Last week we shared an interview with writer and illustrator Martin Brown –one of the UK’s most prolific contributors to the children’s book industry and best known for his work on the series. More recently, he has written and illustrated his own non-fiction book for children, and is currently developing a follow up. We were incredibly lucky to have him as a guest at our Dare to Write Library installation at the Eden Project during the February half-term. While visiting us, he started his own story which ends in a challenge for you to complete.
Martin decided that his story would have a rather unusual main character, the solenodon. As one of the many real creatures featured in Lesser Spotted Animals, Martin had to do a lot of research about the solenodon before he could write his book. The brief facts he tells us about it here are true. Telling the rest of the story is up to you.
‘In Cuba there lives a little animal called a Solenodon. It sounds a little like the name a dinosaur would have – but it’s not a dinosaur. There are not many solenodons, there are not many solenodons at all. In fact, for many years, no-one believed they still existed. Then, in 1983 someone found one. And what a grumpy chap it was. His name was …’
Can you give the Solenodon a name and finish the tale? Where do you think he goes to? How do you think he feels? What adventure might he go on?
If you’d like to do your own research before finishing the story, you can find out more about these amazing creatures .