Dim's Write Stuff

Of the many literary lures to entice kids to page turn into the wee hours of the night, the thrill of a mystery is one of the strongest. Give them great characters with plenty of purpose and pacy plotlines that they can adventure with more than once and well, you might not see said kids for weeks or months. My 34 copies of the Trixie Beldon mystery series are testimony to the power of a good series and Nicki Greenberg’s latest middle grade literary escapades harness that power in the most appealing way. Meshing the past with adventure, Greenberg takes primary readers on an exhilarating tour from London, across the Atlantic and through one of America’s most bedazzling cities. Mystery and a slapdash of mayhem are never too far away. The cast of tween teen characters is led by robustly intelligent 13-year-old Pepper Stark whose heart tugging family backstory is neatly woven through each book. The extravagances in Pepper’s life are extreme and jaw dropping yet she exudes a down-to-eart...

As pedestrian as it may sound, I love picture books. The reasons are sometimes obscure and indefinable but so plentiful that the urge to enjoy them, share them and create them drives my writing goals more feverishly than any other. I know I’m not alone in that regard. The genesis of any story, that almost intangible spark that propels a life and personality and purpose into existence, that compels a fictional character to share their experiences, joys and pain with strangers, is what story telling is really all about for me. It’s like sharing your marriage proposal with strangers: everyone’s is different, unique and oddly alluring even if you don’t know the couple! And I am delighted to have another one to share – a backstory that is, not a wedding proposal (I wish). In just a handful of weeks, my latest picture book, This Is My Dad , will grace bookshop shelves and online stores across the planet. This is the sort of quiet joy that buoys an author’s spirits. Why? Because it is be...

What do you call a magician with no magic? Ian. OK so not all dads are funny. Neither are all mums attempting dad jokes but with this selection of father-inspired picture books, you’ll come a lot closer to coaxing a smile or five from your under eights this Father’s Day – or any day. I’ve included a few touching tales too to ensure story time shared by any father figure in your child’s life is meaningful and filled with tenderness. Enjoy and Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome role models out there who inspire, entertain and most importantly, embarrass their kids! You rock.   My Dad Thinks He’s Super Funny Katrina Germein has done it again, for the third time actually. This instalment in the picture book series, My Dad Thinks He’s …, began life as a collection of ludicrously lamentable rib-tickling jokes aimed squarely at inducing eye-rolls. It is also a harmoniously hilarious homage to family units applauding the unique foibles and quirks employed by the (older) members that ...

It’s always a joy to see your story in print. For the most part, this happens in English. If you are really lucky, your books are distributed around the globe throughout an atlas of countries. If you are blessed with great publishers and savvy International Rights agents, your beautiful works are ultimately translated so that kids in countries like China and Hong Kong gain full benefit of your stories in their own language. I'm feeling very blessed and more than a little moved to have my first published picture book, The Fix-It Man now available throughout China in simplified Chinese. This is the language of my ancestors (on my father's side) and whilst I'm a poor example of retaining ones mother tongue, it fills me with quiet satisfaction that a story I made is now in the language that in part made me.  This simplified Chinese version released in July 2021 in China. It is part of a 5 book pack set containing a curated selection of ‘healing picture books’ originally publ...

Hues of winter blues and greys are enlivened by splashes of magnificent emerald green that are, quite simply, Jimmy. Follow the smattering of Jimmy’s green feathers and you’ll soon reach Jack’s story. Jack stays at his Dad’s house now and then. These visits are often strained and painfully quiet as though being together is more of a requirement than a pleasure. Jack wonders about the silences and his dad. Are these symptoms of loneliness, an emotion Jack knows well? How can Jack change these uneasy encounters with someone he is supposed to love? After Dad brings home a stray parrot named Jimmy, Jack feels even less worthy of his father’s love. Jimmy is loud and funny and clever, and full of surprises that amuse and endear him to everyone he meets. Jimmy fills Jack’s father’s house with noise and the type of presence Jack wishes he had causing Jack to retreat into silence and improbable thoughts. He simply cannot deal with anymore ‘surprises’ in his young life, especially ones that se...

Messy breakfast fry-ups. Fishing off a pier. Or just frolicking around in the garden. It doesn’t matter how you spend time with your father figure (even if that happens to be your Mum!), what’s important is that you do. This collection of picture books captures the fun and ridiculousness that many dads and granddads exemplify. Happy Father’s Day! Time For Adventure, Daddy Cartoonist and author, Dave Hackett is a master at flipping – storylines on their heads that is. I’ve never seen him flip physically in real life although I imagine he’d be good at that too. Time For Adventure, Daddy is the third in the Daddy picture book series that celebrates the unique relationship between dads and daughters (and sons). Like many pre-schoolers, young madams often have a bigger grip on the world than their size suggests. So with a firm guiding hand and enormous amounts of patient persuasion, this little girl manages to convince her duty-bound dad to come with her on picnic and enjoy the BIG bea...

What are little boys made of? Is it really frogs and snails ; everything that is not sugar and spice and all things nice that are otherwise attributed to the makeup of girls? Should blue be the only shade that maketh the man? Debut author illustrator, Scott Stuart blows these outdated tropes well and truly out of the water with this deliriously amusing and tender picture book, My Shadow is Pink . Our intrepid main character’s little face is a picture of consternation after he concedes that his shadow is not the strong blue that trails the other males in his family. His is a delicate shade of rose and mirrors that which he loves most: sparkles, dancing, twirling and dressing up. Despite his father’s reassurances that his shadow will adopt a more ‘manly’ appearance one of these days , and the little boy’s own yearning to fit in with the other acceptable shadow groups, he is unable to dismiss his conflicting feelings. Then one day an invitation to let his shadow dress up in its favour...