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Thursday, September 29, 2022
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Turkish Editions: The Lost World and The Three Musketeers
Turkish Editions:
The Lost World and The Three Musketeers
Turkish Translations of my adaptations of "The Lost World" and "The Three Musketeers", originally published by Oxford University Press. Love the dinosaur!
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
THE BIG PANCAKE
NEW BOOK FOR 2018
( Published Cambridge University Press, in collaboration with the UCL Institute of Education's International Literacy Centre).
The Cook is making the biggest pancake in the world. But it jumps out of the frying pan and rolls away.
But, as it escapes, it just can't help saving people's lives.
The Big Pancake turns out to be a big hero!
( Published Cambridge University Press, in collaboration with the UCL Institute of Education's International Literacy Centre).
The Cook is making the biggest pancake in the world. But it jumps out of the frying pan and rolls away.
But, as it escapes, it just can't help saving people's lives.
The Big Pancake turns out to be a big hero!
Thursday, January 12, 2017
THE CURSE OF THE CROCODILE KING
"THE CURSE OF THE CROCODILE KING"
(Book 2 in the "Artefact Inspector" series, published in UK by Tamarind Books)
'"A tall woman with an eye patch came striding in. She wore a headwrap and dress in sizzling colours: hot pink, flaming orange, scorching yellow. She lit up the bakery like a firework display.
"Hello Frankie," she said.
"Mizz Z!" gasped Frankie. "You've come back from Africa!"
Yes, Miss Zauyamakanda (otherwise known as Mizz Z), Chief Inspector and part-time football coach, is back in town!
In China Town to be specific, in a city in England. (Here's the gateway to Chinatown with the city football stadium in the background.)
Mizz Z has come to the Money Tree Bakery owned by Frankie's Auntie Tang, where Frankie is working to earn extra pocket money, selling cakes like these. Look out, in the book, for the pineapple bun!
In Book One, "Zilombo" published in UK by Tamarind Books (American Edition published by Lee and Low as "Monster in the Mudball") Mizz Z, Chief Inspector of Ancient Artefacts, along with Jin and his big sister Frankie, battled an ancient shape-shifting monster. Now Mizz Z is back, facing an even more formidable foe, the dreadful Avenger, once the most deadly weapon of a tyrant called the Crocodile King. And, this time, it's personal!
ONCE CURSED, YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!
"No one the Crocodile King cursed EVER escaped Avenger," Mizz Z told Frankie. "You could run to the ends of the Earth, hide in the deepest caves, or on the highest mountains but Avenger never, ever gave up. It ALWAYS tracked you down. And it showed no mercy. It couldn't. Because it's just a machine with no feelings."
"It's a heap of junk!" said Jin.
"You're joking us!" scoffed Frankie.
"I do not joke," said Mizz Z, "about things like that. But it is perfectly harmless," insisted Mizz Z, "because it has lost its powers completely. Only the Crocodile King can activate it. And the Crocodile King has been dead for centuries. So it cannot happen."
But, for once, Mizz Z is WRONG! She and all her family are cursed by the Crocodile King who orders Avenger to hunt them down. Mizz Z finds herself tracked through the night-time city streets by the terrible Avenger. Somehow, Jin and Frankie must break the Crocodile King's curse, or the Chief Inspector herself will be Avenger's first victim.
Followed by her little brother Kapito (top computer game designer) who, with terrible timing, is flying into England from his home in America next morning!
Also in this story are:
To find out how they all fit in, read "The Curse of the Crocodile King"!
Click here to buy "Curse of the Crocodile King" on Amazon:
(Book 2 in the "Artefact Inspector" series, published in UK by Tamarind Books)
'"A tall woman with an eye patch came striding in. She wore a headwrap and dress in sizzling colours: hot pink, flaming orange, scorching yellow. She lit up the bakery like a firework display.
"Hello Frankie," she said.
"Mizz Z!" gasped Frankie. "You've come back from Africa!"
Yes, Miss Zauyamakanda (otherwise known as Mizz Z), Chief Inspector and part-time football coach, is back in town!
In China Town to be specific, in a city in England. (Here's the gateway to Chinatown with the city football stadium in the background.)
Mizz Z has come to the Money Tree Bakery owned by Frankie's Auntie Tang, where Frankie is working to earn extra pocket money, selling cakes like these. Look out, in the book, for the pineapple bun!
In Book One, "Zilombo" published in UK by Tamarind Books (American Edition published by Lee and Low as "Monster in the Mudball") Mizz Z, Chief Inspector of Ancient Artefacts, along with Jin and his big sister Frankie, battled an ancient shape-shifting monster. Now Mizz Z is back, facing an even more formidable foe, the dreadful Avenger, once the most deadly weapon of a tyrant called the Crocodile King. And, this time, it's personal!
ONCE CURSED, YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!
"No one the Crocodile King cursed EVER escaped Avenger," Mizz Z told Frankie. "You could run to the ends of the Earth, hide in the deepest caves, or on the highest mountains but Avenger never, ever gave up. It ALWAYS tracked you down. And it showed no mercy. It couldn't. Because it's just a machine with no feelings."
"It's a heap of junk!" said Jin.
"You're joking us!" scoffed Frankie.
"I do not joke," said Mizz Z, "about things like that. But it is perfectly harmless," insisted Mizz Z, "because it has lost its powers completely. Only the Crocodile King can activate it. And the Crocodile King has been dead for centuries. So it cannot happen."
But, for once, Mizz Z is WRONG! She and all her family are cursed by the Crocodile King who orders Avenger to hunt them down. Mizz Z finds herself tracked through the night-time city streets by the terrible Avenger. Somehow, Jin and Frankie must break the Crocodile King's curse, or the Chief Inspector herself will be Avenger's first victim.
Followed by her little brother Kapito (top computer game designer) who, with terrible timing, is flying into England from his home in America next morning!
Also in this story are:
- An ancient and very temperamental bun steaming stove called The Iron Dragon, that drives Auntie Tang crazy.
- Jin's Dad,a tough rodent control technician (or rat killer), who is a legend in his own life time.
- A Giant African Pouched Rat( who can sniff out land mines) and is a hero back in Africa.
- A truly terrifying ghost dog called Darkness.
- And, I almost forgot, a public toilet in a baobab tree!
To find out how they all fit in, read "The Curse of the Crocodile King"!
Click here to buy "Curse of the Crocodile King" on Amazon:
Monday, July 11, 2016
ICARUS: an ancient Greek legend retold
My latest book, ICARUS, is a retelling of a legend from Ancient Greece.
Published by Oxford University Press
Illustrations by Joe Todd-Stanton
Click here to order on Amazon
Daedalus and Icarus are locked in a tower by evil King Midas. How can they get out? Daedalus is watching seagulls flying from the tower window and suddenly thinks of a brilliant but highly risky escape plan .......
Icarus trying out his new wings.
Icarus falling through the air. .
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Monday, October 5, 2015
Grandma and the Leopard
GRANDMA AND THE LEOPARD
NEW BOOK! PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2015
ILLUSTRATIONS BY GALIA BERNSTEIN
When Grandma was a little girl in Africa, she got chased and nearly eaten by a leopard! Ava hears Grandma's scary story and becomes terrified of leopards. She won't even go to school, even though there are no leopards where she lives, in case one leaps from a bush and eats her! How can big sister Elise and Grandma save the day?
Monday, August 10, 2015
The Dog of Truth
THE DOG OF TRUTH
NEW BOOK! PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2015
ILLUSTRATIONS BY BISTRA MASSEVA
Cal gets a dog from a rescue centre. Then finds out his new pet has an amazing talent. It can tell when people are lying! At first Cal is thrilled because now he knows when his friends aren't telling him the truth. But then the Dog of Truth starts using its special powers on him!
Saturday, November 22, 2014
THE INVASION OF THE VAMPIRE SPIDERS
ILLUSTRATIONS TONY BLUNDELL
Cover by Tony Blundell
Vampire spiders should be extinct. They're as big as small dogs and not very bright. They make modern spiders look clever. Millions of years ago they hunted in packs and chased their prey along the ground with big stabbing claws. But somehow they've survived in caves underneath the creepy and sinister mansion "The Lair."
Illustration by Tony Blundell
Find out what happens when spider fanatic Finn and his big sister Phoebe do battle with them. Also with the terrible Lady Withers, cruel Victorian Agony Aunt and crusher of servant girls' dreams - who's obsessed with dusting, handwriting and flannel knickerbockers. And who just can't stop giving advice even though she's been dead over a 100 years.
Illustration by Tony Blundell
Also in the story: Lord Withers, author of the famous " Pooter Hunting for Boys", Finn's favourite book.
Sadly, Lord Withers' is now just a crystallized skeleton.
Illustration by Tony Blundell
But his giant Pooter survives, which is convenient for Finn, because it's just the right weapon for catching primitive spiders alive!
Illustration by Tony Blundell
Meet also Dr. Clinton C. Clinton, Finn's hero, TV star and spider psychologist who can talk spider language and who's hiding a terrible secret.
Illustration by Tony Blundell
They're all in this funny, thrilling, creepy tale, "Invasion of the Vampire Spiders"!!
Monday, August 18, 2014
RUN! RUN! IT'S SCARY POO!
Illustrations are by Charles Fuge
This is a picture book about Tiny Shrew. Here he is:
It's his first time outside his cosy nest. He's got a LOT to learn.
"Right," said Ma Shrew. "Let's get cracking! You need to know how to tell safe poo from scary poo."
"Pardon?" asked Tiny Shrew, puzzled.
"We shrews can't see danger," said Ma Shrew, blinking her poor, weak eyes. "But we can smell it. We just have to sniff some poo and we can tell if it's parrot poo. Or .... PANTHER POO!"
"What do we do if it's panther poo?" asked Tiny Shrew.
"RUN LIKE MAD!" said Ma Shrew.
Problem is, Tiny Shrew can't sniff the difference between safe poo and scary poo. He can't even tell if he's sniffing poo at all!
He sniffs something.
"It's scary poo, Ma! Run for your life!" shrieked Tiny Shrew.
"Calm down," said Ma. "It's not scary poo. It's a butterfly."
Tiny Shrew sniffs something else.
" AAAARGH! Run Ma! Run for your life!" he screamed. "It's scary panther poo!"
"You just sniffed a toad!" Mum sighed.
Ma and Pa Shrew are really worried. Their son can't smell scary poo. How will he survive in the jungle?
But then the worst thing happens!
Tiny Shrew lands in a big pile of poo.
But is it safe poo or scary PANTHER poo?
Tiny Shrew's life depends on knowing the difference!
Read "Run, Run It's Scary Poo!" to find out what happens.
Friday, June 20, 2014
WOLF MAN
HOW TO BECOME A WEREWOLF
1. Is your Mum or Dad a werewolf? Then you're probably one already so you don't need to read this.
2 Wear a shaman's magical wolf cloak.
3 Drink rainwater at midnight from a werewolf's footprint.
4 Eat a lycanthropous flower. Which is what Ellis does in "WOLF MAN".
Lycanthropous flowers look like daisies, the old tales tell us. They only bloom at night, they GLOW in the dark. Here's what happens when Ellis eats one:
"Ellis plucked the lycanthropous flower off its furry stem and ate it. He'd expected it to taste foul, like rotting meat. But it tasted sweet, like honey.
Ellis felt his heart beating faster, his blood surging around his body. Curiously, he watched hairs springing from his own skin, first a few bristles, then a thick furry coat. There were seconds of searing agony as his bones crunched or lengthened, his tendons cracked. It seemed like his body was being ripped apart, then reassembled.
He dropped to all fours, opened his mouth in a scream. But only a snarl came out ....."
Click to check out these savage wolf fangs!
Click to hear a howling wolf pack:
Monday, March 31, 2014
The Animal Investigators Series
THE "ANIMAL INVESTIGATORS" SERIES
(cover illustrations: Adam Willis)
Myths, monsters and mysteries. It's all in a day's work for expert tracker Ellis and animal mind reader Meriel.
Four "adrenalin-fuelled adventures with a dark supernatural twist."
(Published in UK and US by Usborne)
WOLF MAN
A tattooed teenage warrior is chipped out of a glacier where he's been frozen for five thousand years. A savage wolf with supernatural powers is terrorizing a training camp for young offenders. Can the two events be linked? Ellis and Meriel investigate ..........
GHOST DOGS
Meriel and Ellis investigate a pack of ghost dogs in a forest which leads them to their leader, a feral boy called Blue, who has lethal powers .........
KILLER SPIDERS
Giant Jurassic spiders that hunt in packs like wolves are loose in an eco dome. They capture Ellis and take him as an offering to their monstrous spider Queen. Only Meriel, with her animal mind reading skills, can save him.
RED EYE
A half-crazed boy turns up at Animal Investigators HQ. He claims his town has been enslaved by an army of killer gulls commanded by the super-smart psycho gull Red Eye.
Meriel and Ellis think it's a joke. Until they go there .........
Click here to find this book on Amazon
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Making Monsters Happy
Illustration by Steve May
A book of three stories about MONSTERS!
Even monsters get sad sometimes. Lucky for them, Manu is a Monster Helper. Can he put a smile on the faces of Werewolf,
Mummy
Illustration by Steve May
...... and Monster Tomato?
It's a hard job but someone's got to do it!
Jeremy Strong says: What a rib-tickler! Would you be brave enough to help a monster? Manu is!
Click here to find this book on Amazon
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Animal Investigators, Bill's Silly Hat, Ghost Dogs, Killer Spiders, Red Eye, The Monster in the Mudball, Viridian, Viridian Venus Angel, Wolf Man
BOOKS PUBLISHED 2013 - 2014
(Cover illustration Melvyn Grant)
A virus is turning people into human/plant hybrids. But the new species, the Verdans are peace-loving, calm and happy. Everyone wants to be Verdan! Soon people are queueing up to get infected. The only humans left are Immunes like Jay and a few stubborn hold-outs, like his dad.
Then the Cultivars rise. Bred from the most aggressive plants on the planet, they're violent, powerful warlords. Their leader is the ruthless Viridian - Jay's blood brother and worst enemy. And Viridian won't stop until he's wiped out the entire human race.
(Published A & C Black)
(Cover illustration Melvyn Grant)
In the sequel to Viridian: The Verdan threat is ending. There's a vaccine for the virus that turned people into plant/human hybrids. Jay's desperate to cure Toni, once his friend, turned into a beautiful but deadly Venus Angel by the terrible Viridian. But Toni is a winged predator now, made to kill. The vicious Verdan warriors, known as Cultivars are still fighting on, killing humans and Verdans alike. And, hidden from sight, the monstrous warlord Viridian plots his return to power ...........
(Published A&C Black)
(cover art Shawn Boyles. Jacket design Isaac Stewart)
A Junior Library Guild Selection.
"Monster in the Mudball is a light-on-its feet adventure full of surprises, humor and heart!" Jessica Day George
A Monster is loose in England! The terrible monster Zilombo has hatched out of a mudball on top of a wardrobe and it's kind of Jin's fault she escaped. Jin teams up with Mizz Zauyamakanda (Mizz Z. for short) the formidable Chief Inspector of Ancient Artifacts from Africa, to re-capture the monster Zilombo. But meanwhile, Jin's elder sister Frankie has lost their baby brother, Smiler. Zilombo has kidnapped him! Can they rescue him from Zilombo's clutches before she eats him?
(Published in America by Lee and Low Books and in UK as "Zilombo" by Tamarind)
The Monster in the Mudball is published under the title Zilombo in the UK - click here to find it on Amazon
(Cover illustrations Adam Willis)
One of the four books (the others are "Red Eye", "Killer Spiders" and "Wolf Man") in the "Animal Investigators" series.
"Adrenalin fuelled adventures with a dark supernatural twist."
Expert tracker Ellis is investigating rumours of a haunted forest when he stumbles across a ghostly dog pack led by a strange feral boy with lethal supernatural powers .......
(Published in America and UK by Usborne)
(cover illustration Adam Willis)
Expert tracker Ellis and animal mind reader Meriel are investigating a savage attack at Wolf Camp, a training centre for young offenders with its own wild wolf pack. A rogue wolf with supernatural strength is on the loose. But where did it come from? And can they stop it before it destroys the pack and starts hunting people?
(Published in America and UK by Usborne)
(Cover illustration Adam Willis)
"Myths, monsters and mysteries - it's all in a day's work for the Animal Investigators!"
Famous explorer and T.V. star Jack Nelson has shut himself inside an experimental eco dome. System reports show all is going fine. But then he sends out a panicky call for help. What's going on in there? Expert tracker Ellis and animal mind reader Muriel must break in and defeat the horror within ...........
(Published in UK and America by Usborne)
(Cover illustration Adam Willis)
A half-crazed boy has turned up at the Animal Investigator's HQ, raving about an army of savage birds, led by the malevolent Red Eye, terrorizing his town and enslaving the people. The Animal Investigator team think it's a joke - until they go there .......
(Published in America and UK by Usborne)
(Published in America and UK by Usborne)
Illustrations Anni Axworthy
One of the series of four "Bill" books for newly independent readers, with colourful, funny and action-packed illustrations by Anni Axworthy The others are "Bill's Baggy Trousers", Bill's Bouncy Shoes" and Bill's Scary Backpack".
Bill hates the hat his gran's knitted for him. It makes him look like a bee! But he's got to wear it or she'll be upset. How can he get rid of it?
(Published Franklin Watts)
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