Ugenia Lavender is the title character in a series of children's novels written by Geri Halliwell, who achieved fame as a member of the Spice Girls and as a solo singer-songwriter before deciding to pursue a career as an author. Halliwell began writing the books in 2004.^[1] Macmillan Children's Books announced that Halliwell had signed a contract to write six books featuring the character on 12 April 2007.^[2]

Books

• Ugenia Lavender: The First Book (2 May 2008)^[3]
• Ugenia Lavender and the Terrible Tiger (6 June 2008)
• Ugenia Lavender and the Burning Pants (4 July 2008)
• Ugenia Lavender: Home Alone (1 August 2008)
• Ugenia Lavender and the Temple of Gloom (5 September 2008)
• Ugenia Lavender: The One and Only (3 October 2008).^[3]

Story

The books follow the adventures of nine year old Ugenia, a character based on Halliwell,^[4] alongside her friends Bronte, Rudy and Trevor.^[3] Other characters are said by Halliwell to be loosely based on Gordon Ramsay,^[2] George Michael,^[5] Marilyn Monroe,^[6] Vincent van Gogh,^[6] Wayne Rooney^[1] and the character Justin Suarez from the TV series Ugly Betty.^[1] The character Princess Posh Vattoria, a caricature of Victoria Beckham, was featured in early drafts but has not appeared in the book series.^[7]

Each title will feature a newsletter from Ugenia highlighting lessons she has learned,^[8] along with quizzes, riddles and crosswords,^[3] and will be available in an audio book edition read by Halliwell.^[1]

The books are illustrated by Rian Hughes.^[3] Children's author Jonny Zucker is also given a special credit on the books, but Halliwell has maintained she wrote the books entirely on her own.^[9]

Promotion

Promotional activities for the series included a launch reading by Halliwell at London Zoo on 27 April 2008^[4] and a seven city UK book tour planned in 2008.^[10] Halliwell recorded a theme tune for use in advertisements for the books.^[8]

Reception

A review in the Liverpool Echo described the first book as "eminently readable and exciting".^[11] The children's book reviewer in The Observer said it was "good fun" but criticised the quality of the prose.^[12]

Sales

According to the official site, the book sold more than 250,000 copies in its first five months which made Halliwell 2008's most successful female celebrity children's author.^[13]

References

External links

• Ugenia Lavender official site