Denis Bond, (born 22 November 1946) is a British writer of children's books and television. His TV programmes include '' The Munch Bunch'' and '' Picme'', and his books include ''Avenue'', ''Pop Rivals'' and, for younger children, ''The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry''.

ITV series

Bond was trained in drama at the

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...

and acted on stage and TV. After a period of working as a teacher, he was commissioned to write 26 episodes for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series ''

Pipkins ''Pipkins'' (originally ''Inigo Pipkin'') is a British children's TV programme. Hartley Hare, Pig, Topov, Octavia and the gang were the stars of ATV's pre-school series which ran from January 1973 to 29 December 1981. ''Pipkins'' was one of th ...

''. He also wrote for the series ''

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

'', ''

Let's Pretend ''Let's Pretend'', created and directed by Nila Mack, was a CBS radio series for children. Prior to being renamed ''Let's Pretend'', the program had a variety of titles and formats. In its most famous form, ''Let's Pretend'', the Peabody Award- ...

'' and ''The Munch Bunch''.

''The Munch Bunch''

Although ''Rainbow'' remains a cult classic, the ''Munch Bunch'' stands alone among the three for being written entirely by Bond. He had already begun written a series of ''Munch Bunch'' books launched under the pseudonym Giles Reed a year previously.

Dagon

His next publishing venture was a series of books about Dagon, a boy from space. These were published, like the ''Munch Bunch'', by the Ipswich-based Studio Publications, but both ranges were terminated when a fire at Studio Publications destroyed all of the original artwork.

Scholastic

Bond had, however, already moved on by then. He had two novels published by Methuen but success really came when he began being published by Scholastic. His first book for the publishers was ''The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire'' (1990) and, by 1994, he was having books for teenagers published as well. These included three books for Scholastic's Point Romance series under the pseudonym Denise Colby, a clear reference to the US TV series ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', as well as a feminisation of his own name, ''No 1'', an in-depth look at the dark side of the pop music scene, and ''Avenue'', about a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

''Picme''

Bond returned to the field of television with '' Picme'' an animated educational series written for the Irish broadcasters

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

. This has been nominated for a BAFTA.

Workshops

As well as continuing to write, Denis Bond regularly conducts writing workshops at schools and libraries both in the UK and abroad.

Select bibliography

For younger readers

*''The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire'' (1990) *''The Train Who Was Frightened of the Dark'' (1992) *''The Granny Who Wasn't Like Other Grannies'' (1993) *''The Monster Who Couldn't Scare Anyone'' (1994) *''The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry'' (1996) *''The Shark Who Bit Things He Shouldn't'' (1998) *''The Big Bad Story Book'' (containing, ''The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry'', ''The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire'' and ''The Monster Who Couldn't Scare Anyone'') (2000) *''The Very Clever Farmer'' (illustrated by Steve Cox) (2000) Except where stated, all of the above titles are illustrated by Valeria Petrone.

For teenagers

*''No 1'' (1995) *''Avenue'' (2000) *''Pop Rivals'' (2004) a condensed version of ''No 1'' published by Red Fox

Point Romance (as Denise Colby)

*''Two Weeks in Paradise'' (1994) *''Spotlight On Love'' (1995) *''Love Letters'' (1997)

External links

Denis Bond's website

The Denis Bond page at www.contemporarywriters.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Denis 1952 births Alumni of Rose Bruford College English children's writers Living people