> Skip to content

Article  •  13 May 2016

 

Borrowing a bus

R.A. Spratt comes clean on the whereabouts of Nanny Piggins.

Dear Readers,

I am afraid Nanny Piggins is unable to write her own blog entry today, because she has been arrested for ‘borrowing’ a bus.

Fortunately she was able to send me a coded message in the form of cookies, baked in the shape of letters from the alphabet. (Apparently the Police Sergeant was kind enough to allow her access to the police station oven as well as large amounts of sugar, butter and flour).

Anyway, Nanny Piggins’ message reads:

Dear R.A.,

Please please please do something about your hair. The last time I saw you, you looked dreadful. If you won’t get it cut, the least you could do is buy a hat – a big one, with ear flaps, to make sure everything is entirely covered. Then when you have done that, get me a lawyer, a good one (ie. Not Mr Green).

Your Glamorous Muse

Nanny Piggins F.P.

I’m sure Nanny Piggins would have gone on to say how sorry she is not to be doing this last blog entry herself, but she ran out of letter-shaped cookies. So thank you to everyone who has read her blog this week. 

If you want to know more about Nanny Piggins’ opinions, attitudes and adventures then don’t wait for her to blog again (It may be some time. The cheeses at Penguin Random House have been muttering words like ‘banned’, ‘unnecessarily hostile’ and ‘disgrace’ when the topic of her blog comes up). So instead you can read my books, I do try to copy down everything Nanny Piggins says verbatim (otherwise she bites my shins).

Kind Regards

R.A. Spratt

P.S.  I’m sure that the rumour Boris started about Nanny Piggins deliberately getting herself arrested so that she would not have to write another blog entry are entirely untrue.

P.P.S. For further information about me or Nanny Piggins you can visit us at raspratt.com

More features

See all
Article
Books we’d recommend to Conrad Fisher

8 books Conrad Fisher would love (or learn from).

Article
10 black cat boyfriends from must-read books

It’s official: the internet has dubbed Conrad Fisher a ‘black cat boyfriend’. Here are a few other black cat book boyfriends to keep you swooning.

Article
Penguin Fantasy Fest 2025 – a magical four-state adventure!

Four states, four sold out crowds, seven authors and over 850 fans made for an incredible two weeks that we will never forget!

Article
QUIZ: Which Hawthorne brother is your soulmate?

Take this quiz to find out which Hawthorne brother from The Inheritance Games series would be your perfect match.

Article
Abbey’s bookshop in Sydney is celebrating 90 years of Penguin books

Learn about the 4-day Penguin pop-up hosted by Abbey’s bookshop, including special release editions, bookmarks and limited-edition tote bags.

Article
Write It Fellowship Shortlist 2025

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the Write It Fellowship 2025.

Article
Your guide to pre-ordering Alchemised

Learn how to pre-order Alchemised by SenLin Yu and join the thousands of readers who will start reading it on 23 September 2025.

Article
How to make Book Week less stressful

5 tips to help you plan now and avoid Book Week stress later.

Article
Penguin Children’s Bookseller Grant 2025

Learn more and apply for the Penguin Children’s Bookseller Grant – a $200,000 initiative designed to engage young readers.

Article
The Lottie Brooks books, in order

Don’t know which order to read the Lottie Brooks books? Find out which to read first, and learn a little bit about each book.

Article
James Beard Award-winning cookbooks of 2025

Check out some of the incredible books honoured at the 2025 James Beard Foundation Book Awards.

Article
QUIZ: Which YA thriller should you read next?

Take this quiz to find out which YA thriller should be your next read!

Looking for more articles?

See all articles