As 2025 warms up there are lots of things happening … my new picture book ‘My Granny Went to Scotland…and she brought back’ hits the bookshops. World Book Day saw the first outing for ‘Granny’ at Wigtown, complete with all the eccentric gifts she brings back. She’s definitely got a sense of humour! 

Meanwhile the Museum Mystery Squad series continues to bring puzzling problems to solve about space, Vikings, Romans, Egyptians and more. In classic ScoobyDoo style there is always a villain to unmask, so these are great books for budding investigators.

In the background I’m working away on another novel for 8-12s…the last one of these came out in 2008 so this is a step back in time for me. I’m also working up other picture book ideas and researching a true story from World War l story set in Scotland – I’m not yet sure what this will turn int0…book? play? film?…but it’s a story which I think needs to be told. 

Last year’s scriptwriting work for CBeebies programme Tiny Wonders has come to an end. It was fun to be part of that team writing episodes about the Nogglin characters making sense of each new ‘world’ they land in – pumpkins, blossom, peacock feathers and volcanic rock to name a few. ‘Slow down…look closely…’ the show’s repeated lines are good ones for us all.