An unlikely journey from one pond to another by Julia B. Grantham and her favourite characters
This is a proper pleasant surprise!
My colleague at Bateman’s told me “now I know where you get your flair, you are an author”. I didn’t understand what she meant. And she told me that there was an article about me in the local newspaper. I had no idea!!! Thank God, Anne kept a copy and I could pick it up! The picture looks odd, because it had Moley in it, and they cut him off!
By Phil Hewitt
Published 18th Jun 2024, 08:05 BST
Moley and the Mysterious Sea Turtles (published by SDS Media) is the latest book from Lewes author Julia B Grantham (£8.95, available from Amazon).
“This is my second book about Moley, a toy mole, living in Sussex. In the first book Moley spent quite a long while stuck in a box, unwanted and unloved, only hoping about the better things to come. Considering that the first book came out in 2021, at the height of Covid lockdown, we all felt like Moley at that time. Now lockdowns are over we are all travelling again, and, naturally, Moley goes on a journey with his adoptive family too.
“And this holiday comes as a bit of a shock for a little mole. After spending his life in a box and, later, within one house and one garden, only once gathering his wits to cross a small country road, he is taken all the way across the ocean to Florida.
“Working in the field of mental health and psychology, I am very aware about the challenges that change presents to all of us, but particularly to young kids. I think many of them will be able to relate to Moley when he becomes anxious about one thing after another – the sorrow of being separated from his friends, the worry of losing his family at the airport, the fear of flying for the first time. He has many worries, but he overcomes them all. To tell you a secret – he uses a wide range of psychological techniques from mindfulness to CBT, but I tried to make them as inconspicuous as possible. I am sure that the young readers and their parents can learn a lot about Moley’s predicaments without realising that they are learning along the way. But it is not all about worries and fears of course. You don’t go to Florida without some really cool adventures.
“Moley meets a lot of locals – pelicans, crabs and even bats. He needs to make them all work together to protect a local endangered species – green turtles. And it’s not easy with predators, light pollution and human interference. There is a lot on Moley’s hands. Or should I say paws!
“I write what I call true stories. All the characters are real – the toys and animals alike. Moley lives at our house with us. We travelled to Florida and met all the animals I describe in the book there. And not only the animals. Humans too. The Turtle Watch really exists and tries to protect the turtles during their nesting season.
“I think the idea of protecting the planet and all the creatures living on it doesn’t need to be didactic or dull. I tried to raise these important issues in a fun way, through a story of adventures with tongue in cheek humour and laughter. At the end of the book the boy character, Ashley, even adopts a turtle through the WWF. I have no affiliation with WWF, but, if my book gives one family the idea of adopting an animal through them, I’ll be a happy person.
“I wanted to write as long as I remember, but it only came to me in the last ten years that what I want to write most were books for children. I live within easy distance from A A Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood and Kipling’s Batemans. I go every year to Tolkien’s and Lewis’ Oxford and search from London to Scotland for Harry Potter’s places. I think the very air of this land inspires me.”
THE FULL COVER REVEAL
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CQ6TC58R
‘Moley and the Mysterious Sea Turtles’ is a book about a toy mole, who goes on a holiday from England to Florida with his adoptive family.
He is worried about friends and responsibilities he’s left behind, but soon discovers that the sandy shores of Florida are also full of adventures and even dangers. He meets many local animals, who are not necessarily always friendly, and needs to find his way through the challenges of a new place.
The story is told beautifully and with descriptive language, great humour. and lovely (and wise) life lessons and advice interwoven throughout. Children of all ages will take something different from it, enjoying the adventures and the characters, while learning useful lessons about difficult situations, without realising it. Adults will be delighted with its rich language, subtle literary references, and tongue-in-cheek humour.
The book is illustrated with original pencil drawings in the best British tradition of artwork for children’s books.
Moley and Julia are throwing a very special Party to celebrate the launch of ‘A Mole Like No Other’ as an Audiobook!
Special Guest:
Alison Larkin, the award-winning narrator of the Complete Novels of Jane Austen, the #1 bestselling Austen audiobook and of Great Classic Children’s Stories
Zoom, 15 April at 3 PM London Time
To win a chance to receive your personal invitation all you need to do is to share this message on social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Your Own Blog – and let us know in a comment to this post.
It’s a chance to meet your fellow-authors, Janeites from all around the world, young readers – Moley’s Champions AND to win some amazing PRIZES!
Share the news!
By Phil Hewitt, Tuesday, 9th March 2021, 2:04 pm, Sussex Express
“My book is a story of a toy mole who in the beginning doesn’t even have a name. The girl he was given to as a present threw him under the bed with the words ‘an ugly old mole’. Eventually he ended up in a box of unwanted toys and spent quite a bit of time there. But, as it says on the cover, ‘our mole believed that there were better things in store for him and waited for them to happen.’
“In a way, this very much describes the situation we’re all in at the moment. Locked in our homes, hoping for the better things in our future…
“Mercifully for the mole, he’d found a new home, new family and many new friends; and although he hadn’t ventured very far from the garden yet he’d found plenty of adventures. Perhaps, another lesson for us all – life is full of adventures if we allow them to happen, even if only in our own backyard.
“Interestingly, when I started writing the book nothing of this was happening in the world – no pandemic, no lockdowns – because I started it seven years ago. But the message was the same then as it is now – stay optimistic and better things will happen to you.
“It all started with Moley. All the toys and animals, who I describe in the book, are real: Moley, Owlie, the dogs, the dinosaurs, the ducks, even Gordon the limping pigeon. It all actually happened! Yes, the brooding duck, the danger in the garden, the chicken yard across the road – all real things brought to life by a sprinkle of imagination.
“But it all started with Moley, when, many years ago, we bought him at a school fair. Exactly as it happened in the book.
“The main theme is perhaps finding your place in the world. The little mole, once he’d got his new home and a name Moley, is very keen to be heard, to be noticed, and he makes some mistakes trying to achieve it, mainly because he is too eager to prove himself.
“But he is a very helpful mole, who is always the first to rush to help his friends if they are in trouble. He gradually learns the value of teamwork, learns to rely upon his friends and believe in himself too. He actually learns a lot of important lessons in the course of the story – lessons that will be helpful to children in many tricky situations – like starting in a new school, moving home, learning new skills, looking after their personal safety and many others.
“The book is for children age five to ten. It was written as a book to be read to kids by parents, older siblings or carers. And I discovered since it’s been published that it suits perfectly as a bedtime story – one or two chapters at night, leaving children asking for more. Older ones are quite happy to read it by themselves, usually after the parents have already read it to them once.
“There is plenty of humour that would be understood by people of different ages. Children love the adventures and all the silly mistakes the characters make; parents notice more subtle jokes and literary references to famous books. It just works. “
The book is illustrated by Carol Wellart: “She loves painting nature and animals and I was sending her hundreds of photographs of the toys, animals, our garden, the pond – everything.
“And she’s created the pictures that fit the story perfectly and ring true to me every time. It was a very happy collaboration of like-minded people.”
‘A Mole Like No Other’ is available on Amazon Worldwide.
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mole-Like-No-Other-ebook/dp/B08T8RVLM1/
USA: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08T8RVLM1/
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08T8RVLM1/
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08T8RVLM1/
Germany:
Uckfield News, Tuesday, March 2, 2021
A book written by Little Horsted author Julia B. Grantham has become a best seller in five categories on Amazon.
The categories include safety for children, and books for house and home for children.
Julia’s book, A Mole Like No Other, is a children’s story book focusing on the adventures of a cuddly toy Mole, who is bought by his new owner at an Easter Fair.
The book is set in an English country house with a traditional garden. But behind all this tranquillity, challenges and even dangers, await the characters.
Humour
The story is told with humour and explores many life lessons and values such as being brave, safety, helping others and responsibilities. The book also introduces the concepts of counselling with children.
The fictional book has reached an audience as far afield as America and Australia, with many fans following ‘Moley’ on his Facebook page.
Julia lives with her husband and son in Little Horsted along with two cats Moley, Owlie, and also the toys which make an appearance in the book.
Garden
There are ducks and pigeons in the garden, chickens across the road, as well as squirrels, pheasants, and deer, who visit often and who may also make it into a book one day.
Julia is a trained medical doctor and therapist. She touches on her career in the book so as to demystify the concepts of counselling, “Mrs Richards….was a counsellor…patients came to her for help and advice every day,” says the narrator.
Julia hopes this aspect will open up conversations with young children about the concept of counselling, as well as therapy sessions at a time when children’s mental health and wellbeing are so profound.
Schools and libraries are invited to take part in Zoom read-a-long sessions, where Julia will read parts of the book and introduce children to cuddly Moley – complete with his high-vis jacket on.
Julia B. Grantham, Author