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Kes Gray

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Kes Gray
Born1960 (age 63–64)
Chelmsford, England
NationalityBritish
Known forChildren's Literature
Notable workOi Frog!

Kes Gray (born 1960) is a British author of children's books.

Life and work

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Gray attended Great Baddow Comprehensive, then graduated from the University of Kent with an honours degree in English and American literature.[1]

He is one of the UK's bestselling writers for children, with over two million copies of his stories sold.[2] He is known for the award-winning Daisy picture books, illustrated by Nick Sharratt, the chart-topping Oi! series illustrated by Jim Field and a collaboration with the athlete Mo Farah.[3] The Oi! series books were narrated as audiobooks by comedian and actor David Mitchell, [4] who also narrated Gray's books, How Many Legs? and Quick Quack Quentin.

Awards

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Gray was listed as one of the top ten children's authors in the UK in 2003.[5] As well as the awards listed below, he has been shortlisted for the British Book Awards.[6]

  • 2020: winner in the Favourite Characters category, Sainsbury's Children's Book Award, for Oi! See It, Say It!. Hachette Children's. 25 June 2020. ISBN 978-1-4449-5685-6.[7]
  • 2017: winner in the Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book category, Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (aka "the Lollies"), for Oi Dog!. Hachette Children's. 28 July 2016. ISBN 978-1-4449-2897-6.[8]
  • 2001: winner in the Picture Book category, and overall winner, Red House Children's Book Award, for Eat Your Peas. Dorling Kindersley. 2000. ISBN 978-0-7894-2667-3.[9][10][11]

Stage adaptation

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In 2019, Hughes and Pins & Needles Productions adapted Gray and Field's children's book series Oi Frog and Friends for the stage.[12] The script was developed and written by Richy Hughes, Emma Earle, Zoe Squire and Luke Bateman, with lyrics by Hughes. The production premiered at Frensham Heights School in October 2019,[13] before going on to a critically acclaimed run at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End.[14] In 2020, the show was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show.[15]

List of works

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Nelly The Monster Sitter series

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  • 1. Grerks (2012)
  • 2. Squurms (2012)
  • 3. Water Greeps (2012)
  • 4. Cowcumbers (2012)
  • 5. Pipplewaks (2012)
  • 6. The Altigators (2012)
  • 7. The Huffaluks (2012)
  • 8. The Muggots (2012)
  • 9. Thermitts (2012)
  • 10. Polabores (2012)
  • 11. Digdiggs (2012)
  • 12. The Dendrilegs (2012)
  • 13. The Ultravores (2012)
  • 14. The Rimes (2012)
  • 15. The Wattwatts (2012)
  • Nelly the Monster-Sitter (2016)
  • The Grerks at No. 55 (2018)
  • The Squurms at No. 322 (2019)
  • The Thermitts at No. 27 (2019)
  • The Hott Heds at No. 87 (2019)

Daisy series

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  • 006 and a Bit (2006)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Life (2007)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos (2008)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Giants (2008)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Kittens (2009)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Christmas (2009)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Maggots (2010)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Coconuts (2012)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Burglars (2013)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Sports Day (2014)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Piggybanks (2015)
  • A Winter Double Daisy (2015)
  • Daisy and the Trouble With Jack (2016)
  • A Summer Double Daisy (2016)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Halloween (2016)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Chocolate (2017)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with School Trips (2018)
  • Daisy and the Trouble with Nature (2020)
  • Daisy and the Trouble With Unicorns (2021)
  • Daisy and the Trouble With London (2022)
  • Daisy and the Trouble With Space (2024)

Get Well Friends series

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  • Zoe the Zebra (2011)
  • Chesney Runs into Trouble! (2012)
  • Momo Goes Flying (2012)
  • Nurse Nibbles and her Get Well Friends (2013)
  • Zoe Gets the Jitters! (2013)
  • Pedro Has a Bump! (2014)

Jack Beechwhistle series

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  • 1. Attack of the Giant Slugs (2016)
  • 2. Rise Of The Hairy Horror (2017)

Go Mo series

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  • 1. Monster Mountain Chase! (2017)
  • 2. Dinosaur Dash! (2017)
  • 3. Seaside Sprint! (2018)

Picture Books

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  • The Get Well Soon Book (2000)
  • Eat Your Peas (2000)
  • Who's Poorly Too? (2000)
  • Really, Really (2002)
  • Toffee and Marmalade (2002)
  • Billy's Bucket (2003)
  • Our Twitchy (2003)
  • Baby On Board (2003)
  • Cluck O'clock (2003)
  • You Do! (2003)
  • If I Was Boss (2004)
  • Yuk! (2004)
  • Ever So Ever So (2004)
  • A Bunch of Daisies (2005)
  • Vesuvius Poovius (2006) (with Chris Mould)
  • Mummy Goes to Work (2006)
  • aka My Mum Goes to Work
  • Double Trouble (2006)
  • Twoo Twit (2006)
  • 006 and a Half: A Daisy Book (2007)
  • Tiger Ways (2007)
  • First Day (2007)
  • Accidentally, On Purpose (2008)
  • Super Daisy (2009)
  • Mum and Dad Glue (2009)
  • Leave Me Alone (2011)
  • Nuddy Ned (2013)
  • Pepe Takes a Tumble (2013)
  • Mice in the Churchyard (2013)
  • Peas & Tickles Double Daisy (2013)
  • Tigers & Spies Double Daisy (2013)
  • Oi Frog (2014) (with Jim Field)
  • Worries Go Away! (2014)
  • How Many Legs? (2015)
  • Zippo the Super Hippo (2015)
  • Frog on a Log? (2015)
  • Quick Quack Quentin (2016)
  • Oi Dog! (2016)
  • Ready Steady Mo! (2016) (with Mo Farah)
  • Nuddy Ned's Christmas (2016)
  • Nuddy Ned's Christmas (2016)
  • Oi Dog!: Board Book (2017) (with Claire Gray)
  • Dog on a Frog? (2017) (with Claire Gray)
  • Oi Cat (2017)
  • The Night Before the Night Before Christmas (2018) (with Claire Powell)
  • Think Big (2019)
  • Oi Puppies! (2019)
  • The Diddle That Dummed (2020)
  • The Night After Christmas (2020)
  • Brrr! (2022)

Chapter Books

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  • Duperball (2007)

References

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  1. ^ "Kes Gray". Fantastic Fiction.
  2. ^ "Kes Gray". Penguin Books. 20 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Ooooh... The bike accident that changed Kes Gray's life". East Anglian Daily Times. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Oi Frog and Friends Collection".
  5. ^ "Gray, Kes". BookTrust.
  6. ^ "Kes Gray". Hachette. May 14, 2019.
  7. ^ "Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards 2020". www.booktrust.org.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  8. ^ "The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2023 - Past winners". Scholastic Shop. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  9. ^ "The Children's Book Award | 2001 | Awards and Honors | LibraryThing". LibraryThing.com. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Children's Book Award | Past Winners 1981 - 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  11. ^ "'Harry Potter' is pipped for award". The Independent. 9 June 2001. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Oi Frog & Friends!". Nimax Theatres. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  13. ^ "Oi Frog & Friends! Comes to Frensham". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  14. ^ Wiegand, Chris (December 9, 2019). "Oi Frog and Friends! review – a wild time for fans of rhyme". The Guardian.
  15. ^ Masso, Giverny (2020-03-03). "Olivier Awards 2020: the nominations in full". The Stage.
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