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Ruth Whenham began her career as a freelance writer a short time before reaching her 40th birthday. To say it was something of a mid-life crisis would be absolutely true! A graduate of Human Psychology and a former employee of the National Health Service, Ruth now splits her time between writing, looking after her family (she has two children) and volunteering at her local Citizens' Advice Bureau.
Ruth combines jaunty rhyming verse, humour and great characters to create stories that are entertaining for young children and for their parents alike!
To date, Ruth has published six children's picture books; all of which have been illustrated by talented artist, Emma K.L. Hunt.
Here is a brief summary of Ruth's six books:
My Crazy Purple Pen - featuring a crazy purple pen (funnily enough!) and a whole host of other fun characters who get caught up in the magic pen's cheeky mischief.
The Day My Teacher Came to Tea - a story about a cheeky boy whose mean teacher comes to tea, and the farce that ensues.
Birthday Cake Disaster - a tale about a girl baking a cake with her dad, or at least trying to. It's okay, the ending is a happy one, despite the title!
Captain Sillyvoice and his Pirate Band - a swashbuckling adventure featuring the very amiable Captain Sillyvoice and his rather unusual crew. In this tale these awesome pirates find a way to have fun, be themselves and become a success on the high seas.
Captain Sillyvoice Takes to the Stage - the Captain and his crew return for another fun-filled adventure during which they find themselves up against the big and mean Captain Scaryscar in a singing competition. How will they and the other pirate stars of the show get on, and who will be crowned the Sea Shanty King?
Captain Sillyvoice and the Sea Monster - Captain Sillyvoice is in a spot of bother once again! A hungry sea monster is heading towards his ship and there seems to be no way past. Join in the fun as the ever-so-nice Captain and his awesome crew try to reach their fans over on Blue Banana Beach. They have a pirate poptastic show to perform after all.
To find out more about Ruth Whenham and her books, you can visit her website at www.whenham.com or her Facebook page www.facebook.com/RuthWhenhamBooks. She is always keen to hear from readers.
Reviewed by Hilary Hawkes for Readers' Favorite
My Crazy Purple Pen is written by Ruth Whenham and illustrated by Emma K.L. Hunt. It is a charming, very funny and well-written rhyming story about a boy’s purple pen that gets up to all sorts of mischief writing inky notes with rather personal messages on them for different people. The man picking his nose at the bus stop, Mr Yeti the teacher, and even the Queen herself fall victim to the mischievous purple pen. A police inspector visits, but the pen manages to outwit him and isn’t discovered. So what would cause Purple Pen to behave like this and can the little boy who owns it come up with a solution?
I loved Ruth Whenham’s My Crazy Purple Pen – a well-thought out and nicely written rhyming tale with lots of humor and mischief. Young children will love the idea of Purple Pen writing all those notes with messages that others might think, but would be too polite to say! The story links the antics of the pen to feelings of loneliness and boredom, and gives an adult sharing this story with a child the chance to talk about feelings and behavior, and why the naughty pen/the little boy might be getting up to these tricks.
The story is illustrated on every page with Emma Hunt’s wonderfully attractive and bright illustrations. There are lots of little details in the pictures which will give young readers plenty of extra funny things to notice and point out as the story unfolds. I loved the use of speech bubbles in addition to the main text too, and the intriguing final message to the little boy from the Purple Pen. An entertaining story that can be shared with a young child or group of children. The rhyming style makes it attractive for emerging readers to read for themselves as well. Just lovely. Recommended.
