How I would love to get this close to a humpback.

You know there’s a whale at The Boogaloo Family Clinic of Musical Cures

His name is Leonard and boy can that whale sing! 

The whale in this video reminds me of Leonard.

If you thought a 30,000 kg animal was too big to dance, think again…

How big IS big?

Good question….

When it comes to Dexi’s hands, I’m afraid we’re talking really big. Take a look.

Yep. Those are some BIG hands! And along with those big hands come some pretty big problems. No wonder Dexi wears boots! Tying up shoelaces would be very tricky I imagine. I wonder if you can guess what’s gone on here?

You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Well you’re going to have to read the book to find that out of course!!!!!

Dr Boogaloo and The Girl Who Lost Her Laughter

But because you seem like a decent person, I’ll show you a picture…..

And then you can get to thinking about what, when, why and how does THAT work!

Illustration by Daniel Gray-Barnett

Knock knock!

‘Who’s there?’

‘Is there anything for afternoon tea?’

This conversation happens at around 3.30pm each day as my children arrive home from school & want to be fed.

‘Sure’ I yell through the yellow door, ‘there’s apples, nuts, bread….’

‘Yeah, but is there anything to eat?’ comes the reply.

It’s my eldest son. He’s fussy. Real fussy. And if it ain’t got sugar, it doesn’t classify as afternoon tea.

Behind that yellow door is my office. I painted it yellow as a salute to my most favourite author – Roald Dahl. He had a writing hut at the bottom of his garden and his door was painted yellow. The yellow door inspires me and reminds me of Roald Dahl every day. I’m so lucky to have a place where I can write. Roald Dahl put it nicely when asked about his writing hut:

You become a different person, you are no longer an ordinary fellow who walks around and looks after his children and eats meals and does silly things, you go into a completely different world. 

Here’s a picture of his writing hut where he wrote Matilda and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

When Roald Dahl opened his yellow door and went inside, he was able to imagine entirely different worlds. Maybe the yellow door helped with the passage from one world into the next. I was once told yellow was an illusion we all shared.  I’ve no idea where I heard it but it’s stuck with me. Whether it’s true or not or makes sense doesn’t matter to me. I just love the idea of an illusion we all share. Something imagined that we imagine together. A lot like reading a book.

p.s In truth all colours are an illusion. It is our brains that see colours, not our eyes.  Colours are not real at all. What is real is light!!

What would happen if you lost you laughter?

Where would you look for it?

How would you get it back?

Can you live without laughter?

Would you even want to?

Well, this happened. To a girl called Blue. And unless you’re familiar with musical iBikes and banjos that make you weep, you’ll never believe what took place next! Come on a strange and fantastical adventure to The Boogaloo Family Clinic of Musical Cures and discover a world you’ve never heard of, before but deep down in your soul, always knew existed.

Here it is folks! The hardback edition!

Here’s what it says on the back cover

Enchanting, timeless and surprising – this extraordinary novel will touch the hearts (and ears) of children and adults alike.

Dr Boogaloo was no ordinary doctor. Not at all like the one you might visit if you had a sore tummy. No, Dr Boogaloo was a very different type of doctor. He treated folks who suffered from rather unusual complaints. And how did he treat them? Why, with the most powerful medicine known to mankind . . . Music!

Blue was no ordinary girl. For starters, her name was Blue. But what was truly extraordinary about Blue was the fact that she hadn’t laughed for 712 days. Not a hee hee, a ho ho or even a tiny tee hee.

According to Dr Boogaloo, music can cure anything. (Of course, you need the right dose of the right music. No point listening to a jive if you’re in need of some boogie-woogie, and you can’t just substitute a toot for a blow!) But no laughter was definitely a case for alarm.

Can Dr Boogaloo compose a cure before Blue loses her laughter forever?

A big thank you to Daniel Gray-Barnett for the illustrations. An iBike is no easy draw!

IN STORES OCTOBER 2

“A hilariously sad tale of laughter, friendship and the magic of music.”

From the minute she woke and rolled out of bed

one thing was sure, there was trouble ahead

Meet Dexi Lee! Dexi Lee is an ordinary girl..

Except for one thing.

Her hands are GIGANTIC!

Everything she does leads to absolute chaos. But one day she meets some extraordinary animals and suddenly life doesn’t seem so gloomy…

Probably my most favourite thing about this book are the illustrations. They are paintings by the multi-talented Lucy Culliton. One of Australia’s greatest painters. Lucy loves to paint animals. She has a farm full of them. She has more pets than anyone I’ve ever met. You can tell how much Lucy loves animals from her paintings. When Lucy agreed to paint Dexi I was thrilled. It’s such an honour to have my work alongside hers. Here’s a sneak peak at some of the chaos poor old Dexi whips up…

And a dip at the pool made for battering seas,

tossing children like corks

into neighbourhood trees,

“A wonderful heart-warming tale of difference and happiness.”