MEET THE AUTHOR

Martin King writes stories that are full of imagination, adventure, and the kind of moments that make children giggle at bedtime.

As a child, Martin was never very good at sitting still. He had what he calls "ants in my pants" - always off on missions with friends, exploring woods, crawling through caves, climbing hills, and inventing daring adventures. Those childhood escapades later became the inspiration behind his Jack Hunter Adventure series for older readers.

Back in 2009, long before most people had heard of it, Martin had the unusual idea to combine books with augmented reality, creating one of the world's first interactive AR adventure stories - where children unlocked parts of the game by reading the book. He wanted to make stories especially exciting for children who loved adventure more than sitting still.

But life has a way of taking detours.

Years later, along came his grandson Arlo, and everything changed again. Evenings filled with nursery rhymes, bedtime stories, and tiny everyday adventures reignited Martin's love of storytelling - and led to the creation of Arlo's Big Yawn, the first book in the Arlo's Big picture book series.

When Martin was little, his mum would read Ladybird books with him every night. Every few weeks, a new one would arrive, and bedtimes were always a new and wonderful experience. He still has those books today - and now writes stories to create those same memories for his grandson, who lovingly calls him Gan Gan.

Martin believes that the best children's stories are the ones that feel big, funny, warm, and just a little bit surprising - because sometimes small days turn into BIG adventures.