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Dylan and Red Tabby are proud to announce that their new adventure
"Under the Rainbow" has won the children's book category at the Hollywood Book Festival. 
All three Dylan and Red Tabby adventures are here!
Order from your bookstore, from Amazon.co.uk, and amazon.com, or from [email protected]. All three books also available on Kindle. News, soon, about Rosie and her latest adventures.... Click on our heading: Great Park's Neighbours There you can read the latest about Rosie, the celebrity horse With other animal and wildlife stories to come. 
Martin Hill’s newly published FILM STAR is about his tiger friend Indy and her first day before the cameras on an important TV series.
This is a fun and informative illustrated adventure tale for early readers. It’s a true story, excitingly illustrated and with lots of useful news about tigers at the back. And, yes! I edited it -- which means I helped the writer a bit with his telling of the beautiful Indy’s tale. 
Here’s the fun loving Indy running through water…….
And now for….
A recent adventure... Much loved dog, Gelert, lives at a family cottage further along our village. He was out in his garden one recent afternoon when a big storm started. There came a mighty flash of lighting, an even mightier crack of thunder then the rain began. With more thunder and lightning following, it all became too much for the poor dog. He slipped his collar and fled in fear. He was called and called but he did not return. As you can see in this picture there are lots of fields around us. No one could tell which way he’d gone. 
That (still rainy) evening there was a packed meeting in our community hall. The first speaker was up on his feet and in ‘full flood’ when a dripping wet dog ran into the room. The dog left muddy footmarks wherever he stepped and showered the audience with droplets of rainwater. It was Gelert, of course. But who was to know his identity with his collar gone?
Fortunately my husband, Michael, was at the meeting and so recognised him. He fetched Gelert back to our house, across the road from the village hall. As he arrived he noticed muddy footprints already on our doorstep. It seems Gelert had come to us earlier but didn’t know how to push the bell. And we found he’d been further afield. He called on a friend who lives at the far end of our village. Earlier on he had appeared at her door and wandered into her living room. But before she could find a collar and lead for him he had slipped away again. That’s when he must have decided to visit our community hall, noticing its open door. The sound of people inside must have promised food and shelter. Gelert has proved he can make his way round quite a large village to visit people he knows and trusts. This means he’s never likely to get lost. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, on this particular day, he’d been given a really thorough wash and blow dry. Here he is looking smart and clean… Then that clean fluffy coat was all muddied by the stormy weather. Next time my family will check the weather forecast before giving that adventurous dog a bath!
A Fine Day for Birds and Fishes.
Dylan, Red Tabby and my family all live in Somerset. For now that means ‘water, water everywhere.’
There are pictures on our television news of family cats and dogs being rescued from the disaster areas by tractor. Let’s hope the cows, sheep and horses that dot our Somerset fields have been rescued, as well. That just leaves the humans and those other creatures that cannot swim or fly to safety. 
Burrowing animals have lost their homes. Voles and moles, rabbits and badgers too. Much of the land around Great Park has been affected and many friends of the circus have had to come to them for shelter.
On the plus side, Dancing Dog has made a couple of new, local friends: They’re rescue dogs called Percy and Tilley. Tilley’s the one with the bow on her head. Percy and Tilley can’t do tricks like Dancing Dog, but they sure know how to party.
Despite all the wet weather, spring is on its way. I know that for sure, because my untidy garden tells me so. Primroses have appeared, and lots of buds are fattening. Warmer months are on their way and there’s a lot to look forward to. Coming soon: More about Rosie, a much loved, hardworking horse... 
Rosie at her work....
And don't forget to plan your Easter Egg hunt....…….
Heaven!!!!
And I have good news about Gelert, our family’s elderly lurcher dog.
His leg injury has healed and he’s free to race across the fields once more. The surgeon who operated on him (Patrick Ridge) calls Gelert a .'fine old English Gentleman. But not everything’s going right for the old dog. As you can see, he’s stepped in the cat’s milk yet again!!!!! That means more trouble! Now let’s all wish for the sun to shine. And, while we’re wishing, let’s dream of seasides, ice cream, and a new book to read. Which reminds me... quite soon we’ll celebrate the publication of Dylan and Red Tabby’s latest tale… Watch this space for Under the Rainbow. Our publisher is working hard to get it ready. Born to Dance: Safe for Life: and now... Under the Rainbow. Completing the Dylan and Red Tabby adventure trilogy. 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Everyone at Great Park is enjoying the holidays. Clumsy, Ranga and Irma bring logs for the ballroom fireplace. Small presents are hidden here and there for giving on Christmas day. Holly and mistletoe dress the rooms. And a handy evergreen tree growing close to the house stands decorated with nuts and fat balls for the small birds facing harsh weather. The big top is quiet, for the winter season is done and the troupe is at rest, and dreaming of the coming year. It’s about now that Dylan and Red Tabby are most likely to ask me to write down their latest adventures. So, watch this space! 
By the way, that’s me on the left, a photograph taken a long time ago!
Now this is an extra happy holiday time for my friend, Gelert the lurcher dog. Gelert has a big country garden to play in. The garden has a strong gate that keeps him safe from the road. One day the gate was left open and he got out. The moment he was free he chased after a car. As he raced along he caught his leg in a hole and tore his back, left hock very badly indeed. Thanks to a gift from some fine Canadian friends, Gelert was able to afford the skilled operation needed to save his leg. All went well and here’s a picture of him in recovery. Everyone at Great Park wants you to hurry up and get well, Gelert.
After all, Lurchers are born to run. Just see how he can go. 
As his Christmas greeting to you, Gelert wants to share a snippet from a poem about Lurchers….
'All along the moorland road a caravan there comes Where the piping curlew whistles and the jacksnipe drums; And a long lean dog At a sling jig-jog A poacher to his eyelids as are all the lurcher clan, Follows silent as a shadow and as clever as a man' Quoted from Patrick R. Chalmer’s poem, The New Anubis. Happy holidays to you all, from Dylan, Red Tabby and all of us at Great Park and the Happy Days (animal-owned) circus. TIGER ON THE MOVE6
Hello, everyone! Before telling you about the wonderful tiger pictured below, Dylan, Red Tabby and I need to warn you. Our Fun and Games page doesn't work properly at present. Until it does, we mean to add our jokes and riddles on THIS page. So, just for now, watch this space for the Meerkat Groaners. Dylan and Red Tabby's third story is having its pictures drawn at present. While that's happening, our pioneer readers are going through the manuscript in case there are any mistakes. That's Martha, Grace, James, Charlotte and Heidi. Thanks guys! And now for news about Rocky.... Dylan and Red Tabby’s friend, Martin Hill, is an author. He also volunteers at Paradise Wildlife Park. He’s good pals with the lions and tigers who live there, several of whom have known him all their life. One of the finest of the tigers is Rocky. 
“A few weeks ago,” says Martin, “the park decided to move Rocky back into his original enclosure – I must admit, I did voice my disapproval of him being relocated in the first place. Rocky has never enjoyed entering his travelling crate which is solid metal all around. On the day of his big move, keepers struggled in vain to move him into it.
It was at that point I suggested we redesign his crate, making it all of mesh instead of solid metal. The following week I spent several hours in the metal work shop assisting in the re-build of the crate which looked fabulous when finished. 
I was then asked by management to come in at the weekend and try to get Rocky inside the crate. I eagerly agreed and arrived at the park early on the Saturday morning. With help from the other keepers I manoeuvred the sparkling green crate into position in the outer enclosure, up against the shutters that led inside to Rock’s straw bed. Because I had hand reared Rocky I was asked to be the one to encourage him to enter it. The shutter to the tiger house was lifted and the shutter to the crate was also lifted – I was trying to tempt Rocky inside with a very large horse rib, and Rocky was hesitating to step forward knowing the gate would close behind him. He was trying to paw at the rib without actually coming fully inside the crate. His rump remained sticking through the shutter gate.
I started running round, large rib in hand, with Rocky watching me closely. He was getting all excited and he really did want to come the whole way in, but backed off at the very last second. I murmured some reassuring words then Rocky walked straight towards me, greeting me with a chuffle and rubbing his face against mine. At that point I called to the keeper on the inside to drop the gate at his end. Rocky was now safely aboard. He was so good.
You may all be wondering why the keepers didn't just sedate him and move him while he was asleep?
Well, the last time Rocky was anaesthetised he struggled to come back out of the anaesthetic so it was essential that he made his move awake. All ended well as Rocky found himself back in his favourite home, now swept and painted and clean. There may be more stories about Rocky and his pals in the future - Dylan and Red Tabby's friend, Martin. 
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