Swapna Haddow
Swapna Haddow's debut series, Dave Pigeon (Faber & Faber), illustrated by Sheena Dempsey, follows the hilarious antics of two pigeons as they advise pigeonkind on how to survive in the world. The latest book in the series Dave Pigeon (Turkey Dinner!) is out in October 2025. While the world’s scariest, baddest and definitely-not-cutest panda is back for a fourth outing in Bad Panda: For Sale (Faber & Faber).
Swapna has several new books out in 2025. Robbery at the Masqued Ball (OUP) is the latest title in her new series with illustrator Becka Moor featuring Reggie Rabbit, Little Dinosaur, Big Questions (Magic Cat) is the following up to her popular Little Dinosaurs, Big Feelings, which feature the Jurassic kingdom's best-loved therapist. The Night Before Holi (Scholastic) celebrates the festival of colour and will be followed by The Night Before Diwali in September. Rama & Sita (Hodder Children's Book, August 2005) is packed with facts from Hindu mythology and graphic art panels, and is part of the Little Myths series for mythology-mad kids.
Later this year sees the release of a brand new series with illustrator Minky Stapleton (Scholastic, September 2025). The Terrible Trio is a fun illustrated series, best described as The Bad Guys meets Madagascar! In a world where all animals have superpowers, Zeb the zebra, Margarine the penguin, and Barry the lemur have the worst powers of all.
How To Save Your Granny From a Runaway Train (Red Shed) is the first in a new fun science series filled with exciting experiments to solve bonkers dilemmas.
Swapna lives in New Zealand with her karate-chopping, swash-buckling son and her thirty-something, age-sensitive husband. She spends her time writing, eating cake and making sure her son doesn’t flatten her husband as he attempts to master his human cannonball trick. Sometimes she does all three at the same time.
Over 400,000 books Swapna Haddow books sold
Accolades for Dave Pigeon
- The Guardian's Best New Children’s Books 2016
- Sainsbury's Children's Book Award 2016 - shortlisted
- North Somerset Teachers' Book Award Read Aloud - winner
- The Independent's 11 Best Books for 4 to 11-Year-Olds
- Tom Fletcher Book Club 2018
- World Book Day 2023 - No 1 bestseller
