Dan, The Lollipop Man

Meet Dan, the Lollipop Man. He gets up at 6.00 o’clock every morning! What does he do that means he must wake up so early? Very important work, of course. School children and their Mums and Dads depend on him. They even put their lives in his hands! Every day, in all weathers, Dan helps the children to cross the busy road safely, on their way to school. He never lets them down. Dan is always cheerful. He never complains.

Dan talks to everyone. He swings round lampposts. Even the littlest humans who have just learned to walk, smile, and say, “Good Morning, Lollipop Man!” to Dan. He loves everyone and everyone loves him, especially children. And Dogs, lots of dogs.

Meet his friends, the twins, Old Mrs Clover, a cat on a lead! Meet Marvellous Mums and Dynamic Dads with their pushchairs, as Dan guides them through the traffic.  Join Dan the Lollipop Man on his daily quest to get Mona and Charlie, and all the other children he loves, safely to school each day.

Darling Untold

Lovely Jan,

With her radio, knee-high socks, and curls.

In some ways she was different to other lovely girls.

She had two wonky eyes that made things hard to see.

If you held up two fingers, Jan most likely saw three!

But Jan didn’t mind,

Not one little bit,

It made her ears better at listening to trumpets...

Dede and the Squirrel

Squirrel adored eating nuts and loved the bird feeders in the garden, full of seeds and peanuts. Dédé loved the bird feeders too but wanted them kept only for the birds. Who would win the battle? Squirrel with his agility and determination, or Dédé with his increasingly desperate measures to stop that squirrel in his tracks?

Dewey and the Dragonfly

Set in 1960s Italy, on the dusty lanes between the cypresses of Tuscany, a friendship is growing between a young boy and a dragonfly.

The dragonfly has had a bad name over the centuries and Dewey is longing for a friend.

As the cypresses cast their long golden shadows the dragonfly knew that Dewey was sound asleep.

Dog Days

An inspiring story about a young girl, Zahara, overcoming her fear of dogs.Zahara loves to visit her family on a beautiful island in the Pacific Northwest. But this year, she is met with a big surprise. Aunt JoJo got a new dog, Rugby! Zahara used to like dogs, until one chased her home from school.Over the summer, Aunt JoJo slowly introduces Zahara to Rugby, and a trusting relationship develops.Children and adults will love to join Zahara as she explores her curiosity of dogs and learns just how much our furry friends can teach us about ourselves.

Dogs on the Go

Angus and his family have moved. The dogs seem different in his new neighborhood. Where are they all going? A sweet adventure tale that will delight young children.

Dragons Out!

Learn about software testing in a fun way, by reading stories about dragons and knights. The book is a great read for children on their own, with their parents, or as an additional reading in schools. It is also for anyone who wants to know what software testing is, they will enjoy this book tremendously.

The book talks about adventures of two children, Laura and Tom, who tumble into dragons annoying villages and castles. They learn about different dragons and how to defeat them with the help of knights. The children grow into exceptional dragon experts.

Stories are explained in information technology and software testing terms and concepts, e.g. a dragon represents a software defect, and knights represent testers and developers. Reading parallels is an easy-to-understand way of learning.

In this book, Kari Kakkonen combines his passion into fantasy and software testing in a new and fascinating way, creating an enjoyable experience for the readers.

The book is suitable for ages of 9-99, although it is written for children.

“I love the idea of bringing testing and dragons together. Explaining testing ideas in this way is great for new testers to give them a broad idea of the depth of testing. The stories can sit on their own for children as well, and may encourage them to think about how they could test some of the apps they use.”

Janet Gregory, DragonFire Inc, co-author of three books on agile testing.

Drip And Drop Go On Holiday

In the second book of the water gargoyles series, Drip and Drop have decided that they needed a holiday by the seaside, where their cousins Splish and Splash live. Drip and Drop are water gargoyles, as well as brothers, and like most brothers, they tend to look after each other. But in Drip’s case, Drop finds that he has to look after more because Drip can be a bit of a drip at times.

Drip and Drop have decided to go on holiday as they want to visit their cousins, Splish and Splash, as they haven’t seen them for a while now. Along the way, Drip and Drop meet different gargoyles, such as the hedge gargoyle and the giant sea gargoyle, with its big booming voice, and not forgetting dear Sandy the sand gargoyle, who is rude too. They also meet Mrs Damselfly and her husband, Mr Dragonfly, along the way, as well as visit a pub with Chris and David, who own the Hastings that Drip and Drop travel on part of the way. Whilst on holiday, Drip and Drop explore the seabed, coming across a Hurricane and a Spitfire that have coral growing over them as well as hearing about the haunted forest from Mrs Owl, and learning the names of the three ghosts that live there and of course, of Uncle Dippy Wippy. Children of all ages will enjoy this book, especially when reading it with their parents, or grandparents, as I’m sure it will fill you with delight and laughter, as I tell you more about Drip and Drop the water gargoyles.

East Girl West Girl

This is a beautiful and touching short story about two young, highly impressionable females who are close friends in and out of school. The plot highlights their very different backgrounds, within two diverse cultures – one east, one west.

The story conveys tolerance, respect and love which the two girls have for each other, through obtaining the impetus to learn, understand and appreciate one another’s faith, customs and way of life.

Eke the Echidna

What is an echidna? Is it a hedgehog? An anteater? Some kind of walking potato? Follow your field guide Eke as he traipses through the Australian bush and demonstrates some of the wonderful characteristics of these unusual Australian animals. Just please avoid being distracted by platypuses… they love the attention.

El Capitano Karen in the Covid Crusade

This story features El Capitano Karen, the big mumma chicken, and her chicken friends Gertrude, Donavan and Rodrigo in a fun and colourful illustration of chicken life.

It is a story about the importance of spreading love and kindness in our community in the face of adversity.

This book is dedicated to the many children across the world that have experienced hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Escape to Dorland

Have you ever doubted yourself? You are not alone…

Daisy and Margot return in a new adventure that will test their confidence and strength.

When tragedy befalls the fairy kingdom, Daisy is wracked with guilt as she tries to help her fairy friends. Margot, meanwhile, finds herself in a position she never could have imagined, with a responsibility she is unsure she can handle. With the help of the young girl and those around her, she must conquer her insecurities to protect her kind.

Events unfold, bringing an even greater challenge, which the pair must tackle to avoid a dreaded consequence.

Will they have the time and ability to be triumphant?