At the age of 9 years, Jayne was the youngest author to ever write for Ladybird Books. [2] [3] Her writing and illustrating has been an inspiration to others. [4] [5] Books [ edit ] Can anyone remember Jayne Fisher's Garden Gang books about fruit and vegetable characters, from the late 70's and early 80's? Francine Pascal (not only the Sweet Valley books but a wonderful novel called Hanging Out With Cici)

Written by Jayne Fisher, the Garden Gang series were small books that each featured two stories about a fruit or vegetable like Penelope Strawberry or Roger Radish. As a young teenager I also loved a series of books called 'Couples' which were set in American high schools. One of the character was called Phoebe and until Friends came along I had always thought it was pronounced Foe-be. The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr (I went to see the stage show of it in 2011 when I was pregnant, with my Mum. We were surrounded by 5 year olds :D)Comfort Herself by Geraldine Kaye (bits of it were also included in some primary school reading books - anyone know what these were (one also included a story about a girl making a tea-tray cloth at school and then climbing a hugh tree and tying it at the top!) We must be around the same age and had access to amazing libraries. I loved all these books especially Hanging Out With Cici. Jayne was only nine years old when she began writing the Garden Gang stories, and while she was prolific for that short period of time, it does not seem like she pursued her writing career much further. There are countless blog and forum posts across the internet expressing fondness for the series and wondering “what ever happened to Jayne Fisher?”

In a way, I like that while the series was so popular and beloved, this child author then went on to pursue other interests and talents. I hold out hope that Jayne Fisher might resurface at some point, simply because there is a question that has been bugging me: all of the characters in the Garden Gang have alliterative names, save one. What’s the deal with Penelope Strawberry? Did she change her name to sound more glamorous (it seems like something she might do)? Is “Penelope” her middle name and her first name is actually “Sarah” or “Sally” or another name that begins with S? I don’t think I’ll ever find out, but I will always wonder. Enid Blyton; loved just about everything she did but particular faves were Mallory Towers, St Clares, and the '...of Adventure' series.Judy Blume- what thirty-something of today wasn't curious about the sexy bits in 'Forever'? But I loved her other books too, especially Tiger Eyes. I thought the art looked like it was drawn by a child, and it turns out that it was -- the Garden Gang series was both written and illustrated by a nine year old. I didn't really enjoy them, as the author/illustrator wasn't *my* nine year old.