He was born in Leeds, and studied at Leeds Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Among his popular works are Gumble's Yard (his debut novel, published in 1961), Widdershins Crescent (1965), and The Intruder (1969), which won a 1971 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile Mystery. In Britain, The Intruder was made into a children's TV series starring Milton Johns as the stranger. Noah's Castle was filmed by Southern television and transmitted in seven 25-minute episodes in 1980.

• Gumble's Yard (1961)
• Hell's Edge (1963)
• Widdershins Crescent (1965)
• Written for Children - an Outline of English Children's Literature (1965)
• The Hallersage Sound (1966)
• Pirate's Island (1968)
• The Intruder (1969)
• Trouble in the Jungle (1969)
• Goodbye to Gumble's Yard (1970)
• A Sense of Story (1971) (Republished as A Sounding of Storytellers (1979)
• The Summer People (1972)
• Wish for Wings (1972)
• Good-night, Prof, Love (1973)
• Forest of the Night (1974)
• Noah's Castle (1975)
• Top of the World (1976)
• The Xanadu Manuscript - aka The Visitors (1977)
• Runaways (1979)
• A Sounding of Storytellers (1979)
• The Creatures - aka King Creature, Come (1980)
• The Fortunate Isles (1981)
• The Islanders (1981)
• Kate and the Revolution (1982)
• A Foreign Affair (1982)
• Clever Dick: The Diary of a Dreadful Child (1982)
• Dan Alone (1983)
• Cloudy-Bright (1984)
• Fame and Fortune (1984)
• Gone to the Dogs (1984)
• Tom Tiddler's Ground (1985)
• The Persuading Stick (1986)
• Downstream (1987)
• Rob's Place (1987)
• The Hidden Treasure (1988)
• The Golden Journey (1989)
• Cranford Revisited (1989)
• Cheer and Groan (1989)
• The Invaders (1992)
• Sam and Jenny (1992)