In the book Archie and The Bear, I show Archie unpack his backpack. Inside are the survival essentials for small boy leaving home, on his own, into a wilderness:

a bar of chocolate, a torch, a whistle, some sandwiches, an apple, and a book.

I think Archie took a book he had read and re-read, and is a favourite. Something familiar and comforting and something he knew like the back of his hand. I was recently on a train journey when I reached into my backpack only to find that I had forgotten to bring the one thing I wanted there to be in there: my unfinished crime novel. I had twelve or so pages left to read. I really was alone with my thoughts.

The new book is out now in a wilderness near you in a handy backpack-able size.

Thinks: "I like the next bit."