John Dougherty - about the books

Book news

Continuing John's award-winning partnership with Thomas Docherty, It Won't Be Forever is a story of love, connection, and resilience.

When little fox cub Vixie learns that her dad has to go away for a while, she's distraught. But with some love and understanding, she begins to learn that separation is bearable after all.

It Won't Be Forever is published on 7th May 2026 (UK) and is available for pre-order before that date.

"Charming, comforting and thoughtfully crafted, this is a story that lingers long after the final page, promoting emotional literacy, resilience and empathy.” – Inis Magazine

Author

"In an age where all-things electronic are vying for children's attention, John Dougherty is a wonderful ambassador for books"
- award-winning author PHILIP ARDAGH

About John's books

My first book, Zeus on the Loose, was published in 2004.

I'd been writing stories for some years by this point, and to finally have one turned into a book was an incredible thrill.

Since then I've had more than 40 books published and seen my work translated into more than 25 languages worldwide. I feel incredibly lucky to be making a living doing something I love so much.

More about John's books

Illustrated by Thomas Docherty

My first book with Thomas, The Hare-Shaped Hole, won multiple awards and has been described as "a modern classic."

It was followed by The Bear-Shaped Hole, and It Won't Be Forever.

All three are published by Frances Lincoln Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group.

You can find out more about the Dougherty & Docherty books here.

Poetry collections

My two poetry collections, Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies and Zooming the Zoo, are illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones and published by Otter-Barry-Books.

You can find out more about them, and about my poetry in general, on the Poet page of this website.

There's a Pig Up My Nose

My first published picture-book, illustrated by Laura Hughes, was the 2018 winner of Oscar's Book Prize.

It's published by Farshore (formerly Egmont).

Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face

There are six books in the Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face series, illustrated by David Tazzyman and published by Oxford University Press. People have said lots of lovely things about the books, but the most important is that they're very funny and extremely silly.

There's more about the Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face books here.

Gods, head lice, and monsters under the bed...

Imagine that...

a Greek god turned up in your school and made you his high priest
a talking head louse hatched out in your hair
there were monsters under the bed - and your job was dealing with them

I imagined exactly these things, and wrote my first three books - illustrated by Georgien Overwater - about them. All three, and their sequels, are published by Young Corgi, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

You can read about the Zeus Books, the Jack Slater books, and Niteracy Hour, here.

The Lola Bee Bop

A story told in rhyme about a little bee who loves to dance, The Lola Bee Bop is illustrated by Pauline Gregory and published by Bloomsbury as part of the Bloomsbury Young Readers range.

Find out more here.

I can't do sections for every single one of my books because there are so many of them - but if you'd like to read more of my stories, you could - for instance - try looking for Holiday of a Lifetime, Twice Upon a Time, The Story of Sir Dave or Shadow Swap; my retellings of tales from Shakespeare like The Tempest or A Midsummer Night's Dream; or my version of the story of Finn MacCool and the Giant's Causeway for the Oxford Reading Tree.

Inspirational illustrators

I've been lucky enough to work with some absolutely brilliant illustrators, and I thought you might like to visit some of their websites. So here are the links! Some of the websites aren't in English, but you can still look at the pictures.