Once upon a time, when my children were very small, I wrote some stories for them. Four were published (by Hambleside) in a series of twelve books of 'original fables'. They were also collected in some handsome library editions and were made into story tapes, read by some famous children's TV presenters of the time. They were -

• The Two Cockerels
• The Man Who Caught Fish
• The Gold-Digger
• The King's Picture

(I think one or two of them are still available as 'collectibles' on Amazon.)

I recently went back to writing for children as a change from some rather sad 'adult' things I was working on - stories and poems nothing whatsoever like those original, rather 'well-intentioned' publications. I had tremendous fun coming up with some animal poems - one for each letter of the alphabet, but using 'off-beat' rather than obvious animals.  (There are two of them below).

I think the best thing I've written for younger children is Jack and Gyp want to be famous, the first in a planned series of comic stories about tearaway twins (boy and girl), and for older children, Gift and The Ghost - also centring on twins, but each telling their own story in separate volumes. It's both a serious and joyous book and was partly inspired by the books of French writer Erik Orsenna. I've recently finished the fourth draft and, if I get time, will try to find an agent for it. (Yes, I know it's strange, running a publishing company and looking for someone to publish your own work, but we're not experts on the children's market). 

Bat

Bats are ‘stitched-together’ things

part bird

part furred

big-eared

absurd

with bits of umbrellas for wings. 

They squeak and they squeal,

no chirping or song

as they fly

low and high

— featherless! —

swooping by

not knowing quite where they belong. 

Caves are where they prefer to reside

where its gloomy

but roomy

and damp

and old-tomby

with other bats close by their side. 

For sleeping, bats hang upside-down.

Do they dream

of the gleam

of the moon

in a stream

or a fairy-tale bat in a crown?

What really does go on in their heads

all the day

as they stay

in their cave

far away?

Do they wish they were sleeping in beds?

All bats are acro-bats

megabats

fruit-bats

vampires

or horseshoe-bats —

strange, but as clever as cats!