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The lone wolf…and the prickly fox
“Leave me alone!” A lone wolf. A wolf that was lonely – but disguising it well with harrumphs and snarls. Living in a tangle of trees, well away from everyone and everything else. Time had put frost on his whiskers and ice in his heart. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I was writing during the pandemic, so there was a lot of alone-ness going on. I wanted to write a proper adventure for this wolf, that thawed his heart and found him love. But I wasn’t quite sure who else was there or what happened. Sometimes stories start like that – with just one character. It might be simply an image, or a phrase. And sometimes they remain…
Will Wolfheart
What’s it about? Will loves his dog, Whisker, and Whisker really loves him. Will loves Whisker so much that he feels as if he’s not quite whole when he’s without him. Which unfortunately is much of the time, as Will’s new flat…
The Enormous Pineapple
‘The Enormous Pineapple’, published by Oxford University Press, is ENORMOUSLY exciting for me. Why? Because it’s my first educational picture book. OK. Obviously I have a bit of explaining to do. A bit of background. I write picture books for…
Very Little chalkings
I’m lucky enough to live near Florence Park. It’s a beautiful park and dear to my heart. I’ve spent many happy hours in its playgrounds with our children when they were little, or going to baby groups in the children’s centre (now…
The Wonder Tree: the first acorn
A couple of years ago, I got really interested in trees. One tree in particular. I’d half-fallen asleep on the sofa when a wonderful BBC4 documentary came on TV. It was about a year in the life of an oak tree. George…
The real Stripy Ted
Loved to Bits is a very personal story for me. It’s about a very special bear. Yes, that ‘bear’ up there is the real Stripy Ted – and, like the bear in Loved to Bits, Stripy once was a super,…
Writing ‘The Marvellous Moon Map’
The Marvellous Moon Map is a very exciting book for me – and not just because the fantabulous David Litchfield has done the stunning illustrations for it! It’s because it’s a story which came wholly out of my head, without…
The Spectacular City
Mouse and Bear leave their deep, dark Woods to visit the Spectacular City – a place full of sparkle and singing bright lights. There they meet Cat, who offers to show them around. But behind the glitter of the City…
Loved to Bits
My ted’s special. Stripy Ted. We make adventures round my bed. But he’s no longer at his best, so will I love him more – or less? Find out in my new picture book about the adventures of one boy…
The Wonder Tree
“Mummy!” said Little Owl. “Look! The leaves are all falling!” Mummy Owl tells Little Owl all about the wonders of the tree where they live: how it drinks sun, and sucks water from the earth. And how it will be there…
The Marvellous Moon Map
Mouse and Bear live in a little dark house in the big black Woods. Today, Mouse sets off on an adventure: he’s off to find the Moon with his Marvellous Moon Map! “I can go on my own,” he announces –…
