The Narrow Boat Adventure of James, Katie and Lewis
Riding on a Wave of Success
This amazing book came about quite by accident after Melanie registered her details on www.freelancewriters.com - two days later she received an email from Gay Goodall who was looking for a writer. They met and history was made when she was signed up to write the first in the series of books for the publisher (It's Not Rocket Science, is it?)
The brief she was given was that the story had to include a Narrow Boat and the three children (the names were non-negotiable). Other than that the road was clear to write whatever she wanted. Stumped, she looked at old photographs and memories started to stream back - walks she had taken with her niece and nephew along the canal near her home, two swans chasing each other (that's one of her favourite scenes in the book) and boats she had been on while on holiday.
In brief, the book is about three children - James and Katie are sister and brother, and Lewis is their baby cousin. While on holiday in the countryside, they decide to go for a walk while their mother prepares a picnic for their Aunt's birthday, and they take Lewis and their friendly but naughty puppy with them. While walking along the canal the dog slips her lead when James loses concentration for a moment. The naughty dog has seen a cat on board a Narrow Boat and decides to chase it, forcing Katie to board the boat uninvited to try to catch her. Unable to catch the dog she enlists James' help and he leaps on board with Lewis who is heavy. James has to put him down for a moment because he is too heavy and, in the confusion, Lewis is forgotten. He is found some time later, having crawled downstairs while the others were distracted. Lewis had tried to pull himself up and dislodged a sheet covering an open treasure chest which was overflowing with jewellery. The pair find themselves fleeing from the theives, never having driven a boat in their lives! Their lives in danger as the thieve persue them, they somehow manage to get to safety and alert the police who arrest the two crooks. As a reward the police take them back home on the boat where they are hailed as heroes - they leave for their picnic once their mum has finished making a pie with all the blackberries they picked.
Of course, they have another adventure then - this time Mitzi, their puppy, manages to redeem herself as the family work as a team to help an injured child ... but more about that one when it is released.
The brief she was given was that the story had to include a Narrow Boat and the three children (the names were non-negotiable). Other than that the road was clear to write whatever she wanted. Stumped, she looked at old photographs and memories started to stream back - walks she had taken with her niece and nephew along the canal near her home, two swans chasing each other (that's one of her favourite scenes in the book) and boats she had been on while on holiday.
In brief, the book is about three children - James and Katie are sister and brother, and Lewis is their baby cousin. While on holiday in the countryside, they decide to go for a walk while their mother prepares a picnic for their Aunt's birthday, and they take Lewis and their friendly but naughty puppy with them. While walking along the canal the dog slips her lead when James loses concentration for a moment. The naughty dog has seen a cat on board a Narrow Boat and decides to chase it, forcing Katie to board the boat uninvited to try to catch her. Unable to catch the dog she enlists James' help and he leaps on board with Lewis who is heavy. James has to put him down for a moment because he is too heavy and, in the confusion, Lewis is forgotten. He is found some time later, having crawled downstairs while the others were distracted. Lewis had tried to pull himself up and dislodged a sheet covering an open treasure chest which was overflowing with jewellery. The pair find themselves fleeing from the theives, never having driven a boat in their lives! Their lives in danger as the thieve persue them, they somehow manage to get to safety and alert the police who arrest the two crooks. As a reward the police take them back home on the boat where they are hailed as heroes - they leave for their picnic once their mum has finished making a pie with all the blackberries they picked.
Of course, they have another adventure then - this time Mitzi, their puppy, manages to redeem herself as the family work as a team to help an injured child ... but more about that one when it is released.