Kes Gray (born 1960) is a British author of children's books.

Life and work

Gray attended Great Baddow Comprehensive, then graduated from the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

with an honours degree in English and American literature. He is one of the UK's bestselling writers for children, with over two million copies of his stories sold. He is known for the award-winning Daisy picture books, illustrated by

Nick Sharratt Nick Sharratt (born 9 August 1962) is a British author and illustrator of children's books, whose work is split between illustrating for writers, most notably Jacqueline Wilson from 1991 to 2021, and Jeremy Strong, but also Giles Andreae, Jul ...

, the chart-topping Oi! series illustrated by

Jim Field James C. Field (April 24, 1863 in Philadelphia – May 13, 1953 in Atlantic City, New Jersey) was a Major League Baseball first baseman for five seasons. He played for several teams from to . His brother, Sam Field (baseball), Sam Field, also ...

and a collaboration with the athlete

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

. The Oi! series books were narrated as audiobooks by comedian and actor David Mitchell, who also narrated Gray's books, ''How Many Legs?'' and ''Quick Quack Quentin''.

Awards

Gray was listed as one of the top ten children's authors in the UK in 2003. As well as the awards listed below, he has been shortlisted for the

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

. * 2020: winner in the ''Favourite Characters'' category, Sainsbury's Children's Book Award, for * 2017: winner in the ''Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book'' category, Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (aka "the Lollies"), for * 2001: winner in the ''Picture Book'' category, and overall winner,

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 ...

, for

Stage adaptation

In 2019, Hughes and Pins & Needles Productions adapted Gray and Field's children's book series ''Oi Frog and Friends'' for the stage. The script was developed and written by Richy Hughes, Emma Earle, Zoe Squire and Luke Bateman, with lyrics by Hughes. The production premiered at

Frensham Heights School Frensham Heights School is a private school with a sixth form college located near Farnham, Surrey, England, run by the registered charity, Frensham Heights Educational Trust Ltd. It was founded in 1925 and formed as part of the movement for pro ...

in October 2019, before going on to a critically acclaimed run at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. In 2020, the show was nominated for the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976 ...

List of works

Nelly The Monster Sitter series

* 1. Grerks (2012) * 2. Squurms (2012) * 3. Water Greeps (2012) * 4. Cowcumbers (2012) * 5. Pipplewaks (2012) * 6. The Altigators (2012) * 7. The Huffaluks (2012) * 8. The Muggots (2012) * 9. Thermitts (2012) * 10. Polabores (2012) * 11. Digdiggs (2012) * 12. The Dendrilegs (2012) * 13. The Ultravores (2012) * 14. The Rimes (2012) * 15. The Wattwatts (2012) * Nelly the Monster-Sitter (2016) * The Grerks at No. 55 (2018) * The Squurms at No. 322 (2019) * The Thermitts at No. 27 (2019) * The Hott Heds at No. 87 (2019)

Daisy series

* 006 and a Bit (2006) * Daisy and the Trouble with Life (2007) * Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos (2008) * Daisy and the Trouble with Giants (2008) * Daisy and the Trouble with Kittens (2009) * Daisy and the Trouble with Christmas (2009) * Daisy and the Trouble with Maggots (2010) * Daisy and the Trouble with Coconuts (2012) * Daisy and the Trouble with Burglars (2013) * Daisy and the Trouble with Sports Day (2014) * Daisy and the Trouble with Piggybanks (2015) * A Winter Double Daisy (2015) * Daisy and the Trouble With Jack (2016) * A Summer Double Daisy (2016) * Daisy and the Trouble with Halloween (2016) * Daisy and the Trouble with Chocolate (2017) * Daisy and the Trouble with School Trips (2018) * Daisy and the Trouble with Nature (2020) * Daisy and the Trouble With Unicorns (2021) * Daisy and the Trouble With London (2022) * Daisy and the Trouble With Space (2024) * Daisy and the Trouble With Shopping (2025)

Get Well Friends series

* Zoe the Zebra (2011) * Chesney Runs into Trouble! (2012) * Momo Goes Flying (2012) * Nurse Nibbles and her Get Well Friends (2013) * Zoe Gets the Jitters! (2013) * Pedro Has a Bump! (2014)

Jack Beechwhistle series

* 1. Attack of the Giant Slugs (2016) * 2. Rise Of The Hairy Horror (2017)

Go Mo series

* 1. Monster Mountain Chase! (2017) * 2. Dinosaur Dash! (2017) * 3. Seaside Sprint! (2018)

Picture Books

* The Get Well Soon Book (2000) * Eat Your Peas (2000) * Who's Poorly Too? (2000) * Really, Really (2002) * Toffee and Marmalade (2002) * Billy's Bucket (2003) * Our Twitchy (2003) * Baby On Board (2003) * Cluck O'clock (2003) * You Do! (2003) * If I Was Boss (2004) * Yuk! (2004) * Ever So Ever So (2004) * A Bunch of Daisies (2005) * Vesuvius Poovius (2006) (with Chris Mould) * Mummy Goes to Work (2006) * aka ''My Mum Goes to Work'' * Double Trouble (2006) * Twoo Twit (2006) * 006 and a Half: A Daisy Book (2007) * Tiger Ways (2007) * First Day (2007) * Accidentally, On Purpose (2008) * Super Daisy (2009) * Mum and Dad Glue (2009) * Leave Me Alone (2011) * Nuddy Ned (2013) * Pepe Takes a Tumble (2013) * Mice in the Churchyard (2013) * Peas & Tickles Double Daisy (2013) * Tigers & Spies Double Daisy (2013) * Oi Frog (2014) (with Jim Field) * Worries Go Away! (2014) * How Many Legs? (2015) * Zippo the Super Hippo (2015) * Frog on a Log? (2015) * Quick Quack Quentin (2016) * Oi Dog! (2016) * Ready Steady Mo! (2016) (with Mo Farah) * Nuddy Ned's Christmas (2016) * Nuddy Ned's Christmas (2016) * Oi Dog!: Board Book (2017) (with Claire Gray) * Dog on a Frog? (2017) (with Claire Gray) * Oi Cat (2017) * The Night Before the Night Before Christmas (2018) (with Claire Powell) * Think Big (2019) * Oi Puppies! (2019) * The Diddle That Dummed (2020) * The Night After Christmas (2020) * Brrr! (2022)

Chapter Books

* Duperball (2007)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Kes 1960 births Living people British children's writers Date of birth missing (living people) People from Chelmsford Writers from Essex Alumni of the University of Kent