Operation Kick Butt

by Niki Daly

Al's imaginative tall stories are only surpassed by the extraordinary things that really happen to him! In this adventure, he and his two friends have a community project to undertake during the school holidays. Helping in a local care home where Al’s Gran already volunteers, they soon find themselves with mysteries to solve.

This is a fun, laughter-filled story, which also skilfully examines the importance of relationships between young and old. From Al's much-loved baby brother, to the feisty and individual elderly care home residents, everyone has an important role to play in this entertaining story, which reminds us of the value of those around us.

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

Niki Daly

Niki Daly was born in Cape Town in 1946, to a working class white family. After finishing at High School he obtained a diploma in Art and Design and worked in advertising.

Always a keen musician, in 1970 he went to England to fulfil a recording and songwriting contract. He also worked as a graphic designer/illustrator and taught at the East Ham College of Technology, London.

He won a British Arts Council Illustration Award for The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Road (his first published work) in 1978. Since then, he has illustrated many stories of his own as well as those of other writers.

In 1980 he returned to South Africa where he worked as a teacher and freelance illustrator, and led the Graphic Design Department of Stellenbosch University until 1989. In 1988 he won a Parents Choice Award for his book, Not so Fast, Songololo. In 1990 he travelled to the USA with storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, to work on a video of Not so Fast, Songololo.

From 1989 to1992 he developed Songololo Books, a children’s book division of David Philip Publishers. During 1989-1990 Daly ran writing and illustration workshops which facilitated the work of other writer and illustrator teams.

Many of these workshop projects, such as Charlie’s House, Somewhere in Africa and All the Magic in the World have been published internationally as picture books. He has also written songs for puppet theatre and animation.

He lives in Mowbray, a suburb of Cape Town, with his wife, Jude Daly, an illustrator, and their two sons, Joseph and Leo.

Niki Daly