Hello, Mums, Dads and teachers (and all who are concerned with children's literature). THE HAUNTED TROUSERS is primarily a novel intended to entertain children 8 - 12. It IS quite a spooky story, but not excessively so and the 'message' is positive throughout.

Family life is positively encouraged and, although the children have their ups and downs, it is obvious that they care for each other and those around them.

From an educational viewpoint there are several aspects that may be useful:

a) this is a time-slip story based in the present but with excursions to wartime Britain in 1940. Air Raids, gas masks, shelters, rationing and school life in times past are all referenced in the story, as are playground games and activities, school uniforms, corporal punishment, etc. Lots of things to compare between then and now.

b) lots of space has been given to how people 'feel' about things, both then and now and there is plenty of scope for classroom discussion, comprehension and syntactic analysis.

c) the e-book version is colourful and contains photographs, illustrations, coloured text and backgrounds. It is useful for use in classroom situations where more than one child can read the screen at the same time. The book is read in the Internet Browser on the computer but no connection to the Internet is required.

d) There are ten lovely watercolours for children to collect as posters; these are in two size, A4 and A3. The illustrations may also be useful as stimulus pictures in the classroom, particularly for creative writing sessions of the 'what if?' variety. Please take a look at the small versions of each picture elsewhere on this site.

However, primarily the novel is intended for straightforward pleasure in reading and that is the spirit in which it has been written.

We are always pleased to read your comments and suggestions.

Alex Gerrard and the Publishers

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