Joshua Stories: Book 1 - New School, New Friends

By Lucy France and Richard France

Join 10 year old Joshua on his first few exciting days at his new school, Master Dudes. Follow hilarious situations and many adventures in the wood, which has a dark side and a light side but things there are not always what they seem! A wise old man in the wood called Grunsenheimer - Simon, his best pal - an arch enemy, Noggy the Nostril the screaming twins Boldo, the fearsome creature his life is changed by them all.

This book is laced with hidden Christian values and codes but intended for use as an enjoyable, funny and emotional short-story book for children aged 5-11 from any background to develop thought about right and wrong. Further chapter insights and references: www.joshuastories.co.uk

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456777319

Lucy France

Dick France felt compelled to put down on paper some of the ridiculous stories he used to tell his small children in order to convey a sense of wonder and excitement at the world, accepting that there are things going on that are beyond our control. He lives in Shropshire, England with his wife and three children.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

To:

My wife Anna, for supporting and encouraging my first book.

My children Henry, Lucy and Harriet for inspiring me in their youth and for Lucy in particular for editing and illustrations.

Finally, to my maker for all the promptings I have been given. I trust I have discerned them correctly.

Preface

Whilst reading stories to my three young children, I felt compelled at times to tell them my own as I could let my imagination wander as well as theirs. It has taken me nearly 20 years to get around to writing them down of which this is the first book and I hope not the last.

These stories can be read simply as a piece of children’s fiction by a child or parent from any background, faith or culture and are laced with Christian values and codes. These can be further explored by parents or teachers through brief discussion points on each chapter at the end of the book in the appendix or even deeper on Joshua’s website www.joshuastories.co.uk where there are detailed references to Biblical scriptures and analogies are explained chapter by chapter.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1: Friday - Mrs. Postlethwaite and the Encounter in the Wood

Chapter 2: Saturday - Big Ted, Grunsenheimer and the Return To The Wood

Chapter 3: Sunday – The Knobkerrie

Chapter 4: Monday – Back to School, the Stick and Grunsenheimer

Chapter 5: Tuesday – Noggy and the Twins

Chapter 6: Wednesday - Being a Hero and the Fortnoy Bird

Chapter 7: Thursday- A human sacrifice and Boldo

Chapter 8: Friday - Noggy’s Retribution and Abigail’s Bombshell

Chapter 9: Saturday AM – Lost and Found

Chapter 10: Saturday PM - Baruti’s Return and the special surprises

Chapter Discussion Questions

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Chapter 1: Friday - Mrs. Postlethwaite and the Encounter in the Wood

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Joshua used to live in a very large town, with very large buildings and very long streets. Everyone was always in a rush and Joshua never seemed able to talk to anyone except for those from his school. It wasn’t that people were unfriendly or rude to Joshua; it was just that they never seemed to have any time and this prevented Joshua from trying to speak to people.

He didn’t live in a very large town anymore and there were no very large streets or buildings as his mother and father had decided that they would move out to the countryside so that Joshua could go to a country school and have plenty of fresh country air as he had often been ill over the last couple of years. He was now ten years old and he was beginning to feel more and more grown up. He even had his own bicycle with a battery-powered horn. It made quite a noise and he thought he would give it a blast just as he cycled down the lane by Mrs. Postlethwaite’s house. This was not the most sensible thing Joshua had ever done as she was just leaning on her shovel doing some digging.

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‘Why are adults always digging in their gardens?’ he thought as she toppled headlong into the flower bed. Are they looking for something in particular like gold sovereigns or are they just looking for anything? He must remember to ask his mother when he got home. He would ask his father only he was often at work until late and with moving house, he now had a lot of travelling to do to get to work and back as well as working in far off countries. ‘I wish I understood what Daddy really does for a job’, he half said under his breath. Anyway, Mrs. Postlethwaite was thankfully still moving after her fall and Joshua thought he ought to stop and accept his punishment straight away, as he knew he had been recognised.

‘What a terrible noise’ she exclaimed as she stood up coughing and spluttering and pulling leaves and soil out of her hair.

‘I am terribly sorry, Mrs. Postlethwaite. I was not expecting you to be leaning over your shovel just when I rounded the bend in 5th gear.’ Yes, Joshua even had gears on his bike - just like a motorcar!

‘Always expect the unexpected’ she snapped and with that she turned and went towards her house patting herself down and yelling over her shoulder ‘or something nasty will take you by surprise’. Then she was gone.

Joshua was amused by this as Mrs. Postlethwaite, although looking cross, had said it with a bit of a twinkle in her eye even though she was a bit ruffled. So he climbed back on his bike and cycled down the lane back towards his home. In any case, what was she talking about always expect the unexpected. How can you expect the unexpected as it would not be unexpected if you expected it? As he remembered the sight of Mrs. Postlethwaite toppling over her shovel he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed and he laughed so hard he could hardly see as tears ran down his face. This was his second big mistake of the evening. The mistake he made was in laughing so much he did not see the large pothole in the road which had been left there by the water company who had just mended a leak in the water pipes under the lane.

‘BANG’! He hit the edge of the hole with such force that it took the handlebars out of his hands and shot him sideways into the hedgerow. ‘CRUNCH’ is a good word to describe the noise when he landed right in the middle of the hedge, thankfully just missing the nettles. He wasn’t laughing now but he could see the funny side of it when he realised he was in one piece and thought about what Mrs. Postlethwaite had said. ‘Or something nasty will take you by surprise’ seemed to be exactly what had happened. Still, it could have been worse. He wondered whether she was a witch.

He clambered out of the hedge and tugged his bike out and back onto the lane. Oh dear. It was worse. As he pushed his bike, he could see that the front wheel was not going round evenly as it had got slightly bent in the fall. His father would not be very pleased, as he had only just bought it for Joshua last week as a house moving present. It was Joshua’s favourite present as he always needed to borrow friends’ bikes to practice on. His father said it was really necessary to have his very own bicycle in the country as everywhere was further to travel. Joshua tried to straighten the wheel, but with little success he pushed his bicycle and began to make his weary way down the lane back home. He could already imagine what his dad would say.

He arrived at the short track off the lane that lead up to his house. It seemed smaller than his previous house but that was probably because, in the City where he lived, all the houses were attached to each other and so the whole street was one big house. Sandy Cottage it was called. Strange! It wasn’t sandy and it didn’t really look like a cottage. At least not how he imagined a cottage should look. There was a little yard at the front and he had his own room at the back on the second floor. Opposite his house was a big hill which led up to a large wood or forest at the top. There was also a hedge that connected from the side of his house to the top of the wood. When does a wood become a forest? He would have to ask someone about that. Maybe that is what school is for.

All of a sudden, as he was looking up the hill, there was a loud THWUMP from the wood and a flock of birds took off from the trees. It was a strange noise and Joshua became rather nervous as he pushed his bike along the lane for the remainder of its journey home. He didn’t really know why but he felt a strange kind of pull towards the wood on the top of the hill. Joshua had only been living in the new house for a couple of weeks, so he had not yet been out exploring in