Rory – The Purl Cat

Cats have nine lives!

Whether or not you believe in an afterlife is unimportant in this instance.

Many of us welcome feline family members into our lives and their demise leaves a gaping hole in hearts and homes.

The story commences as Rory leaves his much loved family whilst still in his prime:

‘He didn’t mean to go when he did! In fact, the decision was taken completely out of his paws’

Written to both entertain and provide comfort, the book accompanies him on eight adventures before finally completing his journey.  

He discovers he can travel back and forth through time, take on different appearances and even become a ‘she’.

There are elements of fact, fiction and fantasy including:

Therapy cat for an autistic boy

Ship’s cat on HMS Amethyst in 1949

Survivor from the Great Fire of London

Locked down in London

Trip to space with a rejected astronaut.

Rory Never Learns

Zak and Rory continue their travels around the world's oceans and seas. This time Rory convinces Zak against Zak's wishes to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. Being friendly and inquisitive, Rory gets too close to humans. He is spotted and, being a rare plesiosaur, hunted along with Zak across the Mediterranean until Rory is captured and carried off. Zak must come up with a plan and needs the assistance of unlikely allies to try to free Rory. Zak's plan amazes everyone, but will it work? Will Rory escape to carry on his travels and adventures with Zak?

Roo Burra

In a country where ground-pushers and air-tuggers are taught never to mix, an unthinkable friendship must choose: save everyone but risk being found out or do nothing and keep their secret safe.

Find out what they will do.

RollerSnake

Snake is upset that he is slower than the other animals in the jungle. He slithers around across the ground and wiggles from his tail to his nose. He wishes he had feet so that he could jump and leap and run like the wind blows, and be as fast as the other jungle animals. Snake’s lifelong dream is to compete in an annual jungle race which he has never been able to do. But this time around, snake had an idea. An idea so brilliant that maybe, just maybe, his dreams might finally come true.

Riptide

Amber has bought paint from the old lady in the curio shop that makes magic pictures. Join her adventure when her painting of a pirate ship comes to life in her bedroom. 

She helps her new pirate friends find the treasure on a mysterious island as they are attacked by strange creatures there.

In return, the pirates help Amber find a way back to her bedroom.

Ricky the Racing Duck

Ricky is a duck with big dreams of one day being a racing duck, but with his family and friends on the pond telling him it will never happen, he isn’t very hopeful. So, instead, he spends his days swimming around his pond, dreaming. But his very best friend in the whole world Henry the horse believes Ricky can do anything he wants if he wants it bad enough. With Henry’s positive attitude and Ricky’s love of racing, they hope to join a race! Will Ricky’s dreams come true? Well, I guess you are going to have to read and find out!

Rex the Dragon and the Rainbow Potion

Poor Rex feels unwell. He needs to go and find the rainbow coloured ingredients to make a magic cure, but things keep going wrong. He visits the forest, beach, garden sea and meadow on his adventure. At the end, he finds a friend and she helps him feel better.

Rebekah and the Pink Ballet Shoes

We all have dreams as a child of what we would like to be. From her very early days, Rebekah loved to dance. She longed to be a ballet dancer. So when she tried on her first pair of pink ballet shoes her dream came true ... but not quite as she imagined!

Reálta – A New Star Is Born

Amid the sudden pain and anguish of losing a new baby, whether by miscarriage, still birth or new born death, the question ‘What happens next?’ inevitably arises.

On December 10^th, 2012 my partner and I were thrown into that abyss of hurt, anguish and pain that comes with the loss of a new baby or pregnancy. In our case, we were almost twelve weeks pregnant as we arrived to the early scan unit of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin for a 2:30 pm appointment. Our world was turned upside down upon the news that there was no heartbeat. Our baby had died.

As devastating as that was, we sought some comfort in the fact that unlike years gone by, nowadays there is a service where families who experience this unimaginable loss can get to celebrate (ever so briefly) the life of their new baby or pregnancy with a very personal remembrance service. In the months and years since, I have longed to find ways to commemorate and pay respects to all families who have experienced new baby/pregnancy loss of this type.

Then comes the ‘What happens next?’ question.

What happens to our new babies who are lost by miscarriage, still-birth or new born deaths? Why has life failed them? Why has God failed them? There must be an understandable reason that these angels are chosen for something other than life. Then I looked up into the dark night sky with its millions of stars shining brightly down on us and...

Réalta – A New Star was born

Randy The Runaway Raccoon

When a young raccoon named Randy meets up with a roaring monster, he runs for his life but manages instead, to get trapped by it. This is the beginning of his adventure involving a ghost, unknown animals and people in a foreign environment.

Coming from the city, where he had been nurtured by his mother, he quickly learns how to fend for himself when the wilderness he is exposed to makes it necessary. He grows up to discover his true nature with all the pitfalls and pleasures along the way.

This book is a whimsical fictional tale about a naïve raccoon’s experiences and includes a section on interesting facts about raccoons for young readers. 

Raiders From the Sea

When Vikings descend upon Lindisfarne, young Derwyn unexpectedly finds himself the guardian of St. Cuthbert’s sacred coffin. Years later, as Vikings return, the adventurous legacy of Derwyn now courses through the veins of his grandchildren, beckoning them towards a destiny intertwined with the treasures of the past.

Raggedy and the Squirrel

Raggedy wasn't like the other blackbirds. He was a bit untidy and had a few feathers missing. When he gets into a spot of trouble, he finds an unlikely friend…