Geraldine McCaughrean

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  • Bibliography:
    78 Books
  • First Book:
    October 1987
  • Latest Book:
    October 2021
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About the Author

Geraldine McCaughrean was born in 1951 and brought up in North London. She studied at Christ Church College of Education, Canterbury and worked in a London publishing house for 10 years before becoming a full-time writer in 1988. She has written over 120 books, 50 short plays for schools, and a radio play. Geraldine McCaughrean lives in Berkshire. Her book, Not the End of the World, is currently being adapted for the stage.

Book List in Order: 78 titles

  • A Little Lower Than the Angels

  • A Pack of Lies

    A mysterious stranger's entrancing stories entice customers to buy the antiques sold by Ailsa and her mother, who appreciate the business but are uncomfortable with the knowledge that their success is based upon lies...

  • St. George and the Dragon

  • Story of Noah and the Ark

  • El Cid

    This is the first version of El Cid for children, retold in a vivid and poetic style by the award-winning author, Geraldine McCaughrean. Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar--El Cid--lived a life of high adventure and romance. His exploits will stir the imagina...

  • The Cherry Tree

  • Greek Myths

  • Stories From Shakespeare

    Bold, clear retellings of ten of Shakespeare's most popular and brilliant plays are accompanied by dramatic full-color illustrations, many familiar quotations from the plays, and complete casts of characters....

  • Random House Book of Stories from the Ballet

    "In this attractive book, ten of the world's best-known ballets, including The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella, are introduced to young readers.  The essence of a ballet production is successfully captured by the f...



  • The Golden Hoard

    Twenty-two multicultural tales are gathered from such locations as Polynesia, Estonia, Mexico, and Kikuyu and include the legend of Robin Hood, the story of Anansi the Spiderman, and the Native American folktale of how men and women finally agreed....

  • The Silver Treasure

    A treasury of myths and legends contains tales of such well-loved figures as King Arthur, William Tell, and Babushka, and includes the Japanese folktale about a girl who falls for a lighthouse keeper and the Alaskan story, "The Raven and the Moon."...

  • The New Windmill Book Of Greek Myths

  • Unicorns! Unicorns!

  • The Doubleday Book of Princess Stories

    A collection of stories about princesses. Princess High-and-Mighty vows only to marry a man she cannot see or hear, a lonely princess makes herself some friends out of gingerbread, a Japanese princess falls from the moon, and a mermaid princess falls...

  • The Bronze Cauldron

    A treasury of twenty-seven myths and legends from around the world contains a diverse assortment of tales including the Indian legend of the young Buddha, the Jewish legend of the Golem, the Roman legend of Cupid and Psyche, and more....

  • Pirate's Son

    Left orphaned and penniless in England in 1717, young Nathan Gull and his sister Maud are offered sanctuary in Madagascar by the son of a pirate, Tamo White, a young man with enemies who force the two to become pirates themselves....

  • Princess Stories

  • The Story of the Nativity

    A captivating retelling of the story of the very first Christmas from multi-award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean.In the still heart of the night, the child was born. A boy. Mary kissed him, washed him, wrapped him tightly and laid him in the wo...

  • Too Big!

    Mom always likes to buy Neil clothes that he can "grow into." But she goes too far when she buys a new wardrobe which is also far too big. It won't fit through the front door! And when Mom and Dad finally work out how to get it into the house, Neil c...



  • The Crystal Pool

    With stories such as "The Silver Treasure," "The Golden Hoard," and "The Bronze Cauldron," a collection of more than twenty tales presents young readers with a collection of stories, legends, and myths from around the world....

  • Never Let Go

    On the eve of his wedding, handsome Tamlin is stolen away by the Fairy Queen into the cruel, enchanted land of the Fairies where the ground runs red with blood. Tamlin's brave love, Janet, determines to win him back - but first she must find him. The...

  • Grandma Chickenlegs

    In this variation of the traditional Baba Yaga story, a young girl must rely on the advice of her dead mother and her special doll when her wicked stepmother sends her to get a needle from Grandma Chickenlegs....

  • One Thousand and One Arabian Nights

    King Shahryar kills a new wife every night, because he is afraid she will stop loving him. But his new bride Shahrazad has a clever plan to save herself. Her nightly stories--of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many other heroes and villains--are so ...

  • Greek Gods and Goddesses

  • Stones Are Hatching

  • How the Reindeer Got Their Antlers

    Reindeer, ashamed of her ugly knobby crown, fled to the far north, where she and her descendants hid from the stares of other animals until a stranger dressed in red arrives to recruit them to help him on his Christmas Eve jaunt....

  • Beauty and the Beast

  • John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress Retold

    'I had a dream last night... large enough to fill the rest of my life.' This retelling of John Bunyan's classic story is filled with drama, excitement and adventure. On his journey of a life-time to the City of Gold, Christian meets an extraordinary ...

  • My First Oxford Book of Stories

    My First Oxford Book of Stories is a perfect introduction to the magical world of the fairy tale. Perennial favorites are retold by award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean. Including plenty of fun and humor specifically designed for this very youn...



  • My Grandmother's Clock

    Grandmother has a clock, of course, but she doesn’t use it to tell time. “I have so many other clocks,” she says. A heartbeat, the blink of an eye, reading the newspaper, the length of shadows, the smell of baking, birdsong, birthdays, the moon...

  • One Bright Penny

    When their father gives them a challenge to fill the entire barn for a penny, Bill, Bob, and Penny quickly get to work to come up with a clever plan so that they can meet the challenge and win the prize....

  • Daredevils and Desperadoes

    Includes stories about Dick Whittington, the Peasants' Revolt, the Battle of Agincourt, the murder of the Princes in the Tower, the ghost of Anne Boleyn, the wooing of Anne of Cleves, Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth, the Spanish Armada, and th...

  • Silver Myths and Legends of the World

    These are the stories our ancestors told to explain how the world began, or they are legends of half-remembered heroes or people whose lives were changed by magic. Brilliantly retold in the sparkling, energetic prose of one of the great names in chil...

  • Casting the Gods Adrift: A Tale of Ancient Egypt

    A thriller set in ancient Egypt between 1351-1354 BC. Tutmose and Ibrim's father, the animal dealer, is commanded by the new pharaoh Akhenaten, to bring him animals - lots of animals - for his new capital city. The boys' father is delighted. ...

  • Gilgamesh the Hero

    This is one of the oldest stories in the world, and it's about things that still matter to us today: friendship, fame, courage, happiness.

    Gilgamesh and Enkidu are friends -- best friends. Together they can work wonders, fight monsters, brave ...

  • The Kite Rider

    Geraldine McCaughrean -- two-time Carnegie Medalist for Where the World Ends and Pack of Lies -- delivers a dazzling story of adventure, betrayal, family, and sacrifice set in the dramatic, dangerous world of thirteenth-century China. “A genuine...

  • Year Six: Sky Ship And Other Stories

  • Odysseus

    One of the greatest legends in the world is brought to life in ODYSSEUS, the first book of the four-volume HEROES series. Author Geraldine McCaughrean's taught prose brings a modern, thriller-like immediacy to the ancient story, while still retaining...

  • Stop the Train!

    From the author of "The Kite Rider" comes another great historical novel this time set in the American west, where the residents of a new settlement struggle against nature and the railroad to keep their town alive. Pulse-pounding adventure, moments ...



  • Not the End of the World

    Everyone knows the story of the Flood, the men God chose to survive, the animals that went in two by two. But what about the others that sailed on the Ark - the women and the children? This adventure story asks what it was really like when the heaven...

  • Perseus

    This adventurous, dramatic, and at times funny retelling of the Perseus myth retains the spirit and structure of the original while offering a coming-of-age story sure to appeal to modern readers.Readers will follow Perseus on his quest to kill the h...

  • The Orchard Book of Greek Gods and Goddesses

    From a prize-winning author and illustrator comes this wonderfully rich and varied collection of fifteen stories from Greek mythology, freshly retold and made accessible for today's young readers. All the famous Greek gods and goddesses feature in th...

  • Theseus

    Humble country boy Theseus sets off to meet his father, the king of Athens, and claim his right as heir to the throne in this classic story. Along the way, his intelligence and strength help him surpass all obstacles, including battles with giants, t...

  • Think Again

    At the dawn of time, the Maker is having problems with the animals he makes. His beaver and his ants are too big, his moose is the same size as a mouse and his elephant can hide behind a blade of grass! Maker is forced to think again about the ori...

  • Hercules

    Geraldine McCaughrean brings the same flair for action, suspense, and humor that characterizes all of the books in the acclaimed Heroes series to perhaps the most beloved and famous of all Greek myths, Hercules and his twelve labors. Readers learn ab...

  • Cyrano

    A gallant solider, a sharp wit, and a man of letters, Cyrano de Bergerac seems like the obvious romantic hero. He has just one noteworthy flaw: an improbably large nose. And after a lifetime of loving the beautiful Roxane from afar, Cyrano must fin...

  • Father and Son

    Accompanied by luminous illustrations, this thought-provoking new telling of the Christmas story explores how Joseph must have felt when he held his precious miracle in his arms for the very first time....

  • Peter Pan in Scarlet

    Journey back to Neverland in the first-ever authorized sequel to J.M. Barrie's masterpiece, Peter Pan. Set in the 1930s, when the devastating effects of World War I are still resonating throughout the world, Peter Pan in Scarlet sends readers soar...

  • Smile!

    When Flash's plane crashes in the wilderness, he finds himself injured and alone, armed with nothing but a cheap instant camera. Then out of the sunlight appears a girl in a scarlet dress. Sutira and her brother take Flash home to their remote villag...



  • King Arthur and the Round Table

    A splendid retelling of the greatest legend of all time, by Geraldine McCaughrean, winner of the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award, and the Guardian Prize."Who pulls the sword from out this anvil is the true and rightful King of England." In this s...

  • Wenceslas

    Good King Wenceslas looked out On the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about, Deep and crisp and even . . .  

    The age-old carol of Good King Wenceslas and his page -- who set out on a bitter winter night to del...

  • The White Darkness

    I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now--which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and the age difference won't matter. Sym is not your average teena...

  • The Death-Defying Pepper Roux

    Pepper's fourteenth birthday is a momentous one. It's the day he's supposed to die. Everyone seems resigned to it -- even Pepper, although he would much prefer to live. But can you sidestep Fate? Jump sideways into a different life? Naïve an...

  • Robin Hood and a World of Other Stories

    These are the stories our ancestors told to explain how the world began; or they are the legends of half-remembered heroes and people whose lives were changed by magic. Brilliantly retold in the sparkling and inspirational words of the multiple award...

  • The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen

    Ever since the magnificent Miss Loucien gave up teaching to join the Bright Lights Theater Company, school days have lacked a certain . . . drama . . . especially for Cissy, who longs for a life in show business, and Kookie, who craves adventure. But...

  • King Arthur and a World of Other Stories

    These are the stories our ancestors told to explain how the world began; or they are the legends of half-remembered heroes and people whose lives were changed by magic. Brilliantly retold in the sparkling and inspirational words of the multiple award...

  • The Jesse Tree

    The inspiration for this book was the tradition of carved Jesse trees and stained glass windows used in medieval times to tell people Bible stories. Using her skills as a storyteller and her love of the Bible, the author has written a compelling stor...

  • The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet

    The ten stories included here are 'Swan Lake', 'The Sleeping Beauty', 'Cinderella', 'Gisele', 'Coppelia', 'The Nutcracker', 'Petrouchka', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'La Sylphide', and 'The Firebird'. Each one evokes the excitement of a night at the ballet."...

  • Oxford Reading Tree Traditional Tales

  • The Nutcracker

    Open this scrumptious holiday edition of The Nutcracker and magically recreate the motion, color, and delight of the classic ballet. Paper engineering wizardry allows characters to dance into life simply by turning the pages?with no tabs for the read...

  • Go! Go! Chichico!

    Chichico can''t believe his luck when a talent scout spots him playing football on the beach and asks him to try out for Santos Brazil. All he has to do is show up, bring his boots and show off his skills. But there''s one problem Chichico doesn''t h...

  • Pittipat's Saucer of Moon

    Pittipat knows that the moon is a saucer of cream and his brothers and sisters mean to drink it all up. So the brave little cat sets off to find them, sailing over giant waves and climbing the starry sky until he is face-to-face with the big dark nig...

  • Monacello: The Little Monk

    Intrigue, superstition, and adventure feature in this dramatic retelling of a classic Italian folk story, set in the dark world of medieval Naples  Strange little creature. Strange pale eyes, so full of fear. Strange little monk, his habit da...

  • Orchard Greek Myths

    "

    Discover the drama and thrill of sixteen classic Ancient Greek myths in this glorious story collection.

    Featuring all of the best-known stories, including Theseus & the Minotaur, Heracles, Daedalus & Icarus, The Wooden Horse and Pandora''s...

  • Tamburlaine's Elephants

  • Britannia

  • The Wish-Bringer

    The Little Monk of Monacello returns, once again beautifully illustrated with Jana Diemberger's stunning artwork

    There are parts of the world where people think Bad Luck comes up from below, and Good Luck comes down from the sky. Not...

  • The Odyssey

    THE ODYSSEY retold by Geraldine McCaughrean is the epic journey of Odysseus, the hero of Ancient Greece...After ten years of war, Odysseus turns his back on Troy and sets sail for home. But his voyage takes another ten years and he must face many dan...

  • Lovesong

    In Lovesong, three-time Whitbread Prize winner Geraldine McCaughrean has written what Philippa Gregory called "Probably the best historical novel I have ever read." At the centre of the story is a talented troubadour, Peter Oriole, and his daughter, ...

  • Vainglory

    Vainglory begins in France in 1429, the year of the Siege of Orléans, as Victoire de Gloriole regains possession of the family castle from the English following the Battle of Agincourt. Having consolidated his position by marrying a beautiful Englis...

  • Where the World Ends

    A Michael L. Printz Honor Book and Carnegie Medal Winner! New from Geraldine McCaughrean comes an extraordinary story of eight boys stranded on a rock in the middle of the sea, left to fight for their survival.Every time a lad went fowling on the sta...

  • Sky Ship and other stories

    Book Band: Dark Red - Ideal for ages 10+

    'McCaughrean is one of the greatest living children's authors.' The Bookseller

    Brilliant historical fiction from double Carnegie Medal winner Geraldine McCaughrean

    ...

  • The Snow Queen

    An enchanting picture book retelling of The Snow Queen. A magical, wintery tale of friendship, love and adventure.

    Join Gerda on her epic journey to the mysterious, snowy lands of the frozen North. Meeting fairy-tale princesses, talking crow...

  • The Little Mermaid

    A magical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale, with stunningly intricate illustrations.

    When she falls in love with a prince, the little mermaid persuades a sea witch to replace her tail with legs so she can live on lan...

  • The Supreme Lie

  • The Middle of Nowhere

  • The Secret Garden

  • A Tale of Two Dragons

    The kingdoms of Arbor, with its lush forests, and Pomosa, rich with farmland, have no love between them, and the children have taken to sneaking across the borders at night to steal the precious resources of milk and wood that the adults won’t shar...

Award-Winning Books by Geraldine McCaughrean

Gilgamesh the Hero
2004 Nautilus Award -- Children's Grand Prize
A Pack of Lies
1988 Carnegie Medal -- Children's
Peter Pan in Scarlet
2007 Parents Choice Award (Spring) (1998-2007) -- Approved
Where the World Ends
2018 Carnegie Medal -- Children's
The White Darkness
2008 Michael L. Printz Award -- Young Adult


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Geraldine McCaughrean has published 78 books.

Geraldine McCaughrean does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, A Tale of Two Dragons, was published in October 2021.

The first book by Geraldine McCaughrean, A Little Lower Than the Angels, was published in October 1987.

No. Geraldine McCaughrean does not write books in series.
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