• Okay, I admit it – I’m riveted by Chantelle and Preston’s relationship on Big Brother. The pair met on Celebrity Big Brother, some four years ago. He was Prince Charming and she was Cinderella – a girl from nowhere, who got to go to the Royal Ball. Yes, they fell in love and got married and lived happily ever af…

    Oh no! It all went wrong after a year and they got divorced. They are now backtogether, in the Big Brother house, and it’s plain to see, they are both hurting and still very much in love. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

    As a family, we stand around and watch the kitchen TV, when the stardom-crossed lovers have their moments. We become silent and transfixed, as this ancient fairy tale works itself out in front of our eyes. We don’t know them personally, but in some ways we know them very well, for we all are, or have been, Chantelles and Prestons.

    Fairy tales survive the test of time because they are truly great stories that everyone can understand and empathise with. I’m sure that most of the Big Brother audience, are willing them on, hoping they will get back together, pick up their lives and move on – to live happily ever after.

  • I had a great day yesterday, at Dorchester Primary School in Worcester Park, Surrey. I spent the day introducing the children to The Just So Stories.

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    We did a lot of drawing and story planning too. We came up with the basis for a story about the beginning of the Orang Utans but I just could not draw on off the top of my head. I’ve done quite a bit of research on them. The babies look all the same, but adults are very individual and hard to draw. I’ll have to work on that.

    Here’s a video of some of year three’s fabulous whale drawings. Thanks for a great day and good luck for the rest of the term, everyone!

  • Phew! The artwork for my sixth Axel Storm book is finished. Sea Wolf is probably the most exciting, involving dangerous rescues ant se and general danger of loss of life and limb! Printing and publishing schedules mean that I’ll hardly have time to draw breath before beginning the last two books, which need to be finished by the end of the month, because I’m spending the whole of Children’s Book Week in Gurnsey this year. An exciting few weeks coming up.