It’s Up Up And Away For The Whimsy Wood Series!

Posted 20 February 2017 by Sarah Hill

This past week or so has seen some wonderful reviews roll in for ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, book 10 in my ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s series. One in particular came from Briony, a lady book blogger whose young son ‘L’, has become quite taken with my whimsical stories for 5-8 year olds. Here is an snippet from her review:-

“…..L really enjoys these books and all of the wildlife in them. We spend ages pouring over the pictures as he points out different animals and insects. He giggles at the mishaps and now really wants to learn to fly. My only saving grace currently is the season, the lack of available dragonflies to train him is upsetting but understandable. Hopefully he’ll have forgotten by spring, that’s unlikely though isn’t it.

Every time we read a new one of the Whimsy Wood books his interest in the world around him peaks and he looks for bugs and insects even more actively than normal. That for me is the whole reason I love these books. A great story, coupled with an interest in the natural world.” To see the rest of this wonderful review please click here:- http://anywaytostay.com/fearne-fairy-chocolate-caterpillar-book-review/

My son Monty enjoying ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’!

There’s also been the continuing positive developments regarding the pitching of my ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s series to various main stream TV networks. I’m excited to say that my agent is very happy with how things are progressing and the cross-tying of promotions is going well. 😉

The Whimsy Wood books are set to become a brand new animated children’s TV series!

Finally 2 more stores are keen to stock my award-winning whimsical children’s tales. The first is Johnsons based in Boston, Lincolnshire and the other is Bookasaurus Children’s Book Shop in Melksham, Wiltshire. Needless to say that here at the Whimsy Wood headquarters, we feel as though we’ve had a pretty productive and fan-fizzle-tastic week or so! The Whimsy Wood folk have decided to have their very own party to celebrate as you can see below! 😃📚✨

The Whimsy Wood folk having their very own celebrations!

Well, that’s all from me for now. I’ll bid you farewell and wish you a wonderfully whimsical week.

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

A Whimsy Wood Giveaway And A Writing Festival!

Posted 10 February 2017 by Sarah Hill

Well it’s been another wonderfully whimsical week for the ‘Whimsy Wood’ Series and I. Now that half-term has finally arrived (hooray!) we thought what better way to celebrate than by having a giveaway to win the latest ‘Whimsy Wood’ book?! So that’s exactly what’s we’re going to do! As from today, 5 signed copies of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’ are up for grabs!

The fabulous front cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, the 10th ‘Whimsy Wood’ book!

See what these children think of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’ by reading their comments on its back cover!

The back cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’!

To enter, simply click on this link! Good luck! 😃📚✨ http://www.writersinspiringchange.com/book-giveaways.html

In other news, I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ve been invited to appear at the Abergavenny Writing Festival on Thursday April the 20th! There’ll be Whimsy Wood crafts and a reading of the latest Whimsy Wood story, as well as the chance to ask me as many questions as you like about the process of writing and what it’s like to be an author. For more information regarding the Abergavenny Writing Festival, please click on this link here:- http://abergavennywritingfestival.com

Finally I can tell you that book 15, ‘Fearne, Posie And The Giggling Ghost’ is nearly finished! This fifteenth whimsical story is written specifically for the month of October, so Halloween and trick-or-treating happen to feature in this particular tale! Now, at this rate, ‘Fearne Fairy And Giggling Ghost’ will remain half-finished, so I’d best crack on and carry on writing!

Wishing you a wonderfully whimsical weekend!

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Meet The Whimsy Wood Family!

Posted 27 January 2017 by Sarah Hill

A lot has been happening in the world of ‘Whimsy Wood’ secretly for the last 6 weeks. I am now able to let you know just a little bit about what that is. Well, a certain London-based agency has been pitching my Whimsy Wood children’s series to various TV networks. There are 4 major networks keen on investing and turning my whimsical woodland books into an animated TV series. There are also discussions afoot, regarding merchandising for Whimsy Wood and its enchanting characters which is beyond exciting!

Meet The Whimsy Wood Family! 😃

One of the aims of my Whimsy Wood children’s series has always been to ignite children’s (and indeed their parents and carers) imaginations, along with engaging them more with nature and the wonderful world that we are surrounded by. Neil Gaiman, one of my favourite authors, sums up my thoughts regarding the importance of imagaintion with his quote below:-

Wonderful quote by amazing author Neil Gaiman.

To accompany this exciting development regarding my award-winning Whimsy Wood children’s books being adapted to a brand new animated children’s TV series, the agency that I am contracted to have requested a promotional photo shoot for this Saturday! A professional photographer is coming out to our home in Wiltshire to take photos and video footage of myself, my husband and our 3 children! I’m secretly in a little bit of a fluster about this, whilst scrubbing the house from top to bottom to ensure that it is presentable! I wonder if this talented photographer will create any images like this wonderful one of Enid Blyton with her two daughters and Cocker Spaniel?

The exceptional Enid Blyton with her 2 daughters and Cocker Spaniel

Well I’d better carry on scrubbing the house in preparation for this exciting photo shoot tomorrow! Wishing you all a wonderfully whimsical weekend!

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Mom’s Choice Awards For Books 8, 9 And 10 In The Whimsy Wood Series!

Posted 19 January 2017 by Sarah Hill

I’m absolutely thrilled to tell you that yesterday, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’ and ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, books 8, 9 and 10 respectively in my ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s series, were awarded the Mom’s Choice Awards Honouring Excellence seal! If you click on this link you’ll find book 8 in the MCA online store:- http://store.momschoiceawards.com/index.php?entry_id=6132

The Mom’s Choice Awards Emblem

In case you’re unaware of the Mom’s Choice Awards, their Awards Honoring Excellence seal is widely recognized as the symbol representing the best in family-friendly media, products and services. Around the world, parents, educators, retailers and the media trust the Mom’s Choice Awards for their product reviews and evaluations. It’s a huge honour that ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Chocolate Caterpillar’ and ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’ have been recognised in this way and are now part of the MCA family!

Books 8, 9 and 10 in The Whimsy Wood Series.

‘Fearne Fairy’, ‘Posie Pixie’ and the rest of the woodland folk will be having their very own party in ‘Whimsy Wood’ to celebrate! There’ll be plenty of acorn cups of hot, sweet snowberry juice for everyone for toasting. Posie’s going to make her yummy pixie ‘hokey pokey’ and ‘Mrs Scarlet the squirrel’ will be bringing along some of her infamous crackle crunch cakes! Here at the Whimsy Wood HQ, we didn’t want to miss out on all the celebrating, so we’ll be raising a glass or 2 of the fizzy stuff later!

On that note, I’d better get on and be creative elsewhere before the fuzzy stuff appears! I’ll bid you farewell and wish you a wonderfully whimsical weekend!

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Twelfth Night In Whimsy Wood

Posted 12 January 2017 by Sarah Hill

All manner of exciting things have been happening in Whimsy Wood over the past week or so. There was the grand clear-up in Whimsy Wood, following the rather extravagant New Year’s Eve party thrown by ‘Bromley Badger’! As you will probably know, Bromley is Whimsy Wood’s party-animal! Whenever he appears in Whimsy Wood, he’s usually going to or coming home from a party of some sort and he’s normally got a party balloon tied about himself and a party hat askew on his head!

Then ‘Twelfth Night’ arrived, perhaps too quickly for some unprepared woodland folk and it was quite a dash and a scrabble to ensure everyone had taken their Christmas decorations down and tidied things away in Whimsy Wood, before January the 6th was over! In fact, Fearne Fairy’s ‘Great Aunt Flora’ and Posie Pixie’s ‘Nanny Pip’ came and lent a hand or two, as there were so many decorations to put away!

Fearne Fairy gets some help from Great Aunt Flora in taking the Christmas decorations down!

‘Mrs Spottisdowne the sparrow’ had got completely carried away this Christmas and had sewn garland upon garland of holly and ivy sprigs. These had been strung up amongst the oak and ash trees in Whimsy Wood and Fearne Fairy had applied a special wintry spell, which ensured they glistened and glimmered as though they were permanently touched by frost. The effect was stunning. Nevertheless, it took a fair amount of time taking them down again!

Finlay Fairy’s cosy home in Whimsy Wood.

Needless to say that the woodland folk are worn out now by their New Year and Twelfth Night shenanigans! So much so that most of them have decided to choose ‘going to bed early’ as their New Year’s resolutions! ‘Finlay Fairy’ is already tucked up cosy and warm in his bed tonight, having had an acorn cup of steaming hot snowberry juice and read a fairy story before going to sleep!

On that note, I shall bid you farewell and wish you a wonderfully whimsical weekend.

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series,

Whimsy Wood’s Festive Spell

Posted 5 January 2017 by Sarah Hill

We’ll I don’t know about you, but my family and I really had the most wonderful Christmas! We were fortunate enough to travel to Lapland before Christmas and meet the one and only real-life Santa in person!

Santa’s actual house in Lapland!

Magical, amazing, enchanting barely describe accurately this truly once-in-a-lifetime trip! Even ‘Posie Pixie’ came along! Well she just couldn’t bare to miss out on all the fun!

‘Posie Pixie’ all packed and raring to go to Lapland!

As a writer, this wintry adventure was also a wonderful source of creative inspiration and has helped renew and invigorate my ‘story bank’ for future Whimsy Wood tales.

Lapland, the land of ice and snow. 😃❄☃

In the world of ‘Whimsy Wood’ itself, you’ll be relieved to know that ‘Posie Pixie’ did manage to get her Christmas tree up and decorated in time for the festive celebrations! With the help of her furry friend ‘Florence Fox’!

Posie Pixie and Florence Fox admiring Posie’s spectacular Christmas tree!

If you want to know more about Posie’s Christmas adventures then please check out ‘Posie Pixie And The Christmas Tree’, the 5th book in the Whimsy Wood Series, which is listed in the ‘Books’ section at the top of this website. Thank you.

Front Cover Of ‘Posie And The Christmas Tree’

As you can imagine, ‘Whimsy Wood’ was a hive of activity over the festive spell, with carol singing from Mr and Mrs Dusty the dormice and their 6 children. Then there was a huge get together on Christmas Eve night in the big glade within the wood, where all the ‘Whimsy Wood’ folk exchanged their presents to one another. A drop or two of mulled snowberry wine was consumed of course and plenty of snowberry pies were eaten at this annual Christmas Eve get together.

Whimsy Wood’s carol-singing dormice!

Dr Tustle the tawny owl wasn’t too busy over the festive spell which was a relief. He just needed to visit Dillon and Dingle, Mr and Mrs Dusty the dormice’s twin boys on Christmas Day morning, as they’d sprained their tails from hanging upside down off the Dustys’ Christmas tree! Mrs Dusty was not pleased with them I can tell you!

Mr Bilberry the blackbird, Whimsy Wood’s trusty postman, was thankful for the extra bank holidays over the festive spell! Poor fella was worn out with delivering leaf letters, cards and parcels! Mr Bilberry did think to himself that it’s no wonder Santa delivers presents on one night only each year!

Well that’s all from me and the Whimsy Wood folk for now. I’ll bring you some more news from the world of Whimsy Wood soon. For now we’d like to wish you all a wonderfully whimsical New Year!

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Could The Award-Winning ‘Whimsy Wood’ Children’s Books Become An Animated Series?

Posted 9 December 2016 by Sarah Hill

I must apologise for my absence from writing regular posts here on the ‘Whimsy Wood’ blog. The past 3 weeks or so have been incredibly busy and extremely exciting to say the least! Firstly we had the launch of the 10th ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s book, titled ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, which was on Saturday November the 26th, at the Sidmouth Street Christmas Festival in Devizes.

The exciting launch of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’!

Then we’ve had numerous Christmas Fairs where my ‘Whimsy Wood’ books and I, have been fortunate enough to have our own stand, to sign copies of the books for ‘Whimsy Wood’ fans. Our last fair of the festive season is this evening at Rowde Academy in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Whimsy Wood author Sarah Hill will be signing copies of her award-winning children’s books at this Christmas Fayre!

Finally, I can now tell you that my ‘Whimsy Wood’ books have received huge interest from a London agency, who will be pitching my series and concept to TV networks from the middle of next week! This has meant that I’ve needed to rewrite the 1st 14 books as episodes for TV, which has taken me a fair bit of time and thought, but I’m delighted to say that they are all done and that body of work has now left my inbox! I shall keep my fingers, toes and everything else that I possess crossed and pray for some wonderfully whimsical news before Christmas!

In the magical words of ‘Peter Pan’….

On that note, I shall bid you farewell and wish you all a wonderfully whimsical weekend. 😃

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Kid Lit Christmas Giveaway!

Posted 14 November 2016 by Sarah Hill

Christmas Giveaway!

Christmas is just around the corner and I’m delighted to let you know that alongside this season of goodwill, there’s a wonderfully festive giveaway starting tomorrow! My Whimsy Wood Series and I are honoured to be part of this children’s literature community that are running this giveaway.

It will run from November the 15th (tomorrow) until December the 15th. There is NO purchase necessary to enter or win. One winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget within 48 hours and notified by email once the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new winner will be chosen. The prize is valued in US Dollar (USD). The winner must have a valid email address attached to their Amazon account in order to receive the eGift card. There is age limitation, as long as the entrant has an Amazon account. Amazon suggests that those who are 18 and under should use the site with the involvement of a parent or guardian. All you now have to do is click on this link! Good luck! 😃

a Rafflecopter giveaway

With whimsical wishes,

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Poppies, Peace And Nursery Rhymes

Posted 11 November 2016 by Sarah Hill

Today of course is Remembrance Day. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, please take a moment to step back from the constant rushing around that has become modern day life and remember all those who sacrificed their lives to keep us safe and to give us the wonderful world that we have today. 🌹

Remember this day, for now and always. 🌹

Now, did you know, that alongside the intriguing American events this week, its actually been Nationl Nursery Rhyme Week here in the U.K.?! Now that’s something cheerier to focus on. 😊 Nursery rhymes are hugely important in early childhood, as they help children master key skills such as language and communication and social, physical and emotional skills. Not only that, but singing, whether on your own or in a group of people, is great for the soul. It makes you feel good, no matter how young or old you are. Just like reading with your child, singing fun songs and nursery rhymes with your wee one, creates closeness and a feeling of unity. So what are you waiting for? If you’re stuck for nursery rhyme ideas, then these ones are pretty good to get you started :- ‘Doctor Foster’, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’, ‘Two Little Dickie Birds’, ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’.

Let’s Get Singing Everyone! 😃🎤

As for news from the world of ‘Whimsy Wood’ this week, well I’m absolutely thrilled to tell you that book 10, ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, is at the printers as we speak! It will be released on November the 26th and I am completely and utterly over the moon with its front and back covers! Here are images of these cracking covers:-

The fabulous front cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’, the 10th ‘Whimsy Wood’ book!

The brilliant back cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Landing Lesson’! 😃📚✨

Humongous thanks go to Abela Publishing, Sarah Mauchline our illustrator, Tamsin Cooke (author extraordinaire of ‘The Scarlet Files’) and all the children who kindly read and reviewed the manuscript of this 10th ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s book. Thank you. 😘

Finally, if you are interested in other ‘Fearne Fairy’ books, then I’m delighted to tell you that ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’, book 8 in The Whimsy Wood Series, is currently listed on the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) ‘Book Blast’ page! To check out this book and other wonderful children’s books listed there, please click on this link:-

https://www.scbwi.org/bookblast-display/?id=420562

The fabulous front cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’!

Well that’s all from me for now. Wishing you all a wonderfully whimsical weekend! 😃

Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

There’s Always A ‘First’ For Everything!

Posted 4 November 2016 by Sarah Hill

I’m a firm believer in ‘shaking things up’ a bit and not doing the same old thing in the same old way. This week is no different because in the world of ‘Whimsy Wood’, we have not just one, but two new things going on! The first of these things being a Skype visit to a Brownie Unit, the First Gisburn Brownie Unit to be precise! While the second of these exciting events is a ‘Whimsy Wood’ book being entered into the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards.

Please vote for ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’! 😃📚✨

Now I have done author Skype visits before. In fact I was fortunate enough to be part of an educational program called ‘Adventure ’15’ last November. Thousands of schools across the world took part and I was invited to visit a number of schools in America, Canada and the UK via Skype! It was tonnes of fun and wonderful to be asked so many different questions about being an author and the process of writing from so many different children. I have never had a Skype visit, or indeed a normal author visit, with a Brownie Unit before and I’m really looking forward to it! The First Gisburn Brownies are based up in Lancashire and since I live in Wiltshire, a Skype visit seemed a great plan. These Brownies are working towards their ‘Creative Writing’ badge and they would like to discuss character creation, which will be heaps of fun! Our Skype session is arranged for Tuesday November the 8th, so I’ll let you know what questions they ask me and what ideas they have about creating their own literary characters! 😃

The second new thing this week is ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’, my 8th ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s book, being entered into the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards! Now various ‘Whimsy Wood’ books have been in various literary competitions and book awards, but we haven’t had a ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s book entered into a competition where the winners are chosen by public vote! So if you like ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’ then please click on this link:- https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-childrens-books-2016 This 8th ‘Whimsy Wood’ book is in the ‘Middle Grade-Children’s’ category. Once you click on the link, scroll to the the search bar at the bottom of the page and type ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’ in. It’s pink front cover will come up. Click on that and ‘vote’ will appear for you to click on. Thanks heaps in advance for this. All of us at Whimsy Wood HQ really appreciate your support. 😉😃📚✨

The fabulous front cover of ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’!

Wishing you all a wonderfully whimsical weekend!

Sarah Hill, children’S author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series.

Latest Books