Jon Blake (born 1954 in Mortimer, Berkshire) is the author of over sixty works for children and teenagers. He was brought up in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and has lived in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

since 1987. His works include the picture book "You're A Hero, Daley B" (illustrated by Axel Scheffler, worldwide sales of over 200,000), as well as "Little Stupendo", which was shortlisted for the

Red House Children's Book Award The Children's Book Award is a British literary award for children's books, run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and previously known as the Red House Children's Book Award. Books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar yea ...

. In 1995, Jon's TV play 'Life' was shortlisted for a Writers Guild Award, while in 2002 he won a BBC Talent award for his adult radio sitcom "Degrees R Us", which was broadcast on

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

. In 2017 'Thimble Monkey Superstar', featuring a narrator with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

based on Jon's son, was shortlisted for the Lollies (Laugh Out Loud awards). 'Thimble Monkey Superstar', published by Cardiff's Firefly Press, was the eighth of Jon's books to be illustrated by Martin Chatterton. 'Thimble Monkey Superstar' was followed by 'Thimble Holiday Havoc' in 2017 and 'Thimble Wonga Bonkers' 2020. These were all turned into audio books in 2021, read by an actor who also has cerebral palsy, Zak Ford-Williams. Jon is particularly noted for original and anarchic humour, typified by "Stinky Finger's House of Fun" and the subsequent "House of Fun" series illustrated by David Roberts. However, he has also written radical

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, such as anti-privatisation thriller "The Last Free Cat". and an adult novel, '69ers', based on the 1969 (Bob Dylan) Isle of Wight Festival.

References

External links

* http://jonblake.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Jon 1954 births Living people English children's writers People from West Berkshire District English male writers