Batpants and the Vanishing Elephant

About Jeremy Strong

Jeremy Strong (1949-2024) was born in Eltham, South East London in November 1949. He has had a varied career path before becoming an author including jobs as a: Head Teacher, Caretaker, Strawberry Picker, Jam Doughnut Stuffer! His first published book was Smith's Tail in 1978.

Jeremy’s work is characterised by humour and direct child appeal. The books are packed with tongue in cheek gags and characters and situations that your children will love. He said of himself "My sense of humour got stuck at age ten."  He has said his writing was influenced most of all by Spike Milligan, but also by falling on his head when he was three years old.

When he was about eighteen he started writing very serious stories for adults, but none of them were published. By the time he was twenty-one he was writing stories for children after realizing that he loved writing funny stories and making people laugh.

AWARDS

The Children's Book Award 1997 for The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 1998 (Shorter Novel category) for Pirate Pandemonium
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2000 (Shorter Novel category) for Dinosaur Pox

Photo credit © Justine Stoddart