Darren was inspired to write children's stories following the birth of his daughter. As she grew older he found that reading her bedtime stories was just as much fun for him as it was for her.
The different characters in stories such as The Gruffalo, Some Dogs Do, Dr. Seuss and others brought out Darren's theatrical side and he loved making up different voices and accents for each character.
Such characters and stories, and in particular the style in which they were written, captured Darren's imagination so much that he decided to write rhyming stories himself.
His aim is to write stories in such a style that they are as much fun for the parent as they are for the child.
Most of Darren's stories have some sort of message or moral. Acceptance of diversity is a big theme. Some of them, however, are just for fun, with no underlying message at all.
Darren is currently working on a number of ongoing children's stories but below are synopses of some of the completed ones:
The Hero Of Schnool – Synopsis
A Dark & Dusty Place – Synopsis
The story commences with a description of a dark and dusty place where some poor soul is trapped coughing and sneezing.
It soon becomes apparent that the person trapped is poor old Father Christmas and the dark and dusty place is a chimney. It seems that old Santa has forgotten to bring his magic shrinking sprinkle from home and he is too big to get down.
He enlists the help of Rudolf who, in a rather unique way, wakes the two children of the house, Joshua and Kia. The children come downstairs excited to be asked by Santa to fly to Lapland on his sled to see Mrs. Christmas who would know just what to do.
Off the children go, over ice capped roof tops to see Mrs. Christmas who welcomes them with open arms and confides in them that Father Christmas forgets his sprinkle every year and always ends up stuck in a dark and dusty place.
The children return home with the magic shrinking sprinkle and they drop it down the chimney in order to shrink old Santa.
He thanks them briefly and flies away to deliver all the toys that he needs to. Joshua and Kia wonder if they have, perhaps, dreamt the whole thing until they wake in the morning to discover a note that they really did save Santa from a dark and dusty place.
Ronnie Rhino’s Dance – Synopsis
Ronnie Rhino’s Dance is a poem for children written in an easy to read style with a consistent rhythm throughout.
Ronnie Rhino is a unique character who loves to dance but he doesn’t really want to dance alone.
He approaches the other animals and asks them to dance with him but they all come up with excuse after excuse, not wishing to dance with a Rhino who, after all, is a different breed of animal to them.
Ronnie Rhino, undeterred, continues his dance, watched by the other animals. After a while the other animals start to regret their decision not to dance and they begin to join in.
Soon there is a very large gathering of animals all dancing and having fun. They realise that dancing together can be enjoyable after all and that just because someone is different it shouldn’t stop them from mixing.
The story has a moral that is simple and easy to understand and is delivered in a fun and interesting way, providing ample opportunity for interesting and unique illustrations.
The Snotty Grotty – Synopsis
The Snotty Grotty is a very simple poem about the spread of the common cold. There are characters in the poem who are unique, such as the squink, the dink, the gnupp and the smeever, all of whom contract the virus and pass it on.
The cold passes from character to character via classrooms, bus shelters, shops and the doctor’s surgery. Even the doctor catches the “snotty grotty” at some point.
The poem ends with the cold returning to the character who initially had it to start with.
It is a fun and unique poem, with a consistent rhythm that explores an unusual topic in a humorous and not too serious way.
The Withered Witch and Cobweb Stew – Synopsis
The Withered Witch and The Cobweb Stew is about an elderly witch who is beginning to suffer from a loss of voice and a growing hump on her back, so she decides to see the Witch Doctor. He lives far away so she has to fly there in the middle of the night.
Upon arrival, he diagnoses that she has been eating her cobweb stew with the flies still in it and the hump in fact is a family of frogs that are living at the back of her neck, who love to eat the flies that she carelessly leaves in the cobwebs.
Once rid of the frogs, she takes them home and she utilises their services to eat the flies before she makes the cobweb stew.
The Withered Witch Goes Back to School – Synopsis
The Withered Witch makes a second appearance and decides that as her memory is fading, it is time to go back to school.
Upon arrival at her old school she is initially scared but confronts her fears and enlists. It isn’t long before she excels at the studies and the children at the school hold her in high regard due to her experience of all things witch like and times gone by.
They love her stories and she is soon asked to become a history teacher at the school where she stays, respected and loved.
It is a tale with a moral that the young have a lot to learn from older people.
Both Withered Witch stories are in rhyme with a consistent rhythm throughout, providing ample opportunities for illustrations.
Good To Be a Child - Synopsis
Karla is a little girl and, like most children, she thinks that grown-ups have it cushy.
She complains about going to bed one night as she feels it is too early and she writes her protestations upon her bedroom wall and promptly falls asleep wishing she was a grown up.
Bedtime fairy (who was conveniently within earshot, and who is ever so slightly mischievous) decides that it may be time to teach young Karla a lesson and the fairy grants the wish.
Karla wakes the following day as an adult and, during the course of the day, encounters everyday grown up problems. She realises that the best thing you could ever be is a child who is loved and cared for.
In the realisation of this, she erases the writing on the wall and goes to sleep that night as a grown up but wishing she was a child again. Bedtime fairy (who always seems to be in the right place at the right time) is amused by this u-turn and decides to grant Karla’s wish once more.
She wakes in the morning relieved and declares, “It’s good to be a child”.
Too Cold To Play - Synopsis
Kia is a little girl who wakes up one day and decides that it is too cold to play. She decides to go back to sleep instead and the dream she has leads into the story.
Kia dreams that she is in a medieval town where some nasty Nutcrack brothers have stolen the king’s horse and plan to kidnap the queen.
Kia is a horse lover and decides to rescue the stricken mare. She and her own horse, Kal, embark upon an adventure that leads them to where the fifteen Nutcrack brothers are hanging out.
With a little ingenuity (and some mischief) Kia manages to catch the Nutcrack brothers and save the King’s horse.
The queen rewards Kia with a golden ring and the king invites her to stay over at the castle.
When she wakes she realises that it was all a dream although she finds the golden ring in her bed.
Upon waking up, she still thinks it is too cold to play.
When Snufflewakka Came to Town – Synopsis
The story of When Snufflewakka Came to Town is a classic story of a book being judged by the cover.
The Snufflewakka is a fearsome looking gigantic creature, which the local townsfolk are scared of. In actual fact, the Snufflewakka is a gentle (if not clumsy) creature and he just wants to socialise.
The townsfolk call the army, which simply upsets poor Snufflewakka. He can’t understand why he is being treated this way.
It takes the children of the town to make the adults see that Snufflewakka is not all they feared and eventually they all learn to live together.
The story is written in rhyme with a constant, fun rhythm throughout and has ample opportunity for unique and interesting illustrations.
