Robert Leeson

Robert Arthur Leeson (31 March 1928, Northwich, Cheshire[1] – 29 September 2013)[2] was an English author, mainly known for his children's books. Before becoming a writer, he worked as Literary Editor of the left-wing British newspaper the Morning Star.[3]

Leeson was a prolific writer, having had more than 70 books for young people published between 1973 and 2003. His books include several historical novels, such as Beyond the Dragon Prow, about a crippled Viking boy.[4] Leeson produced a trilogy about a British family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Maroon Boy (1974), Bess, and The White Horse (1977). The White Horse revolves around a young man who fights on the Roundhead side during the English Civil War.[5] Leeson also wrote The Third Class Genie (1975) (a humorous fantasy novel), and the science-fiction Time Rope (1986) and Zania Experiment (1993) series.[3][4] Leeson wrote social realist novels such as It's My Life (1980), about a teenage girl who has to look after her family after her mother walks out on them.[3] Silver's Revenge is a humorous sequel to Treasure Island, and Candy for the King is a fairytale about a giant influenced by Voltaire's Candide.[4] Leeson's Reading and Righting: the past, present and future of Fiction for the young (1985) is a history of children's literature. He also wrote for radio, television and the theatre.

Bibliography
  • United We Stand (1971)
  • Strike (1973)
  • Beyond the Dragon Prow (1973)
  • Maroon Boy (1974)
  • The Third Class Genie (1975)
  • The Demon Bike Rider (1976)
  • Children's Books and Class Society (1977)
  • The White Horse (1977)
  • The Cimaroons (1978)
  • Challenge in the Dark (1978)
  • Silver's Revenge (1978)
  • Travelling Brothers (1979)
  • It's My Life (1980)
  • Harold and Bella, Jammy and Me (1980)
  • Bess (1983)
  • Candy for King (1983)
  • The People's Dream (1983)
  • Mum and Dad's Big Business (1983)
  • Genie on the Loose (1984)
  • The Adventures of Baxter and Co. (1984)
  • Reading and Righting: The Past, Present and Future of Fiction for the young (1985)
  • Time Rope (1986)
  • Wheel of Danger (1986)
  • At War With Tomorrow (1986)
  • Three Against the World (1986)
  • The Metro Gangs Attack (1986)
  • The Reversible Giant (1986)
  • Slambash Wangs of a Compo Gormer (1987)
  • Never Kiss Frogs (1988)
  • Burper (1989)
  • How Alice Saved Captain Miracle (1989)
  • Hey Robin (1989)
  • Right Royal Kidnap (1990)
  • Jan Alone (1990)
  • Fire on the Cloud (1991)
  • Coming Home (1991)
  • One Frog Too Many (1991)
  • Pancake Pickle (1991)
  • Landing in Cloud Valley (1991)
  • April Fool at Hob Lane School (1991)
  • Never Kiss Frogs (1992)
  • No Sleep for Hob Lane (1993)
  • Karlo's Tale (1993)
  • Hide And Seek (1993)
  • The Last Genie (1993)
  • Ghosts at Hob Lane (1993)
  • Smart Girls (1993)
  • Deadline (1993)
  • Danger Trail (1993)
  • Blast Off! (1993)
  • The Dog Who Changed the World (1994)
  • The Story of Robin Hood (1994)
  • Swapper (1994)
  • All the Gold in the World (1995)
  • Red, White and Blue (1995)
  • The Amazing Adventures of Idle Jack (1995)
  • Smart Girls Forever (1996)
  • Lucky Lad! (1997)
  • Doomwater (1997)
  • Geraldine Gets Lucky (1997)
  • Tom's Private War (1998)
  • Trwco (1998)
  • Why's the Cow on the Roof? (1999)
  • Liar (1999)
  • The Song of Arthur (2000)
  • Ruth (2000)
  • My sister Shahrazad: Tales from the Arabian Nights (2001)
  • Tom's War Patrol (2001)
  • Tom's War (2003) (Omnibus of Tom's Private War and Tom's War Patrol).
  • Partners in Crime (2003)
  • Onda, Wind-Rider (2003)

TV tie-ins
  • Grange Hill Rules OK? (1980).
  • Grange Hill Goes Wild (1980).
  • Grange Hill for Sale (1981). Novel
  • Grange Hill Home and Away (1982).
  • Forty Days of Tucker J., 1983.

References
  1. http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=robert&lastname=leeson&eventyear=1928&eventyear_offset=0
  2. Colin Chambers, "Robert Leeson obituary", The Guardian, 20 November 2013.
  3. Humphrey Carpenter and Mari Prichard, The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-19-860228-6, p. 308.
  4. Emer O'Sullivan, Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature. Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 0-8108-6080-5, p. 156.
  5. Richard Phillips. “Politics of Reading: Decolonizing Children's Geographies.” Ecumene, vol. 8, no. 2, 2001, pp. 125–150.
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