An intriguing looking children's book based on the canals, ostensibly about someone who runs away from the circus, let's just hope it's not based on John Major's early years.
From the publisher's website:
Peggy, a jolly woman of the waterway, is astonished to find a grubby 11-year-old Zed hiding in a cupboard on the narrowboat she is taking to Boswell’s Yard for repair. What do to with him? Peggy calls her friend Trip Boat Tim and his collie Barney to help. Unwilling to return a tearful Zed to his cruel uncle, they enlist the help of the local schoolteacher and policeman to contact Zed’s family and find out where he belongs.
Author Mike Simmons is reputed (as in I'm sure I read it five minutes ago but can't find it now) to live on a boat near London, and also finds inspiration in the works of Michael Morpurgo; sounds good to me.
