Ian Whybrow facts for kids

Ian Whybrow (born 3 May 1941) is a British writer who creates books for children. He started writing in 1989 and has now written over 100 books! His stories have been translated into 27 languages and are published in 28 different countries. Ian Whybrow's books are often funny and include everything from picture books for younger kids to longer novels, short stories, and even poetry.

Ian Whybrow's Early Life

Ian Whybrow was born on 3 May 1941 in Gillingham, Kent, a town in Kent, England. He grew up in two different places: Margate in England and also in Hong Kong.

Ian Whybrow's Career

From Teacher to Author

Ian Whybrow first worked as a teacher. He became the head of English and also the head of the sixth form (older students) at The John Lyon School in Harrow on the Hill, which is in north-west London. Later, he was able to stop teaching and become a full-time writer, which was his dream!

Becoming a Famous Author

His very first book was called The Sniff Stories, published in 1989. He wrote more books about the character Sniff after that.

Ian Whybrow is most famous for his series of books about Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs. These books feature amazing drawings by Adrian Reynolds. Harry's adventures with his dinosaur friends have been so popular that they led to many more books than any of his other characters.

The Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series was even turned into a cartoon TV show! It had 104 episodes and was called Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs. The show first aired in the United States on 22 August 2005.

Another one of his books, Little Wolf's Book of Badness, was made into a TV film in 2003. This film won an award! Later, in 2007, the book was also adapted into a play that was shown at the Hampstead Theatre in London.

Ian Whybrow's Personal Life

Ian Whybrow is married to Ann, and they have two daughters. He lives in Cambridge, England.

Awards for Ian Whybrow's Books

Many of Ian Whybrow's books have won or been nominated for important awards:

• Quacky Quack-quack! was nominated for the Smarties Prize.
• A Baby For Grace was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
• Little Wolf's Book of Badness won several awards, including the TSB Birmingham Book Award and a UKRA Award for helping kids with reading. It also won a Talkie Award for Best Children's Book and Tape. The TV movie based on it was nominated for Best TV Movie and was a finalist for Best Children's Programme and Best TV Special. This book also won awards in Italy and the USA.
• Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs was shortlisted for the Children's Book Award. It also won both the Sheffield Children's Book Award and the Norfolk Libraries Children's Book Award.
• Whiff was nominated for the Blue Peter Award for the Best Picture Book to Read Aloud.
• Where's Tim's Ted has won prizes in France and Italy.

Selected Books by Ian Whybrow

Here are some of the many books Ian Whybrow has written:

• The Sniff Stories (1989)
• Quacky Quack-quack! (1991)
• Little Wolf's Book of Badness (1995)
• Harry and the Snow King (1997)
• A Baby For Grace (1998)
• Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs (1999)
• Where's Tim's Ted? (1999)
• Whiff (1999)
• The Tickle Book (2000)
• Harry and the Robots (2000)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Say Rahh! (2001)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Have a Very Busy Day (2002)
• Little Wolf’s Handy Book of Poems (2002)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Make a Christmas Wish (2003)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Tell the Time (2004)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum (2004)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Go Wild (2005)
• Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School (2006)
• I'm Not Scared of Monsters (Harry and the Dinosaurs) (2007)
• Meerkat Madness (2011)