Tracey Lee Payne – författare

A secret pond. A silver scale. A mermaid who needs help before her hidden world is lost forever.The Secret Mermaid in the School Pond is a magical children's adventure about friendship, courage, curiosity, and the strange wonders that may be hiding in the most ordinary places.When Lily Hart arrives at Brackenmere Primary, everything feels unfamiliar. New classroom. New corridors. New faces. Then she hears something impossible from the pond behind the gym.A sound like glass.A shimmer under the water.A silver scale caught beneath the willow tree.With the help of Amina, her clever new friend, Lily discovers that the school pond is more than a muddy corner of the playground. It is the last window to a hidden waterway beneath the school, and inside it lives Mira Nix, a sharp-tongued mermaid who is trapped, frightened, and running out of time.The old stream beneath Brackenmere is blocked. The adults think the pond only needs a safety inspection. But if the wrong drain is cleared, Mira may lose her way home forever.Now Lily and Amina must follow old maps, secret signs, forgotten Nature Club records, strange water sounds, and the mystery of the spring bell before the hidden brook is damaged for good.Inside this magical illustrated story, readers will discover:A mysterious mermaid living in a school pondA brave new girl learning to trust her own quiet courageA loyal friendship between two curious childrenA hidden world beneath an ordinary schoolOld maps, secret water paths, strange clues, and a forgotten spring bellA gentle message about protecting small wild placesBlack and white illustrations at the beginning of each chapterPerfect for young readers who love mermaids, school mysteries, magical secrets, nature adventures, and stories where ordinary places turn out to be extraordinary.This is a warm, mysterious, and heart-filled children's fantasy adventure for confident young readers and for families, teachers, and classrooms to enjoy aloud.

One ordinary school cupboard. One impossible zoo. One lunch break that changes everything.Molly Harper has always noticed strange things.A painting that changes direction. A crack in the wall shaped like a running fox. A teacher who holds his coffee cup with both hands whenever he is worried.Then, during lunch at Oakbridge Primary School, Molly is sent to fetch paper towels from the old supply cupboard at the end of the back corridor.That is when the cupboard growls.Behind the mop bucket, the spare markers, and the forgotten cardigan, Molly discovers an iron gate covered in glowing vines. Beyond it waits the Everwild School Zoo, a secret magical place founded in 1962 and hidden from the world for more than sixty years.There is only one problem.The animals are getting out.Soon Molly and her friends, Ben Patel and Isla Grant, are chasing a chalk goat that eats maths, a moon monkey that makes the dinner hall float, a whisper fox that repeats secrets, a tiny thunder kitten with her own storm cloud, a spark dragon, a shadow ferret, a mirror mouse, and something enormous breathing in the dark.The adults cannot explain what is happening. The children can.At the heart of the mystery is Edith Bell, the first keeper of the Everwild, who vanished from the school records in 1962 after sealing the zoo to protect it. Now the animals are restless, the magic is weakening, and the zoo is waiting for a new keeper.Molly opened the door by accident.Now she may be the only one who can keep the Everwild alive.The Secret Zoo in the School Cupboard is a funny, magical, heartfelt middle grade fantasy adventure about friendship, courage, hidden worlds, impossible animals, and the kind of door every child secretly hopes to find.Perfect for readers who love:Magical animals and secret worldsFunny school adventuresMystery, friendship, and gentle dangerWhimsical fantasy with heart