John Farndon

John Farndon (born 1960) is a British writer of books, plays and music. He is best known as a writer of, and contributor to, science books for children. He has published over 300 books and been shortlisted three times for the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.^{[Note 1]} He was also shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award for the 'Best Book with Facts' in 2012.^[1]

His 2007 publication, Do Not Open, was listed on both the New York Times and Washington Post best-seller lists. His 2014 book Do You Think You're Clever?, also an international bestseller, was short-listed for the 'Society of Authors - Education Award'.^[2]

Biography

Farndon studied Earth sciences and English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge University.^[3] He is a 'Royal Literary Fellow' at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge).

Farndon was described by the Royal Literary Fund as "a writer of non-fiction books, and a playwright, lyricist, composer and literary translator. Spurred by intense intellectual curiosity, his interests range widely and he writes on topics from chemistry to China".^[4]

He has published over 300 books in most major languages.^[5]

His 2007 publication, Do Not Open, was listed on both the New York Times and Washington Post best-seller lists.^[4]

In 2014 the Daily Telegraph reviewed Farndon's book for 'would be' Oxbridge students, Do You Still Think You’re Clever?, where he explains how to tackle the toughest “unaswerable” question and win a university place.^[6]

According to the Royal Literary Fund (See Note 1 below) Farndon has been shortlisted a record four times for the junior Science Book prize .^[4]

Publications

His titles include:^[1][7]

• How the Earth Works (1993), Dorling Kindersley (26 Aug. 1999) ISBN 978-0751308303. Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.
• What Happens When? (1 November 1996), Scholastic Corporation, ISBN 978-0590847544. Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.
• Pocket Encyclopedia, (1997), Dorling Kindersley
• The Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia (15 Sept 1998), Contributor, Published by Kingfisher Publications, ISBN 978-0753451359
• 1000 Things You Should Know About Geography, (1 Aug 2000), Miles Kelly Publishing
• Investigate: Human Body, (2000), Parragon Plus, ISBN 978-0752536606
• 4000 Things You Should Know, (27 May 2000), Miles Kelly Publishing, ISBN 978-1902947341
• Childrens Encyclopedia, (3 July 2000), HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
• 4000 More Things You Should Know, (10 Mar 2001), Miles Kelly Publishing, ISBN 978-1902947785
• The Complete Book of the Brain (18 May 2000), Hodder Wayland, ISBN 978-0750028547. Short listed for the 'Aventis Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize'.
• Big Book of the Brain, (May 18, 2000), Hodder Wayland
• Science Experiment series; (2001; 2002; 2003), published by Benchmark Publications
  • Color;
  • Electricity;
  • Light and Optics;
  • Sound and Hearing;
  • Water;
  • Gravity,
  • Weight and Balance;
  • Flight; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' & 'Editors' Choice' by American Association for the Advancement of Science - 'AAAS Science, Books and Films' (2002)
  • The Human Body; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' by American Association for the Advancement of Science - 'AAAS Science, Books and Films' (2002)
  • Levers, Wheels, and Pulleys;
  • Magnetism;
  • Solids, Liquids, and Gases;
  • Chemicals;
  • Motion;
  • Rocks and Minerals;
  • Time;
  • Buoyancy
• The Big Book of Knowledge, (Jan 2002), co-authored with Angela Koo, Parragon, ISBN 978-0752592176
• 1000 Facts on Human Body, (2 Apr 2002), Miles Kelly Publishing, ISBN 978-1842360828
• 1000 Things You Should Know About World Geography (1 May 2005), Miles Kelly Publishing, ISBN 978-1842366349
• Space (2005)
• Bird Flu, Everything You Should Know, (2005) published by The Disinformation Company,^[8]
• Science Investigations: Electricity, (7 September 2006) Hodder Wayland. Shortlisted for Royal Society / Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) Science Book prize.^[9]
• Do Not Open: An encyclopedia of the world's best-kept secrets (October 25, 2007) published by Dorling Kindersley
• Great Scientists: from Euclid to Stephen Hawking, (2007), ISBN 978-0760791974
• The Complete Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils of the World, (1 Jun 2009), Co-author with Steve Parker, Lorenz Educational Press, ISBN 978-0754817369
• The World's Greatest Idea, (2010), Icon Books, ISBN 978-1848312456
• Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions, (3 Jun 2010), Co-author with Libby Purves. Icon Books, ISBN 978-1848311329. Short-listed for the 'Society of Authors Education Award'.
• The Story of Science and Technology (A Journey Through History), (15 August 2010), Published by Rosen Publishing, ISBN 978-1448806218
• What do We Know About Stars and Galaxies, (1 Aug 2011), Raintree Publishing, SBN13 9781410941862
• Atlas of Oceans, on endangered life in the oceans. (2011) Published by Yale University Press in the USA, A & C Black in the UK, Australian Geographic in Australia. Listed by The Globe and Mail (Canada) as a 2011 top ten science book.
• Atlas of Oceans: An Ecological Survey of Underwater Life, (22 Feb 2011), Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300167504
• Atlas of Oceans: A Fascinating Hidden World, (15 Mar 2011), Thomas Reed Publications, ISBN 978-1408131114
• Oil, (January 16, 2012), Dorling Kindersley,
• Discover the Extreme World (2012), Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele, Miles Kelly Publishing, ISBN 978-1848109087. Sh* Atlas of Oceans, on endangered life in the oceans. Published by Yale University Press in the USA, A & C Black in the UK, Australian Geographic in Australia. Listed by The Globe and Mail (Canada) as a 2011 top ten science book.ortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award for the 'Best Book with Facts'.
• Super Bright Baby: 50 Things You Really Need to Know, (7 November 2013), Quercus, ISBN 978-1782061366
• Do You Still Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions, (6 Nov 2014), Icon Books, ISBN 978-1848316294
• Do You Still Think You're Clever?: Even More Oxford and Cambridge Questions!, (Feb 17, 2015) Icon Books, ISBN 1848319320
• The Illustrated Wildlife Encyclopedia: Bugs & Minibeasts: Beetles, Bugs, Butterflies, Moths, Insects, Spiders, (April 7, 2015) contributory author with Barbara Taylor and Jen Green
• Stuff You Need to Know, (30 July 2015), co-author with Rob Beattie, Firefly Books, ISBN 978-1770854949
• Project Body (1 Aug 2015), Miles Kelly Publishing Toy edition, ISBN 978-1782098225. Short listed for 2016 Royal Society's young people's prize.^[10][11]
• Stuff You Should Know, (15 Oct. 2015) QED Publishing, ISBN 978-1784932992
• The Illustrated Guide to Rocks & Minerals: How to Find, Identify and Collect the World’s Most Fascinating Specimens, (15 October 2015), Southwater; ISBN 978-1780190853
• So, You Think You're Clever? (10 May 2016), Icon Books, ISBN 978-1848319325
• The Omnipaedia: Learn Everything you Need to in a Year (1 Dec 2016), Square Peg Publishing, ISBN 978-0224095709

Awards

According to John Farndon.com.^[9]

Reviews

Review in Publishers Weekly

Notes and references