Keep your children close at night
For the Squidgicum-Squee’s a creeping
Never let them leave your sight
Or forever there’ll be weeping
Count your children one to ten
And when you’ve finished, count again
For where you counted ten before
You’ll find that there are ten no more
When the Squidgicum-Squee comes creeping.

A brooding malevolence has emerged from the shadows, and loved ones are disappearing without a trace. Stranded on a strange alien world, with no idea how he got there or how he was going to get back home, Joshua Ellis meets a mysterious pirate; but can he be trusted? Will Joshua and his new friends discover the dark secret of the Dream Stealers and prevent the unearthing of an ancient evil?

Or are they already too late?

Stuart Beard has had 40 years’ experience of being a public health scientist. His professional writing has been limited to scientific journals, but for many years he has been writing short stories and poems for family and friends. Now it is time to share these thrilling adventures with the rest of the world.

Stuart explains: “I wanted to write a children’s book, so exciting, so thrilling that once started, no child could put it down again until they had read to the very last page. That even at night when they were supposed to be fast asleep, they would continue reading under their covers by torchlight, barely daring to breathe, desperate to discover, what happens next to their intrepid heroes. It worked!

As I completed writing each chapter, I gave them to friends and family to read with their children. I was met with an overwhelming response with everyone begging me for more and more of the adventures of Joshua and his friends. This is a book about confronting and fighting evil wherever you find it and whatever the cost. A book about love and friendship. But most importantly of all, a book with no boring bits.”

RELEASE DATE: 28/08/2024 ISBN: 9781805144274 Price: £10.99