Books, Audio & DVDs

Doggedley Onward – A Life in Poems, 1970s to 2020s

Pam Ayres has spent a lifetime providing hilarious and profound insights into the delights and tribulations of everyday life. As a young woman in the seminal decade of 1960’s Great Britain, she doggedly pursued a career as a performer and writer, stepping far outside of what was expected of her.   In so doing she created a life for herself of which she could only have dreamed, travelling the world and bringing roars of laughter wherever she went.

Now, Pam has gathered her career’s work of poetry, spanning six decades, into this beautifully illustrated collection. In this book, Pam reflects on her writing, and traces the course of her life from the young woman juggling various boyfriends, to the wife adrift amid the joy and terror of new motherhood, to her current position of astounded, adoring granny.

Included are the cavalcade of much-loved dogs, her lifelong fascination with wildlife, the travel, mistakes, regrets, the heartbreak of leaving the family home, and the sober business of ageing.   Meanwhile, she still continues to explore new avenues, such as writing lyrics for musical theatre. This collection is not just a testament to Pam’s remarkable legacy, but is a celebration of the human spirit, capturing the tears, laughter, joy, and wisdom from a remarkable woman whose work has provoked laughter and tears in people around the world.

I am Hattie the Hare

Illustrated by Nicola O'Byrne

Join Hattie the playful Brown Hare as she leaps from meadow to farm to heath, in this heartwarming tale written in rhyme by the much-loved poet Pam Ayres, author of The Last Hedgehog. We didn’t always live here, once we had a sunny home, We came here with centurions, all the way from Rome . . . From grape green meadows to old-fashioned farms, hares travelled thousands of miles to find a home in the British countryside.

What do they eat? What’s their perfect habitat? Can you tell them apart from rabbits? Wonderfully illustrated by award-winning artist Nicola O’Byrne, I Am Hattie the Hare is a follow-up to the bestselling I Am Oliver the Otter.

Bursting with natural and historical facts interwoven throughout the story, and with an information spread at the end that includes tips on where to spot these gentle animals.

I am Oliver the Otter

illustrated by Nicola O'Byrne

A heart-warming, rhyming story about a little otter called Oliver, written by bestselling poet Pam Ayres, author of The Last Hedgehog. Come on down to the riverbank, and discover a wild and wonderful world . . . Oliver the otter is happy enough living alone, swimming or scampering along the twisty-rooted waterways.

Until one day, among the green rushes, he meets an otter called Ottilie – and his life changes forever. Written in rhyme and beautifully illustrated by award-winning artist Nicola O’Byrne, Pam Ayres’s charming tale brings the natural world to enchanting life.

With nature details interwoven throughout the story, and an information page at the end, including fun facts about otters. Complete with a foiled jacket, I am Oliver the Otter is the perfect gift for nature lovers of all ages.

Who Are You Calling Vermin?

illustrated by Joel Stewart

Published by Ebury Spotlight on 8th September 2021 in Hardback

Hidden beyond the bluebell woods and babbling brooks, there is great unrest in our
countryside. In this lyrical satire, Pam Ayres, a country dweller all her life, highlights the
undercurrents simmering beyond the patchwork of fields. We meet the angry fishermen who
can’t afford to live in their own villages, the indignant farmers who get the blame for
everything and the old man grieving for the unspoilt village of his youth. The animals have
their say too, from the persecuted grey squirrel who didn’t want to leave America anyway,
the barn owl mourning his now-converted ancient barn, and the humble maligned mole, all
of whom come together and demand to know: Who Are You Calling Vermin?

Pam Ayres On Animals

Illustrated by Ellie Snowdon

Published by Ebury Press in 2021 in Hardback

From her very first encounter with a friendly golden Labrador at just three years old, Pam Ayres has been enchanted by animals. She has owned sheep, and hens and naughty puppies, and fallen in love with British wildlife from our hedgehogs to our bees.  Now, for the first time, in this beautiful new illustrated work, she has collated her life’s work of poems, new and old, dedicated to her love of all animals. This definitive collection brings to life the charming characters and voices of all creatures great and small through Pam’s poetry over the last five decades. Including old favourites such as ‘I’m a Starling Me Darling’ and ‘Ode to a Jack Russell’, and new works written just for this collection such as ‘My Sister’s Cat Does Not Like Me’, this collection is perfect for all animal lovers.

With these hands

New edition for 2021

Delighting her fans for more than four decades with her mischievous wit and wry observations, this is a classic collection of poems and monologues from Pam Ayres, which takes us back to where it all began. From the nostalgia of her 1950’s childhood, conjuring up images of hand-knitted swimming costumes and suet puddings, through Pam’s four years in the WRAF where she discovered the joy of performing, to poignant reflections on motherhood and watching her children grow up. With These Hands provides a profound and hilarious insight into the joys and tribulations of daily life, as recorded by the nation’s favourite poet.

Release 4^th March 2021

Up in the attic

With the same magic that has enchanted her fans for more than four decades, Pam’s new collection is by turns hilarious, reflective and profound. From the dubious joy of being an exhausted, panic-stricken hostess in ‘The Dinner Party’ or feelings of unease about pub tableware in ‘Don’t Put My Dinner on the Slate!’, to a poignant reflection of war in ‘Down the Line’ and the bittersweet nostalgia of ‘Up in the Attic’, this new collection will tickle and move readers in equal measure.

Published initially in hardback in September 2019, the paperback version will be published in August 2020.

The last hedgehog

To mark and celebrate National Hedgehog Awareness Week, Pam Ayres has written a less-than-fond farewell from the perspective of the ‘last hedgehog left on earth’ – a delightful, hilarious and thought-provoking elegy to that most beloved inhabitant of the British countryside, the common hedgehog.

You Made Me Late Again!

With over fifty new poems from Britain’s favourite poet, You Made Me Late Again! is an essential addition to Pam Ayres’ incomparable collection of works. Pam’s poems are observant, witty and poignant in equal measure.

In `The Swifts’ and `The Pyracantha Anthem’ she marvels at nature, while `A Patient’s Prayer’ and `Litter Moron’ offer wry views on Modern Britain.

From the dog being afraid of the toaster to your son leaving home for university; and from the search for that perfect swimsuit to becoming a gran for the first time – Pam’s poems are beautifully crafted, and her subjects the everyday and the universal. Delightfully illustrated, most of the poems in You Made Me Late Again! are brand new, yet it also features several firm favourites from her stage shows, published for the first time, such as `The Make-up Lady’ and `Tippy Tappy Feet’.

The Necessary Aptitude: A Memoir

Pam Ayres’ early childhood in Stanford in the Vale was idyllic in many ways, and typical of that experienced by a great swathe of children born in rural areas in the immediate post-war years. Though her parents’ generation was harrowed by war, better times were coming. Everything the family needed was within walking distance in the village, and life with four older brothers and a sister in their crowded council house was exceedingly lively.

In her late teens, Pam grew dissatisfied with her life as a Civil Service clerk with only the local ‘hop’ for scintillating excitement. Having seen three of her brothers called up for National Service and sent off to exciting destinations, Pam felt desperate for travel and adventure. She joined the WRAF and soon found herself in the Far East. There she began to write in earnest, and develop the unique talent that would make her one of Britain’s favourite comics…

The Works: The Classic Collection

The Works contains 120 of Pam Ayres’ best-known poems, including ‘The Battery Hen’, ‘Please Will You Take Your Children Home Before I Do Them In?’, ‘Sling Another Chair Leg on the Fire, Mother’ and, of course, ‘Oh, I Wish I’d Looked After Me Teeth’. This edition includes a general introduction by Pam, as well as individual introductions to these classic poems of the seventies and eighties, many of which are now illustrated with specially commissioned line drawings by Susan Hellard.

Surgically Enhanced

This new collection is a must-have for Pam’s many fans – and for anyone who enjoys beautifully crafted stories and poems to make you laugh and make you think.

Pam Ayres is one of our most widely-adored poets throughout the world and is nothing less than a national treasure. Her work is popular with fans of all ages, and her wry observations on the peculiarities of modern life will raise a smile from even the most hardened cynic.

With These Hands: A Collection Of Work

A collection of the very best poems and sketches from one of Britain’s best loved entertainers.

WITH THESE HANDS is a collection of witty monologues and poems from Pam’s early life in the 1950s, through four years in the WRAF, and marriage and motherhood, to her present busy career as a writer and broadcaster.

The pieces are presented together with delightful illustrations by Susan Hellard providing the reader with a beguiling insight into the heart and mind of Pam Ayres.