6 followers

Philip Ardagh

(b.1961)

Philip Ardagh is over 6 feet 7 inches tall with a big bushy beard. Not only is he very large and very hairy, but he has also written more than sixty children's books for all ages. He has been known to write books about serious subjects -- such as Egyptian hieroglyphs and archeology -- but also writes abnormally funny books (eg. A House Called Awful End) that make lots of people laugh.

Currently living as a full-time writer with a wife and two cats (Beanie and Snorkel), in a seaside town somewhere in England, he has been -- among other things -- an advertising copywriter, a hospital cleaner, a (highly unqualified) librarian, and a reader for the blind.

Genres: Children's Fiction

New Books

October 2023

Bunnies in a Sleigh

Series

Eddie Dickens
   1. A House Called Awful End (2000)
   2. Dreadful Acts (2001)
   3. Terrible Times (2002)

Unlikely Exploits
   1. The Fall of Fergal (2002)
   2. Heir of Mystery (2003)
   3. The Rise of the House of McNally (2004)

Gressingham Trilogy
   1. The Green Man Of Gressingham (2002)
   2. The Red Dragons of Gressingham (2008)
   3. The Black Knight of Gressingham (2015)

Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens
   1. Dubious Deeds (2003)
   2. Horrendous Habits (2005)
   3. Final Curtain (2006)

Grubtown Tales
   1. Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky (2009)
   2. The Year That it Rained Cows (2009)
   3. The Far From Great Escape (2009)
   4. The Wrong End of the Dog (2010)
   5. Trick Eggs and Rubber Chickens (2010)
   6. Splash, Crash and Loads of Cash (2010)
   7. When Bunnies Turn Bad (2011)

Henry's House
   Creepy-crawlies (2009)
   Dinosaurs (2009)
   Egyptians (2009)
   Knights and Castles (2010)
   Space (2010)
   Romans : Henry's House (2010)
   Your Body (2010)
   Bodies (2012)
   Sharks (2013)

Grunts
   1. The Grunts In Trouble (2012)
   2. Grunts All at Sea (2013)
   3. Grunts In a Jam (2014)
   4. The Grunts on the Run (2015)

Little Adventurers
Leafy the Pet Leaf (2016)

Secret Diary
   1. The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge, a Medieval Knight in Training (2017)
   2. The Secret Diary of Jane Pinny, a Victorian House Maid (2017)
   3. The Secret Diary of Thomas Snoop, Tudor Boy Spy (2018)
   4. The Secret Diary of Kitty Cask, Smuggler's Daughter (2019)

Stick and Fetch Investigate
   1. Barking Up the Wrong Tree (2018)
   2. The Wrong End of the Stick (2019)
   3. Off the Leash (2020)

Nine Lives of Furry Purry Beancat
   1. The Pirate Captain's Cat (2020)
   2. The Railway Cat (2020)
   3. The Library Cat (2021)
   4. The Witch's Cat (2021)

Non fiction series

History's Highlights
   History's Great Inventors (1995)
   History's Great Travellers and Explorers (1996)
   History's Travellers and Explorers (1996)

Alien Asks
Why Do Humans Have Two Legs? (1996)
Why Don't Fish Have Fingers? (1996)

History Detectives
   Ancient Egypt (1998)
   The Aztecs (1998)
   Ancient Greece (1998)
   The Romans (1999)

Mighty Machines
   A Hole in the Road (1998)
   All at Sea (1998)
   On the Farm (1998)
   Up in the Air (2003)

Get a Life!
   Elizabeth I (1999)
   William the Conqueror (1999)
   Julius Caesar (1999)
   Florence Nightingale (1999)
   Henry VIII (1999)
   Queen Victoria (1999)
   Marie Curie (2000)
   Oliver Cromwell (2000)
   Napoleon (2000)
   Mary, Queen of Scots (2000)
   Get a Life! (2002)

WOW!
   Discoveries That Changed the World (2000)
   Ideas That Changed the World (2000)
   Inventions That Changed the World (2000)
   Events That Changed the World (2000)

100-and-a-half Questions
Did Dinosaurs Really Snore? (2001)
Why Are Castles Castle-shaped? (2002)

The Truth About
   The Truth About Love (2004)
   The Truth About Fairies (2005)
   The Truth About Cats (2006)

Novels

   Not-So-Very-Nice Goings On at Victoria Lodge (2004)
   The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes (2005)
   The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters (2008)
   The Unlikely Outlaws (2015)

Collections

Pongwiffy and the Important Announcement / Grubtown Tales: The Great Pasta Disaster (2010) (with Kaye Umansky)

Picture Books

   Sandy Sand Sandwiches (2019)
   Bunnies on the Bus (2019)
   You Can't Count On Dinosaurs (2020) (with Elissa Elwick)
   Bunnies in a Boat (2022)
   Bunnies in a Sleigh (2023)

Chapter Books

   High in the Clouds (2005) (with Paul McCartney)
   Norman the Norman from Normandy (2017)
   Norman the Norman and the Very Small Duchess (2018)

Non fiction

   Secret Diary of Prince Tutankhamun (1998)
   The Hieroglyphs Handbook (1999)
   The Truth About Christmas (2001)
   The Archaeologist's Handbook (2002)
   Ripley's Believe It or Not! (2003) (with Mary Packard)
   Book of absolutely useless lists (2007)
   Philip Ardagh's Book of Howlers, Blunders and Random Mistakery (2009)
   Philip Ardagh's Book of Kings, Queens, Emperors and Rotten Wart-Nosed Commoners (2011)
   The Big Book of Christmas (2014) (with Gaby Morgan)

Series contributed to

Myths And Legends
   Ancient Greek Myths and Legends (1997)
   Norse Myths and Legends (1997)
   African Myths and Legends (1998)
   North American Myths and Legends (1998)
   Celtic Myths and Legends (1998)
   South American Myths and Legends (1998)
   Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends (1999)
   Chinese Myths and Legends (1999)

Philip Ardagh recommends

The Seven Doors (2020)
Agnes Ravatn
"Reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith-and I can't offer praise than that -Agnes Ravatn is an author to watch."

The Night I Met Father Christmas (2018)
Ben Miller
"Enchanting, funny and intriguing in equal measure."

The Snarling of Wolves (2014)
(Tales from the Five Kingdoms, book 6)
Vivian French
"I forgot reading could be this much fun!"

Rowan the Strange (2009)
(Ivy , book 3)
Julie Hearn
"It is nothing short of extraordinary."

Upside Down (2007)
(Cedar B. Hartley)
Martine Murray
"Perfect...treasure it."

Visitors also looked at these authors

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

About Fantastic Fiction Information for Authors