Exploring Literacy
with Frances Prentice
Guinea Pig League: Captured! is a junior chapter book, about super guinea pigs who tangle with some evil cats at a major soccer game.
Recommended: 6-12 years
Guinea Pig League: Rescue! is the sequel. Our super hero guinea pigs have to prevent some pythons attacking guinea pigs in pet shops.
Recommended: 6-12 years
The Crystal Chronicles: Shattered! is a fantasy fiction about the battle between goblins and elves who disagree how to care for their forest home. An epic adventure involving barbarians, robots, a cyclops and twin-headed dragon.
Recommended: 8-14 years
Kip Aider is the pen name Frances Prentice uses when writing books with kids who she mentors. Kip stands for Kids In Print. These books are available from Amazon.
Always Your Sister is Frances’ debut novel, published by Wombat Books. Published in March 2025, it was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year for 8-10 year olds.
Recommended: 10-adult
Holding Back is Frances’ first YA novella, published as part of the Rhiza Shorts list - Minimal Words, Maximum Impact! Designed as an easy read for teens, it is about a homeschooler whose main sport is campdrafting before he discovers swimming.
Recommended: 10-adult
Frances Prentice has also been published by Wombat Books and Rhiza Press. Always Your Sister is a middle-grade novel and Holding Back is a Young Adult novella. Available from the publisher, Koorong, Collins Bookstore, Mad Hatters Bookshop and other independent bookstores and from online platforms.
Frances Prentice is an author and passionate advocate for literacy.
BLURB:
Oreo and Nutmeg are undercover agents for the Guinea Pig League. Oreo lives with 11-year-old Cooper. Nutmeg is a cheerleading guinea pig and mascot for the PSG soccer team.
Their regular lives are interrupted one day when they hear of a plot by the International Evil Cats at Suncorp Stadium.
Will the guinea pigs' super powers help them defeat the cats? Or will Professor Puff, head of the IEC, capture the guinea pigs and achieve his evil plans?
Available from AMAZON worldwide.
Price: $15.40 (AUD) including GST.
A free PDF is available by clicking the button above. This contains the teaching notes from the back of the book plus sample answers for questions pertaining to the book’s content.
Books co-written by Frances Prentice with young authors
Featuring charming digital sketches by the talented Joshua Prentice of Prentice Media.
Guinea Pig League: Captured!
Written with a group of 11-12 year olds in 2022, inspired by their own pets and interests (guinea pigs, cats and soccer).
Guinea Pig League: Captured! is a quirky tale of how two guinea pigs with super powers come up against a trio of evil cats and have to use all their wits to defeat them.
Published in 2024
Once again, our Creative Crew (now 14 year olds) have teamed up with their mentor, Frances Prentice (aka Kip Aider), to create another exciting adventure for kids who love action, adventure, super powers, cats and guinea pigs! Published in August 2025.
Their story is enhanced by the cheeky and charming digital illustrations by Joshua Prentice.
This book is twice as long, three times as exciting and even more entertaining than the first book in the series.
Guinea Pig League: Rescue!
The sequel to Guinea Pig League: Captured! continues the adventures of Oreo and Nutmeg, guinea pigs with super powers. Their new mission: to defeat the Triple S (Slithering Serpent Service) led by the evil anaconda, Snither. They have to get to three pet shops before midnight and prevent the petrifying pythons there from attacking the terrified guinea pigs. They will need the help of three keen cats, a few cool gadgets and Spud, their tech whizz leader. We meet some more Guinea Pig League agents: Maple, Marge, Ginger and Moose, and discover how their unique super powers help with the mission.
Writing Mentor
The young authors of ‘Shattered’ signing their first edition.
The Crystal Chronicles: Shattered!
The Crystal Chronicles: Shattered! was written by a different group of students - the Galactic Group - four highly imaginative 12 year old boys.
Their book is a fantasy fiction, set in a world where elves use their magic to prevent goblins destroying the forest in which they both live. The goblins don’t take kindly to the elves interference, and enlist the help of barbarians to retaliate.
The story becomes an epic adventure as the elves and goblins encounter a twin-headed dragon and a cyclops, team up with some robots and discover the powers contained in the elvish crystals.
Cover illustration: Prentice Media
Always Your Sister
by Frances Prentice
Always Your Sister was published by Wombat Books in March 2025.
It is available as a paperback, ebook and audiobook. The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Sarah Bacaller.
It has been written to acknowledge that siblings of stillborn babies are also affected by this experience, to celebrate that stillborn babies remain part of the families who birth them and to highlight that the storms of life help us appreciate the rainbows more.
It has been written for children, but may also be appreciated by adults.
It was shortlisted in the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards (in 8-10 years category) in 2025.
BLURB:
Dear Noah, I miss you so, so much.
Living on a drought-stricken farm, Millie has a lot going on. Life as a pre-teen brings big, mixed feelings, but with friends, family and the school chaplain she just might make it through.
Millie’s baby brother, Noah, was stillborn 4 years ago. She writes to him in Heaven, confiding her anxieties when her parents announce they are going to have another baby.
Millie is both excited and scared. What if this baby dies like Noah did? What if something happens to her mum?
Millie learns to take life day-by-day and that even in storms there are sometimes rainbows.
Holding Back
By Frances Prentice
Holding Back is a young adult novella published by Rhiza Press in June 2025.
Commissioned as part of the Rhiza Shorts series, it is designed to be an easy read for teens with ‘minimal words, maximum impact’.
Centring around a homeschooler, Nick, this story has been well reviewed and appreciated for its vivid description of the iconic Australian sport of campdrafting as well as the swimming events that Nick enters. Nick discovers that challenging himself to get out of his comfort zone can have unexpected rewards.
Frances Prentice also assists other adult writers to create published works. This may include memoirs, anthologies of poetry or short stories, or their own novels.
Under the ‘Exploring Literacy’ brand, Frances publishes these using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, so that the authors can share their literary work with friends and family across the world. Frances can assist aspiring authors with refining manuscripts, editing, proof reading and formatting.
Cover illustration work for the works pictured has been created by Joshua Prentice of Prentice Media.
Writing for Pleasure
An Anthology
by Joan Walmsley
Joan Walmsley is the mother of Frances Prentice, and has been her inspiration. She has participated in and led writing groups for over 40 years, and continues to do so in her late eighties. She has written to capture memories, express emotions and share her appreciation of life.
This delightful anthology has a mixture of beautifully crafted poetry, fascinating memoirs, interesting essays and enjoyable short stories. It is a celebration of everyday life and the unique nature of the individual.
Her honesty shines through in her simple and straightforward approach, and I am sure many will relate to her experiences.
Illustrated with photographs of Joan and her family, it will be treasured by both family and friends alike and would be enjoyed by all.
Available on Amazon KDP.
Edited and published by Frances Prentice.
First Published in March 2025.
Contact Frances
Whether you want to talk to Frances about the books she has written or find out more about her literacy products, please feel free to reach out using the form below.