Robin has written and illustrated over thirty books for children. "Discovered" by editor Fiona Kenshole at A&C Black publishers, he was one of the first author illustrators in their innovative "JETS" series of "integrated text" story books.
Robin quickly gained a reputation in schools and libraries as one of those authors whose books - with their anarchic humour and extra jokes "hidden" in the text - got reluctant readers hooked on books.
In addition to many individual titles, Robin went on to create several of his own book series, including the Childrens' Book of the Year nominated "O.A.Peabody books" (four titles - Hodder Headline), the "Crabtree Chronicles" (five titles - Hodder Headline) - and the "Doghouse Reilly" books (The Bodley Head - three titles). Below are details about just some of Robin's titles...
JETS
The "JETS" Series (A&C Black/Collins) were among the first series to feature "Integrated text" - that is, they carried the narrative not only in straight typeset text, but in illustrations, picture strip panels and speech bubbles. These made the books particularly appealing to reluctant readers, for whom large blocks of text could be intimidating. Robin went on to write five Jets titles (a total only exceeded by Michael Morpurgo!): "Free With Every Pack" "Cowardy Cowardy Cutlass" "Cutlass Rules the Waves" "The Fizziness Business" and "Mo and the Mummy Case".
"FREE WITH EVERY PACK" - "A book which tempts reading... the joy of simply weaving through the text and drawings which are peppered with touches of humour, particularly in the "think bubbles" of the dog"
Books in Schools
COWARDY COWARDY CUTLASS" is a hilarious spoof... The narrator captures the full humour of the story through his affable, deadpan style."
Review of taped book narrated by Harry Enfield
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"THE FIZZINESS BUSINESS" "Readers loved Oswald Bingley and Stig Stubble, the two dastardly criminals who were planning to steal the Crown Jewels. The diagrams and crazy illustrations [also by Kingsland] helped to maintain the pace."
Pick of the Year 1990, The Federation of Children's Books Groups
FLIPPERS
Pan Macillan commissioned the FLIPPERS, books with one story on the back and one on the front.
Invited to produce a FLIPPER title, Robin opted to exploit the format by writing two stories that interlinked. Thus the first title featured "Hook, Line and Stinker" - in which, Cecil, a cheating angler, competes with his aunt for the cup in an angling contest, while in the other story, a "Fishy Tale" a Piranha causes havoc in the little river where he has come to visit his minnow cousin. The two stories stand alone, but part of each story intersect with the other.
On the strength of this title, Pan Macmillan commissioned a second FLIPPER from Robin,. This time, One side of the book gives the self-promoting account of his adventure written by a professional "Poor but Honest Woodcutter's Son" ("My Own Heroic Story") taking on a beanstalk and a giant, whoile the "other side" ("Fee, Fi, Fo... Fumfing!") tells the tale from the Ogre's point of view, as he struggles to deal with what seems to be an infestation of little creepy-crawlies (ie woodcutter's sons) in his castle.
O.A.PEABODY
STORIES
Full of extraordinary locations, gadgets, and hair-raising escapes, the O.A. Peabody Adventures (Hodder Headline) centred around a granny whose secret life as a British agent drag her granddaughter and her best friend into wild and outlandish plots, usually pitted against the criminal organisation P.A.N.I.C. and their leader, the evil Dr. Proonefinger... One of these titles "There are Pharaohs at the Bottom of My Garden", made it to the shortlist for the 1996 "Children's Book of the Year".
THE CRABTREE
CHRONICLES
In the struggle to increase literacy levels, especially among boys, reading stamina needed to be developed. series like the excellent "Horrible Histories" were fostering an interest in history, but were not "sustained narrative". The "Crabtree Chronicles" (Hodder Headline) were conceived to be full narratives, each with a different historical setting, with well-researched illustrations, and historical detail planted in among the sometimes outlandish comic adventure.
DOGHOUSE REILLY
The "Doghouse Reilly" books (Bodley Head/ Red Fox) are best described as "toy-room noir". They feature a dog-eared plush toy dog, the Reilly of the title, who investigates the occasional mysteries that arise in the toyroom when the children have gone to bed...
There are three titles in the series - "Donkeys Don't Just Die", "Reilly's Rules" and "Sitting Ducks".
"Robin Kingsland's detective is not Philip Marlowe, it is Doghouse Reilly, a stuffed toy dog, but the two have much in common. Reilly has a bonus, though - he is the creation of an author who is also the splendid illustrator of his own story [...] The stylishly shaded, witty and entirely apt illustrations add greatly to the charm of this book, enhancing a lively story which is intriguing anyway and a particular delight to anyone acquainted with the works of Raymond Chandler."
"Junior Bookshelf"review of "Donkeys Don't Just Die"
COMIC STRIP ODYSSEY
It is rare but for Robin to illustrate to someone else's text, though he has illustrated for title in the "Mr MAjeika" series and others. But when Robin Appeared as "Roving Correspondent" Homer in author Diane Redmond's children's play "The Odyssey", it seemed a natural fit to Redmond's publishers, and so "The Comic Strip Odyssey" was conceived, telling the epic greek tale in an accessible and highly dramatic series of drawings.
"[Kingsland's] highly inventive illustration, its liveliness and changing perspectives themselves creating new humour and giving a rich sense of the fantastic"
"School Librarian" magazine review
The
SHIRLEY HOLMES
CASE BOOK
The characters and titles for this series were conceived by a creative company, "Winkelmedia" - the stories, however were commissioned from Robin Kingsland. Shirley Holmes and her friends solve mysteries from their "shedquarters" in Shirley's back garden. The plots were outlandish, but still required Shirley's sleuthing abilities, the skills of her technologically gifted side-kick Boris Morris and the Martial arts expertise of best friend Kai-Lee. The challenge was to come up with suitable plots to fit the titles!! Titles like "The Case of the sheiks Missing Shake Maker" "The Case of the Missing Case" "The Case of the Sherbet Shakedown" and "The Case of the Hollywood Soap Star"