A couple from Wells have just released their second children's book.

Tom and Rebecca Moore work together on their books, with Thomas as the author and Rebecca as the illustrator.

The Secret Slide: The Garden of Sweets is the second book in The Secret Slide series.

Rebecca said: "The Secret Slide series is a project very close to our hearts and is the second book in the series, following the adventures of Noah, Max and Tabby in far away and magical lands. 

"This book follows on from book one and the children must save Queen BonBon in The Garden of Sweets from the wicked moon witch. 

"It's a children's picture book aimed at ages 2-10, a really fun book which will feature all manner of Sweets that everyone will recognise and be able to drool over!"

The idea for The Secret Slide series first came to Tom and his sister when they were on holiday in Scotland several years ago. The two of them were playing hide and seek when they found a mysterious hatch in the attic. They were both too scared to open it, so made up the story that there was a secret slide behind it that took you to magical lands. 

"Tom has been sitting on the idea since then and when he started telling our children about it, they loved it so much that we knew we had to get it out there!," said Rebecca.

"He actually originally wanted to write it as a horror/thriller series for teens but when I heard him talking about it so passionately I stopped him, telling him that it HAD to be a children's picture book, it sounded wonderful. I still let him keep a few scary elements in there but we've made it much more mild than what It was."

As a husband and wife team, there could easily be creative differences, but Tom says that for the most part they share the same vision for the book.

"I have the story written down and hand it to Becky, who then gets started," said Tom. "Usually, she will show me after each page and ask if it's how I imagined it. The answer is yes most of the time but I can be annoying sometimes, getting her to tweak the most minute of details to fit my vision. This does work both ways however and sometimes she will draw something that I just wouldn't expect and it turns out looking much better than what I imagined."

Tom draws his inspiration for the tales from many different sources. "I spend a lot of my day at work stuck in my own head, so I have a lot of time to listen to music and podcasts and usually it will all stem from getting stuck on a turn of phrase that I hear and then building the story from there," he said. 

"I also read a lot of books over many different genres, so like to pull some historical ideas into the fantasy (although you won't see this until book three or four)."

Rebecca said: "I get my inspiration from my dad, Melvin. When I was little we used to draw together in the attic using pastels and listening to John Peel cassette tapes, I always loved art in school, college and university, but only as a hobby. It's still a shock to think that my art is being seen by so many people. The original pictures for The Secret Slide were dark and detailed, but I wasn't happy with this, so went back to basics and used simple sketches with bright colours which seems to work!"

The couple say that they have spent a great deal of time thinking about what makes a good children's book, and they hope that their books tick all the boxes!

"We think a good children's book is one with characters that stick with you for a long time, and a story that revolves around them," said Rebecca. "But also just being able to speak plainly with children and not dumbing down words or ideas. That's why our stories are a little longer than a lot of children's books but still enjoyable and a quick bedtime read!"

The pair love talking about The Secret Slide, and encouraging children to read, and frequently visit schools to carry our assemblies, or even whole classroom days where they prepare all kinds of activities linked to the stories.

"We also visit nurseries, libraries, festivals and shows and never charge for any of our visits because we think that everyone should be able to enjoy the fun activities we create, no matter their circumstance," said Rebecca.

The launch of The Secret Slide: The Garden of Sweets took place last weekend (Saturday, October 8) at Ye Olde Sweet Shop in Wells, with characters from the book making an appearance to greet children.

"We held our book launch in Wells because we both live here with our three children Noah, Max and Tabby and we just wanted to support local as much as we could and we couldn't think of anywhere more perfect than Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe Wells!" said Rebecca.

Fans of the books will be pleased to know that Tom has plenty more fantastical tales up his sleeve.

"There is a LOT coming up," said Tom. "I have written 15 stories for The Secret Slide series and you will see them throughout the next few years, our next book is The Garden of Ice and Snow - due out on December 6 but we've got a really special book coming out for World Book Day which we think parents will enjoy just as much as the kids."

You can find The Secret Slide books online at Amazon, Waterstones, and most indie bookstores.

Also, if you'd like to check out the website to see what Tom and Rebecca are up to please go to thesecretslide.co.uk