Snow-man and adventure park

It is time for us to climb to the highest point of Badger Towers and get ready to shout out about two very new and very exciting series due out in January 2016.

We teach children and young adults to never judge a book by its cover. Well for one blog only you can throw that rule away and treat your eyes to these visual delights…

Firstly, let us take a trip down to a town called Shiverton.

Here you will find life is pretty normal, besides the 7ft superhero Snow-Man fighting off super villains such as Ray Burn and Hayley Storm.

The masterminds behind this wonderful world are Tommy Donbavand (he provides the words) and Steve Beckett (he provides the pictures). Tommy is famous in many lands for his award winning book series Scream Street, which has been snapped up by CBBC and is on our TV screens RIGHT NOW!

The idea for the Snow-Man series was created in a galaxy far, far away. That is a small lie. It actually landed on my desk at the heart of Badger Towers. Tommy decided to send in an acorn of an idea to my email inbox. From there it grew, and increased in page numbers. Potential characters and visuals were forming.

This was essentially what we wanted our main super hero to be. We wanted him to have the strength and power of Superman and the humour and friendliness of Olaf.

It began to sprout a budget and take on potential illustrators. Eventually the Snow-Man had been born with the help of illustrator Steve Beckett. Steve is a seasoned pro at The Beano and has provided illustrations for Action Man and DreamWorks. The results of all these elements combined can be seen below.

These are the front covers to the Snow-Man series.

To see this series being born from a small email to the mighty six book collection we now have has been a joy to watch.

Now let us set sail to the island of Adventure Park. Here you will meet Albert Sparkle Trousers, his Granddaughter, Emily, and her friend Jacob… oh, and Frank the talking hamster!

To your right you will see a giant rainforest and to your left you will see a rollercoaster made from a rainbow that stretches over Candy Kingdom. There are many more interesting places to see and we have provided a map for you to look over and decide where you would like to visit first.

A very handy map has been provided in every book.

The creators of this wonderful island are Cavan Scott (he provides the words) and Abby Ryder (she provides the pictures). Cavan lives on the small island of Great Britain. Here he frantically taps out text for all kinds of subjects from Dr Who to Angry Birds. He has recently turned to the Dark Side of the force and penned a new Star Wars World Book Day title called Wild Space.

In the Northern area of the island of Great Britain you will find Abby. She is a huge fan of comic books, and even works part-time in a comic book store. Some say she is the quickest artist in the North as she can design, ink and colour an entire Adventure Park ride all before breakfast. She has also had the pleasure of meeting Frank, the talking hamster, and I am delighted to let you all know that they have become the best of friends!

Adventure Park will keep you hooked from page one to thirty-two and beyond. One minute you are talking to aliens on a doughnut shaped space station and the next you are running away from a grumpy T-rex!

Now the science part!

These two new series are the perfect gateway to reading for those who are reluctant and/or struggle. They are written for students aged between 9 and 12 with a Reading Age of 7- 8

They are 1200- 1500 in length and are fully illustrated throughout but, believe me when I say that these really will be enjoyed by humans of all ages.

I have talked before about how important it is to recognise the amount of blood, sweat and tears that come from our artists whilst working on these projects. Tommy and Cavan have provided us with beautifully crafted texts and we have been lucky enough to have Abby and Steve on board who are able to illustrate it all with such love.

Find out more about the Snow-Man series

Find out more about the Adventure Park series

Written by Danny Pearson, Senior Editor