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Jest the Funny Bits is a collection of Bill's comic poems, plays and short stories. He had a lot of fun writing them and he really hopes you have fun reading – and, in the case of the plays, acting in – them. However, spoiler alert, they're not for everyone. If you're a humourless sour grumpy-pants, whose face would split in two if you attempted to smile or laugh, then, whatever you do, don't read this book! Also, since it is sure to induce giggles, it is best not to read it out loud. After all, humour is contagious, so if you start laughing, you could cause of a charge of chuckles, even a gush of guffaws. We're sure you wouldn't want that on your conscience. By the end of the book, you may think the author is a very silly person. You'd be right, too, but at least he's not a humourless grumpy-pants.
Bill has written more than 100 children's books which have been published by companies such as Allen & Unwin, Random House, and Queensland University Press, et al. His writing includes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and collections of plays and poetry. Three of his young adult novels, Dogs, No Worries, and A Straight Line to My Heart, were shortlisted in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. Dogs won the CBCA Honour Book of the Year (2001), No Worries won the CBCA Honour Book of the Year (2006), A Straight Line to My Heart was CBCA Honour Book of the Year (2008), Daredevils was a CBCA Notable Book (2007). His junior novel, The Simple Things (Allen & Unwin) was CBCA short-listed in 2015. No Worries and A Straight Line to My Heart were also shortlisted for the NSW Premier Awards. Bill was the winner of the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award in 2010 for Young Adult Fiction. He was also short-listed for the PM's Literary Award in 2012. In more recent years his plays, poems, comedic sketches, and short stories have been frequently published in the New South Wales School Magazine. Bill and his wife, the well-known children's author, Dianne (Di) Bates, live on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. They are both full-time freelance writers.
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