Jon Blake (author)

Jon Blake (born 1954 in Mortimer, Berkshire) [1] is the author of over sixty works for children and teenagers. He was brought up in Southampton and has lived in Cardiff since 1987.

His works include the picture book "You're A Hero, Daley B" (illustrated by Axel Scheffler, worldwide sales of over 200,000), as well as "Little Stupendo", which was shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award.[2]

In 1995 Jon's TV play 'Life' was shortlisted for a Writers Guild Award, while in 2002 he won a BBC Talent award [3] for his adult radio sitcom "Degrees R Us", which was broadcast on BBC Radio Wales. In 2017 'Thimble Monkey Superstar', featuring a narrator with cerebral palsy based on Jon's son, was shortlisted for the Lollies (Laugh Out Loud awards).[4] 'Thimble Monkey Superstar', published by Cardiff's Firefly Press,[5] was the eighth of Jon's books to be illustrated by Martin Chatterton.[6]

Jon is particularly noted for original and anarchic humour,[7] typified by "Stinky Finger's House of Fun" and the subsequent "House of Fun" series illustrated by David Roberts. However, he has also written radical young adult fiction, such as anti-privatisation thriller "The Last Free Cat".[8] and an adult novel, '69ers', based on the 1969 (Bob Dylan) Isle of Wight Festival.[9]