncaster Children's Book of the Year 2005) The Poltergoose Ryan's Brain The Toilet of Doom The Snottle
The Aldous Lexicon Trilogy
Picture Books (illustrated by Arthur Robins)
Individual Titles |
| Copyright © 2006: The Watts Publishing Group. |