In a perfect world this book would not exist, but we do not live in a perfect world.  At any given moment of any given day, there are people dying from natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, epidemics and famine that we have no control over.

Beyond natural disasters we add disasters of our own making, but even if we all learn to live in peace, there will still be millions of people who need help.

This book was inspired by Niger.  In 2005, television news around the world reported the terrible starvation that was killing thousands of people. So I decided to organise this book to raise money to try and help those who cannot help themselves.

A couple of illustrators I approached said the whole project was so depressing that no one would buy the book, and I do realise that this is a confrontational book and it might well upset some people, but hundreds of thousands of deaths from starvation or abuse or curable disease is what we should really be upset about.

DUST is a 32 page picture book with simple story and 14 double page illustrations each one by a different illustrator including myself.

Because the book is so confronting rather than the usual pretty flowers and bunnies type charity book, I have no doubt that we will be able to get a lot of press and TV coverage. I have also had good feedback from teacher librarians who are keen to be able to use the book in schools - both primary and high school. I'm also hoping with the right press and TV coverage that we will sell a lot of copies to adults too! I want to see a copy on every trendy coffee table everywhere.