Penny Dreadful

Introducing the mastermind of mischief-making, Penny Dreadful.
A side-splittingly funny series by Joanna Nadin.

Who is Penny Dreadful?

"My name is not actually Penny Dreadful. It is Penelope Jones. The 'Dreadful' bit is my dad's JOKE. But I do not see the funny side. Plus it is not even true that I am dreadful. It's just that sometimes my BRILLIANT IDEAS don't work out completely brilliantly. Like, I didn't mean for my cousin to end up bald and covered in superglue, and I also didn't mean to steal our neighbour's dog and make him speak Russian... It is not my fault. I can't help it - I'm just a Magnet for Disaster."

Penny Dreadful books

Click on a book cover to view Penny's tales of mishap, mayhem and misadventure...

"A very funny book for newly independent readers."

Irish Examiner review of Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe

Usborne World Record

It’s official! Penny Dreadful is a Guinness World Record holder! Hooray!

Usborne Publishing, Joanna Nadin, King Edward’s School and Combe Down Primary, in the UK, now hold the Guinness World Record for the largest reading lesson. On World Book Day 2013, 288 children packed into the school hall for an hour of reading fun and games based on Penny Dreadful is a Record Breaker.

Read more about the event on the See Inside Usborne blog.

Winner of the Surrey Libraries Children's Book Award

Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster won the 2012 Surrey Libraries Children's Book Award. Click on the image below to see some of the wonderful project work from the schools involved.

"There have been plenty of attempts at a 'Horrid Henry for Girls' but Penny Dreadful might just live up to the comparison...side-splittingly funny."

The Bookseller

" The perfect book to get youngsters reading with an adult, or entirely alone."

Lancashire Evening Post