Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you all have a wonderful day in America.

I was lucky enough to live in Portland, Oregon some time ago. What a great year we had there! 
We were welcomed as a family, made wonderful friends, the kids had a fabulous time at a truly inspirational local school, we skied in the winter, went to the beach in the summer, and I even got to climb Mt Hood, with ice axes and ropes and the whole works (I have a certificate on my wall to prove it!)

This year the fourth of July is also publication day for the latest Adventure Island book, the Mystery of the Secret Room.

Isn't the cover beautiful? I think this might be one of my favourites of the whole series. 
I'm so lucky that the publishers picked the brilliant artist Roy Knipe for the covers. And the amazing Leo Hartas, who has drawn all the gorgeous chapter-head line illustrations (over 280  altogether!). Follow this link to Leo's website to see lots more of his brilliant illustrations. You might just bump into some characters you recognise there!

 The Mystery of the Secret Room is dedicated to these two great artists.

What's in the treasure chest?
And where did that little cat come from?

To find out why Emily's in a dress and
 Scott's carrying a battle axe you'll have to read  the book!