John Dougherty (author)

John Dougherty is a Northern Irish children's writer, born in the town of Larne in 1964. He now lives in Gloucestershire.

He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s; during this period, he began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career.

From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group (CWIG), a sub-group of the UK's Society of Authors.

Published books
all above illustrated by David Tazzyman
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Badness of Badgers (2014)
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine (2014)
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Evilness of Pizza (2015)
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Bees of Stupidity (2015)
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers (2016)
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Kerfuffle Christmas Kidnap (2016)


 * Picture books
 * There's a Pig Up My Nose (2017), with illustrator Laura Hughes
 * The Hare-Shaped Hole (2023), with illustrator Thomas Docherty


 * Zeus
 * Zeus on the Loose (2004)
 * Zeus to the Rescue (2007)
 * Zeus Sorts It Out (2011)


 * Bansi O'Hara
 * Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy (2008)
 * Bansi O'Hara and the Edges of Hallowe'en (2011)


 * Jack Slater
 * Jack Slater, Monster Investigator (2006)
 * Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom (2009)


 * Stand-alones
 * Niteracy Hour (2005)
 * Mark & Shark: Detectiving & Stuff (2019)


 * Reading books for schools include
 * Finn MacCool & the Giant's Causeway (2011) - a retelling of the Irish legend for the Oxford Reading Tree
 * Twice Upon a Time (2014) - part of the Treetops Chucklers (OUP) range
 * A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range
 * The Story of Sir Dave (2014) - part of the OUP Project X range
 * The Tempest (2015) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range
 * Astron (2015) - for the Oxford Reading Tree
 * The Fall of Julius Caesar (2017) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range
 * Antony & Cleopatra (2017) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range
 * Holiday of a Lifetime (2019) - for Treetops (OUP)


 * Poetry
 * Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies (2016), illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones

Awards and nominations

 * Zeus on the Loose was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2005
 * Niteracy Hour was shortlisted for the Nottingham Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Coventry Inspiration Raring 2 Read Award 2008
 * Jack Slater, Monster Investigator was shortlisted for the Ottakars' Children's Book Prize 2006
 * Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers was shortlisted for the inaugural Eugenie Summerfield Children's Book Prize 2018
 * There's a Pig Up My Nose won Oscar's Book Prize 2018
 * Mark & Shark: Detecting & Stuff was a runner-up in the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards 2021