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Kaye Umansky (; born 6 December 1946) is an English children's
author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
and
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
. She has written over 130 books for children and her work ranges from picture books to novels. She is best known for the Pongwiffy & Jim Series.


Early life

Kaye Umansky was born in
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
. Her mother was a music teacher and encouraged her to play from a young age and her father was also a teacher who encouraged her reading. As an only child, Kaye wrote stories and plays, which she tried to get her friends to act in. After Kaye left school, she went to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to train as a teacher. Kaye enjoyed teaching music, drama and creative writing, but not mathematics. Alongside her husband, Kaye formed a soul band and played in the evenings and at weekends; she says they "never became rich and famous, but we had a lot of fun". She continued writing as a hobby and began writing full-time when her daughter was born.


Personal life

She lives in North London with her husband Mo, an engineer, they have been together over 30 years. She has a daughter called Ella. She has an extended family of stepchildren and step-grandchildren. She got two katen named: Jeremy and Heathcliff.


Career

Umansky's first children's book was published in 1986. The book was a collection of songs for children and was called Phantasmagoria. Kaye still writes music books, along with plays, poems, novels and picture books. But she is best known as the creator of Pongwiffy She cites
Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William (book series), Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. L ...
and
Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...
as two of her biggest literary influences and her style has been compared to that of Roald Dahl and Eva Ibbotson. In 2008, she was a judge for the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize for humorous children's literature.


Pongwiffy

Originally published by A & C Black, then in paperback by Penguin Books, the first ''Pongwiffy'' book, ''Pongwiffy: A Witch of Dirty Habits'', was published in 1987. They are now published by
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...
and Pongwiffy's '21st Birthday' was recently celebrated with the release of the seventh title in the series, ''Pongwiffy: Back on Track''. They have been published in various countries in Europe. They have published as audio books, read by
Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...
, and as a cartoon TV series of 13 episodes which was first aired on
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...
between June & September 2002. Pongwiffy was voiced by
Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...
and Pongwiffy's best friend, Sharkadder, was voiced by
Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School ...
. In 2010 a new Pongwiffy title appeared in a flip-book alongside a story by Phillip Ardagh as one of the official publications for World Book Day.


Awards

The 1993
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
Book Award for ''Pongwiffy and the Spell of the Year''; the 1999
Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...
Junior Music Book Award for ''Three Rapping Rats''; the 2005 Spoken Word Award for the audio version of ''The Silver Spoon Of Solomon Snow'', read by
Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (; 7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Adrian Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative come ...
.


Publications


''4 Spooky Stories'' series

Four scary stories written in verse, the last is a compilation. *''The Night I Was Chased By A Vampire'' (1994) *''The Empty Suit Of Armour'' (1994) *''The Bogey-men and the Trolls Next Door'' (1994) *''The Spooks Step Out'' (1994)


''Buster Gutt'' series

About a Pirate called Buster Gutt and his arch enemy Admiral Ainsley Goldglove. *Buster's Big Surprise (2003) *Buster Gutt (2003) *Buster and the Golden Glove (2003)


''Clover Twig'' series

* ''Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage'' (2009) * ''Clover Twig and the Perilous Path'' (2010)


''Curtain Up!'' series

The ''Curtain Up!'' series are plays written for primary school children, ages 5–12. *''Cinderella'' (1995) *''Noah's Ark'' (1995) *''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (1996) *''Sleeping Beauty'' (2000) *''The Snow Queen'' (2003)


''Elsie Pickles'' series

*''Witch for a Week'' (2017) *''Wish for a Witch'' (2018) *''Witches (Un)Welcome'' (2019) *''Witch in Winter'' (2019)


''Giant'' series

The ''Giant'' books follows Waldo the Giant and his beloved, Heavy Hetty. They are illustrated by Doffy Weir. *''The Romantic Giant'' (1992) *''The Jealous Giant'' (1995) *''The Dressed Up Giant'' (1998)


''Goblinz'' series

Three stories of a gaggle of Goblins. *''Goblinz'' (2002) *''Goblinz Detectives Inc'' (2004) *''Goblinz and the Witch'' (2005)


''Jim'' series

Stories told in rhyme for 3-7 year olds. *''Pass the Jam, Jim'' (1992) *''You can Swim, Jim'' (1997) *''Need a Trim, Jim'' (1999) *''Three Days With Jim'' (2001) *''This is Jane, Jim'' (2002)


''Nonsense Rhymes'' series

The ''Nonsense Rhymes'' series are a collections of rhymes, illustrated by Chris Fisher. *''Nonsense Counting Rhymes'' (1999) *''Nonsense Animal Rhymes'' (2001) *''Nonsense Fairytale Rhymes'' (2006)


''PlayReaders'' series

The ''PlayReaders'' series consists of four short plays. *Bandybones (1986) *Little Sister (1986) *The Toymaker's (1986) *Litter Bugs (1987)


''Pongwiffy'' series

*''Pongwiffy ''(1987) *''Pongwiffy and the Goblin's Revenge'' / ''Broom-napped'' (1990) *''Pongwiffy and the Spell of the Year'' (1992) *''Pongwiffy and the Holiday of Doom'' (1994) *''Pongwiffy and the Pantomime'' (1996) *''Pongwiffy and the Spello-vision Song Contest'' (2003) *''Pongwiffy Back On Track'' (2009) *''Pongwiffy and the Important Announcement'' (2010) — published dos-à-dos with ''Grubtown Tales: The Great Pasta Disaster'' *''Tales from Witchway Wood: Crash 'n' Bang'' (2011)


''The Quest for 100 Gold Coins'' series

''The Quest for 100 Gold Coins'' series is a four-part adventure about Nev Niceguy and his quest. *''Donkey Ride to Disaster'' (1998) *''Madness in the Mountains'' (1999) *''Strange Days at Sea'' (2000) *''No More Master Niceguy'' (2000)


''Sir Quinton Quest'' series

The ''Sir Quinton Quest'' series follows an explorer and his faithful long-suffering butler, Muggins who go off on expeditions. *''Sir Quinton Quest Hunts the Yeti'' (1992) *''Sir Quinton Quest Hunts the Jewel'' (1994) *''The Yeti Hunts for Sir Quinton!'' (1993)


''Solomon Snow'' series

A mock-Victorian adventure of a young Solomon Snow, his friend Prudence, a six-year-old girl named Rosabella, and her cute little bunny, Mr. Skippy. *''Solomon Snow and the Silver Spoon'' (2004) *''Solomon Snow and the Stolen Jewel'' (2005)


''Sophie Rabbit'' series

The ''Sophie Rabbit'' series are about a rabbit called Sophie. They are illustrated by Anna Curry. *''Sophie and Abigail'' (1995) *''Sophie and the Wonderful Picture'' (1995) *''Sophie and the Mother's Day Card'' (1995) *''Sophie In Charge'' (1995)


''Story Street'' books

The ''Story Street'' books were written for a Literacy Scheme in the UK, for 4-10 year olds. *''Aha!'' (2000) *''Beyond Strange Street'' (2000) *''The Carnival'' (2000) *''Clang!'' (2000) *''Dinosaur Adventure'' (2000) *''Down the Rushing River'' (2000) *''Gong!'' (2000) *''I am Miss Cherry'' (2000) *''Jojo in the Jungle'' (2000) *''Jumbo'' (2000) *''The Magic Button'' (2000) *''The Missing Shoes'' (2000) *''Moon Adventure'' (2000) *''Pirates Ahoy!'' (2000) *''Pond'' (2000) *''Poor Sam'' (2000) *''Rope that Cow'' (2000) *''The Rubbish Monster'' (2000) *''Soup with Obby'' (2000) *''Stop Thief!'' (2000) *''Strange Street Again'' (2000) *''Sunita and the Wishing Well'' (2000) *''Up the Dizzy Mountain'' (2000) *''What a Mess'' (2000) *''Wizard Wagoo'' (2000)


''Three'' series

The ''Three'' series uses traditional stories and music. *''Three Singing Pigs'' (1993) *''Three Rapping Rats'' (1996) *''Three Tapping Teddies'' (1998) *''Three Rocking Crocs'' (2006)


''The Weirds'' series

''The Weirds'' series tell stories about the Weird Family. They are illustrated by Chris Mould. *''Meet The Weirds'' (2003) *''Weird Happen-ings'' (2004) *''Wildly Weird'' (2006)


''Wilma's Adventures'' series

The stories of Wilma, a Wicked Queen in training. *''Wilma's Wicked Revenge'' (2000) *''Wilma's Wicked Spell'' (2002)


Standalone books

*''Big Iggy'' (1987) *''Phantas-magoria'' (1987) *''Witches In Stitches'' (1987) *''King Keith and the Nasty Case of Dragonitus'' (1988) *''The Fwog Pwince - the Twuth'' (1989) *''King Keith and the Jolly Lodger'' (1990) *''The Misfortunes of Captain Cadaverous'' (1990) *''Trash Hits'' (1990) *''Tiger and Me'' (1991) *''Do Not Open Before Christmas Day'' (1992) *''Tin Can Hero'' (1992) *''Never Meddle With Magic Mirrors'' (1993) *''Hammy House of Horror'' (1995) *''A Ruby, A Rug and a Prince Called Doug'' (1995) *''Tickle My Nose'' (1995) *''Beyond the Beanstalk'' (1997) *''Dobbin'' (1997) *''Wiggle My Toes'' (2000) *''Prince Dandy-pants and the Masked Avenger'' (2001) *''Cruel Times'' (2002) *''Humble Tom's Big Trip'' (2002) *''He's Behind You'' (2003) *''Mick McMenace, Ghost Detective'' (2003) *''The Snow Queen'' (2003) *''A Chair For Baby Bear'' (2004) *''My Very First Joke Book'' (2004) *''Horses' Holiday'' (2005) *''I Want A Pet'' (2005) *''I Am A Tree'' (2006) *''Three Little Nativities'' (2006) *''I Don't Like Gloria'' (2007) *''Let's Go To London'' (2007)


References


External links


Kaye Umansky's homepagePongwiffy Website

Author Page at Bloomsbury Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umansky, Kaye English children's writers Living people 1946 births Writers from Plymouth, Devon