A SWASHBUCKLING, timber-shivering tale of pirates, parrots and plunder is the latest work to emerge from the studio of a Swindon artist.

Fred Blunt, already a busy illustrator of other people’s children’s books, is the author of Captain Falsebeard in A Very Fishy Tale.

It tells of how Captain Falsebeard enlists the help of feathered friends to thwart an attempt by bitter enemy Admiral Swinetoes to steal his treasure.

Fred has dedicated the book to his wife, Clare, and children Bonnie and Sonny.

He said: “I wanted to write a story that appealed to kids. I can quite easily put myself in the mindset of a kid because I don’t think I’ve ever really grown up.

“Having kids has helped to write the stories because I would tell them stories and quite often they would interject – and quite often the interjection would be, ‘And then he got pooed on’ or, ‘And then he got eaten by a lion.’ “So it would always be something quite extreme or quite silly, and I thought, ‘If I can just shoehorn in a bit of this wild, silly thinking that kids come up with, it might be a winner with them.’”

Fred’s illustrations for other books are already familiar to children across Britain, Europe and everywhere from the US to the Middle East.

The coming months will see his work appear in books by authors including Will Mabbit, Julia Jarman and Michelle Robinson.

Becoming an author in his own right seemed natural.

“I’ve been writing stories for about five years, since just before my daughter was born. I was doing story boards, really. That’s what prompted me to think, ‘Maybe I can write.’ “I was pretty keen to find a new agent who could promote that side of what I did, and about two years ago I took up with the Bright agency in London, who specialise in children’s picture books but also in nurturing illustrators as writers as well.

“When I draw my own stuff I feel completely at home with what I’m drawing because I know the characters and I can draw them exactly how I want to draw them, whereas when I’m drawing somebody else’s book I almost have their preconceptions of what the characters should be.

“When it’s your own character it’s your own creation altogether, so it becomes more natural.”

Captain Falsebeard came about after his agent arranged a meeting with Penguin. The people he spoke to said they loved some pirate characters he’d drawn for his blog.

A sequel is already in the pipeline.

Fred’s publisher and agent have arranged a pirate-themed party on Tuesday, July 21 aboard the Golden Hinde overlooking the Thames.

There is a competition for tickets and signed books, which parents can enter by Tweeting photos of their children in pirate costumes and false beards at #CaptainFalsebeard #Superfan.

The book, priced at £6.99, is available from shops and through Amazon, and there is a Kindle edition at £4.99.