Diana Catchpole – illustratör

Gaze between the trees of a gloomy forest, push open the door to a run-down cottage, and peer through the green smoke that rises from a bubbling cauldron...In this book, three-dimensional layered pages enable youngsters to explore all the spooky illustrations. With a warty witch, a ghoulish ghost, a scary skeleton and cobwebs galore, the frights just keep on coming! It is an ideal book for (brave) 3- to 7-year-olds. Little Tilly is too shy to make friends at her new school. She even blushes when two friendly girls from her class, Freya and Ellen, chat to her at the auditions for the school play, a ghost story set during Victorian times. However, when she sees Freya, Ellen and two other children stumbling into trouble in the nearby woods, Tilly and her little dog Spike bravely step in to help. Tilly's classmates open the door of an old cottage to reveal a dark, cobweb-strewn hallway. Inside is another door, with stone steps leading down into a basement. They cannot believe the sight that meets their eyes! It's a witch's den, with a large cauldron and shelves full of potions. Can Tilly come to the rescue of her new friends - and finally find a way to step into the spotlight...?Young readers will be enthralled by this gripping tale, and the detailed pop-up illustrations will take them right into the heart of the adventure.