Ivan Jones (author)

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Ivan Jones is a British writer of fiction. His work includes novels, picture books, plays, poetry anthologies, television series and many adaptations for BBC Radio.

1 Novels and Picture Books
2 Plays
3 Poems
4 Adaptations
5 References

[edit] Novels and Picture Books

Jones' best known novels are The Ghost Hunter series, published by Scholastic.^[1] The books were adapted into three six-part series for BBC Television. The first series was broadcast in 2000, second series in 2001 and the third series in 2002. They are still being shown in the U.K and in other parts of the world. The Ghost Hunter and The Ghost Hunter at Chillwood Castle have also been published as an audiobook and in large print.

His picture books, including The Golden Cage (Andersen Press), and The Lazy Giant (Oxford University Press) are written in a classic fairy-tale style and contain a moral. The Golden Cage is illustrated by Ken Brown and is also published in France and Sweden.

His best-selling stories about Zot the Dog, published by Puffin Books, are humorous and zany. The first title, Adventures of Zot the Dog, was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Julia Eccleshare when it was first published. Other titles followed: Zot's Treasures, Zot Solves It and Zot Goes Camping. The books are illustrated by Judy Brown. The stories were adapted into a 13-part animated cartoon series for ITV^[2] and subsequently released on video. ^[3] The books were dramatized for Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre and the production ran for 88 performances in Birmingham, as well as touring schools nationally.

[edit] Plays

Early in his career, Jones wrote a weekly comedy for BBC Radio called Lost Hollow. Lost Hollow is the name of the village round which the series is based; a village cut off from the outside world and full of eccentric characters such as Reginald Pustule Quatt and Madame Cochon. Parts of the drama are satirical, while other parts are gently humorous - exaggerating rivalries and characters of village life. The series ran for 60 episodes and was produced and directed by Diane Kemp.

Ivan Jones' play, Shelter, was one of the winning entries for the Midlands New Writers Festival. This is a moving, sometimes tragic, play with powerful themes of homelessness and fantasy. It contains strong characters and explores such themes as young love, anger, religion and escapism.

Jones' stage play Winterblock's Ghost was performed at Leicester Haymarket, with the lead role played by Colin Hurley. This is a play in the absurdist tradition, underpinned by black humour and grotesque characters. All the action takes place in the offices of an educational bureacracy where absurd struggles for power take place - and where a ghost seeks revenge.

[edit] Poems

As well as his other writing, Jones has published many poems for adults and children, including the very successful, Good Night, Sleep Tight, which is published by Scholastic and Scholastic Inc (USA). The book contains a poem for every night of the year (365 in all) and each month is illustrated by a different, well-known artist. (quote from Amazon: I think this is a wonderful, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural group of poems. My son is entranced by them and loves the format of a poem for each night. The poems are a combination of classic and new, and the illustrations are lovely. My son is 4 and developing a love of poetry.'^[4]

Many of Jones's poems were commissioned for BBC including a number about "birds" and "India", for schools radio. Others appear in numerous collections such as I Love You, Football & I Wanna Be Your Mate, edited by Tony Bradman and Spooky Poems, published by Scholastic.

[edit] Adaptations

He has adapted many children's books for Radio 4 and Radio 7 including, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy by Lloyd Alexander and The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan.