Books with author William Forde

Musically talented 10-year old Nancy loves to explore the nearby woodland and feels at home with all aspects of nature. The story tells how Nancy and her mother cope with the news of her father's terminal illness. The author addresses the subject of bereavement in a sympathetic and realistic way while successfully encouraging the young reader to accept death as an inevitable stage of life itself.

This is a collection of all 12 'Action Annie' stories. Annie is an imaginative and very active seven-year-old whose mind and body is always on the go. She never seems to stop. Even as she sleeps, she is dreaming about the things she plans to do tomorrow. Annie is always thinking up new ideas and inventing things. There's a little bit of Annie in every child. Are you like Annie in any of her ways?

The true test of any great nation is not what it achieves, but how it endures. Africa is a great nation and the endurance of its people over many centuries is a testament to their capacity to survive with dignity within an all-too-often cruel and intolerant world. For many centuries, the people of Africa experienced colonisation, enslavement, economic exploitation, apartheid, disenfranchisement, resettlement and segregation. Throughout these hardships they kept their faith in their beliefs, culture, traditions, religions and dreams. Many have written about Nelson Mandela, but I wanted to write about his dream; a dream which sustained him through three decades of imprisonment; a dream held by other tribal chiefs in the Africa of old and passed on to the next generation, like a baton until it eventually ended up in the hands of Nelson Mandela, who then gave it to the world. Nelson Mandela described this story as 'Wonderful'.

Kulwant is a girl who was born and reared in the Punjab, India. From being a young child, she has a recurring dream about the man that she will one day marry in the Sikh tradition. She is an only child and has a very happy upbringing until tragedy strikes the family and her father loses a leg in a landmine explosion. From there it is downhill for the family. Experience the trials and tribulations as Kulwant grows up into a beautiful woman and searches for the man of her dreams. It pleases me enormously that after writing this story and getting it published in the year 2000, that I received a telephone communication from Nelson Mandela who had been given a copy of the book by 'number 10.' Mr Mandela had read my Indian, African and Jamaican stories and described them all as being,' Wonderful.'

The Kilkenny Cat has been written as a trilogy. Book One deals with the theme of 'truth', Book Two with 'justice', and Book Three on the theme of 'freedom'. All three books seek to show that truth, justice or freedom cannot exist in isolation, and that the only way one can experience any one of them is when one is able to experience all three. Book Two's setting begins in Falmouth, Jamaica and provides the reader with a way of life that most non-Jamaicans may find strange, but which all natives to Jamaica would instantly recognize. Book Two continues to examine the issues of discrimination that is practiced in that country and particularly homophobia and sexism. Mixed partnership between black and white couples is also looked at in the context of the story. The second half of Book Two is set back in Ireland.

The story of 'Maw' is suitable for any reader over 8 years. It is written in the style of the 1950s when the sport of boxing and football tended to dominate the world of growing boys and some girls. Because its story theme focuses on the sport of boxing and football, some girls may not feel it to be suitable for them. Maw is born exceptionally small and enters secondary school life to face the school bully. He confronts the bully and challenges him to a boxing match. On the very start of his fourteenth year of life, Maw makes a wish upon a shooting star and from that moment, his life changes. He awakes with super human powers, but quickly learns that with all power comes a responsibility to discharge such power humanely. Later, the school loses its striker from the football team at the semi- final stage of the School League Football Cup and Maw is asked to stand in as the striker. A super story told in the adventure style of writing that was more common in the 40s and 50s.

This book is a compilation of the 3 stories that Nelson Mandela phoned me personally to say were 'Wonderful' at their publication in the year 2000. The stories are from the individual perspective of 3 children; one from South Africa, one from the Punjab in India and one from Falmouth in Jamaica. Each story provides an accurate historical background setting. Throughout my life I have always been fascinated by the cultures, customs, development and history of three countries from the other side of my world. The 3 countries are Africa, India and Jamaica.

King Lucre and Queen Avarice ruled the Kingdom of Cameo with hearts of stone. They were cruel, greedy and the most selfish of people. However much they had, they never seemed to have enough. The more they had, the more they wanted. Their appetites appeared insatiable. Upon their wedding day, the greedy King and Queen decided that they could never be truly happy until they had become the most powerful King and Queen the world had ever known and their Kingdom stretched beyond the border of any map ever made. When their son, Prince Soloman was born, they made their ambition his dream, but it was a dream which made him an unhappy child. After their deaths, Prince Soloman decides to pursue his own dream and in doing so finds eternal happiness.