Flame and Hope: an African Adventure

Publisher Marketing: "Flame and Hope: An African Adventure" is the first book of the series called "Fauna Park Tales" based on "African Adventures of Flame, Family, Furry and Feathered Friends," a GOLD MEDAL WINNER on Authonomy, supported by HarperCollins. The following is an excerpt from the HarperCollins Children's Editor Review: "A vivid and engaging world of animal characters . . . the use of cleverly animalised verbs is very creative - Dolly Cat's 'whispurr'. The exploration of interrelationships between animals is a very successful topic in the children's literature genre, and you have created some great personalities - the stubborn goat 'Plump-Grump' and the conceited 'His Handsomeness, King Rat' being some of my favourites . . ." Life takes strange turns for Flame, a puppy born in the African desert. Adopted by a free-range cattle farmer, the pup faces the challenge of proving himself to more than one of his new family. As Flame grows into a strong and brave dog, he finds friendship with many loyal furry and feathered friends who teach him to keep The Promise - protecting the helpless ones in Fauna Park, a secret sanctuary within the boundaries of the farm. One of his feathered friends is Hope, an elusive bird with strange pink eyelids who tells stories about a tall leader and his gang of villainous poachers, ups and downs of life in the bush and Flame's ingenious plans to banish foes to the Llokodi Hills. These stories are perfect to be read before bedtime to younger children. Preteens will enjoy escaping into an imaginary world where many bush creatures always have hope that everything ends well when the sun goes down. Contributor Bio:  Botha, Maretha Maretha Botha lives in Lancashire, where she writes and illustrates animal and bird adventure stories, based on her experiences while growing up in South Africa. Her love for the southern African landscape, its environment, animals, birds and people shines through in her series of books which she entitled, "Tales from Fauna Park." She and her family lived in Botswana for a few years before immigrating to the United Kingdom. The first book in the series, "An African Adventure Flame and Hope" is set against this background. Many of the stories are based on fact - things which she observed while living on the outskirts of a game reserve as well as the lives of her family's pets - dogs, cats and birds - through the years. Before becoming a fulltime writer she worked as a research librarian and used these skills to do thorough research as far as the birds of prey and smaller birds mentioned in her stories are concerned. Before leaving Botswana, her post as a second librarian at a private school library convinced her that her series of books will be enjoyed, not only by children, but also adults who are interested in the environment around them, and who love smaller wild animals and birds. She has also written two young adult historical-suspense-mystery thrillers, which she hopes to publish during the summer next year. Look out for her short stories about siblings and their relationships, which will be available for free download over the next few months. There will be short lesson plans attached to each story, which could be uitilised effectively for extra studies in English Comprehension and Creative Writing.