Stories, ideas, inventions, parallel worlds, and the occasional emotionally complex cat — my books wander joyfully across creativity, imagination and the gentle, chaotic magic of being human. Here’s the full bookshelf.
Perfect Imperfect
(Episodic Young Adult Novel — ongoing on Substack)
My current long-form fiction project, Perfect Imperfect follows two girls — Sylvia and Chlorophyll — whose lives collide across parallel worlds in a story about difference, belonging, chaotic courage, and the kind of friendship that rearranges your whole heart.
Expect disability representation, messy feelings, queer threads, portals, and a squirrel with opinions.
It’s strange, warm, hopeful and very me.
Read the serialised chapters on Substack:
🔗 https://karuski.substack.com/
Follow Your Dreams
(HarperCollins, 2024)
A bright, joyful guide to trusting your ideas and taking bold, tiny steps toward big dreams.
A warm and practical invitation for children to explore careers beyond the expected, find their voice, and build creative confidence.
🔗 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Katherine+Mengardon+Follow+Your+Dreams
The Cat of Nine Names
(PlaySpace Books, 2023)
This is no ordinary book.
It’s proof that children can achieve incredible things when given the freedom to follow their heart in playful explorations.
A cross-Atlantic collaboration born from the Covid crisis, a gentle rejection from J.K. Rowling, and one very sick stray cat, this book was co-created with 12-year-old illustrator Anaya Hamid.
She never imagined her drawings would end up in a real book. I did.
With trust and mentoring, she rose to the challenge and revealed talent far beyond her years.
Together we built a heart-warming “tail” celebrating community, diversity and belonging.
If cats have nine lives, do they have nine names?
Follow our wandering stray through the gardens of Wanderlost Street as he collects identities and friends. But when winter comes, everything changes…
Contact me directly for copies.
Wild in the Park
(Alexandra Palace, 2022)
A joyful invitation to discover the wildlife hiding in plain sight.
Created for the community of Alexandra Palace, this book celebrates curiosity, local nature and muddy-knees adventure.
Little Inventors in Space
(152p, HarperCollins, 2020)
My final book for the Little Inventors–HarperCollins partnership, In Space! launches children into a universe of cosmic creativity. This activity book transforms young inventors into supernovas of imagination, encouraging them to design inventions for life in orbit, missions across the stars, and even future homes on Mars.
Inside you’ll discover:
- how to make living in space more comfortable
- prompts to invent new shuttles, star-catchers and astro-gadgets
- real facts about astronauts, space sweepers, shooting star hunters and planetary science
- drawing activities to explore zero-gravity problem-solving
A joyful mix of creativity, science and “what if?” thinking — perfect for curious minds and future space explorers.
🔗 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Little+Inventors+in+Space+Mengardon
Little Inventors Go Green!
(152p, HarperCollins, 2019)
This fun, energetic activity book invites children to dream up planet-saving inventions inspired by nature itself. How can we learn from banana-eating T-rexes, canvas-spinning spiders or the astounding secret superpowers of trees? (Spoiler: nature knows more tricks than we do.)
Inside, kids will find:
- creative prompts to design eco-friendly inventions
- surprising nature facts to spark ideas
- drawing challenges inspired by real children’s inventions
- imaginative missions to make our world cleaner and kinder
A book buzzing with optimism, creativity and green thinking.
🔗 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Little+Inventors+Go+Green+Mengardon
The Little Inventors Handbook
(152p, HarperCollins, 2018)
This is the original Little Inventors guidebook — the one that started the whole movement. Conceived and written by me, it’s a step-by-step invitation for children to think up fantastical, funny or perfectly practical inventions with absolutely no limits.
Young inventors learn how to:
- solve problems in imaginative ways
- improve everyday objects
- design for real people
- follow their curiosity into unexpected ideas
Packed with hands-on activities and surprising facts about the history of science, art, design and invention, this handbook helps children explore how ideas grow, change and become something delightfully new.
🔗 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Little+Inventors+Handbook+Mengardon
Katherine Mengardon 