In Toby's Adventures to Uncle's House, a boy's journey to meet a relative turns into an illustrated adventure filled with disruptions, encounters, and time travel.
London, United Kingdom (PRUnderground) October 23rd, 2026
What should have been a straightforward train journey from Edinburgh to York becomes a far more extraordinary adventure in Toby's Adventures to Uncle's House, an illustrated children's book by Paul Stenhouse, forthcoming from Grand Publishers. Following a young boy determined to meet the uncle he has never known, the story transforms a simple family visit into a journey where almost nothing goes according to plan.
For years, Toby has received a letter every month from his uncle. Although they have never met, their correspondence has continued, and Toby eventually decides it is time to make the journey himself. With an address, a train ticket and a suitcase, he sets off from Edinburgh expecting to arrive in York and finally meet the man behind the letters.
But getting there proves considerably more complicated than he imagined.
Engineering works force Toby's train onto a longer route through northern England. Before he can reach York, a sudden storm closes the railway south of Thirsk, leaving him stranded and uncertain how to continue. What begins as an ordinary travel inconvenience soon opens the door to a series of increasingly unusual encounters.
Among the first is a man apparently holding a conversation with a cow. When Toby questions what he has heard, he receives an explanation almost as extraordinary as the encounter itself. It is an early indication that the journey he has embarked upon will involve far more than delayed trains and unfamiliar places.
As the adventure unfolds, the familiar world of railway stations, country roads and historic towns gives way to unexpected characters, mysterious events and imaginative possibilities. A flying car, a remarkable time machine and journeys beyond the ordinary boundaries of time and place all form part of the book's unpredictable world.
The adventure also stretches far beyond Yorkshire. A geographical mix-up eventually points Toby towards New York City, taking a journey that began with a simple family invitation across the Atlantic. The wider story introduces more unlikely encounters, including unusual hotel companions, a basketball-playing dog and even a runaway rocket.
Yet beneath the extraordinary events lies a remarkably simple reason for Toby's travels: he wants to meet his uncle.
That personal connection gives the story a thread running through its many diversions. Toby is not searching for adventure when he leaves Edinburgh. His ambition is an ordinary family meeting, but the obstacles and surprises he encounters continually transform what it means to reach his destination.
Stenhouse builds the narrative around that contrast between the familiar and the improbable. Train tickets, letters, unfamiliar streets and disrupted travel arrangements provide recognisable starting points before the story moves into increasingly fantastical territory. Humour emerges from the unexpected situations Toby encounters and the way each new complication takes him further from his original plan.
The book's full-colour illustrations accompany the narrative through its changing settings. Scenes depicting Edinburgh, the railway journey, the Yorkshire countryside and York's historic streets bring the journey to life, positioning Toby as an ordinary young traveller surrounded by increasingly extraordinary circumstances.
Rather than following a conventional route from departure to arrival, Toby's Adventures to Uncle's House unfolds through a succession of surprising encounters and changes of direction. Its combination of family connection, comic adventure and imaginative storytelling creates a journey in which reaching the intended destination becomes only part of the experience.
At its heart is a question that continues to drive Toby forward: after everything that has happened along the way, will he finally make it to his uncle's house?
Toby's Adventures to Uncle's House is forthcoming from Grand Publishers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Stenhouse is the author of Toby's Adventures to Uncle's House, an illustrated children's adventure that combines humour, imaginative storytelling and unexpected characters. His book follows an ordinary family journey as it develops into an extraordinary voyage through different places, unusual situations and surprising encounters.
