COMING IN AUGUST 2010!

I’m very excited about my new picture book, A Rat in a Stripy Sock. First, because it’s illustrated by my partner, David Francis. Second, because it is based on a true story…

In 2006, David and I were holidaying in France. We began our trip in Paris where, on a visit to a laundromat, one of David’s stripy socks mysteriously vanished. Of course, we knew immediately what must have happened: a cheeky rat had stolen it!

For the rest of the trip, David sketched pictures of this cheeky rat—playing a piano accordion in Aix-en-Provence, riding a bicycle down a country lane…always wearing his sock. But we had no thoughts of putting Ratty in a book; he was just a little holiday friend.

Nearly three years went by, and one night we were discussing happiness, and how happiness can be found in the simplest of things—sharing a meal with friends, dancing, or perhaps a glorious flash of colour on a miserable day. Suddenly I remembered the rat from France, and the sheer delight with which he wore his stripy sock. And so a joyous book was born…