Focus on a planet revolving in space ...Focus in on a small country in the northern hemisphere - Great Britain. Closer, closer ...and on the western edge of London you can see the county of Buckinghamshire. Small villages and winding country roads.

And if you could go back in time to the mid nineteen-sixties, you might spot a young lad on a motorbike coming down one such lane, notebook and pen in his jacket pocket. This is me. A junior reporter for the Bucks Free Press, where I began writing stories for young readers that were published every week in the newspaper.

The stories in this collection are a selection of those. There are wizards and mayors, carpet people and a monster in a lake, along with plenty of pointy hats. And some of these stories even spawned my later novels.

The deluxe slipcase edition is fully illustrated and includes: special foreword by Terry Pratchett; two bonus stories; critical commentaries to accompany each story; limited-edition colour print; and, additional content.