Captain Fantastic

Dad and author Tommy Balaam told Dyslexia Voice, “I’m dyslexic and growing up I was great at maths but really struggled with English and reading, although I loved stories and songs. For me, rhyme comes more naturally and it’s more engaging and great fun – I know my own kids love it! It made sense to create a rhyming picture book for more children to enjoy. The story is brought to life with brilliant illustrations by Daniel Howard, so any child aged between four and seven can connect with the story wherever they are in their development.

“I was always in the top set for maths and bottom set for English but had no idea why. I was 19 and at drama school when my teacher noticed I was struggling to read scripts and encouraged me to get assessed. The words would jump around and when I needed to read in front of a group, it was incredibly challenging. Sight reading is my weakness, and the dyslexia identification helped.

I found coloured sheets, double spacing and bigger fonts helped stop the words moving. Anyone with dyslexia will find they need to work much harder than everyone else but there are things that can help. My passion for drama motivated me find ways to learn the scripts in advance and eventually I found enjoyment in text and books by pushing through. I love rhyme and music and for me, being a creative writer is not about spelling – an AI bot can sort this out for me – but much more about storytelling.”

The Undersea Monster is the third title in the Captain Fantastic series available to buy on Amazon. The story is beautifully illustrated and follows our intrepid hero Captain Fantastic and his loyal canine companion Wilson, as they travel through space to land on a remote blue, sea planet. But Captain Fantastic doesn’t listen to Wilson’s wise words about the water and dives too deep, needing to be rescued right out of the jaws of the (not so scary) Undersea Monster.

In another boost to Tommy’s career, Captain Fantastic has been voted the UK’s Number One children’s entertainment company by the trusted reviewing site FreeIndex.

The Captain Fantastic books are available on Amazon.