R.A. Spratt Books In Order

Publication Order of Friday Barnes Books

Publication Order of Nanny Piggins Books

Publication Order of Peski Kids Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

R.A. Spratt

R.A. Spratt is an award-winning English television writer and best-selling author of humor and children’s books best known for her book series Nanny Piggins series, Peski Kids series, and Friday Barnes series. She has written dozens of TV shows, but in recent years she’s specialized in Children’s animation but also had extensive experience in crafting sketch comedy, jokes, and political satire.

Spratt attended James Ruse Agricultural High School, Eastwood Public School, and Charles Sturt University, where she graduated with a degree in communications specializing in Media Production. Her debut novel, The Adventures of Nanny Piggins was first published on March 2009 in Australia and in August 2010 in the USA. American Library Association’s publication considered the book to be Top of the List novel for young adult fiction for 2010. R.A. Spratt is a resident of Bowral, Australia, with her husband and their two daughters. When not writing, you’ll find her napping or doing some gardening tasks.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins is the first book in the Nanny Piggins series. In her series debut novel, R.A. Spratt tries to answer the question as to what happens when you leave a swine in charge of your children. The pig is wired to continue to do swine versions of things. Mysteriously enough, with its total disregard of the conventional norms, Nanny Piggins is one of the refreshing series for kids you’ll ever read in a long while.
From Nanny McPhee to Mary Poppins, children’s literature genre is full of nannies. Some are kind and loving, while others are mean and frumpy, and some are magical. But never before has the children’s literature seen a nanny like Nanny Piggins, an anti-authoritarian, chocolate-eating, portrait-painting, pie-baking, former flying swine of the circus nanny. But like many fictional nannies you’ve encountered before, R.A. Spratt protagonist, the eponymous character in The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, enters the life of her owners at just the right time and bring with her the right amount of unconditional love and adventures.

The Green children, 7-year-old Michael, 9-year-old Samantha, and 11-year-old Derrick are neglected by their dad. He is ever working to avoid them. When he’s at home, he doesn’t spend time with his children at all. This negligence has drawn the attention of the government. So Mr. Green, even though he would rather not pay a single cent, has to find a nanny to care for his children. His efforts in order to prevent his children from being taken away from him amount to a simple hand-painted sign, which states, “Nanny wanted.” Things don’t look so good for Mr. Green children until a knock on the door on a stormy night, brings the ever happy Sarah Piggins to them. And even though Piggins is a swine in dress, she gets the job as the nanny for the Green children.

The fact is that Nanny Piggins’s pig ways are not what makes her so amazing. As Samantha, Michael and Derrick soon learn the nanny has an absolute disregard of propriety and rules and has a massive sense of adventure, non-conventional ideas about nutrition, interesting talents, and top of it all; her brother is a dancing bear. She never reminds the kids to take a bath or tidy their rooms and allows them to eat as much candy and sugar as they want. Most importantly Piggins listens to them and highly cares for them. Soon the kids come to love their new nanny, and Piggins comes to love them too.

From spending money intended for school at an amusement park to sabotaging the efforts of a thief and in the process discovers a big secret about Green’s children deceased mother, from sailing with Korean fishermen to instilling justice to a burglar, Nanny Piggins and the Green children have a wonderful adventure after another. Mr. Green and his cold attitude fade into the background as Piggins and her brother become the family the Green children have longed for.

R.A. Spratt does a wonderful job in her Nanny Piggins debut novel. There’s plenty of adventure and fun moments as the kids spend their time with the nanny. Their father, Mr. Green, is as cheap as you can get. Since the death of his wife, his three children have been neglected and been running rather wild. And when the government puts pressure on him to find a nanny, he goes for the cheapest he can find. Nanny Piggins is a retired circus performer with zero experience in raising kids. However this doesn’t stop her for one minute.

The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach

This is the first book in the Peski Kids series by R.A. Spratt. When a gun wielding woman enters through the front door siblings Fin, April and Joe’s lives change dramatically; their mother has vanished after she was caught crossing Eastern Europe border with a USB device.

Their mother’s boss, Professor Maynard, wants to move the children to safety from the claws of the evil Kolectiv hit team. Theirs is no going back when the professor destroys their suburban house. Their father, who deserted them when April was a baby lives in a small country called Currawong. Their townsfolk are obsessed with holding annual cockroach race. Assigned a new surname, the kids are left with a father they never knew, a life unfamiliar to them and town full of cockroach obsessed people.

After a messy day at school, the children vow to try and fit in. Searching for cockroaches to enter the competition involves breaking into their neighbor’s house with the help of their friend Loretta Viswanathan. But when their friend’s Madagascan cockroach is discovered dead in its aquarium, the kids set out to solve the murder mystery. When the competitors for the cockroach race start emerging deadly as well, Fin, Joe, and April accompanied by their dog become detectives and start investigating.

The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach is a story that promises to capture the reader’s attention right from the prologue to the last page. Each of the kid’s skills is needed to solve the puzzle. The story boasts unique, diverse cast adding humor to this fast-paced adventure story.