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My Books    Please Select------------------------Ages 6-8Ages 9-12TeensAdultsAdult literacy    Boorkewers Boorkewers (Borer Beetles) is the second book I wrote for the Rimpelstories series published by Maskew, Miller, Longman. It was about two children who go to stay with their Grandparents in Cape Town, and visit the house their grandparents used to live in, before they were forced to move by apartheid. They see the old fig tree in the garden which looks healthy, but is riddled with borer be... >> tell me more    Captain Half Arse >> tell me more    Carmen Toetoeka en die vloek van Isis Huis Hanneke is in gevaar. Haar gunsteling-onderwyser het spoorloos verdwyn en die nuwe biblioteekonderwyser probeer haar vermoor. Maar hoekom? Hoe nader Hanneke daaraan kom om die duistere geheim te ontrafel, hoe gevaarliker word dit. Wanneer daar nie meer omdraaikans is nie, leer Hanneke egter meer van haarself, haar familie en die vloek van Isis Huis >> tell me more    Carmen Tutuka and the Curse of Isis House I loved writing this book. I got to research all sorts of gruesome facts about ancient Egypt. I also got to wreak vengeance on a couple of librarians who had annoyed me. I based Hannah and Hugh Greathead on two children I was teaching at the time, and got to invent a perfect teacher, Miss Cherry. Originally the evil librarian, who is actually the ghost of a mummy, was called Carmen Tutu, but I... >> tell me more    Double-cross This is the second in the new series of values based books. This one deals with forgiveness. Daniel's father cannot control his anger, and it is slowly destroying the family. Daniel is caught shop lifting, and his father beats him so severely that his mother sends him away to stay with his sister on a farm in Franschhoek, and insists that his dad gets help. On the farm, Daniel discovers a fort... >> tell me more    Fly Cemetery and other Juicy Tales Of all my books for children this has been the one that is most remembered and enjoyed. Its a collection of 8 quirky, sometimes gruesome short stories. Themes are universal archetypes - the little guy getting revenge on the big mean guy. But the contexts are whacky. A girl who hates her father's self absorbed girlfriend, a mad hairdresser who steals cute kids in shopping centres, mad wolves inside... >> tell me more    Here be Lions : a memoir not suitable for children In 2004, after three years in therapy, I wrote a children's story straight from my heart. It starred a feisty and ever hopeful little girl named Perpie Birley, the middle child in an extremely dysfunctional family. As Perpie tried to bring her family together, she had to learn that they were never going to love her as she deserved, and were on a path to self destruction that she couldn't change. T... >> tell me more    Keep Quiet ! Sit Still ! Don't wriggle ! This book has sold more copies than any other book I have written. I based it on my experience of going to church as a little girl. My parents were very strict about behaving properly. We weren't even allowed to take off our jerseys until the congregation was standing up or sitting down. And we had to sing and participate! The church was so high and gloomy, filled with the intoxicating smell of in... >> tell me more    Kry 'n Vlieekoekie en ander Krakerige Stories "Ek voel die naar in my keel opstoot. Mevrou Flocker hou my nog steeds vas. Ek sprei die dubbelsjokolade-melkskommel oor haar gesig. Klonterige stukkies loop voor by haar rok in... 'Hierdie snuiter is g'n stuk oulik nie,' gil sy. 'Kry hom hier uit.' Sou jy van die kranksinnige haarkapper kon ontsnap? Vra Jouself... Kan 'n speelgoed-dinosourus jou pa se meisie opvreet? Watter gemene ... >> tell me more    Len & Ben en die Groot SeerowerRedding Two pirate boys, Len and Ben, run away to sea to save their father. They have wild adventures under the sea and on the Isle of Just Dessert before they rescue him and bring about the destruction of the baddies. >> tell me more    Let's Do Cartwheels This book was part of the Cambridge Life Skills Project. It's in big book format. I particularly like the illustrations because they remind of St Helena Bay, where I used to live. It's about a little boy whose friend gets TB, and teaches children about not stigmatizing people with this illness. >> tell me more    Noem my Kat The second of my teenage love stories, this one appeared in Afrikaans only. It's currently out of print, but Human and Rousseau intend to gather my two stories and Janie Oosthuysen's three love stories in the Eerste Liefde series and publish them in an omnibus. >> tell me more    Not Again Gogo This book is part of a series of readers around the subject of HIV-AIDS. I wanted to write about someone unexpected who has contracted the virus. A colleague lost her elderly father to AIDS, and because of his age and race the hospital did not even think of testing for AIDS until the family insisted. This gave me the idea of writing about an elderly white man dying alone because his family have re... >> tell me more    Open This is an anthology of erotic short stories by women writers. My story is called 'The Nutsman,' and I am very embarrassed to have written it..... Nutsman presents a TV DIY program. He has an assistant called Max, and both feature as the stars in my erotic short story. >> tell me more    Oupa se Kajuit I wrote Oupa se Kajuit, and Boorkewers at a time when I was exploring my dark places in therapy. They both deal with loss and grieving. Oupa se Kajuit (Grandpa's cabin) is about a little girl trying to win an art competition. At first she tries to copy other artist's work. But when she comes to terms with her grief over her beloved grandfather's death, and uses her pain to direct her art, she... >> tell me more    Rockslide I always like writing books that hook children into reading, especially if they are slightly older and have not yet discovered that reading for pleasure really can give pleasure. I approached Lux Verbi publishers with this concept late in 2006. They are a Christian publishing company, and I thought they would be the right people to initiate a series of books that explore the values that underl... >> tell me more    Rotsstorting Tim se pa is vasbeslote: Die kinders moet wegkom van alles - die TV, selfone en rekenaars. 'n Egte gesingvakansie in 'n verafgelee huise in Wildernis is net wat hulle nodig het. Dalk sal Tim en sy suster dan ook leer om beter met mekaar oor die weg te kom. Dinge loop egter gou verkeerd. Dit reen sonder ophou. Die rivier oorstroom sy walle en die brug word weggespoel. Wanneer Ma val en haar bee... >> tell me more    Shapes the story of American artist Allan McCollum and his Shapes project. >> tell me more    Sundays are the Best Days This is an easy reader for very young children, and was part of the Cambridge Rainbow Reading Scheme. I liked the idea of family Sundays, where everyone sits around together doing nothing in particular, but still engaging with each other. >> tell me more    Tamara This teenage love story appeared in Afrikaans only. It is the third in the series of love stories that Janie Oosthuysen and I wrote. It won an ATKV award. >> tell me more    The Button Bottle An overanxious boy worries that his spendthrift mother and sister will lead them to financial ruin. He discovers a button that he is convinced is valuable, but how does he wrest it from the hands of his annoying sister and artsy mother? I really liked writing this story. I based it on something I saw on Antiques Roadshow - both the button and the owl statue that ultimately saves them. I li... >> tell me more    The New Baby I based this story on a family I knew twenty years ago in a parish my husband worked in. The Rector's daughter fell pregnant. For the whole nine months her father refused to speak to her, even though they lived in the same house. Sadly, their story didn't have the happy ending I gave the family in my story. By the time we left the parish, the Rector still wasn't speaking to his daughter, altho... >> tell me more    The Shepherd's Crook Cambridge asked me to write a story about a real person. Luckily, I had met the actor, Mr. Goliath Davids who owned a house in the fishing village where we were living. He had told me this wonderful story about his first Nativity Play, and I asked him for permission to write it. I love the evocative old-fashioned watercolour illustrations. >> tell me more    Tweegesig Dewald moet sy vakansie op 'n plaas in Franschhoek deurbring. Hy ontdek 'n ou brief wat die geheim van 'n moord wat veertig jaar gelede plaasgevind het, verklap. Hy ontrafel die raaisel en identifiseer die moordenaar. Maar kan hy die noodsaaklike bewysstuk vind voordat die moordenaar weer toeslaan - en Dewald vir ewig stil maak? Hierdie spannende riller is die tweede in 'n reeks opwindende avon... >> tell me more    Who's afraid of Spiders This is the first book I had published. It is an exciting adventure story about children tracking down crayfish smugglers on the West Coast. It's currently out of print, but I am hoping to get it out in a new edition soon. >> tell me more    Will and Joe and the Great Pirate Rescue This is a fun story about two pirate lads who run away to sea. It's a fantasy adventure, full of wordplay and strange events and characters. Kids from around 8 upwards will enjoy reading it themselves, and younger children will enjoy having it read to them. >> tell me more