Book 1: Derring-do and Crow Poo Høst & Søn, 2008 Book 2: Lightning Strike and Snakebite Høst & Søn, 2009 Book 3: Wing Swish and Otter Splash Høst & Søn, 2010 Book 4: Fox Pong and Victory Whoops Høst & Søn, 2012 |
Extract from Derring-do and Crow Po Extract from Lightning Strike and Snakebite Author's comments |
Holiwag [holey-wag]: about 7 cm tall, humanoid creature with twig-like ears, powerful claws on its toes, unusually good hearing and poor night sight. Holiwags are most often seen in older trees, where the holes formed by broken branches appear to be their hatching ground. There are other kinds of holiwags which have other habitats and which differ in various ways. See: town holiwags, mountain holiwags. Worst enemies: birds of prey, foxes and other animals of a certain size. |
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Extract from book 1: Derring-do and Crow Poo Chapter 1: Morning in Seven-Trunk Tree Swoosh, it went, as Birch slid the whole way down the dewy tree trunk, followed by gadunk, as he hit the back wall in Ash's den. |
He didn’t get a chance to say any more before Birch pulled two large clumps of moss out of his ears. |
Extract from book 2: Lightning Strike and Snakebite Chapter 1: Crash and bang "Heeeeelp!" shrieked Alda, leaping out of her hole like an almond squeezed from its skin. She hurtled down the rough trunk with her hands on her head, as if that was a way to protect herself. Broooouummmm - umm - ummm. The resounding sound of thunder sent her flying in through the small opening in the trunk into Ash's den, which lay more sheltered closer to the ground. She almost knocked him over because he was sitting in the entrance and shouting as loud as he could every time thunderclap roared through the forest. 'Stop, stop!"cried Alda. "It's noisy enough already." "That's what's good about it," he said, trying to make himself heard over the lightning and rumbling thunder that came nearer and nearer. "In weather like this you can get everything said you'd otherwise never say. No-one can hear it." He gave a satisfied grin and when the next crash exploded almost over their heads, he yelled: "Oak and Sidney are a pair of slippery slodious slimy slugs!" "It's o-dious," objected Alda. Ash shrugged his shoulders and tried to shout louder than the next thunderclap. "So what. It sounds better with slodious." Then he continued thinking up new insults: "Hawthorn is a doddering dopey dolt!" He didn't have time to finish completely before the thunder stopped, but hopefully Seven-Trunk Tree's oldest holiwag, Hawthorn, didn't hear. At that moment, the sky was splintered by a huge flash of lightning. The light was so bright that both Ash and Alda were blinded for a moment and when they could see again, Birch stood right in the opening. He had a delighted look in his eyes as he pushed himself into the now rather narrow hole. "Something bad's going to happen. I can feel it. Something quite incredible's going happen," he said eagerly. "Where did you come from?" Alda stared at him in astonishment. "Just before, you weren't here, and now you're here. Are you a magician?" Birch didn't bother to give her an answer, but continued talking to Ash. "Did you Back to the top Cover of book 3: Wing Swish and Otter Splash |
see that lightning just now? It lit up the whole forest. The trees looked like skeletons. All the colours disappeared. It's the best thunderstorm we've ever had." The lightning and thunder came almost simultaneously and Ash and Birch began challenging each other on who could howl the loudest when the thunderclaps cracked through the air. "Whaaaa! " Alda's piercing voice drowned out both Ash and Birch and the rumble of thunder as she stamped angrily on the floor. "Stop it! Don't you understand that it's dangerous? I'm afraid." Cover of book 4: Fox Pong and Victory Whoops |
Author’s comments:
I’ve always been fascinated by children in the 4-12 years age group. Many of them, especially the boys, are pure project creators and explorers who don’t look back but just throw themselves into one fantastic mission after another. Whether they are digging in the back garden for several days to find treasure, starting up some incredible business project which is going to make them rich before very long, or setting off on a “walk-about” which can make most parents sweat with fear, they do it with a self-confidence and optimism that is just superb! Unfortunately, it is many of these children who later experience school as a constricting straitjacket, because the underlying agenda in most school situations is that they have to learn to sit still, pay attention to what the teacher is saying and do what they are told. I’m well aware that this is something we all have to learn, but the books about the Holeywags from Seven-Stem Tree are my greeting and handshake to all those inquisitive explorers, researchers and entrepreneurs in the age group 4-12. The first volume, "Derring-do and Crow Poo” will hopefully be followed up by three more parts in the course of the next few years. Happy reading!