Jaco Jacobs

ABOUT JACO

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Jaco Jacobs is the most popular and prolific children's book author in Afrikaans. He has published more than 260 books and more than a million copies of his books have been sold. Jaco is also a well-known translator.

He grew up in a small South African town in the Karoo, one of the most arid parts of the world, and fell in love with books at a very young age. His writing career started at school, with his participation in numerous competitions for aspiring authors, and the publication of his first stories in magazines. His first children’s book, Pretpark, was written while he was still in school!

Most of his books are written and published in Afrikaans. A Good Day for Climbing Trees was his first book published internationally by Oneworld Publications in the UK, and in 2018, A Good Night for Shooting Zombies was released. This latter book was one of two novels by Jaco that were adapted into feature films and released in South Africa. Both these books were nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Some of Jaco's books have also been translated into Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Slovenian.

Jaco lives in Bloemfontein, South Africa, with his wife Elize, daughters Mia and Emma, three dogs, a cat and a pet python.
A Good Night For Shooting Zombies is a wonderful and exciting story with true emotional depth...a compact and briskly told adventure.
Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling with a Hamster
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Quirky, charming and very funny, but with a real emotional punch. It is the perfect place to start for someone looking to move on from The Wimpy Kid books.
Anthony McGowan, author of The Donut Diaries, about A Good Day for Climbing Trees
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Did you know?

Jaco's hobbies include long-distance running and collecting PEZ.