Award winning teenage author Ben Spies from New Zealand writes children's books, inspired by the likes of Andy Griffiths, David Walliams, Roald Dahl and Rick Riordan. His first book "Weirdo" was written when Ben was only nine years old! Soon after, Ben wrote "The Magic Pencil" at age ten; an action packed adventure for kids aged 8+. As Ben grows, so does his characters whilst his books gain an older audience such as his latest release - "The World of Greek Mythology." Fueled by gory battles and dark myths, inspired by the Percy Jackson series by American writer Rick Riordan, Ben still manages to keep his quirky humour as we follow his personal take on some of the greatest and mightiest gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. "The World of Greek Mythology" was a bronze medal winner at the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards 2019 in the United States. This has been echoed by reviewers across the industry. The NZ Booksellers Association’s reviewer Rachel Moore says, “Spies writes in a lively, fast-paced style, with lots of jokes and asides to his readers. He knows his audience well”. Alex Mitcalfe from NZ Reviews of Books writes, “The tone throughout is generally light, with a fair sparkling of humour. Spies tells jokes with far greater class than most adult writers for the upper-primary market.” Ben has just launched his fourth book and first science-fiction for older children and young teenagers called "2020". When Ben isn't writing, he is reading or spending time with his family. Ben has one little brother who is proud to read Ben's manuscripts before everyone else. ***Suggested reading order for Ben's books: Weirdo - ages 7+ The Magic Pencil - ages 8+ The World of Greek Mythology - ages 10+ 2020 - ages 11+
