Ross Mackenzie, Tidelines Book Festival, Lounge, Largs. Sat 12th Sept 2015

There's nothing quite like listening to an enthusiastic children's author for rekindling your passion for books and stories. Thank you, Ross Mackenzie, and the Tidelines team, for a great event yesterday in Largs.

In case you've never heard of him, Ross is from Renfrew and has had two children's books published, the more recent of which "The Nowhere Emporium" has been nominated for the 2016 Scottish Children's Book Awards. I loved the book. His gift for elegant description is a thing of beauty and the story is thrilling.

It was very clever of him to get the audience to offer suggestions for rooms detailed in the Book Of Wonders, the best of which may appear in the sequel (when he writes it). I suggested a room, with fancy wallpaper, that appeared otherwise empty. In actual fact, it contained a chameleon creature called a Scaredy Boo. When you walked around the room it would sneak up behind you and loudly go 'Boo' then scurry away to hide as you recovered from your fright.
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Another aspect of yesterday's talk that I was impressed by was the fact that the local power company had sponsored the event in order that every child present could receive a free copy of his book, They were also donating copies to all the local schools. (I already had a copy so didn't take another.) This was amazing (the free books bit, not that I didn't take another).

I also loved that we got to hear the world exclusive reading of the first chapter of his new book, due out next year. It will make you think again about that spider on the wall, watching you.

Stories for children are not just for children. They are for anyone who still remembers the child inside them (so I say anyway).