Sam Hay is the author of the Undead Pets series, published by Stripes. The latest book in the
series - Hour of the Doomed Dog is
out now.
Sam grew up in Scotland and worked as a journalist
for ten years before becoming a children’s author. She’s written more than 20
books. She lives in Wales with her family, in a small house with a big garden.
Why Everyone
Needs a Magic Uncle
Uncles. They sometimes get a bad name in books.
From wicked old Uncle Ebenezer who tries to bump off his nephew in Kidnapped. To Harry Potter’s mean-spirited
Uncle Vernon who makes Harry sleep in a broom cupboard! Not to mention several
Shakespearean rotters - Richard the Third who nabbed the crown off his nephews,
and, according to the play, had them killed! And Hamlet’s horrible Uncle Claudius,
who murdered Hamlet’s dad, married his mum and tried to poison his nephew!
Nice.
But not all uncles are up to no good. Step forward
amazing Uncle Charlie!
In the Undead
Pets books, it’s Uncle Charlie’s gift to his ten year old nephew, Joe, of
an ancient Egyptian amulet, that makes all the magic stuff happen. The amulet
turns Joe into the protector of Undead Pets and thereafter a string of
‘help-me-or-I’ll-haunt-you’ critters appear, desperate for Joe’s assistance.
Joe always wanted a pet - now he’s got loads! And it’s all thanks to Uncle Charlie.
So who is Uncle Charlie? An old fashioned adventurer
- part explorer, part archaeologist, part Indiana Jones with the survival
skills to out-fire-start Bear Grylls. He’s a man of action. A man who plays
poker with pirates. A man who has pulled a Tree Python’s tooth out of his own
thigh and not only lived to tell the tale, but brought the tooth back as a
keep-sake for Joe.
Unsurprisingly Joe loves Uncle Charlie. He lives
the sort of life Joe dreams of. He turns up when no-one is expecting him, in
his battered old jeep with a kitbag full of sand and exciting treasures for
Joe. And that’s another thing about
uncles. The gifts!
The magical amulet is amazing, but it isn’t without
problems. That’s why a parent would never give it to their child. It’s too
fraught with danger! It’s magic. And
magic’s unpredictable stuff. Parents don’t do unpredictable. But Uncles? Awww, hang the consequences! What the hec!
Here you go! Take it. Try it. It’ll probably work out okay in the end.
I still haven’t forgotten the look on my kids’
faces last Christmas when a beloved uncle gave them a candyfloss machine. Utter
joy. Sugar on a stick! Hurrah! Or the total enchantment when another favourite
uncle set up an amazing treasure hunt complete with video clues, walkie talkie
communications and a two mile hike across fields and streams to recover a chest
full of chocolate!
And if things go wrong, uncles don’t always need to
be there to fix it. When the magical amulet goes bananas and Joe wants Uncle
Charlie to sort it out, he’s already long-gone, off on another adventure. And
that’s a good thing. Uncles give kids the space to solve their own problems...
I actually based the character of Uncle Charlie on
another of my kids’ uncles - my older brother who has lived a dozen different
lives - travelling around the world, doing the mad, crazy, hair-raising stuff
that I can only imagine from the safety of my quiet desk in Wales. He’s
Charlie. I’m Joe. And there’s always an electrical storm of magic in the air
when he’s around.
See. Kids with uncles are SO lucky. But they’re
even luckier if they’ve got an aunt, as well...
Aunts. Now they’re 100% magic. Maybe even more
magical than uncles. But that’s another story...
FAMOUS
UNCLES
Uncle Fester - scary-looking sweet-natured uncle in
the Adams Family.
Uncle Ben Parker - Spider Man’s kind-hearted uncle
The Man from U.N.C.L.E - spy dudes from the
seventies.
Ziro the Hutt - Jabba’s uncle from Star Wars
Scar - evil uncle from the Lion King
Uncle Tom Cobbley (and all) - a bloke in a Devon
folksong about lots of people turning up at a party.
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