Love when a new series begins and this one from Chrissie Sains sounds incredible! As part of the blog tour, Chrissie shares some insights into the magical creatures who feature in the book! Scroll down to see what creature she tells us about today!
Hi, I’m Chrissie Sains, author of Beastopia, my brand newseries for ages 7+.
I’m absolutely kid-in-a-candy-store, bouncing-off-the-walls, tickled-pink, excited about this series! I’ve always had a slightly beastly fascination with magical creatures. As far as I’m concerned, the odder, the scarier, the weirder, the better.
One of the most roar-some parts of being an author is asking the big “What Ifs.” And the big “What If” behind Beastopiawas this… what if we’ve got it all wrong? What if magical creatures aren’t at all like the old stories said? What if they’ve been living right under our noses the whole time … and we never even noticed?
Then I started thinking … what happens to the creatures who can’t hide anymore? Where would they go, and who would look after them?
That’s when Beastopia really started to take shape. A sanctuary for magical creatures who can’t blend into the real world. A place where a boy could meet them … and mighteven have to learn how to protect them.
So … let me introduce you to some of the slightly unusual (but also fang-tastic) magical creatures who live in Beastopia.
Basilisk are extremely talented when it comes to disguising themselves. If you’ve ever held a common garden worm in the palm of your hand, it’s likely that it was actually aBasilisk. Normally, Basilisks live deep underground, safe from prying eyes. But every now and then, they make their way to the surface, or get accidentally dug up, and that’s when their incredible powers of disguise kick in. With a quick flick of their tail, they can transform to look just like an ordinary worm.
Basilisk are shy, gentle, and strictly vegetarian.
Basilisk Inspiration
I enjoyed creating the Basilisk so, so much. I really wanted to give it a purpose and to completely flip the idea of the terrifying beast that we’ve seen portrayed before. My aim was to develop a creature that’s gentle, clever, and incredibly useful. To show readers that even a legendary monster can have a softer, more surprising side.
My Shelves Are Full 