Novels and Picture Books
Jones' best known novels are The Ghost Hunter series, published by Scholastic and Kindle 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. One of the main characters in the series was Mrs Croker, played by Jean Marsh ( who also acted in Upstairs Downstairs). Will Theakston played Roddy Oliver. The ghost boy, William Povey, was played by Lee Godwin and Roddy's sister was played by Verity-Jane Dearsley.
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. The Ghost Hunter's House of Horror was the third book published by Scholastic.
His picture books, including The Golden Cage (Andersen Press), and The Lazy Giant (Oxford University Press, illustrated by Dee Shulman) 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 (By Gallimard) and in 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 first noticed by Elizabeth Attenborough when the manuscript arrived at Penguin Books. The book originally published in hardback, was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Julia Eccleshare.
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 and subsequently released on video. The books were dramatized for Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre and the production ran for 88 performances in Birmingham, as well as touring schools nationally. Jones has published other books, notably The Battle for Muck Farm, (Hodder and Stoughton, illustrated by Georgie Birkett,) which is a magical fantasy about a girl called Kitty and her strange and mysterious horse friend, Humpy Lumpy.
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Famous quotes containing the words novels, picture and/or books:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock n roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. Material Differences, Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The explanation of the propensity of the English people to portrait painting is to be found in their relish for a Fact. Let a man do the grandest things, fight the greatest battles, or be distinguished by the most brilliant personal heroism, yet the English people would prefer his portrait to a painting of the great deed. The likeness they can judge of; his existence is a Fact. But the truth of the picture of his deeds they cannot judge of, for they have no imagination.”
—Benjamin Haydon (17861846)
“The Brahmins say that in their books there are many predictions of times in which it will rain. But press those books as strongly as you can, you can not get out of them a drop of water. So you can not get out of all the books that contain the best precepts the smallest good deed.”
—Leo Tolstoy (18281910)