John Farndon


John Farndon is a British writer of books, plays and music. He is best known as a writer of, and contributor to, science books for children, and as a songwriter, poet and literary translator. He has published over 900 books and been shortlisted five times for the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.

Biography

Farndon studied Earth sciences and English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge University. He is a 'Royal Literary Fellow' at Anglia Ruskin University. He also earned an Advanced Diploma in Playwriting at Central School of Speech and Drama.
Farndon was described by the Royal Literary Fund as "a writer of non-fiction books, and a playwright, lyricist, composer and literary translator. Spurred by intense intellectual curiosity, his interests range widely and he writes on topics from chemistry to China".
He has published over 900 books in most major languages.
His 2007 publication, Do Not Open, was listed on both the New York Times and Washington Post best-seller lists.
In 2014 the Daily Telegraph reviewed Farndon's book for 'would be' Oxbridge students, Do You Still Think You’re Clever?, where he explains how to tackle the toughest “unanswerable” question and win a university place..The book was a best-seller in many countries, including South Korea, Germany and South Africa.
Farndon is a translator of literary fiction from many languages, especially Russian and Central Asian, working in collaboration with native speakers. He has translated books such as Ravil Bukharaev's Letters to Another Room and Rollan Seisenbaev's The Dead Wander in the Desert and a collection of lyrics by Vladimir Vysotsky. He contributed the verse translations in Hamid Ismailov's The Devil's Dance which won the EBRD Literature Prize in 2019 . His translation from Russian of the poetry of Lydia Grigorieva was nominated for many awards including the Griffin Poetry prize.
Farndon's songs have been performed by various artists. He recorded his song 'Peace in My Heart' with legendary fiddler Dave Swarbrick for the Passing the Baton EP.
His plays and translations have been performed at many venues such as the Salisbury Playhouse, the Donmar Warehouse and the Almeida. His libretto for Puccini's La Boheme was performed to great acclaim at the Arcola's Grimeborn festival

Publications

His titles include:
  • How the Earth Works, Dorling Kindersley . Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.
  • What Happens When?, Scholastic Corporation,. Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize.
  • Pocket Encyclopedia,, Dorling Kindersley
  • The Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia, Contributor, Published by Kingfisher Publications,
  • 1000 Things You Should Know About Geography,, Miles Kelly Publishing
  • Investigate: Human Body,, Parragon Plus,
  • 4000 Things You Should Know,, Miles Kelly Publishing,
  • Childrens Encyclopedia,, HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
  • 4000 More Things You Should Know,, Miles Kelly Publishing,
  • The Complete Book of the Brain, Hodder Wayland,. Short listed for the 'Aventis Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize'.
  • Big Book of the Brain,, Hodder Wayland
  • Science Experiment series;, published by Benchmark Publications
  • * Color;
  • * Electricity;
  • * Light and Optics;
  • * Sound and Hearing;
  • * Water;
  • * Gravity,
  • * Weight and Balance;
  • * Flight; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' & 'Editors' Choice' by American Association for the Advancement of Science - 'AAAS Science, Books and Films'
  • * The Human Body; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' by American Association for the Advancement of Science - 'AAAS Science, Books and Films'
  • * Levers, Wheels, and Pulleys;
  • * Magnetism;
  • * Solids, Liquids, and Gases;
  • * Chemicals;
  • * Motion;
  • * Rocks and Minerals;
  • * Time;
  • * Buoyancy
  • The Big Book of Knowledge,, co-authored with Angela Koo, Parragon,
  • 1000 Facts on Human Body,, Miles Kelly Publishing,
  • 1000 Things You Should Know About World Geography, Miles Kelly Publishing,
  • Space
  • Bird Flu, Everything You Should Know, published by The Disinformation Company,
  • Science Investigations: Electricity, Hodder Wayland. Shortlisted for Royal Society / Committee on Public Understanding of Science Science Book prize.
  • Do Not Open: An encyclopedia of the world's best-kept secrets published by Dorling Kindersley
  • Great Scientists: from Euclid to Stephen Hawking,,
  • The Complete Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils of the World,, Co-author with Steve Parker, Lorenz Educational Press,
  • The World's Greatest Idea,, Icon Books,
  • Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions,, Co-author with Libby Purves. Icon Books,. Short-listed for the 'Society of Authors Education Award'.
  • The Story of Science and Technology ,, Published by Rosen Publishing,
  • What do We Know About Stars and Galaxies,, Raintree Publishing, SBN13 9781410941862
  • Atlas of Oceans, on endangered life in the oceans. Published by Yale University Press in the USA, A & C Black in the UK, Australian Geographic in Australia. Listed by The Globe and Mail as a 2011 top ten science book.
  • Atlas of Oceans: An Ecological Survey of Underwater Life,, Yale University Press,
  • Atlas of Oceans: A Fascinating Hidden World,, Thomas Reed Publications,
  • Oil,, Dorling Kindersley,
  • Discover the Extreme World, Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele, Miles Kelly Publishing,. Sh* Atlas of Oceans, on endangered life in the oceans. Published by Yale University Press in the USA, A & C Black in the UK, Australian Geographic in Australia. Listed by The Globe and Mail as a 2011 top ten science book.ortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award for the 'Best Book with Facts'.
  • Super Bright Baby: 50 Things You Really Need to Know,, Quercus,
  • Do You Still Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions,, Icon Books,
  • Do You Still Think You're Clever?: Even More Oxford and Cambridge Questions!, Icon Books,
  • The Illustrated Wildlife Encyclopedia: Bugs & Minibeasts: Beetles, Bugs, Butterflies, Moths, Insects, Spiders, contributory author with Barbara Taylor and Jen Green
  • Stuff You Need to Know,, co-author with Rob Beattie, Firefly Books,
  • Project Body, Miles Kelly Publishing Toy edition,. Short listed for 2016 Royal Society's young people's prize.
  • Stuff You Should Know, QED Publishing,
  • The Illustrated Guide to Rocks & Minerals: How to Find, Identify and Collect the World’s Most Fascinating Specimens,, Southwater;
  • So, You Think You're Clever?, Icon Books,

    Awards

According to John Farndon.com. and The Royal Society

Books

  • Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science - Science Book prize shortlist: How the Earth Works
  • Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science - Science Book prize shortlist: What Happens When
  • Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science - Science Book prize shortlist: Investigations: Electricity
  • Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science - Science Book prize shortlist: Big Book of the Brain
  • Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science - Science Book prize shortlist - 2016: Project Body
  • Society of Authors Education award shortlist: Do You Think You’re Clever?
  • US National Book Awards: Do Not Open
  • Science Books & Films, Best Books for Children: The Human Body
  • Science Books & Films, Best Books for Children: Flight
  • VOYA Nonfiction Honor List, 2008 Do Not Open

    Plays

  • Academia Rossica Russian translation prize shortlist: The Naked Guest plus Pushkin poems

    Songs

  • Sondheim Student Singing prize shortlist: When I Was Young
  • Sondheim Student Singing prize shortlist: Once You Loved Me
  • Sondheim Student Singing prize shortlist: The Day I Saw You on the Wall

    Reviews

Review in

Footnotes