Bestselling author, Trish Cooke, of ‘So Much’ Children’s picture book fame, has penned a twisted fairy tale based on ‘Rapunzel’ to tell a story very close to her heart. ‘Rapunzel’, whose long hair helped her to escape from her captor in a tower, has always been a favourite of Trish’s, and she uses the Brothers Grimm plot together with her own African ancestry to inspire ‘The Magic Callaloo’.

I’ve been waiting for Rachel to whisk my imagination away on another one of her sweet magical adventures. I adored ‘The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice’ (Walker Books, 2023). 10 year old Callie struggles with a far away house move and grief after losing her mum. A magical mishap brings some much-needed sparkle into her life again in more ways than one.

More than ever, our children are aware of the plight of our endangered animals, the plastic pollution in our oceans, the state of our air quality and how important it is to recycle. What a wonderful way to wake up to the beauty of our planet, so in need of our love and care more than ever. Tick, tick, tick, tick…