No one knows the full story of Charlie Small. At least, not yet. His battered journal was found washed up on a remote, windswept shore. And at first we thought it an elaborate hoax. Surely no eight-year-old could have had so many wild adventures, witnessed so many extraordinary things, lived such an incredible life - and still only be eight. And yet ...there was something so vivid in the telling, that we were persuaded, just enough, to send the journal and some of its boggling content for analysis. The results were absolutely astonishing. And only one conclusion could be drawn. Everything in the journal of Charlie Small is true. He really has wrestled a deadly river croc, ridden a steam-powered rhino, been cabin boy for a band of desperate lady-pirates and tribal chief in a city of gorillas. And countless other things besides. And ...not only that ...even though Charlie Small is only eight, he must have lived for over six hundred years! It's possible that he's still out there, somewhere. Having even more incredible adventures in some remote part of the world. In fact ...word has recently reached us of a second journal, found encased in ice, high in the Himalayas. If we can get the pages thawed, and its authenticity can be verified, we plan to publish that account, too. So ...if you ever come across a curious-looking diary, filled with astounding adventures, or a boy who seems to have lost his way, but is a dab hand with a cutlass, please do contact us. We're eager for more. And we know the world will be, too.

Purports to be the journal of an eight-year-old boy explorer who has, miraculously, lived for over four hundred years, travelling the earth, fighting giant crocodiles, learning to speak with gorillas, and trying to find a way to return home ( )