CURIOUS TALES OF A RUSTY NAIL

Who could have imagined that a pile of old nuts and bolts in a garden shed could have a life of their own? Well, prepare to be amazed as we follow the garden path by the orchard fence, where young Morris Wainwright once searched for fossils among the polished stones, to an old garden shed with a green pitched roof. It's half hidden by moss and ivy and sheltered from the summer heat by overhanging apple boughs. The window looks onto a garden of tall yellow weeds where a line of shirts and socks flutter in the breeze. Now, if we move a little closer to the lichen speckled glass, we may be surprised to see a spider spinning curtains of delicate silk and chatting toa rusty nail, while a pinion from a mangle and a sprocket from a butcher's bike are playing marbles with a wingnut on the bench. Rusty Nail, Wingsey Nut, Young Pinion and Sprocket are just some of the characters whose adventures we share as they struggle to maintain their way of life.

Barry Freeman was born in Kempston, Bedfordshire in 1940. He has been writing stories for children for many years. Indeed the endearing characters of Rusty Nail and her friends first emerged from his fertile imagination over thirty years ago. This is the first time that all these stories have been published as a complete collection. For more information visit Visit www.spellbrooktales.com