Extract - The Travelling Bookshop by Katrina Nannestad illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

Travelling Bookshop. It happens wherever in the world we go. The final gold letter has barely taken shape when the bookshelves along the back wall groan and split down the middle. The two halves slide apart, leaving a gap just wide enough for an adult to pass through. From beyond come the sounds of hammering, sawing, cogs turning, horses trotting, a piano playing, children laughing, a bear growling, a kettle boiling, waves crashing against rocks, a foghorn. And then it’s quiet. Nat and I wait because there is always one line that squeezes out from between the pages of a book before everything settles. We wait … and wait. Nat pulls his hand from mine and scratches his bottom. Coco nibbles at my hair.

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