Janet Roberts

Janet is a retired primary school deputy head. Several years ago she gave up her job, sold her house and bought a narrowboat. She now lives aboard with her husband Mike and Chico their Jack Russell, spending her time writing books and touring primary schools promoting literacy.

Janet says:

My Dad was the best story teller I ever heard. With a few simple words he could make my childhood toys come alive, involving me and them in amazing adventures. I have always tried to reproduce the love of stories he gave me in my own children and the many hundreds of children I have taught since. One of the things I enjoy most is reading to children, seeing their faces light up as their imagination forms the words into pictures in their heads.

So after years of reading lots of books by inspiring authors I've finally had the time to write my own. Chico Chugg is the name of my own dog and his adventures and the many scrapes he gets himself into give me lots of inspiration for these stories. They are written to be as enjoyable to read aloud as they are to read to yourself, so children from five years upwards can enjoy the funny predicaments that Chico often finds himself in.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading these books as much as I've enjoyed writing them. I wish everyone could have a little ‘Chico’ in their lives!

I was thrilled in 2011 when my first book 'The Misadventures of Chico Chugg' was nominated for the Peoples' Book Prize. We got all the way to the finals and attended a very posh 'do' near St Paul's in London. You can see my People's Book Prize interview above. Though we didn't win first prize I was very excited to meet the other authors. I even spoke to Frederick Forsyth who wrote 'The Day of the Jackal'. (I thought of calling my second book 'The Day of the Jack Russell' in his honour but Mike talked me out of it!)