I first had the idea of Come-alive Cottage when my own children were small but it remained just that, a handwritten outline that lay in an old box-file not entirely forgotten but just something that might happen one day.
Then after I had finally completed my first full length novel, The Palaver Tree, the memory of that idea came back to me and I went rummaging aromund amongst old papers and files until I found those notes. The concept still seemed exciting to me and fresh and from that moment I wanted to see the series come to life!
When I had written the outline for the first book, ‘Kellie at Come-alive Cottage’ , I began to search around for an illustrator who could capture Kellie and her friends in the fun style I had always visualised and I was so lucky to find Frances Lee West who immediately knew what I wanted but was able to add her own brilliant ideas and seemed to know from the start exactly how the characters should look.
There are four titles in the Come-alive Cottage series:-
Kellie at Come-alive Cottage – Book 1
In book one Kellie Culpepper first meets her Aunt Kitty, a very kind and friendly lady who just happens to be a witch. But Aunt Kitty’s spells have a habit of going wrong and can lead to all sorts of mishaps.
When Aunt Kitty casts a snake spell to liven up a game of snakes and ladders she gets much more than she bargained for and Kellie has to jump to the rescue.
Danger at Come-alive Cottage – Book 2
In Book 2, when Aunt Kitty is sent a dragon’s egg she quickly decides that there is only one thing to do – hatch it! But to hatch a dragon’s egg a mother dragon is needed and the only way to get one is by magic. Aunt Kitty is excited but Kellie is not so sure; what if the spell goes wrong? After all, a dragon is not a small thing to keep in a house, like a hamster or a puppy and besides, dragons breathe fire! This could spell danger for Come-alive Cottage!
Catastrophe at Come-alive Cottage – Book 3
It is Aunt Kitty’s birthday and at Come-alive Cottage everyone is ready for a wonderful party. But where is Aunt Kitty? And why is there a huge hole in the fence at Growler’s Safari Park?
kellie and her father, Colonel Culpepper go rushing into the lion’s den but can they save Aunt Kitty from Cat-astrophe?
Christmas at Come-alive Cottage – Book 4
On Christmas Eve, Aunt Kitty has a special wish-come-true spell to make for Kellie. But when a whole glass of her greenish, orangish, purplish, brownish, reddish, yellowish spell-mixture is accidentally spilled into the pot, everything starts to go wrong! can Aunt Kitty put everything right in time for Christmas Day?
Wendy Unsworth 