A


ndy Shepherd burst onto the publishing scene with The Boy Who Grew Dragons eight years ago and since then her heart- warming series about a boy who


finds a dragon-fruit tree – yes, one that bears dragons – has become a beloved mainstay of children’s bookshelves and libraries. The series grew to six titles and has been translated into more than one language, which is huge for a fiction title for five-to-eight-year-olds. So what is it like branching out with a new series? “Terrifying,” she laughs, speaking from her countryside home near Cambridge. “I knew that I could develop a story, but I had been in the old dragon world for so long.” The inspiration for The Wood Where Magic


Grows had been brewing for a long time and, like many authors, Shepherd can trace part of its origins to her childhood, in which she spent a huge amount of time climbing trees and building dens. Iggy, the hero of the story, and Cal, his new step-brother, also discover the joy of being outside when they move to a house next to Wildtop Wood, an overgrown woodland at the bottom of the garden. At first, they have fun exploring, but soon they come to realise that the wood needs them and, led by a band of scampering animals, they venture deeper into the trees to fulfil their roles as the heroes that nature needs. “Green magic exists,” says Shepherd. “It is


there in the world, but it only unlocks when we engage with it.” We know how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, but the metamor- phosis still elicits a magical feeling, she says. “I’m nearly 55 and I still get a buzz of excitement when I see a rainbow… I want to tell strangers in the street ‘Oh look! There’s a rainbow!’ That’s the magic we can all access from being connected to the natural world, whether it is big, wild, green spaces or just standing under a tree.” Shepherd has created a host of secondary


characters who mostly help the children on their quest, including the delightful Sylvie, a “Guardian of the Green”, who encourages the protagonists to speak to the trees and is the creator of the wooden animals that come to life. Representing another type of adult is Councillor Thornwood, who believes that the wood is dangerous and so instead builds a sterile and boring play area. Does Thornwood depict the type of person who is fearful and disconnected from nature? “I think that’s true,” says Shepherd. “She’s not evil, she’s just trying to give the children a place to play.” Diversity is hugely important to Shepherd,


who speaks glowingly of sensitivity readers and spent time with a spokesperson from the National Deaf Children’s Society as part of her research. Representing Iggy’s hearing-impaired friend Mae – and, for example, her discomfort when another character uses the phrase “falling on deaf ears” – was important to Shepherd, as was helping children understand the differ- ences they may see in others.


Children like Mae will feel seen when


reading this story, and Shepherd hopes that she can offer a window of understanding for other readers. For this story, it was also impor- tant to have a character who could understand that there was more to listening than the spoken word, which ties into the idea of trying to listen to and communicate with the trees. Shepherd started writing as an adult, but


was always lost in imaginary games as a child. “I often say to kids that I was practising all the skills of being a writer, but just not writing it down,” she says.


Key backlist


The Boy Who Grew Dragons Piccadilly Press, £7.99, 9781848126497


Tomas gets a shock when the funny tree at the bottom of his grandfather’s garden hatches a dragon.


196,342 TCM copies sold


The Boy Who Lived with Dragons Piccadilly Press, £7.99, 9781848126800


I’m nearly 55 and I still get a buzz of excitement when I see a rainbow… That’s the magic we can all access from being connected to the natural world


At secondary school, the idea of being a


writer stuck, although she did not start writing seriously until her youngest child was at school many years later and the idea for The Boy Who Grew Dragons took root. It started life as a picture book, later becoming a chapter book that Shepherd read to her son, chapter by chapter, every evening. He would beg for the new chapters, which is “basically how the book got written”, and her agent eventually took it to the London Book Fair where it “took off”. Initially, she thought no-one would touch


the book because of the popularity of Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon series, of which she is a huge fan, but Shepherd recog- nised that there was a market for younger chapter books. Her son, for example, was not ready for some of the older middle-grade titles his big brother was reading. “I wanted to write a book for him that would be satisfying and appealing, but also very age appropriate.” And even though it is quite an English series in many ways, she has fans from all over the world and gets letters from countries as far away as Australia and Indonesia. Will The Wood Where Magic Grows be as big


a series as Dragons? Perhaps. Shepherd signed a contract for two books – the second manu- script was completed in just six weeks – but she has ideas for more. Writing for a younger age group – her core readers are around seven – is really important to her. “There’s something really magical


about finding a book that you love at that age when you’re just starting to read independently, and it staying with you as you grow up. And also ones that you’ve shared and enjoyed with someone in that tucked-up, story-time way. Those are the books I want to write.”


The Boy Who Flew with Dragons Piccadilly Press, £7.99, 9781848127357


Tomas has promised Grandad that he and his friends will let their dragons go back to where they belong, which is not easy when he does not know where the dragons come from.


25,220 TCM copies sold


The Boy Who Dreamed of Dragons Piccadilly Press, £7.99, 9781848129252


Tomas’ beloved dragon Flicker is away in the frosty North when the dragon- fruit tree hatches Zing, a tiny dragon with oversized wings who causes havoc wherever he goes.


16,736 TCM copies sold


The Boy Who Sang with Dragons Piccadilly Press, £7.99, 9781848129429


Tomas and Aura go on a journey of discovery that will finally unlock the last mysteries of the dragon-fruit tree.


11,585 TCM copies sold


09


When the dragon-fruit tree starts to look unwell, Tomas and his friends Ted, Kai and Kat have to uncover its mysteries and restore it to health, while continuing to look after their dragons.


40,221 TCM copies sold


Books Author Profile


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