Sunday 7 May 2023

Out Now: The Peter Allerton Children's Book Anthology

 The Peter Allerton Children's Book Anthology is Out Now


All NINE stories in just one volume!


I am pleased to announce that both the 'Smell of Poo' and 'Beastly Bullies' children's story book collections are now available in one big compilation: 'The Peter Allerton Children's Book Anthology'!

***May 4th 2023: ALL STORIES HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO THEIR LATEST EDITIONS FOR THE FINAL TIME***


Available in both ebook (accessible on any device via the Kindle reader app) and paperback, the stories tend to slightly increase in reading level as they go along, all the way from the first to the ninth.

There should be something for everyone to enjoy in this Anthology, including younger and older kids as well as their caregivers and teachers alike.

'The Peter Allerton Anthology' includes the following stories:

All five 'Smell of Poo' stories plus two bonus 'Pooems':




Including...
funny kids' ghost story chapter book
Ghost Poo & the Haunted Toilet


Plus all four 'Beastly Bullies' tales!:


Including...




Every story features a set of 'follow-up questions'. These unique and humorous tales might be a bit revolting at times but they may make you think a little bit as well? Anyway, I do hope you enjoy reading them!

Please click on the link for 'The Peter Allerton Children's Book Anthology':




Also available: 'The Guide to Managing Your Child's Behaviour: The concise, comprehensive manual for the behaviour management of children of all ages.'

20 years in the making, while probably not a book for kids to enjoy reading(!), I believe there'll be plenty in there to help make them a lot happier in the long run..!

Thank you...

Thursday 29 April 2021

The Behaviour Management book for Parents is here!

 

Simple but Effective: A Guide to Managing your Child's Behaviour


A concise yet comprehensive manual for the behaviour management of children of all ages.



Children's behaviour management book
Click here to buy on Amazon UK

 

After months of editing and re-editing, the Peter Allerton Behaviour Management guide for parents is finally here.

Welcome to this ‘manual’ of parenting hints, tips and strategies on how to help your child with their behaviour and learning at home.

Over 20 years in the making, I’ve been looking for ideas throughout my teaching career, ‘cherry picking’ the most practical and effective ones for this book (in which I try to avoid any jargon or dense theory). Every suggestion is tried and tested – this aims to be a practical guide, not an academic thesis.

Having worked closely with thousands of students and their parents over the years, I sincerely hope you will find at least something useful to assist you in probably the most important and challenging (and definitely worst paid) job in the world!

These positive behaviour strategies can be effective with children of any age, background or temperament.


Children's behaviour management book
Click here to buy on Amazon US


Tuesday 2 February 2021

The 'Beastly Bullies' Children's Story Book Collection is complete!

 The 'Beastly Bullies' Collection is now available!


All 4 'Beastly Bullies' stories in 1!



Now that 'Peter and the Pet Catcher' is finally finished, all four 'Beastly Bullies' stories are now available as a compilation in both ebook and paperback, for just around half the price altogether!

For reading ages 7-13, 47000 words in total, the collection includes the following rather unusual humorous stories:

Each 'Beastly Bullies' story features a set of 'follow-up' questions as well. These tales may be a little bit disgusting at times but they might also make you think a bit too...

I do hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them - thank you for giving them a try!

Sunday 31 January 2021

Peter and the Pet Catcher Children's Story Book is finally here!

 Peter and the Pet Catcher has arrived!


Well, it's been a while since my last release(!) but now the 'Beastly Bullies Collection' is finally complete!


You can now find 'Peter and the Pet Catcher' on Amazon and can read it on any device via the Kindle Reading App, or in the 'Beastly Bullies Collection' or even the Peter Allerton Anthology (both available in paperback too)!


Click here for Peter and the Pet Catcher


Pets have started to go missing (leaving behind only their tails or toes!) from Little Humstrum and Peter is determined to find out why (especially so he can impress Rose from down the road), at least that is until his next door neighbour adopts the pet from hell..!

Find out how Peter copes with a fearful situation that might even involve a little romance in this funny children’s chapter story book for Primary School kids of all ages to enjoy. Parents and teachers may also like reading this humorous story, while it’s suitable for reluctant readers too.

(for ages 7-12: 11500 words)

Here's a excerpt from Chapter 12: 

‘AAARGH!’ they yelled as he threw it away in horror, but it went spinning in the direction of Rose. She tried to duck but was too slow as the hairy bloodied tail bounced off the top of her head, landing on the floor next to Mike.
‘What the hell Peter?’ she wailed as Mike sprinted back off up the road without so much as a word.
‘Am sorry!’ Peter squeaked with embarrassment.
She glared at him angrily then looked down at the object. ‘Oh no, it’s a cat’s tail…’


Also available now are the 'Beastly Bullies' Collection, an Anthology of both the 'Smell of Poo' and 'Beastly Bullies' Collections combined, and once it's ready I will also be publishing 'A Guide to Managing Your Child's Behaviour' (that one's for caregivers rather than kids - unless they want a sneak peek at the manual so they can stay one step ahead!! ;-).

I hope you are all doing ok in these challenging times! Thanks for visiting!


Peter.

Monday 12 October 2020

Updated versions now out for all 'Smell of Poo' and 'Beastly Bullies' stories!

2nd Edition updates for all Peter Allerton stories (including the Collection paperback) now available at your Amazon book store!


Dear Readers,


I am pleased to say that all Peter Allerton stories released so far have now been updated to 2020 'Second Editions'!

All of my books are now inscribed with '2nd Edition 2020' inside their front covers. Please note, if you don't have a Kindle, you can download this 'Kindle App Reader' to access them on any device. 

There is also a paperback version of 'The Smell of Poo' Collection and the 'Beastly Bullies' Collection will also be available in print very soon. You can find them here or in your own country's Amazon book store:

Click here for my UK Author Page


It's been over 5 years since I released my first eight stories (plus the 'Smell of Poo' Collection) and to be honest I was afraid to read them again until I finally found the time to edit and update each one. Thankfully, now that I've been able to return to writing, I've had the chance to spend the last month 'tweaking' them.

Mainly they have been updated to improve their prose and flow, including the paperback version. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised when reading them - there were a few surprises in there even for me and I wrote them! (my memory must be getting worse)

Click here for updated versions of all Peter Allerton books (Amazon US)

I probably still won't make time to finally start promoting them, at least not until I've written 'Peter and the Pet Catcher' - something I've been building up to all year (procrastination should be my middle name!).

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish every single one of my readers and visitors here the very best of luck in what has been a turbulent and challenging year for many people around the world.

I hope my books might at least provide a moment's escape for you.

Will be in touch soon about my new story as well as what I hope to be working on next year!


With love,

PA


Monday 7 September 2020

‘Peter and the Pet Catcher’ - Beastly Bullies Children's Story Book due for 2020!

‘Peter and the Pet Catcher’ - due for (late) 2020 release!


Apologies for the significant delay in the release of ‘Peter and the Pet Catcher’ - the final book in the ‘Beastly Bullies’ children’s story collection!

There’s only one thing worse than writer’s block, and that is not having the time to write..! Moving to a new place, starting a new job and doing my best to help my students with their learning was time consuming to say the least – so sadly I didn't have much time for my new favourite thing... writing!

I’m hoping now that I've scaled back my 'day job' I will have enough time to finally finish Peter’s terrifying (well, at least slightly scary) tale.

In the meantime, I wish you all well and hope that you’re enjoying the other books in the series, along with the ‘Smell of Poo’ stories:

The Smell of Poo Children's Book Collection

Doctor Gremlin and the Battle of the Brats

The League of Disgusting Gentlemen

Jack and the Wish Factory


Thank you so much for visiting my blog. Whether you’re a writer, reader (young or old) or both, please feel free to explore the various pages via the links above.


Saturday 18 April 2015

Jack and the Wish Factory: A ‘Beastly Bullies’ Children’s Book Collection Story: Out Now!

Jack and the Wish Factory: Another ‘Beastly Bullies’ Children’s Book Collection story is here!


Jack and the Wish Factory is out now and available on Amazon:

The newest story in the 'Beastly Bullies’ Children’s BookCollection', Jack and the Wish Factory tells the tale of a boy who has never had a wish come true! For his twelfth birthday, he decides enough is enough and while his family clap and sing "Happy Birthday" at him, he secretly wishes that if none of his wishes can come true, then nobody else’s should either!

However, Jack’s wish isn’t quite as secret as he thinks and it soon leads to him become involved in a titanic struggle between magical powers – in the end he must choose which side to take and risk facing the consequences...

For ages 7-12, or anybody else who’d like to read it! (14600 words)

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter Two:

I then heard a noise but before I could even open my eyes I felt something tugging at one of the sleeves of my pyjamas. I yelled ‘What?’ and leapt out of bed, frantically looking around the room. The curtains were open again, and this time so was the window! My whole body filled with fear.

I was about to call out to my parents when I felt something pulling at my sleeve once more. I waved my arms about, swinging them at whatever was doing it, and went for the light switch. But just as I did so, something began pulling at my leg too. I opened my mouth to scream as I was completely lifted off the floor and started floating towards the window.



wish factory peter allerton amazon kindle ebook
Click here for Jack and the Wish Factory


Thursday 2 April 2015

The Pros and Cons of twitter - as a writer and a regular human!

The Pros and Cons of Twitter

(as a writer and a regular human)


As I try to finish my latest story, ‘The Wish Factory’ (the third of four ‘Beastly Bullies’ children's book collection stories to be released on Amazon Kindle) which will hopefully be out later this month, I've spent the last couple of days fiddling around on twitter during my writing breaks.

beastly bullies gremlin allerton
Doctor Gremlin of the 'Beastly Bullies' collection

I’ve never really 'used' it before but have found it to be quite involving, especially as you can choose who to ‘follow’ on it and find all kinds of interesting information, ideas and opinions.

This has also led to me becoming further distracted by the upcoming UK general election, as a lot of the content on twitter is focusing on that.
I would never ever include politics in any of my stories, as I believe children should be free of the worries of the adult world as they get on with the busy and confusing job of growing up, going to school, doing homework, making and breaking friendships, living with their family or whomever, and taking on all kinds of different hobbies, facing various personal challenges, etc etc etc!

twitter bird laptop
Twitter: a good but time-consuming way to follow events?

I can’t really say that I have my ‘finger on the pulse’ at all – as following the news can take up a lot of time and I try to avoid spending too long staring at screens. However, twitter seems a potentially empowering forum for some without a voice to ‘speak up’, if you can separate the more interesting or insightful tweets from countless other random (and sometimes inappropriate) daily ones!

If you have a moment, why not visit my twitter feed to see who I’m following and find out what some of them have to say:

There’s all kinds of cool science feeds like ‘Physics World’ and 'Science Weekly', links to masterful documentary makers such as Simon Schama, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Louis Theroux, amazing images from Earth Pics, the insights of characters ranging from Ekhart Tolle to Kurzgesagt, and regular updates from great children’s authors including JK Rowling, Michael Rosen and Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

jk rowling twitter feed
JK Rowling's twitter feed could be worth following

I suspect you either have to be famous or ‘time rich’ to manage get a lot of followers – something I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with anyway!

I aim to use my own twitter feed to 'retweet' or 'favourite' anything I think might appeal to any like-minded souls, while perhaps adding a few comments and observations of my own along the way if ever the mood takes me - so feel free to follow:


follow me peter allerton twitter
Feel free to follow me on twitter!

As for any aspiring authors reading this and pondering the use of such social media, I suppose it can't do any harm to try - although I’m not sure I’d recommend putting too much time into it when you're supposed to be writing...

Anyway, from a writer's point of view, twitter seems potentially useful for:
  • Announcing new releases
  • Keeping readers up to date with potential new developments in your stories, the evolution of your characters, new cover designs, etc
  • Interacting with your readers
  • Increasing your 'exposure'
  • Giving updates on any readings, signings, talks, etc that you might be doing
  • Interacting with other authors
  • Announcing any new posts on your Blog or Facebook page
However, as great as all of this sounds, it's not all wonderful, as twitter can still be:
  • Very time consuming to keep up with everyone’s tweets and respond when necessary
  • Difficult when trying to separate ‘the wheat from the chaff’
  • Open to abuse – are you ready for the possibility of negative comments on social media?
  • No guarantee of increased book sales
best ways to use twitter
twitter can be a good way to interact with readers

If you do decide to start 'tweeting', you might find these online guides useful:

Mashable twitter guide book

How to get more twitter followers

And for teachers, ways to us twitter in the classroom

You can also learn how to 'embed' your twitter feed into your blog page here (it's very simple, even I managed at the first attempt - see the right-hand side of this page)

Do you have a twitter feed already? Which are your favourite feeds? Can you recommend any interesting ones for young readers or children’s authors? Please share them...

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Top ten best ever amazing (and surprising) nature facts!

Top ten best ever amazing (and surprising) nature facts!

DK's remarkable Natural History Book
DK's remarkable Natural History Book

I've recently been enjoying reading the nature section of Miles Kelly's Science Encyclopedia, as well as DK's remarkable The Natural History Book. Both are very informative and beautifully illustrated. Here are some incredible facts I'd like to share to help remind you just how amazing the natural world is - it's a real pity we seem to be destroying it!

Older than Civilisation Itself?

'Tjikko': World's Oldest Tree
'Tjikko': World's Oldest Tree

The world’s oldest tree is ‘Tjikko’, a spruce in Sweden. It first prouted nearly ten thousand years ago when Britain was still joined to Europe by the ice age! As for sprouting, lotus seeds have been known to germinate after being buried underground for 400 years!

However, as Tjikko continues to slowly grow, half of the world’s remaining rainforest will be cut down by 2030, while in the past 40 years alone it is believed humans have reduced the world’s flora and fauna by HALF. Tragic.

A Real Flower Bed!

The biggest flower head belongs to the Puya Raimondii plant in Bolivia, which can reach over two and a half meters, meaning the world’s tallest man can lie down on one and still not touch the edges.

Favourite Foods

Tomato - a berry not a vegetable!
Tomato - a berry not a vegetable!

Rice grains are actually grass seeds, and people around the world eat more than 600 tonnes of it every second!
Some people believe tomatoes to be the most popular vegetable in the world, yet they are not a vegetable but a fruit. They are a type of berry. Tomberry anyone?

Animal Communication: Scouse Crows?!?

Lemurs have different types of calls to indicate varying types of danger, such as whether it’s coming from the ground, the trees or the sky (Harpy Eagles like to catch and eat lemurs). Bees ‘dance’ around flowers to tell each other where the pollen is, while crows have 300 different kinds of croaks, though crows from other areas might not understand them (like speaking Scouse in America?).

Dragonfish uses light to attract prey
Dragonfish uses light to attract prey

At the bottom of the ocean, the only light is that which is generated by mysterious sea creatures attempting to communicate, such as the dragonfish or the cookie cutter shark, while the lantern fish’s whole body glows in the dark.

Small but Deadly

tiny pygmy shrew
The tiny pygmy shrew - a deadly hunter
The smallest land mammal in the world is the pygmy shrew. Shrews like to eat slugs, worms, snails and spiders. Yuck!!! They weigh less than 2 grams and are barely 6cm long, including the tail! Apparently, their saliva contains a toxin which poisons their prey.

Powerful Predators

An adult male lion can eat up to 30kg of meat in one ‘sitting’ – then doesn’t need to eat for several days afterwards. I wish I could do that!

nile crocodile
Nile Crocodile - easy to 'shut up'
A Nile crocodile has one of the most powerful bites in the world, at an astonishing 2000kg per square cm! However, the muscles they use to open their mouth with are so weak that you can hold it shut with an elastic band.

Bat-tastic Bat Caves

Mexican free-tailed bats form some of the largest colonies in the animal kingdom, numbering up to 10 million in a single cave!!!

'Lazy Tree Huggers'

koala bear baby mother's back
Koala bear baby on its mother's back

A baby koala spends the first half year of the lives in their mother’s poach, then another half year on her back. After that, they spend the rest of their lives sleeping for 18 hours a day. Nice.

High (and fast and far) Flyers

Ruppell’s vulture flies higher than any other bird, at up to 37,000 feet – which means you might even see one when looking out of an airplane window. Arctic terns fly the farthest, covering 40,000km a year and reaching nearly 1,000,000km in a lifetime! The fastest bird is the peregrine falcon which swoops down on its prey at speeds of over 300km per hour!

Reptile Skin – something we have in common!

Gecko giving a 'hi 5' with its sticky toes
Gecko giving a 'hi 5' with its sticky toes

The skin of reptiles is made of the same stuff as our finger nails – keratin. Speaking of reptiles, the beloved gecko (I say beloved because they eat mosquitoes) has about half a million tiny hairs on the skin of each of their feet, and on each of those hairs are thousands of microscopic ‘stickers’ hence their ability to walk on walls and even ceilings.

David Attenborough: Arkive
David Attenborough: Arkive

I hope you enjoyed learning something from these amazing facts. Nature is truly wonderful. I hope you can enjoy any nature around you, even if it's just a bird in a tree or a 'mooch' around a garden.
If you want to see more, perhaps visit a zoo or natural history museum, like the fascinating Clore Centre in the World Museum, Liverpool. Or if you prefer to discover things from the comfort of your own home, you can learn all kinds of things at the great David Attenborough's nature website, 'Arkive'.

If you have any other cool natural facts, please share them with us...


Thursday 12 March 2015

How to write Poetry the quick and fun way: 'The Ten Minute Poetry Challenge'!

Writing Poetry the quick and fun way:

The Ten Minute Poetry Challenge!


I stumbled upon a poem called ‘Good Books’ by Edgar Guest while sitting in my dentist’s waiting room this morning and it made me realise something: I haven’t written - or even read - a single poem in ages!

So, while I was sitting there I decided to try a ‘Ten Minute Poetry Challenge’ (I’m sure I’m not the first person to have such an idea ;-).

It involves having 30 seconds to quickly think of a topic and decide on which type of poem you’re going to write, and then use the rest of the ten minutes to actually write the poem. Try to give yourself at least a full minute before the end to read through and check for any basic errors. Then think of a title and hey presto, your poem is born!
And remember, while you are writing poetry, you are a poet. Maybe not a professional one, but at that moment you’re a poet nonetheless!

Here is my effort from the waiting room earlier today, called ‘Remember Your Shadow’:

Shadows are scary when you don’t know
What they belong to or where they’ll go
They change shape throughout the day
They have no name but they never stray
Yet they disappear in the dark
And it’s difficult to see one from a shark
Shadows follow you around the park
But they never ever leave a mark
You’re never alone when you’re with your shadow
But people forget, or just don’t know
Sometimes they walk right over it
Even if they didn’t mean to do it
You can make your shadow climb the wall
Or use it to make your hands into a ball
Watch it grow across the hall
Rise up to the ceiling, then quickly fall
Shadows can change
You can watch them rearrange
They can warn you
They can cover you
They can shelter you
They can scare you
Some have two heads
They can even have three legs
Others look like giant birds
Or like buffalo travelling in herds
Well, my ten minutes have now passed
No more shadow poetry will I cast
After reading this, please remember your shadow
It’s the one thing that sticks with you, wherever you go...

If you think this one isn't so bad, there a couple of 'bonus poems' I spent more than ten minutes on in my 'Smell of Poo' Children's Story Book Collection, here:

'The Smell of Poo' poems: 'Your Poo & You' + 'Who Dunnit?'
'The Smell of Poo' poems: 'Your Poo & You' + 'Who Dunnit?'

Coming from Liverpool, I’ve always been aware of poetry and a ‘poetry scene'. I think it takes courage to recite your own work in public. Here’s what happened when writer Marcel Theroux – son of acclaimed travel author PaulTheroux and brother of brilliant TV journalist Louis Theroux – came to Liverpool to write and perform some poetry:
Marcel Theroux tries live Poetry in Liverpool
Marcel Theroux tries live Poetry in Liverpool


liverpool poets poetry scene
Liverpool Poets

Here are some other links that might help inspire you:




Why not have a go at the ‘Ten Minute Poetry Challenge’ and share your work here? You can do it anywhere, whether in your break at work or school, while sitting on the sofa at home, or even when you stop along the way outside wherever you are, be it a park, cafe, waterfront, you name it..

Let your surroundings inspire you. You don’t even have to read it to anyone, just have fun with it, it’s a great creative outlet – though the trickiest thing can be rhyming, in which case you can cheat a little by visiting here:

poetry poems rhyme zone
Find a rhyme at the Rhyme Zone

If you want a few hints and tips, go to the ‘For Poets’ page to help start you off...

writer's guide to Poetry
The writer's guide to Poetry

Take care, enjoy, and happy writing!!!