Children’s books
One special day grandpa takes him up to the attic and, to his surprise, out into a tall ship.
Together they sail across the sea to a jungle island where they meet all sorts of amazing animals.
When it’s time to go home grandpa decides to stay and they wave their goodbyes. This is a beautiful, unique story that tenderly helps smooth the sadness of the death of a grandparent.
Alice’s brother gets a call that a suitable donor heart has been found, so he is rushed to hospital.
Neither of Alice’s estranged parents can now care for her, so she is shipped off to stay with her cantankerous grandmother Nell.
Her ambition is to level Darkling Wood because its proximity to her house is a major problem.
Locals are aghast at this plan; students in Alice’s temporary school get in on the protest, and, mysterious forces begin a campaign to disrupt the tree surgeons.
Most mysterious is Flo, a young girl who befriends Alice and tries to persuade her that Darkling Wood is a fairy stronghold and that its destruction would be a crime against this little race.
Alice hopes to meet Flo at school , but nobody has heard of her, and to make matters worse local girl Ella takes an instant dislike to Alice.
Running in tandem with the main narrative is a series of letters to Alfred who is on the front line in The Great War.
These, from his sister who used to live in Darkling Wood, also chronicle mysterious happenings in the wood. The story centres around three forthright and feisty heroines and a dog who has a mind of his own.
The wealth of country traditions gives an aura of authenticity to this magical story, which at the same time doesn’t pull its punches when dealing with awkward topics.
This book, in part inspired by The Cottingley incidents, is destined to be a modern classic in its own right.
Suitable for Age 10 and upwards.
