Sam Llewellyn is a long-established writer for all ages – Little Darlings is his first title for Puffin. The novel is hilarious as it introduces the terrible Little Darlings, children who are capable of driving any adult to madness or despair! The anarchic humour, in the vein of Lemony Snicket and Philip Ardagh, gives this book its child appeal. The rich Darling family really are the family from Hell; their adventures are always fast-moving and surprising and the ghastly parents and terrible children will be remembered long after the book is closed.

THE BASICS
Born: Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Jobs: boatman, bass player, editor, conservation campaigner and journalist
Lives: Kington, Herefordshire
First Puffin title: Little Darlings

THE BOOKS
Sam Llewellyn’s story of the Darling family “is partly inspired, if that is the word, by my lifelong hatred of J M Barrie’s Peter Pan&rd...

Sam Llewellyn is a long-established writer for all ages – Little Darlings is his first title for Puffin. The novel is hilarious as it introduces the terrible Little Darlings, children who are capable of driving any adult to madness or despair! The anarchic humour, in the vein of Lemony Snicket and Philip Ardagh, gives this book its child appeal. The rich Darling family really are the family from Hell; their adventures are always fast-moving and surprising and the ghastly parents and terrible children will be remembered long after the book is closed.

THE BASICS
Born: Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Jobs: boatman, bass player, editor, conservation campaigner and journalist
Lives: Kington, Herefordshire
First Puffin title: Little Darlings

THE BOOKS
Sam Llewellyn’s story of the Darling family “is partly inspired, if that is the word, by my lifelong hatred of J M Barrie’s Peter Pan”. This wickedly brilliant adventure will remind readers that reading is fun and not just the hard work it sometimes seems to be. Sam is now working on a sequel, possibly to be called Darling Darlings.

WHAT HE SAYS…
He gets his ideas from, “Talking to children and relations who come sailing on Lucille (Sam’s seven-meter sailing boat), reading other people’s books, watching people on buses. Oh, and sitting in my lofty turret, pondering deeply among the wheeling stars.”

One of Sam’s favourite books is Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, he describes it as “ vast, spooky and not ashamed to be very, very long.”

Advice to writers: “Write two pages every day, rewrite the two pages you have written until you are completely happy with them – and be very lucky.”

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT SAM LLEWELLYN…
“There’s a laugh a minute in Sam Llewellyn’s entertaining and subversive Little Darlings…Larger-than-life characters, an outlandish plot and a wicked sense of humour make this book a winner.”
Anne Faundez in the TES.

“This fast-paced page-turner tells the hilarious tale of the eccentric Darling family, who embark upon a crazed adventure on board a boat. You’ll love it.”
Mizz magazine.

“Every now and then, a children’s book comes along that is completely different. Little Darlings is one of these…Apart from the wackiness of the plot, what makes this book stand out is a sentence-by-sentence smartness in the style, which is sometimes arch but often witty, and is a knowing ellipsis that assumes intelligence in the reader. A particular source of satisfaction is that the child protagonists are much more capable, if more dangerous, than the awful, useless adults.”
Sunday Times

Place of birth:
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall

Favourite book:
Gormenghast. No, the Eagle of the Ninth. No, the Lord of the Rings. No, Down with Skool... What a silly question

Favourite song:
Arthur McBride by Paul Brady

Favourite film:
Polythene

Most treasured possession:
My boat Daisy

When did you start writing?
I started writing at skool

Ideas and inspirations come from:
Sitting alone in my tower among the wheeling stars

Three tips for becoming a successful author?
1 Write a bit every day
2 Read what you write to someone else
3 Be lucky

Favourite place in the world: 
On my boat

Hobbies:
Sailing, fishing, reading, avoiding the cats wh...

Place of birth:
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall

Favourite book:
Gormenghast. No, the Eagle of the Ninth. No, the Lord of the Rings. No, Down with Skool... What a silly question

Favourite song:
Arthur McBride by Paul Brady

Favourite film:
Polythene

Most treasured possession:
My boat Daisy

When did you start writing?
I started writing at skool

Ideas and inspirations come from:
Sitting alone in my tower among the wheeling stars

Three tips for becoming a successful author?
1 Write a bit every day
2 Read what you write to someone else
3 Be lucky

Favourite place in the world: 
On my boat

Hobbies:
Sailing, fishing, reading, avoiding the cats who live in my house

If I hadn't been an author, I would have been: 
A fisherman