Meet the Munch Bunch

Product Information

The books went out of print in the mid-to-late 1980s following a fire at a Studio Publications which destroyed all the original artwork. Denis Bond, (born 22 November 1946) is a British writer of children's books and television. His TV programmes include The Munch Bunch and Picme, and his books include Avenue, Pop Rivals and, for younger children, The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry. The Garden Gang was a series of books for children written by Jayne Fisher. They were published by Ladybird Books during the late 1970s and early 1980s as Series 413 and later re-issued as Series 793. [1] Fourteen story books were written, each containing two short stories about a group of characters who were fruit and vegetables living an almost human life, selling over 8 million copies [ citation needed]. In addition to the fourteen story books, there were also three other books - an annual and two colouring books. Fisher's books were not dissimilar to the popular Munch Bunch series, also devised by a young girl, the fourteen-year-old Angela Mitson. [ citation needed]

The Munch Bunch are a group of unwanted vegetables, fruits, legumes and nuts who after being swept to the corner of a shop , escape together and set up home in and around an old, forgotten garden shed. As well as continuing to write, Denis Bond regularly conducts writing workshops at schools and libraries both in the UK and abroad. Although Rainbow remains a cult classic, the Munch Bunch stands alone among the three for being written entirely by Bond. He had already begun writing a series of Munch Bunch books (launched under the pseudonym Giles Reed) a year previously.The Munch Bunch is a series of children's books, [1] created in the UK by Barrie and Elizabeth Henderson. The books were written under the pen name Giles Reed by Barrie Henderson, Elizabeth Henderson, and British author Denis Bond, and illustrated by Angela Mitson. They were published between 1979 and 1984 by Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. in the United Kingdom. United States publication rights were sold to Rourke Publications, Inc. [2] The Munch Bunch are a group of unwanted vegetables, fruits, legumes and nuts who were swept to the corner of a shop but ran away together and set up home in and around an old, forgotten garden shed. [3] Television series [ edit ]

There was also an early 1980s marionette/ puppet-based television show, produced by long-time Gerry Anderson associates Mary Turner and John Read for ITC Entertainment, that featured the characters from the books. The Munch Bunch yoghurt brand (remember them?) was launched around 1981 to coincide with the launch of the TV series, with characters from the books as well as a few non-book characters such as Jenny Cherry and Charlie Chocolate. The brand had a resurgence in the UK during the 1990s, largely as a result of a popular TV commercial for the Munch Bunch "pot shots" range (a petits-filous type yoghurt aimed at the young) set in a pool hall, which ran from May 1994 until February 1996. This popularity proved short-lived, and only three of the Munch Bunch characters were featured in the "pot shots" range. The brand had a resurgence in the UK during the 1990s, largely as a result of a popular TV commercial for the Munch Bunch“pot shots” range (a petits-filous type yoghurt aimed at the young) set in a pool hall, which ran from May 1994 until February 1996. This popularity proved short-lived, and only three of the Munch Bunchcharacters were featured in the “pot shots” range.

This children’s show from ITC was written by Denis Bond, Rosemary Kingsland and John Reid and based on characters from a series of books of the same name. A completely different series of Munch Bunch books was published in 1998 by Ladybird Books in the UK to tie in with the yoghurts, following the resurgence brought about by the TV commercials of 1994–96. Denis Bond and Angela Mitson were not involved and the characters were different, although a few such as Sally Strawberry were similarly named. Lying discarded in the corner of Mr Veg’s Greengrocers shop, the Munch Bunch – a group of talking fruit and veg – decided that it was time to escape their mundane existence and seek something more satisfying. The books were written under the pen name Giles Reed and were published between 1979 and 1984 by Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. in the United Kingdom. United States publication rights were sold to Rourke Publications, Inc.

His next publishing venture was a series of books about Dagon, a boy from space. These were published, like the Munch Bunch, by the Ipswich-based Studio Publications, but both ranges were terminated when a fire at Studio Publications destroyed all of the original artwork.

The characters in the series were voiced by the veteran husband-and-wife team of Judy Bennett and Charles Collingwood, well best known for their work in The Archers. 52 ten-minute editions were produced, thus originally airing between September 1980 and May 1982. The show was also broadcast in Hong Kong on TVB Pearl and New Zealand on TV One. The stories for the television series were different from those contained in the books and were written mainly by Bond (this time under his real name), though other writers such as Rosemary Kingsland also contributed. Bond had, however, already moved on by then. He had two novels published by Methuen but success really came when he began being published by Scholastic. His first book for the publishers was The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire (1990) and, by 1994, he was having books for teenagers published as well. These included three books for Scholastic's Point Romance series under the pseudonym Denise Colby, a clear reference to the US TV series Dynasty, as well as a feminisation of his own name, No 1, an in-depth look at the dark side of the pop music scene, and Avenue, about a soap opera. The Big Bad Story Book (containing, The Witch Who Loved To Make Children Cry, The Dragon Who Couldn't Help Breathing Fire and The Monster Who Couldn't Scare Anyone) (2000) TheMunch Bunch was originally a series of children’s books, created in the UK by Barrie and Elizabeth Henderson.

Making their escape through the cat flap in the shop, the Munch Bunch made their new home in and around an old deserted garden shed where they built a community. Dagon is also known as the original work of a Japanese anime television series Dagon in the Land of Weeds (Ikinari Dagon). Bond returned to the field of television with Picme an animated educational series written for the Irish broadcasters RTÉ. This has been nominated for a BAFTA. At the age of 9 years, Jayne was the youngest author to ever write for Ladybird Books. [2] [3] Her writing and illustrating has been an inspiration to others. [4] [5] Books [ edit ]Bond was trained in drama at the Rose Bruford College and acted on stage and TV. After a period of working as a teacher, he was commissioned to write 26 episodes for the ITV series Pipkins. He also wrote for the series Rainbow, Let's Pretend and The Munch Bunch.