Kaye Umansky

They are now published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Pongwiffy's '21st Birthday' was recently celebrated with the release of the seventh title in the series, Pongwiffy: Back on Track.

They have been published in various countries in Europe.

Kaye Umansky (born 6 December 1946) is an English children's author and poet.

She has written over 130 books for children and her work ranges from picture books to novels.

She is best known for the Pongwiffy & Jim Series.

Kaye Umansky was born in Plymouth, Devon.

Her mother was a music teacher and encouraged her to play from a young age and her father was also a teacher who encouraged her reading.

As an only child, Kaye wrote stories and plays, which she tried to get her friends to act in.

After Kaye left school, she went to London to train as a teacher.

Kaye enjoyed teaching music, drama and creative writing, but not mathematics.

Alongside her husband, Kaye formed a soul band and played in the evenings and at weekends; she says they "never became rich and famous, but we had a lot of fun".

She continued writing as a hobby and began writing full-time when her daughter was born.

She lives in North London with her husband Mo, an engineer, they have been together over 30 years.

She has a daughter called Ella.

She has an extended family of step children and step grandchildren.

She got two katen named: Jeremy and Heathcliff.

Umansky got her first children's book published in 1986.

The book was a collection of songs for children and was called Phantasmagoria.

Kaye still writes music books, along with plays, poems, novels and picture books.

But she is best known as the creator of Pongwiffy

She cites Richmal Crompton and Terry Pratchett as two of her biggest literary influences and her style has been compared to that of Roald Dahl and Eva Ibbotson.

Originally published by A & C Black, then in paperback by Penguin Books, the first Pongwiffy book, Pongwiffy: A Witch of Dirty Habits, was published in 1987.

The 1993 Nottinghamshire Book Award for Pongwiffy and the Spell of the Year; the 1999 Times Educational Supplement Junior Music Book Award for Three Rapping Rats; the 2005 Spoken Word Award for the audio version of The Silver Spoon Of Solomon Snow, read by Rik Mayall.

Four scary stories written in verse, the last is a compilation.

About a Pirate called Buster Gutt and his arch enemy Admiral Ainsley Goldglove.

The Curtain Up! series are plays written for primary school children, ages 5–12.

The Giant books follows Waldo the Giant and his beloved, Heavy Hetty.

They are illustrated by Doffy Weir.

Three stories of a gaggle of Goblins.

Stories told in rhyme for 3-7 year olds.

The Nonsense Rhymes series are a collections of rhymes, illustrated by Chris Fisher.

The PlayReaders series consists of four short plays.

The Quest for 100 Gold Coins series is a four-part adventure about Nev Niceguy and his quest.

The Sir Quinton Quest series follows an explorer and his faithful long-suffering butler, Muggins who go off on expeditions.

A mock-Victorian adventure of a young Solomon Snow, his friend Prudence, a six-year-old girl named Rosabella, and her cute little bunny, Mr. Skippy.

The Sophie Rabbit series are about a rabbit called Sophie.

They have published as audio books, read by Prunella Scales, and as a cartoon TV series of 13 episodes which was first aired on ITV1 between June & September 2002.

Pongwiffy was voiced by Dawn French and Pongwiffy's best friend, Sharkadder, was voiced by Jennifer Saunders.

In 2008, she was a judge for the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize for humorous children's literature.

In 2010 a new Pongwiffy title appeared in a flip-book alongside a story by Phillip Ardagh as one of the official publications for World Book Day.