We’re delighted to welcome David Flanagan to Roaring Reads.
Meet the author of the chuckle-inducing Uncle Pete chapter book series, and find out how his real-life adventures have been almost as exciting as those he imagines for Pete and his rodent companion TM.
News story: What is your new book about?
Uncle Pete and the Polar Bear Rescue is the third instalment in a series of chapter books for 6-9-year-olds I’m writing for Little Door Books, all illustrated by the fabulous Will Hughes and designed by Augusta Kirkwood. The stories feature the adventures of kindly and eccentric explorer, Uncle Pete, and his fearless mouse sidekick, TM (Tiny Mouse).
In this latest book, Pete and TM fly to the Arctic in their stardust powered biplane to try and help a little polar bear cub called Berg find his missing family, but they run into some evil wildlife hunters along the way.
Expect lots of laughs and some scary moments, and a group of very special squirrels. You’ll also find my usual themes of kindness, determination, collaboration and acceptance weaved throughout the story, along with a little bit of an environmental message.
Short story: introduce your book in five words
Explorer and mouse rescue wildlife.
Adventure story: tell us about your most exciting adventure yet?
I’ve had a few scrapes along the way, mostly as an adventurous youth with a love of the outdoors. I once fell off a sea cliff in Orkney, breaking my wrist and splitting my head open in the process. I had to then swim for a while before climbing back up the cliffs, in agony, and walking across a lot of fields to cadge a lift to hospital.
A more enjoyable experience was a work-related trip to the Atacama Desert in Chile in 2009, and every time I go surfing during an Orkney winter is a guaranteed adventure!
Love story: what do you really care about?
Family is everything to me. I also love animals, with cats and dogs a particular favourite. I’m passionate about caring for nature and the environment in general and trying to promote a kinder, more tolerant society.
Life story: how did you get where you are today?
I always enjoyed writing as a child, though never really contemplated doing it professionally.
I lost my dad when I was seven and that had a fairly traumatic impact on my schooling and self-confidence – we moved around a lot in the years following his death and I was always trying to fit in somewhere, while dealing with the residual effects of bereavement. That all meant I was slightly unfocused in terms of what I was going to do career wise, though I always enjoyed English as a subject.
I did lots of different jobs after leaving school and, following three years of knocking around in a variety of unsatisfying roles, I went to the library, read a careers book on journalism, and decided I’d try that as it sounded interesting. I applied to study Journalism at Edinburgh’s Napier Polytechnic, as it was then, and was accepted.
After graduating in 1990, I worked briefly as a reporter for the Edinburgh Evening News, then decided daily newspapers weren’t for me. I returned home to Orkney, got a job on the local weekly The Orcadian and spent three years covering all manner of stories. I went freelance in 2002, after a spell in PR, and now write all kinds of different things. I also provide location management/support to film and TV companies operating in Orkney.
My first book, Board, was published by Fledgling Press in 2015 and recounted my attempts to learn to surf in my 40s. My first children’s book, Uncle Pete and the Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep came out in 2021, with the follow up, Uncle Pete and the Forest of Lost Things, published in 2022. The third one, Uncle Pete and the Polar Bear Rescue, has just come out!
Old Story: What were your favourite books as a child?
I loved reference books, encyclopaedias and atlases as a child. I recently found a very old report card from primary school in which the teacher expressed concern about the fact I wasn’t reading much fiction and seemed happiest flicking through reference books.
One fiction book I did love and kept returning to was A Dog So Small, by Philippa Pearce. I still have the copy I bought from my primary school’s book club. But, more often than not, I had my head in a reference book covering some subject I was interested in – rocks and minerals, flying, exploration, animals, and so on.
Bedtime story: What is your bedtime reading at the moment?
I tend to have four or five books on the go at once, dipping into whatever one feels right at that moment. There’s always some true-life adventure in the pile – I really love books about the golden age of polar exploration, mountaineering and the natural world – so I’m currently reading The Lost Men, by Kelley Tyler-Lewis, The Ship Beneath the Ice, by Mensun Bound, Andes, by Michael Jacobs, and Alan McKirdy’s book on James Hutton, the founder of modern geology. I’ll also dip into the odd graphic novel too – I love a bit of Batman!
Once I’ve got through all of those, I have a handful of similarly themed books to enjoy. I often buy books, forget where I’ve put them, and then it’s a delight discovering all that unread material in my office when I’m looking for something new to read!
Uncle Pete and the Polar Bear Rescue, by David Flanagan (Little Door Books)
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