Pongwiffy and the Pantomime

Kay Umansky was born in Plymouth, England on December 6, 1946. She trained as a teacher and taught in primary schools for numerous years. She also acted and played music including performing in a soul band with her husband.

Her first book, a collection of songs called Phantasmagoria, was published in 1985. She received the 1993 Nottinghamshire Book Award for Pongwiffy and the Spell of the Year, the 1999 Times Educational Supplement Junior Music Book Award for Three Rapping Rats, and the 2008 Stockton Book of the Year for Clover Twig and the Incredible Flying Cottage. In 2004, the Pongwiffy series was adapted for television by the animation company Telemagination.

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