The beloved children’s author behind the popular Choose Your Own Adventure book series has died at the age of 78.

RA Montgomery passed away on November 9 at his home in Vermont, US. His family has not revealed the cause of death.

The prolific writer created the first role-playing novel, Journey Under the Sea, in 1977, as part of his then-titled The Adventures of You series.

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The collection was later renamed Choose Your Own Adventure after its acquisition by publishing bosses at Bantam Books.

Montgomery went on to pen more than 200 titles in the series, which has been translated into 40 different languages and sold more than 250 million copies around the world, making it one of the bestselling children’s book collections in the world.

His most recent instalment was released in September.

A statement issued by the books’ current publishers at Chooseco reads: “Montgomery, who was passionate about education all his life, felt that interactive fiction was critical to reluctant readers in achieving reading fluency, which is the final stage of achieving true literacy.”