Book Nook - Charlie and Grangrad's Tall Adventures

 Having won awards for his song lyrics and music production, Steve Mansfield is very aware of the power of the word, which makes swapping a music career for one as a children’s author less left-field than it might first appear.

And without doubt, Steve Mansfield has struck gold with his delightful exaggerated tales of the ever-curious Charlie and his adventure fuelled, lovable and all-knowing Grangrad.

Reminding us all of the innocence, inquisitiveness and imagination that is prevalent in all four-year-olds, the author immerses his young readers (and parents, grandparents, guardians and more) in the pure joyof youngsters when they recognise an exciting tall adventure, and that something special is in prospect.

With Charlie’s mum knowing best and his Grangrad knowing everything, this relatable tale of the effervescent Charlie will have everyone – young, old and in-between - hoping that the author can be persuaded to extend the literary life of his chirpy protagonist further than the trilogy already planned.

 

Synopsis:

Charlie and Grangrad’s Tall Adventures are written from the perspective of a four-year-old little boy called Charlie. Although a four-year-old, Charlie like most children of his age understand much more about their little world than they are perceived to which can be a little frustrating for Charlie. The book allows Charlie to share with us his day-to-day experiences as a four-year-old as if he were much older providing the reader with an amusing insight into his little life.

Charlie has a very strong bond with his mum and his nan which clearly shines through within each chapter but has a special relationship with his Grangrad which he looks up to as ‘someone who knows everything about everything’ mainly due to the fact that Grangrad is tall, quite old and has a white beard or course!

As part of a small one parent family, Charlie’s days are full of adventures with Grangrad and his huge array of friends which certainly become ‘Tall Adventures’ or perhaps fantasy and exaggeration including lots of four-year-old mispronunciation which adds to the fun of the book.

Living in the little town of Trumpington, in a little white house with a little but’ perfect garden, Charlie has a loving home life with mum in a place of almost constant sunshine and ‘picture post card’ scenery with both nan and Grangrad taking an important role in Charlie’s life. Each chapter starts by reflecting Charlie’s home life, his little friends and some of the mischievous true-life adventures created by children including investigating open cupboards or the fridge with his friends, to running up and down stairs to making noise or simply asking the awkward questions to mum such as ‘can I have a brother please’!

 

The author says:

“Grangrad’s friends are key to many of the stories and it’s probably quite easy to understand why with characters such as, Leaky Lee the Plumber, Jelly Baby Joe who plants jelly baby crops, Fred the Fixer and Icey Mikey who needed the help of Grangrad and Charlie to open his new fish and chip shop in Iceland to name a few.

“The book contains subjects of modern realism such as environmentally friendly dinosaurs to fun characters like Paul the Polar Bear which are not quite as they seem, all wrapped in a world of family friendly escapism to highlight little Charlie’s relationship with his Grangrad through their Tall Adventures.”

 

The book is the first of a series and will be followed shortly by two new books ‘Charlie and Grangrad’s Tall Bedroom Stories’ and ‘Meet Charlie and Grangrad’.

Charlie & Grangrad’s Tall Adventures is available in paperback on Amazon at https://amzn.eu/d/50xHm9F

About the author:

After semi retiring as a company director in London, Steve finally had the opportunity to pursue his long-awaited writing career from his family home in rural Essex. Despite being a musician and singer-songwriter, Steve has also found success in other fields such as becoming a qualified Personal Trainer. However, his true passion lies in writing children's books and it shows, with his first book already published and two more books set to be released before Christmas. In fact, his writing skills have been recognised before after being nominated at LA Music Awards and with the presentation of a prestigious award for his music and lyrics at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Although Steve still produces and writes music, he devotes his time to his new career as a children's author.