I did mention about the Fudge Truck and here is a picture of it in situ where I've been playing with it apart from consuming said Fudge pushing it across the floor.
The Secret Lake was written in 2011 and in certain respects addresses elements of modern childhood such as the smartphone although in a good many other respects it is a fairly traditional story aimed straight at Junior school readers.
In essence this is a time travel adventure story of Stella, eleven, and her younger brother Tom aged eight, who have moved with their Mum to London living in a flat that has a communal gardens where people grow things and children play.
Looking for the dog of a elderly woman that often goes missing and returns with little explanation they investigate "The Island", a uncultivated strip with four trees within the garden and find a secret tunnel and a lake they row across.
Travelling through it they find children living in their home but a hundred years in the past where they discover it was a huge house, making friends and enemies too along the way as they uncover the real reason the dog disappears and what the connection to those children and it's owner really is.
Although this is a fairly short story with a hundred and nine pages it does grip you and while not written expressly for boys has much of that feel, the author has two sons and is used to telling stories that interest them with a lot of adventure not overdoing relationships or pushing agendas while inviting contrasts between today's life and that of the past.
It is a more modern version of a Enid Blyton adventure story for today's generation but equally suited for those of us who are adult littles who love such stories.
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