Denis Bond (writer) facts for kids

Denis Bond (born 22 November 1946) is a British writer who creates books and TV shows for children. Some of his well-known TV programmes include The Munch Bunch and Picme. He has also written many books like Avenue, Pop Rivals, and The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry for younger readers.

Denis Bond's TV Shows

Denis Bond studied drama at the Rose Bruford College and worked as an actor on stage and television. Later, he became a teacher. He then started writing for TV. He wrote 26 episodes for the ITV series Pipkins. He also wrote for other popular children's shows such as Rainbow, Let's Pretend, and The Munch Bunch.

The Munch Bunch Series

While Rainbow is still a very popular show, The Munch Bunch is special because Denis Bond wrote all of its episodes himself. Before writing the TV series, he had already started writing a series of Munch Bunch books. He used the pen name Giles Reed for these books.

Dagon: A Boy from Space

After The Munch Bunch, Denis Bond started a new series of books about a character named Dagon, who was a boy from space. These books were published by Studio Publications, the same company that published The Munch Bunch books. Unfortunately, both book series had to stop when a fire at Studio Publications destroyed all the original drawings and artwork. The story of Dagon also inspired a Japanese anime TV series called Dagon in the Land of Weeds.

Working with Scholastic

Denis Bond had two novels published by Methuen, but he became much more successful when he started working with Scholastic. His first book with Scholastic was The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire, published in 1990. By 1994, he was also writing books for teenagers. These included three books for Scholastic's Point Romance series, which he wrote under the pen name Denise Colby. This name was a nod to the US TV series Dynasty and also a feminine version of his own name. He also wrote No 1, which looked at the pop music world, and Avenue, a story about a soap opera.

Picme Animated Series

Denis Bond returned to television to write Picme, an animated educational series. This show was made for the Irish TV channel RTÉ. Picme was even nominated for a BAFTA award, which is a big achievement in television.

Writing Workshops

Besides writing new books and TV shows, Denis Bond often visits schools and libraries. He leads writing workshops for students in the UK and in other countries. He helps young people learn about writing and develop their own stories.