Free Kid lit Chapter book on Amazon

I re blogged this on Mudpilewood for children and their parents to read and review.

decidinglybob

I am searching for reviews and have in the past given away 25 copies of my first book in the hope that reviews, good or bad would be given on Goodreads or Amazon or even here. I have received 10 from UK readers, thank you all very much and 9 from those in the USA, again thank you.

So I have put the book on Kindle for free for the next few days in the hope that more people will read and review.

The links are for Uk:

and for USA 

And here is a recent review from an Amazon customer

5*  ByAmazonianon June 29, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

What a terrific children’s chapter book! A fun and unique storyline, accompanied by interesting, funny, endearing characters. I loved the tale of Clearie, the sweet schoolhouse yearning to venture to France. I also loved the characters…

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What Breeze hates most…..

Everyone in the wood knows the green faced Ogre called Breeze loves trees, cupcakes and food in general. But Breeze was surprised one afternoon when Lily refused to eat her broccoli and instead of grumbling about being told to eat it. She said “Everyone I know hates something but what do you hate Mr. Breeze?”

He crunched on his own raw broccoli and considered his answer carefully.

Lily pushed her vegetables around on her plate while she waited for his answer.

“I hate, Rain.”

“Why?” She smiled up at him and when he looked away she slid some broccoli on his plate.

“Because it makes sitting on branches of trees difficult, I keep sliding off.” He rammed a piece of broccoli into his large mouth.

Her answering giggles didn’t please him. Lily noticed and said, “Sorry but you like sliding on branches.”

“Yes but not when I am trying to sleep and there is this picture I got from that sneaky dog – Bob.”

Lily sat up, delighted that Bob had been mentioned as this meant the whole problem of eating or not eating broccoli would now be forgotten. “Bob? What has he done?”

“He watches me falling off branches in the rain and I bet he laughs a lot at it.” Breeze scratched his chin and looked very bothered at this thought.”

“Can I see the photo?” She asked

While Breeze ambled to the back of his cave to collect the picture Lily pushed the remaining broccoli onto his plate just in time as Breeze returned.

“See, what he does?”

 

 

“He is a clever Dog, hiding from the rain,” she mumbled. She noticed Breeze’s sad expression and suggested, “But he doesn’t make Lily the nicest Ice cream sundaes in the whole wide world.”

Breeze grinned. “You are correct, lets go and make some extra large ones.”

Lily jumped down from her chair only too happy that the horrible broccoli was now forgotten.

Muddy Puddles and Ally McDuff

 

Ally

Scruff

 

Ally McDuff has a best friend named Scruff.  He has a thick warm coat, four paws, a curly tail and a big smiley face.

Ally and Sruff love doing things together.

 

Trouble is they always get dirty.

“Stay clean, Ally.” Mum said.

Minutes later they were digging. Ally used a shovel. Scruf used his paws. “We will find the Pirates treasure soon, Scruff, ” she said.

By tea time they found:

An old smelly sock,

a bone,

an funny shaped blue glass bottle.

Ally peeped through the blue bottle and said, “Even you are blue, Scruff.”

“Woof” he said.

Ally looked at Scruff.  He was no longer white and black. He was dirty from nose to tail.

“This means a bath, Scruff,” Ally whispered.  She looked at her arms, she was dirty too.

“Maybe Mum won’t see it. Let’s hide.” They ran indoors.

Scruff hid under Ally’s bed. She squeezed in beside him.  “Mum won’t find us here” She said.

Mum did.  They washed Scruff first. He hated being washed.  He looked sad and wet when he was clean.

Ally was next. “Wash behind your ears,” Mum said.

When they were nice and shiny again, mum said, “Ally you are always getting dirty, someday…you might stay clean.”

“Tomorrow Scruff we will be clean all day.” Ally whispered.

Ally decided if they were to be clean, then Gran was the person to be with. Gran was the cleanest person for miles around. Her house shone in the sunlight. Her garden was squeaky clean. Though Ally wondered if the squeaky noise was made by the mice playing in the hedge.

“No chasing mice Scruff, today we will stay clean.” She said as they walked into Gran’s kitchen.

Gran was baking gingerbread men. Ally helped. Scruff sat on a stool and watched. When they put the gingerbread men in the oven to cook. shoes. Scruff has it on his fur.”

 

Gran looked at them and smiled. “Ahh Ally you and Scruff are wearing a lot of the mixture on your face, your clothes and your face.”

Ally scowled all the way home.  She looked grumpy during and after her bath.

Next day they decided to stay indoors. Ally loved painting. Scruff joined in, splodges of paint flew around the room.

When they were finished they showed the painting to mum. “It’s great, I love it even Scruffs paw prints.”

She looked at them and sighed. “Ally you are both covered in paint.”

Ally groaned. One bath later they were sitting having tea.

“How can we stay clean?” Ally wondered.

“I have an idea,” dad said.

Next morning he said to Ally, “you are coming to help me today. I am going to wash my car and Gran’s. You and scruff can help.”

Ally looked at the bucket of water and the sponge. They couldn’t get dirty could they?

They began to wash the cars. When the y were finished the cars were shining and clean. But when they looked at each other, they were all dirty, even Dad.

“Ahh no Dad, another bath?”

“Sorry Ally, it was my fault. Don’t worry though I will make up for it tomorrow.”

Ally spent the night wondering how they were going to manage to stay clean.

Next morning Dad said “I have a reward for my two helpers, we are going out.”

He brought them to the park where they had fun on the slides, swings and roundabouts, even Scruff had a go.

They came home squeaky clean.

Well done. Ally. Mum said. “You are shining like a new Ally.”

Snippet of a story in progress

I will tell you a little about The Munchin Family (this is me, below telling the story)

 

The Munchin family are like their home,  unusual.

Their house is not made of bricks or timber. It is made from steel. Knowing this the sun loves to dance about it. It stays for a while playing and bouncing off the Munchin house sending dazzling rays of light flying about the street.

Once you step through the doorway you will notice that everything (you sit on, eat out of. or sleep on) is made from steel or metal. Because of this, it is a noisy house.

The Munchin family love visitors and hurry to introduce themselves.

Granddad Munchin is tall. His hair is thick and white as snow. His beard is so long he wears it like a scarf on cold winter  days. His smile is toothless.  ‘I had all my teeth removed when I was eleven to help me look normal.’ He explains this to you as his eyes roll continuously about like a hamster on a revolving wheel. His false teeth spend most of their time in his shirt pocket.

Father Munchin is big and jolly with the most enormous looking teeth. ‘Hi’ he smiles puffing his large stomach out before him. ‘I’m proud of these gnashers.’ And to prove it he snaps them together rather like a shark. Unlike Granddad, Father Munchin has not one tiny hair on his shining round head.

Mother Munchin is a roly-poly woman who smiles a lot. Her eyes are so blue you find yourself staring into them as you would into the bright ocean.  When she meets you she always waves her wooden spoon asking, ‘Will you stay for lunch?’

If I were a visitor I would decline.

Why?

The answer is simple – because it is the most terrifying event to watch. As soon as she yells, ‘Ready, come and get it!’Her two children race into the room to join the adults. Within a minute the entire table is stripped bare, not a lettuce leaf remains or as much as a pinch of salt. So if you value your fingers, do not stay for lunch!

 

Book Launched

Happy New Year to everyone.

I am sorry for not being around much in the past few months. A sticky internet problem left me without a means to post on my blog site. That and the happy fact of launching my first Children’s book has kept me off this site for a while.

Here is an image of the book, which is available on amazon.co.uk and on www.emuink.ie website.

 

What is the story about?

Clearie, a one hundred year old schoolhouse, is fed up.

For so long he has helped children get educated but been rewarded only by their complaints about how much they hate school.

He longs to get away

His dream is to go to France, a country he has heard so much about in geography lessons over the years – but how could a schoolhouse possibly travel?

He comes up with a plan and enlists the help of the the Buggy twins: but not everything works out as he hoped.

With an attic full of crazy crabs, led by the fearless Lancelot, his journey is less than enjoyable and in his absence the school system falls apart.

Will Clearie’s dreams come true and the children get their wish for schooldays to end forever? Or has everyone bitten off more than they can chew?

 

 

Odd Socks

Breeze asked everyone in Mudpile Wood to help solve a mystery.  Socks had gone missing, leaving most with only one sock of every color. Everyone agreed it was time to find the odd socks.

They searched everywhere, from the tip of the mountain to the bottom of the wood. Matt and Daisy-lyah searched in every rabbit hole. Tulip searched high into the sky in case the socks were carried up into the clouds by the wind. And they did not find one single sock.

Breeze remembered Bob, the dog had a friend called Ellie who loved finding things.  He wrote her a short note:

Dear Ellie,

Please help us find the odd socks from Mrs. Groundsels basket, if we don’t find them I am afraid we won’t get any delicious vegetable pies any more. I will ask Tulip to bake you some munchy dog biscuits.

I will leave the red basket on the smooth stones near your friend the dragon – at the pond.

Your best ogre friend

Breeze.

“What do we do now?” Hamish asked Breeze when they left the large washing basket at the smooth stones.

“We take a nap and let Ellie do her stuff.” Breeze said as he climbed the nearest tree. He tried to sleep but kept wondering about the missing socks. His dreams were filled with strange images: sheep eating socks, crows wearing socks after they pecked holes in the feet of the socks and the worst of all giant socks chasing Breeze.

Loud barking alerted them next morning and they went to find out what was wrong. Hamish stood looking at the red basket, “Well. I never.” He said over and over again.

“Superb. Great, Amazing. Happy days are here again, vegetable pie this evening for tea.” Breeze said.

“Woof.” said Ellie as she waited for them to bring her to Tulips house to collect her munchy, crunchy dog biscuits flavored with honey.

Do you doubt that she did it? Take a look at these pictures and tell me what you think?

 

 And where did she find them?

Everywhere!

 

Breeze shows us a picture of the nicest witch in the world.

Many people believe witches are nasty and love to be nasty.  Well….here in Mudpile Wood we have one of the nicest witches on any planet.

Why do I think this?

Because… nope I think I will simply show you a picture of Elegant and let you see for yourself. I will leave a story about Elegant Witch for another day.

The Cloud Who Learnt to Hug. 280 words.

(Inspired by a dream from Breeze)

 

Tiny cloud was small and thin.

At first he didn’t notice how small he was.  He dived and soared. When he tired of this he stopped and looked around him.

High above him large clouds rolled in an elegant and smooth fashion. They flowed through the sky.

He wished he  could dance like they could.

A cloud ducked low over the earth and  sat on a mountain.  He must be tired, Tiny cloud thought.

Then as tiny cloud watched the giant cloud hugged the mountain.

He felt sad.

“I want to learn to hug.” He sang as he whizzed past his bigger friends.

“Slow down, enjoy” they whispered. “It will happen when it happens.”

But he was gone.  “I want to be big and great” he sang.

Birds didn’t notice him or hear him. He was moving too fast.

He dived around the earth, wishing and hoping.

“I want to be big and great,” he shouted in his tiny voice.  No one heard  him.

He moved around the sky looking for clues.

He wanted to be bigger.  He was busy watching everyone else.

One day he realised he no longer soared and dived. He didn’t feel like playing.

“I like rolling,” he grumbled. “But I feel heavy.”

The cloud began to sink, slowly at first towards the earth.  He stopped over a mountain. He saw the stones and earth getting closer.

He wondered if he might swallow the mountain.  He stopped grumbling and rolling.

He smiled. “I’m hugging a mountain.” He cried as the rain spilled from him.

Then he was light once more and flew high into the sky to tell the other clouds.

All the time he was singing, “I like hugging.”

Tales from the Wood: Crazy Daisies.

 

It was Summertime, too hot to work.

The wood was singing the song of a thousand animals, fairies, witches, goblins and Ogres snoring.

Everyone was having a snooze, except for Breeze.

“Snoozing time takes place between twelve and 1 o clock not from two o clock to three o clock,” he muttered.

He wanted to have fun. But to have fun you need company.

Breeze thought about this for a while. He decided to plan an event.

When everyone living in Mudpile Wood opened their eyes they saw giant signs hanging in peculiar places. They dangled from chimney tops or perched in front of doorways. Written on them was:

If you wish to find Treasure you should learn to look in unusual places.

Tulip whispered, “What Treasure? Am I dreaming?”

She flew to the witches house. She tapped her wand on the door.

Lovisma opened her bedroom window. “Go away I don’t want anything. I’m a clever witch.”

“That is why I have come, did you do this?” Tulip turned and pointed at the edge of the wood, there was a arrow painted on a lump of wood pointing up to the sky.

Lovisma read it aloud, “If you wish to find Treasure you should learn to look in unusual places.”

Lovisma flew out of her bedroom window and landed beside Tulip.

“I didn’t do it. Why do I always get blamed?” Her hair was standing on end making her hat wobble. The wind caught hold and blew it high into the sky. Lovisma grumbled as she flew after it.  She was high above the wood when she caught the hat. She returned to Tulips side.

“There is another message tied to the old oak tree at the edge.”

Tulip asked, “are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m getting Elegant. She is great at solving puzzles.”

When Elegant joined them they set off to the oak tree. They were not the first to arrive. A group stood before the sign,  “Often you are best to go to the end last or don’t chase it.”

Hamish grumbled, “This is silly how do we know where the end is? I’m hungry. I should leave this to you. I think it is a joke.”

Matt Breeze’s Cousin asked, “Where is Breeze?”

Tulip smiled. She said, “that is the most useful question anyone has asked.”

Tulip, Lovisma and Elegant decided the best plan was to search the tree tops.

Suddenly Elegant shouted,”I see it. Look in the field beyond the oak tree .”

Everyone scampered, ran or flew to take a look. There was silence.

They were staring at a field of purple and pink flowers. These flowers were like no other they were swirling and twirling. The air smelt of peppermint and vanilla.

 

“Crazy Daisies.” Tulip murmured.

“Rubbish,” Elegant said. “There is no such thing. I never heard of them.”

Tulip smiled. “I did. I know who made these. Be careful.”

“Why?” Lovisma asked and stepped into the field. A bright pink daisy twirled around and snapped at her. She ran back to the edge of the field with the daisy chasing her.

No one knew what to do. They were looking at a swirling moving field of daisies.

Tulip stepped into the field. The daisies did not snap but Tulip shouted out. “They are not real come in and see.” She walked towards the center of the field and said, “It smells like peppermint and vanilla.” Bending down she broke a daisy petal off and ate it.

“They are delicious.”

Everyone except Lovisma raced out to taste the flowers. The tiny witch was hopping up and down. “I want one but they tried to eat me.”

“Nonsense,” Breeze said and stood up. He was holding a large paper daisy in his hand and he flicked it towards Lovisma. “It is a toy. Come in and have some fun.”

And fun it was because every now and then the daisies would move, fly around the field and every one would chase after them. When all the daisies were finally eaten everyone went home.

Tulip went to find Breeze. He was sitting on the riverbank with Lillian.

Tulip went to sit with them.

“Did you like our work?” Breeze asked.

“I loved it. ” Tulip said. Breeze and Lilian were very quiet. When Tulip looked at them she discovered they were asleep.

Solving the mystery of Toby the Kangaroo

The morning after Lilian’s visit Tulip wrote a brief note to Lilian. She then folded it into the shape of a butterfly and told it where to go.

 

Dear Lilian,

Thank you for the cookies. They were scrumptious. Yes, it was Breeze who said that. I would love your help in solving the mystery of Toby the Kangaroo. Where did you find him and more importantly why did he vanish?

Should I be worried?

Showers of happy hugs to you,

Tulip

 

Lilian smiled. She knew the mystery would need an answer. Tulip was an inquisitive fairy. This is her letter answering Tulips question. (It was shaped like a ladybird)

 

 

Dear Tulip,

Regarding the cookies why wouldn’t I bring you and the Ogre some of his favourite foods. But I wonder what food does he hate?

The mystery is really no mystery. Breeze told me of the problem with the naughty witch, Lovisma. I made a suggestion and he loved the idea.

Do you remember how Mr. Snuffy, the gnome, used to entertain us by making shapes from balloons, mud and carving images from vegetables?

Well I took a balloon and made a Toby. He was made to last approximately five hours and he did.

This meant we could talk in peace and Lovisma got to race a kangaroo until she fell asleep with tiredness. When she woke, Toby was gone.

So you see, no animal, being or witch was harmed and we had a very pleasant afternoon. Give my love to Breeze. Can you tell him I’m working on the other project he mentioned?

Love

Lilian