Mr Trinity stood in the middle of the mirror and snapped his fingers once more. A big black book that had been lying on the sideboard moved from its pile and flew across the room into Mr Trinity's outstretched hands. Mr Trinity began to recite strange words from the book: 'Earth, air, fire, eater, spirits of the Four Worlds, help me on my quest!' With those words, he spun slowly round and round and the mirror gave out a bright light that nearly blinded us. As Mr Trinity spun round, he started to disappear into the mirror. All of a sudden he was gone!

As a child, J E Stirzaker spent several years at a boarding school very similar to the one in this book, though happily he was eventually able to return home to his family in Sunderland. After leaving school, he joined the merchant navy and during his service saw more than 30 countries around the globe. He later trained as a car paint technician and started his own motor repair shop. He has served in the Territorial Army and more recently he has worked as a delivery driver.

J E Stirzaker has always written poetry and many of his poems have been included in published collections both in Britain and abroad. In 2003 he won an Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Society of Poets and he is currently planning to publish a collection of his works. This is his first children's book, part of a planned sequence of works.