Pooligan, a second children's book written with the author's youngest granddaughter, is due in December. S.K. Grizzell works on Basildon Hospital's wards.
A children’s author who says he works with children on the wards at Basildon Hospital has a second book coming in December, and he wrote it with his youngest granddaughter.
S.K. Grizzell published his first, Herman In My Pocket: The Unforgettable Case of Izzy Winterbottom, on 29 May this year. He got in touch with Basildon Today about it last weekend. The next one is called Pooligan, the horse in my bedroom, and it is due in December (thebookshelfuk.com).
“I’m also a grandfather of three, and a new children’s book due in December was written with and inspired by my youngest granddaughter,” he wrote.
The book, and the hospital wards
Grizzell describes himself as an Essex children’s author. He says he currently works with children on the children’s wards at Basildon Hospital, and that he previously worked in paediatric care at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. We have not been able to check either post independently.
What he wanted to talk about was Herman, and why a character has to be loud before a child will follow him through 45 pages.
“Herman is funny, unpredictable and larger than life, and the aim is simple: to make children curious enough to want to pick up a book and keep turning the pages,” he wrote.
The book itself is short by design. The Amazon UK listing gives it as 45 pages with a reading age of 5 to 8, in paperback and on Kindle, at £9.99 for the paperback when we checked on 14 September. His own site puts it slightly wider, at ages 5 to 9, and calls it a way of “introducing children to chapter books”.
The story, in the words on the cover: “When Izzy finds a tiny boy in her pocket, her ordinary life turns into an extraordinary adventure. Together, they discover the magic of friendship, courage, and believing that even the smallest person can make the biggest difference.”
Where Herman came from
Grizzell has published a long account of his own childhood on his website, and it is worth reading before the books. He was, by his own telling, the boy who could not stay out of trouble.
“Curiosity was my superpower… and occasionally my downfall,” he writes.
School did not suit him. The writing sat in a drawer for decades.
“As a teenager I filled notebooks with poems, wrote countless song lyrics and dreamed up stories that were tucked safely away in drawers for years,” he writes. “Those stories stayed there until one day I realised they deserved the chance to be read. That’s how Herman in My Pocket was born.”
Two people get the credit on that page. One is his partner: “For more than twenty years, my greatest supporter has been my partner, Carol. If you’ve ever wondered where Herman in My Pocket came from, she’s the answer.” The other is the reading aloud he did years ago for his own daughter, “with my own interpretation, changing and adding my own voices and special effects”.
The grandchildren, he writes, are why any of it got finished. “Today, I also have three wonderful grandchildren through my stepdaughter, and they fill my life with just as much laughter, energy and imagination as I had when I was their age.”
He is direct about what he is trying to slip into the adventure. The books, he writes, carry “old-fashioned values showing good moral behaviours, emphasising politeness, courtesy, understanding and basic manners, keeping life simple at a young age”.
What is out and what is coming
Four covers sit on the bookshelf on his website. One is on sale and three are marked coming soon.
- Herman In My Pocket: The Unforgettable Case of Izzy Winterbottom, out now, published 29 May 2026, ISBN 9798199039215.
- Pooligan, the horse in my bedroom, December 2026, written with his youngest granddaughter.
- The next Herman In My Pocket instalment, early 2027.
- The Saga and Gracie Grey, covers on the shelf, no date given for either.
The free download, and what is in it
The thing a parent or a teacher can use today costs nothing. Herman’s Pocket Guide to Confidence, Kindness and Courage is an 11-page A4 PDF on the book’s page, built as ten cards. Each one has a “Herman says” line, three short instructions and a “pocket power” sentence for the child to say back.
The ten cards are: Be Yourself, When Someone Is Unkind, Be Brave, Happy Thoughts, Friendship, Confidence, Feelings Matter, Never Give Up, Kindness Counts and Herman’s Golden Rules.
Some of it reads as though it was written for exactly the room he says he works in. Card three, Be Brave, is three instructions long: put your hand up, ask for help, try something new. Card seven, Feelings Matter, says it is okay to feel sad, okay to feel worried, and that talking helps. Card two, on unkindness, tells a child to stay calm, walk away and tell a trusted adult.
There is an original song on the same page, Herman In Your Pocket, which plays in the browser, and the trailer above. The website is the wider world he is building around the character: books, music, animation and online content.
What it means for you
If you have a child in the 5 to 8 bracket, or you are looking for something to read on a ward or at bedtime, here is where everything is.
- The free Pocket Guide PDF and the song are on the book’s page. The guide downloads directly here.
- The paperback and the ebook are on Amazon UK. We are not paid if you buy one.
- The author’s own account of his childhood is at Who is S.K. Grizzell, and there is a contact form for schools and groups.
Update, 28 September: Grizzell was interviewed by Jo Bailey on Phoenix FM on Friday 25 September, he told us, about the book, writing for children and the wider Herman project, which he says now takes in original music, animation and online content.
He told us he would be happy to talk to a reporter about creating Herman, writing for children, working with children in healthcare, and using music and animation to pull children towards reading. We have taken him up on that and will follow this up when Pooligan lands in December.
More on the hospital itself is in our report on the £6m A&E upgrade at Basildon Hospital, and if you are after something to do with the children this month, start with things to do in Basildon.
If you are running something local, or you have written something, tell us. We would rather hear it from you than read it somewhere else first.
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