John Godber is the author of Horrid Henry Live and Horrid! which premieres at the Lyceum next month at the start of a nationwide tour.

The artistic director of Hull Truck Theatre Company whose writing has mined his own background as a miner's son and former teacher is not the obvious choice for the project, a co-production between Sheffield Theatres and Watershed Productions. It has more to do with his being a parent.

He said: "My youngest daughter saw an email from Watershed asking me if I would like to do it and she said if you don't then I am leaving home. She is such a massive fan. She's 10 now but she learned to read through Horrid Henry. It's been a signficant part of her life."

So how did Godber approach the assignment? "We had most of the books and I had to read them all again. I was offered the option of creating an original story but that seemed to be to disrespectful of Francesca Simon who has written 20-odd of them. What am I going to do, Horrid Henry Has a Night on the Town, Does a Line of Coke? Young people who are fans will want to see a story they recognise.

"One of the challenges is how you turn 10-minute chunks into an 80-minute play. We have come up with a reinterpetation of six of the stories and one overall story that they segue into."

Godber is keen to offer something different from the usual run of family shows.

He said: "I have taken my kids to see theatre in the name of being a good dad and we have been bored senseless and no one dares leave.

"I am aiming for a piece of theatre which will speak to mums and dads as well as kids, a bit like a Bouncers for teenagers."

Henry is a unique character in that he does some awful things to his hapless parents, brother Perfect Peter and nemesis Moody Margaret, but we remain on his side.

Godber said: "While he is horrid, Henry doesn't do anything we haven't done. It's a strength of the books that we identify with the selfish one"

In order to get the gig, Godber had to be approved by the author. "It turned out Francesca is a big theatregoer and knew of my plays and she likes the idea of Henry's imagination being what gets him through at the end of the day.

"A lot of the time we sit on kids' imagination and yet they can have the most imaginative flights of fancy."

Thus the play doesn't take place in Henry's room or other real settings. "It's not literal in any way. I remember when my kids were younger they didn't want establishing shots in a story."

He was also vetted by the makers of the ITV animated series. The cartoon is visually different from the Tony Ross illustrations in the books and the stage show will approximate the look of that because, acknowledges Godber, that is seen by millions more than read the books.

At the same time the integrity of the books will be retained.

Adapting other people's material would seem to be a departure for Godber, best known known for writing contemporary plays such as Bouncers, Up 'n' Under and Happy Families

"In the early days I did adaptations of Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Moby Dick but I have never really adapted a novel so famous and contemporary and in circulation when I came to it.

"Horrid Henry cwas something I could fit in while working on the new Hull Truck theatre due to open next spring. It was a real toil of pleasure."

Horrid Henry Live and Horrid! is at the Lyceum, August 26 to September 13.