These four stories were written to help ease the traumatic experience of separation and loss caused by the absence or death of a parent, along with being the victim of bullying, or a sufferer of cerebral palsy or any other debilitating condition. They tell about the indomitable spirit that exists in all of us and which helps us get through life.The stories are suitable for the 7-11 year old.
Bereavement, loss and separation are three of the most unsettling of emotions that one will face in their lifetime; none more so than when it involves the absence or death of a family member and is experienced by a child. When a young child experiences such loss, it is not unusual for them to be left feeling emotionally confused and partly 'responsible'. ‘Nancy's Song’ was written in memory of the late Roy Castle and was first published in June 1995. It identifies through its story the death of a father, many of the emotions that the bereaved family members experience both prior to and after the death of a loved one.
‘Maw’ was written to identify the problems that ‘bullying’ brings. It is there to remind all that when good people fail to stand up for what they believe to be right, bad behaviour is provided with a golden opportunity to triumph! Into such environments, bullying is born and permitted to flourish. The silent observer who declines to challenge the bully's behaviour – the reluctant witness who refuses to testify – anyone who fails to stand alongside the victim, becomes the bully's accomplice! They never walk alone. Bullies feed upon the fear of their victims. Being prepared to stand up to a bully is often enough to prevent the bully putting you down! There are three types of people involved in the process of 'bullying'. There is the bully, the person being bullied and the people observing the bullying.
‘Midnight Fighter’ is based upon a true story and it tells the story of a young girl with an indomitable spirit and her love for a dying foal. Cassy has cerebral palsy and she needs all of her strength to help the horse live. It hopefully reminds the reader that the beauty of life lies not in the physical characteristics of the world's children, but in their indomitable spirit to survive as equals in the environment they inhabit. We are each but a mere part of a more perfect whole, endowed with differing abilities and handicaps. When we live our lives in love, we live it in constant hope. When we live side-by-side harmoniously, we co-exist in peace and understanding.
‘Robin and the Rubicelli Fusiliers’ was written to inform young children what it was like for a child in war-torn England to live through the Second World War years. It was also written to remind us all that when countries wage war upon each other, there are no winners. The price of war is paid for with the blood of innocent people, the loss of military and civilian lives, the deaths of men, women and children!
There is no greater tyranny than a powerful nation making a smaller nation bend and submit to its will, simply because it is more powerful and is able to do so. When words of worldly wisdom are wrapped within their national flags, all manner of human wrong is capable of being done and justified in the name of 'good cause'. Territorial theft enters the history books as colonial expansion, apartheid is dressed up in the clothes of natural segregation and genocide is given the sanitised label of ‘ethnic cleansing.’ The spread of war and its propaganda, allows the value of life in one part of the world to become more or less important than the lives of men, women and children elsewhere. The blood of innocent people should not be shed to buy the wealth of nations! People's lives should not be sacrificed to purchase the political or religious advancement of one race over that of another! War should not be waged to extend the geographical land-map of any country!
