In 2007 I started writing stories and poems for young children to support my teaching work in primary schools.  In 2009 I got a bit excited and started thinking these stories and poems might get published. What do you think?

Novels for children

Connie and the Unbelievable Chameleon

It's the story of a seven year old girl called Connie who dreams of traveling the world. One day she finds in a pet shop a talking chameleon who, sadly, cannot change colour to suit his environment. Instead, when he licks a photograph, he can transport himself and his owner to that place - in effect, he changes his environment to suit himself. So the magical world-wide traveling adventure begins…

• Download the full synopsis of the novel
  
  
• Download an extract of the novel

Short stories and Poems for Children

Below is a short story and poem that I also use in storytelling.

How a camel with three humps became king

This is the story of a camel called Rodney who lived in the Gobi desert, which is far, far, far away in China. 

The camels of the Gobi Desert are big, brown animals with two humps on their backs. They use these humps to store food and water, a bit like a big shopping bag. 

Our friend Rodney was a very special camel. He was the only camel in the Gobi Desert, in China, in the whole wide, round, big world that had three humps.

All the other camels laughed at Rodney and called him names like ‘Humpy Lumpy’ and ‘Ugly Bumps’ and ‘Bumpy Back’. They were nasty to Rodney and made him feel ugly and odd.

Poor Rodney was very unhappy. He went for walks on his own and kept himself away from the other camels. He didn’t have any friends.
          ‘Oh, if only I just had two humps or maybe just the one, like other camels,’ he said many times. ‘Then I would be normal and no one would laugh at me.’

But no amount of wishing changed the number of his humps. He had been given three humps and three humps he would have to keep. 

One day the sun grew hotter and hotter and hotter. The sand became too hot to walk on. All the plants shrivelled and the water dried up.
The camels had to go on a long walk to find food and water. It was going to be the longest walk they had ever taken and all the camels were worried they might not ever find food or water again.

Rodney, being keen to help everyone, rushed to the front to the lead the way. But the camels didn’t like Rodney and they told him to go to the back.
          ‘We don’t want to see your ugly three lumps,’ they told him. ‘You can walk behind us.’

It was a very long walk and they didn’t find any food and water. The camels looked everywhere: in deep caves, at the bottom of high sand dunes and around craggy hills.

The camels were able to cope for a few days as they used what they had stored in their humps. But that soon ran out and the camels were so tired and hungry and thirsty they had to sit down.

Only Rodney remained standing. He still had food and water left in his third hump. The one thing all the other camels laughed at now became the one thing that made Rodney the best camel. 
          ‘I will keep walking and find us something to eat and drink,’ he said.
          ‘Good luck Humpy Lumpy,’ said the exhausted camels.

Rodney kept walking and walking and walking. He searched more deep caves, looked at the bottom of more sand dunes, and went around more craggy hills.
After a few hours Rodney found what he was looking for: an oasis, which is a kind of special pond in the middle of the desert with lots of lush plants to eat. Rodney was overjoyed to see the oasis. ‘Hurray! Hurray! We’re saved today!’ Rodney galloped back to the other camels and told them all, ‘I’ve found an oasis! I’ve found an oasis!’

The camels were so tired. They didn’t want to get up so Rodney went to each of them and shouted at them,
          ‘Get up lazy camels. It’s only a few hours away. You can make it. Come on. I will take you to it.’

Rodney led the tired, grumbling camels across the desert to the oasis. When they arrived the camels were amazed! The beautiful blue water sparkling in the sun. More lovely leaves water than they could ever eat!  The camels rushed down to the oasis and drank and eat more than they had ever drunk and eaten.

When they were done they went to Rodney and said,
          ‘Rodney, you have saved our lives. You could have left us to die in the desert but you brought us here.’
          ‘Don’t thank me,’ said Rodney, ‘thank my third hump. It was the hump that saved us.’

So all the camels gave Rodney’s hump a kiss. They said they were very sorry for making fun of him and making him feel so lonely and unhappy. Then they said,
‘You are a better camel than all of us. You should be our king.’
          And so the camels made Rodney their king and he became famous throughout the Gobi desert. For he was the camel with three humps.

 

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The Cow That Went ‘Miaow.’

There once was a cow called Henry.
An ordinary cow he would look to you.
But Henry the cow was far from ordinary.
He was a cow who could not go ‘moo.’

He tried as hard as he could, you know.
He so badly wanted to be a normal cow.
But when he saw the farmer approaching,
All he could said was, ‘miaow.’

‘Well I never,’ said the amazed farmer.
‘A cat noise coming from a cow?
Are you feeling unwell, Henry?’ asked the farmer.
Henry replied with, ‘miaow.’

‘Do you do anything else like a cat, Henry?
Do you scratch? Do you purr? Do you prowl?’
Henry gave it some thought, chewing grass.
Then shook his head and said, ‘miaow.’

So the worried farmer called out the vet.
The vet came and wanted to know how
A cow could make a cat noise.
All Henry could say was, ‘miaow.’

‘Let me check inside your throat,’ said the vet.
‘Maybe a cat has stuck somehow.’
But there was no cat in Henry’s throat.
Just poor Henry going ‘miaow.’

‘Well, Mr Farmer,’ said the amazed vet,
‘You have an extraordinary cow.
This beast can make you lots of money.’
On hearing this Henry said, ‘miaow.’

The farmer called all his friends and family.
‘Come see a most extraordinary cow.
You’ll never believe what he can do.
No, not moo, he goes, miaow.’

They came from far and wide, the people,
they all wanted to hear Henry and go, wow!
But on seeing such a large crowd of people,
Henry could not say, ‘miaow.’

He ran into the farmer’s house,
and hid his head under a large towel.
‘Now you listen, silly Henry,’ said the farmer.
‘You come back out and say, ‘miaow’.

Henry would not come out of the house.
Oh, there was a terrible row.
But no matter what the farmer said,
Henry would not say, ‘miaow.’

So all the people went back home
and the farmer’s mood turned very foul.
He was furious with poor Henry,
the cow that said neither ‘moo’ nor ‘miaow.’

Eventually, Henry came out of the house
and back to looking like an ordinary cow.
But when the farmer came to find him,
instead of moo, Henry said ‘miaow.’

‘But why didn’t you say that before, Henry?
Think of all the money we could have now.’
But Henry cow doesn’t think of money.
He thinks of grass and says ‘miaow.’

Then the farmer realised something important.
Henry the cow said ‘miaow’ just to him.
And now when Henry goes ‘miaow’

The farmer gives a great big grin.

 

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