Ivan Jones (author)

Ivan Jones is a British writer of fiction. His work includes novels, picture books, plays, poetry anthologies, television series and many adaptations for BBC Radio.

Novels and Picture Books

Jones' best known novels are "The Ghost Hunter" series, published by Scholastic. ["Ghost Stories, Sunny Side Up - Daily Telegraph"] The books were adapted into three six-part series for BBC Television. The first series was broadcast in 2000, second series in 2001 and the third series in 2002. They are still being shown in the U.K and in other parts of the world. Ref:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mhhc

"The Ghost Hunter" and "The Ghost Hunter at Chillwood Castle" have also been published as an audiobook and in large print. The Ghost Hunter is also published in Japanese.

His picture books, including "The Golden Cage" (Andersen Press), and "The Lazy Giant" (Oxford University Press) and in the USA (Dingles & Co) are written in a classic fairy-tale style and contain a moral. "The Golden Cage" is illustrated by Ken Brown and is also published in France and Sweden. His best-selling stories about Zot the Dog, published by Puffin Books, are humorous and zany. The first title, "Adventures of Zot the Dog", was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Julia Eccleshare when it was first published. Other titles followed: "Zot's Treasures, Zot Solves It" and "Zot Goes Camping." The books are illustrated by Judy Brown. The stories were adapted into a 13-part animated cartoon series for ITV [ [http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8130 "Zot the Dog"] ] and subsequently released on video. [see You-Tube for clip and Amazon for book details] The books were dramatized for Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre and the production ran for 88 performances in Birmingham, as well as touring schools nationally.

Plays

Early in his career, Jones wrote a weekly comedy for BBC Radio called "Lost Hollow." Lost Hollow is the name of the village round which the series was based; a village cut off from the outside world and full of eccentric characters such as Reginald Pustule Quatt and Madame Cochon. Parts of the drama are satirical, while other parts are gently humorous - exaggerating rivalries and characters of village life. The series ran for 60 episodes and was produced and directed by Diane Kemp.

Ivan Jones' play, "Shelter", was one of the winning entries for the Midlands New Writers Festival. This is a moving, sometimes tragic, play with powerful themes of homelessness and fantasy. It contains strong characters and explores such themes as young love, anger, religion and escapism. The central character's obsession with James Bond is both a parody of Fleming's character but also an exploration of the power of such a character on the workings and imaginings of a young person's mind. Jones' stage play "Winterblock's Ghost" was performed at Leicester Haymarket, with the lead role played by Colin Hurley. This is a play in the absurdist tradition. It uses black humour and grotesque characters. All the action takes place in the offices of an educational bureaucracy where absurd struggles for power take place - and where a ghost seeks revenge.

Poems

As well as his other writing, Jones has published many poems for adults and children, including the very successful, "Good Night, Sleep Tight," which is published by Scholastic and Scholastic Inc (USA). The book contains a poem for every night of the year (365 in all) and each month is illustrated by a different, well-known artist. (quote from Amazon: "I think this is a wonderful, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural group of poems. My son is entranced by them and loves the format of a poem for each night. The poems are a combination of classic and new, and the illustrations are lovely. My son is 4 and developing a love of poetry.' [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/043918813X customer review on Amazon] ]

Many of Jones' poems were commissioned for BBC schools' radio, including several about Kochi in India, viz: The Chinese Fishermen at Kochi; Water City; Monsoon Storm). Other commissioned works included poems about "birds" and "the sea". Numerous other poems appear in collections such as "I Love You, Football" & "I Wanna Be Your Mate," (edited by Tony Bradman) and "Spooky Poems", (published by Scholastic).

Adaptations

He has adapted many children's books for Radio 4 and Radio 7 including:

"The Machine Gunners" by Robert Westall "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko "The Pig Scrolls" by Paul Shipton "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver "The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy" by Lloyd Alexander "Chinese Cinderella" by Adeline Yen Mah "The Daydreamer" by Ian McEwan.

References