Books and comics have been an enormously important part of my life for as long as I can remember. Words and pictures have both stimulated and fed my curiosity about the world, expanded my imagination in countless ways and fuelled a lifetime of creative endeavour.

As a kid I wrote stories, made cartoons, wrote and edited multiple editions of a humorous magazine for my classmates. As a teenager I discovered my love of performance when my friends and I formed a punk band, for which I wrote—and shouted—the lyrics. What started as a prank soon became a passion.

After leaving school I completed an honours degree in literature by day and performed in bands at night. Eventually, however, I realised my talent really lay in the words and I began focussing my energy on written story-telling (much to the relief of anybody who’d ever had the misfortune of hearing me “sing”).

After graduating and becoming a high-school English teacher, I was astonished to meet many students who thought reading and writing were boring. I did notice, however, that they all enjoyed laughing and I immediately began writing short, funny, provocative pieces for them to demonstrate how much fun playing with words and pictures can be.

The enthusiasm with which the students embraced both reading my pieces and writing their own encouraged me to begin self-publishing collections of my early stories. Eventually I left teaching and spent the next ten years learning everything I could about writing, humour and how to create books that would have a powerful appeal to children of all reading abilities. During this time I was fortunate enough to meet and work with the illustrator Terry Denton to create Just Tricking!, the first of 32 books which we created—along with my wife, editor and co-writer, Jill Griffiths—over the next 25 years.

I’m passionate about the power of literacy to change lives and am dedicated to encouraging children all over the world to love reading, writing, being creative, and most importantly of all, to enjoy and celebrate the funny side of life.

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In 2008 Andy became the first Australian author to win six children’s choice awards in one year for Just Shocking!

In 2008 Andy and his wife Jill collaborated with The Bell Shakespeare Company on the popular and critically acclaimed theatrical production Just Macbeth! which was nominated for two Helpmann Awards.

The 65-Storey Treehouse was the fastest-selling Australian book in a decade and the number 1 bestselling book of 2015.

The Treehouse Series has sold over 10 million copies, won 80 children’s choice awards and 10 Australian Book Industry Awards— including Book of the Year for The 52-Storey Treehouse in 2015.

The Treehouse Series is published in more than 35 countries. Five of the books in the series have been adapted for the stage and have all had sell-out seasons at the Sydney Opera House, as well as highly successful seasons in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and America.