Books with title The Fantastic Flying Journey

Great-uncle Lancelot is an extraordinary man with a huge white beard and a walrus moustache. When he builds a fantastic flying machine, powered by tree sap, lit by electric eels and heated by solar panels, his niece and nephews have never seen anything like it. Then, in search of his lost brother, Perceval, he whisks the children off in his flying home, to set out on an amazing journey around the world. Lancelot’s remarkable knowledge and the special powers he gives the children enable them to watch and talk to some incredible creatures. On their journey they discover all sorts of fascinating things about animals, such as how snakes move and how swallows migrate. Of course, they encounter many dangers along the way – in Africa the plucky explorers are caught in a sandstorm and Lancelot is chased by an angry rhino. And throughout their journey, one question remains. Will they ever find Perceval?

Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a good and honest king who was well loved by his people for he was a virtuous monarch and had a noble heart. He ruled in splendour over the land of Fantastica, which was a beautiful and peaceful realm, full of magic, wonderment and joy. The Queen had died long ago, but she had left him a daughter of unparalleled grace and beauty, so much so that they had named her Glorious, for she was lovely to look at. For many years peace and security was established but just as the king’s generosity attracted the blessings of his people, greed attracted the ire of others and danger lurked in even the most happy of places.Fantastica was a land strong in magic. White magic utilized only for good or unselfish purposes but it was also a place of black magic used for dark needs and nefarious gains. At the furthest reaches of the land, where the forests were chokingly thick and dark there lived a sorcerer of great power. His name was Mephasto and he looked upon the king with bitter eyes of jealousy and an evil heart. Using his powerful knowledge of black magic he conjured a terrible curse upon Glorious and she fell into a deep, unresponsive sleep. Neither alive nor dead the princess lay in a stasis of non-existence to never marry, her once flawless soft skin transformed into Quartzite sandstone. The heart of the king was shattered into a thousand pieces and he wept day and night, as did the people for they loved their princess like no other and a great time of mourning fell over Fantastica.So King Waldor sent the kingdoms mightiest warriors, men of valour and pure of heart on a long and perilous journey to kill the sorcerer. None returned. With his resources depleted and knowing that the continuation of the royal bloodline would end with the death, the king issued a decree to all the noble houses at all the four corners of the land. Any house that put forward a champion who broke the curse and put the evil sorcerer to death would win his favour. Their reward would be immeasurable and King Waldor would not only grant half his great kingdom but also give his daughter in marriage to the champion who freed Glorious from the spell that bound her. Since he was considered the wealthiest of kings many great warriors of noble birth answered his official order. None returned from the Forest of Absence.As days passed into weeks and the weeks into months the champions that answered his call grew less and less frequent until they faded away into nothing, yet still the king lived in hope despite his ailing health.Then on one special day someone did answer his call. It would all start with a prince…

Ben, an imaginative child who loves to write, lives in a cave house in the mountains of Gran Canaria. Although its a beautiful place, blessed with constant sunshine, sandy beaches and lots of palm trees, its not the paradise it appears to be. One day, while running an errand for his mum, he's caught in a landslide. As rocks pit-pit-pit-a-patter down around him, to escape danger, he crawls through a crevice and finds a wondrous place he'd never imagined before. Its a new world where he's fascinated and challenged by everything he finds. He stumbles upon an amazing underground cavern where he's serenaded by a crab orchestra and a beautiful mermaid in a blue lagoon. Even though he wants to stay there for a while longer, Scimu, the conductor, ferries him away down a raging river, deposits him by a massive cliff and a cascading waterfall, leaving Ben to choose which way to go.After an exhausting climb, Ben finds himself in landscape of turmoil where lava flows, mud pools boil and enormous geysers erupt in splurges of boiling steam. He escapes danger only by following a strange creature who collects the glowing rocks to light the furnace of his master's fortress. After being thrown into the darkest of dungeons by the keeper of the fortress, Ben is hauled onto a cart and spirited away with other prisoners into an inexplicable upside down world. He manages to escape by rolling off the back of the cart and into a forest. He's guided through the thick of trees by a glittering unicorn until they come to rest in a peaceful grassy glade surrounded by a stone circle.Ben begins to relax, but the glade is anything but quiet as one of the stones bursts into life with a resounding ker-rack, emits vaporous clouds of mystic smoke and a man, Ukandoit, appears.Ukandoit reads Ben mythical stories from a dusty old tome, teaches him how to fight with a staff and gives him with the courage to carry on. But no matter how amazing everything is, all Ben wants is some of his mum's pancakes. But he just can't find the right direction to take.It isn't until he meets, Samcott, a nomadic galactic traveler, who's ker-rashed his rocket and is just as lost as he is, that he's finally able to find his way back to where he wants to be. Home.