Books: John's quick on the draw to scoop children's prize

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 10:02

Manfred the Baddie by John Fardell is published by Quercus, priced £6.99.

From working on toilet humour comic Viz to writing books for the under-sevens, there might not seem like there are many similarities.

But the anti-hero of John Fardell's picture book Manfred the Baddie has more than a touch of irreverent mischief about him – from kidnapping inventors to stealing work from art museums.

On Tuesday, Fardell's tale won him a Royal Mail Award, the country's largest children's book prize which is voted for exclusively by children.

Fardell was announced the winner of the Early Years category (0-7) at a ceremony in Edinburgh's Queen's Hall.

John, 42, says: "It is great to be voted for by the children. I have never won a book award in my life, so it's lovely.

"Manfred is like a James Bond baddie. He threatens to feed the inventors to his piranha and even bullies his henchmen. He has a great time!"

However, when Manfred begins to feel unwell, he realises that nobody likes him.

"No-one will look after him," John says. "He learns his lesson that if you behave like that, nobody likes you, and decides he wants to be a goodie."

The reformed character instead pays inventors to build machines to help create new art galleries and rescue people from floods, among other things, but he still struggles to completely remove his naughty streak.

Fardell, who is originally from Thornbury near Bristol but now lives in Corstorphine, has written and provided the illustrations for four children's books. His comic strips and cartoons have appeared in Viz, The List and The Independent.

The father-of-two says his inspiration for Manfred came from Heath Robinson's famous cartoons, the Tintin books and Pink Panther films.

Fardell adds: "The domes, interesting towers, and the alleyways and streets in Edinburgh were inspirational, too, and feature in the book."