The Incredible Adventure of Fingers and Boston

Abandoned by his parents and forced by fate to work on the streets of New Babbage shining shoes, Edward Croydon (also known as “Fingers”) has to pick the pockets of rich gentlemen in order to survive. However, his life takes an unexpected turn of events when he discovers a stray Boston terrier wandering alone on the streets: a stray dog with the most peculiar-shaped dog tag hanging from her collar. Unfortunately, it’s not only Fingers who is interested in finding out the meaning of this curious dog tag; a gang of local criminals are searching for this dog and her tag too. They will do anything to seize the dog tag for themselves, within the Law or not.

Will Fingers find out the significance behind the strange-shaped dog tag of his new canine friend?

Will the local police be able to trace the missing Boston terrier before the criminals track Fingers and the lost dog?

Will the new friendship of Fingers and his terrier overcome the problems that they face together?

Find out the answer to these questions by reading the new picture storybook by Maxwell Grantly: “The Incredible Adventure of Fingers and Boston.”

If you are interested in reading The Incredible Adventure of Fingers and Boston, it can be downloaded free of charge from Barnes & Noble, Blio, iBooks, Inktera, Kobo, Lulu and Smashwords. Sadly, the software at Amazon does not allow a zero pricing and so (if you use a Kindle) you may also download this story – but at a very small charge. Simply type “Maxwell Grantly” or “The Incredible Adventure of Fingers and Boston” into the search bar at any of these eight sites.

Jack and the Space Pirates

Jack lived and worked on EM-05, a steampunk space station found on a major trade route between Earth and Mars. He would spend his days tarring the insides of frigates and galleons, as they stopped for repairs and supplies, on their way to the distant planets of the Solar System. There were very few other children that worked on EM-05 and so it could get very lonely for Jack. However, he did have one close friend, an abandoned cat named Jet, and the two of them were inseparable.

Jack and Jet found that their lives were thrown into turmoil when a gang of space pirates stole a valuable galleon. The two friends were flung into an incredible adventure and Jack was forced to devise a cunning plan to return them both to their intergalactic home.

Jack and the Space Pirates is a beautifully produced children’s storybook, with lovely enchanting illustrations on every page.

If you are interested in reading Jack and the Space Pirates, it can be downloaded free of charge from Barnes & Noble, Blio, iBooks, Inktera, Kobo, Lulu and Smashwords. Sadly, the software at Amazon does not allow a zero pricing and so (if you use a Kindle) you may also download this story – but at a very small charge. Simply type “Maxwell Grantly” or “Jack and the Space Pirates” into the search bar at any of these eight sites.

Albert’s Wiggly Tooth

Do you believe in the tooth fairy? Not many children do. Even the thirty-two young boys and girls at the New Babbage orphanage knew that Mr. Bagshaw, the resident housemaster, really took their old teeth and left a silver sixpence under their pillows. Even still, a whole sixpence is such a lot of money: you can buy so many sweets with just the one coin.

When Albert’s wiggly tooth fell out, he wondered what happened to it when he left it under his pillow. To his surprise, he discovered that Mr. Bagshaw was selling the children’s teeth to a local dentist, in order to build dentures for the elderly people in town.

Discover the crazy antics of what happened in church the following Sunday morning, when Albert discovered the identity of the new owner of the children’s missing teeth.

Like all stories from Maxwell Grantly, nothing ever goes to plan!

If you are interested in reading Albert’s Wiggly Tooth, it can be downloaded free of charge from Barnes & Noble, Blio, iBooks, Inktera, Kobo, Lulu and Smashwords. Sadly, the software at Amazon does not allow a zero pricing and so (if you use a Kindle) you may also download this story – but at a very small charge. Simply type “Maxwell Grantly” or “Albert’s Wiggly Tooth” into the search bar at any of these eight sites.

Free to Download: Professor Nibbler’s Most Amazing Mouse Circus

Have you seen a real live mouse circus? If you have, you’re very lucky indeed, as very few other people have ever seen one. Sometimes a mouse circus will travel around the country as part of a travelling fair. As part of the performance, the mice will climb upon tightropes, perform amazing acrobatics and scamper about doing all sorts of incredible things.

When Professor Nibbler brought his most amazing mouse circus to Luxembourg, two homeless children (Jacob and Molly) were enchanted by the posters that were pasted across the city. They both yearned to see the mice perform and so devised a plan to earn enough money to see the show. However, as is common with other stories from Maxwell Grantly, things don’t go according to plan.

Discover how Jacob and Molly got to see the most amazing mouse circus in the world, by reading Maxwell Grantly’s latest story: Professor Nibbler’s Most Amazing Mouse Circus. (Available to download free of charge from iTunes, Kobo, Lulu and Smashwords.)

Professor Nibbler’s Most Amazing Mouse Circus

This is the the start of a new free eBook, by Maxwell Grantly. You can find all Maxwell’s stories, free to download, on iTunes, Kobo, Lulu, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Professor Nibbler’s Most Amazing Mouse Circus will be available to download, free of charge, later this month.

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Alfred and the Broken Flute

I am very pleased to announce the release of my latest children’s eBook: Alfred and the Broken Flute.

This free eBook can be downloaded from either iBooks, Kobo or Smashwords. (There is a small charge when downloading from Amazon and so I am sure that you may find the other sites more advantageous.)

I do hope that you may enjoy entering my bizarre fantasy world, as you read this crazy tale.

Alfred and the Broken Flute

Alfred wasn’t like other children; he had no mother or father to look after him. Alfred only owned an old top hat and a small wooden flute. Therefore, Alfred would earn his keep by playing his flute on street corners, to collect donations from passers-by. However, one day, Alfred’s life was to turn upside down when two local villains decided to kidnap him and sell him to a local mine owner, Mr. Slugger. This was how Alfred’s flute became broken.

Discover what happened and find out whether Alfred ever managed to regain his freedom from the two thugs.

In common with many stories by Maxwell Grantly, things rarely ever go according to plan.

World Book Day 2016

Today is World Book Day and it is celebrated in nearly 100 different countries around the globe. In Great Britain, many children dress up as their favourite fictional character and then attend school in fancy dress for the day.

If you want to celebrate World Book Day in style, why not download a free eBook by Maxwell Grantly and enter his crazy magical world of disbelief for an hour or so. (All Maxwell’s eBooks are free to download from both iTunes and Kobo.) You won’t regret it!

Children and eBooks

Surveys show that many adults prefer to access their reading material in a paper format. Children, however, are more open to using digital devices.

The use of eBooks is on the rise in schools, by children as young as three, and digital devices are making a large difference to the reading habits of boys in particular. The School Library Journal has reported that tablets or laptops are currently used in about two-thirds of schools across America, however their use is rather more sporadic in British schools. Over the past year, the National Literacy Trust has been conducting research into the impact of digital reading devices upon the literacy development of a sample of 800 children from 40 schools. Interestingly, in a period of just four months, boys made (on average) a progress of 8.4 months, compared to an average of 7.2 months among girls.

Researchers are now beginning new studies to try and discover why boys respond so well to digital media.

There is still a place for a wide range of different reading formats in both schools and the home but it is encouraging that, despite the reservations of adults towards the introduction of eBooks, many children flourish with the acquisition of sound literacy skills, using digital formats.

If your child is interested in using a tablet or laptop to access reading material, you may like to know that Maxwell Grantly has produced an exciting range of original reading material, all of which can be downloaded from Kobo and iTunes completely free of charge.

(Source of information: BBC website)