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Jeremy Strong (18 November 1949 – 4 August 2024) was an English writer known for his children's books. Strong wrote and published over 100 novels for children and young adults and is best-known for his children's series The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog.^[1] His work were known for humour, wordplay and has been described as encouraging "reading amongst ordinary children."^[2] Strong won the Children's Book award in 1997 and his books have been adapted for television including the BBC's There's a Viking in My Bed.

Jeremy James Strong was born in New Eltham in London on 18 November 1949.^[3] His parents were Charles Strong, a pharmacist and Una, a primary school teacher and he has two brothers, Michael and Aidan and a sister, Jenny.^[4] He attended Wyborne Primary School, east London, Haberdashers Aske's Boys' School and the University of York where he first studied music before changing courses to English.

After he graduated university, he became a primary school teacher whilst still pursuing his ambition to become a writer. His first teaching position was at Sevenoaks, Kent in 1976. He became deputy head teacher at Birchwood primary and then headteacher of Culverstone Green primary.^[1] Strong published his first book Smith's Tail, a picture story for young children in 1978. Strong left teaching in 1991 and wrote full-time for the rest of his life.

Jeremy Strong won the Children's Book Award (UK) (previously the Red House Children's Book Award) in 1997 for The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog. He won the Sheffield Children's Book Award for Short Novel in 1998 for Pirate Pandemonium and then in 2001 for Living with Vampires.

Jeremy Strong is the author of more than 100 books for young children, and he had a special interest in encouraging children to become independent readers.^[5] He also wrote books for teens and non-fiction.

• Giant Jim and the Hurricane (1998)
• Dinosaur Pox (1999)
• I'm Telling You, They're Aliens! (2000)
• The Shocking Adventures of Lightning Lucy (2002)
• The Beak Speaks (2003)
• My Mum's Going to Explode! (2007)
• My Granny's Great Escape (2007)
• My Dad's Got an Alligator! (2007)
• Krazy-Kow Saves the World - Well Almost (2007)
• Chicken School (2007)
• Killers Tomatoes (2007)
• Weird (2008)
• The Battle for Christmas (2008)
• Invasion of the Christmas Puddings (2008)
• Krankenstein's Crazy House of Horror (2009)
• We Want to be on the Telly! (2010)
• Doctor Bonkers! (2010)
• Batpants! (2010)
• Batpants and the Vanishing Elephant (2011)

His humorous writing often makes use of his childhood and primary teaching experiences. His story There's A Viking In My Bed was made into a BBC children's TV series and he has won several awards including the prestigious "Children's Book Award 1997" for The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog, the "Manchester Book Award" for his teen novel Stuff and the "Sheffield Book Award" for Beware, Killer Tomatoes.

Strong's final novel, Fox Goes North was published posthumously by Scholastic in October 2024. The story tells of a band of animal companions who travel northwards in a topsy-turvey caravan on their quest to see the Northern Lights. For the elderly fox, it will be her final journey. In an interview with Nikkki Gamble, Strong said that as he was writing the story, he became aware that he was writing the story of his own journey too.^[6]

Strong married his first wife Susan Noot, a teacher, in 1973 and they had two children together, Daniel and Jessica. They divorced and in 2006 Strong met Gillian Dean and they married two years later. Strong has two stepdaughters, from his second marriage, Rosa and Isabel. He lived in Bradford-on-Avon, near Bath in England with his wife Gillie and their two cats and four hens.^[4]

Jeremy Strong died on 4 August 2024, aged 74, from bone cancer.^[1]

• Official website
• Jeremy Strong at British Council: Literature
• Jeremy Strong at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Jeremy Strong at Library of Congress
• Jeremy Strong at IMDb
• Jeremy Strong discography at Discogs