Discover Jack Jackman's thrilling Maisie adventures!
About Author
Jack Jackman introduces his young heroine, Maisie, and her adventures in Antarctica and the Himalayas!
Jack is a father of three who works as a teacher in Scotland. Before settling in Scotland, he spent his time wandering the world, including a time in Argentina where he was the most southerly English teacher in the world, and even became a waiter in Antarctica (penguins do not tip well!) While there, he visited the Halley Research Station (as one of very few members of the public to ever do so). As well as writing for children, Jack writes plays which have been performed in Buenos Aires, London and Edinburgh.
Find Jack Jackman on X @jackjackman
Interview
August 2025
Hidden treasure and dark secrets: Jack Jackman's Maisie vs The Himalayas!
Teacher turned author Jack Jackman introduces his young adventurer Maisie and tells ReadingZone about her adventures in Antarctica and the Himalayas!
After her icy challenges in Maisie vs Antarctica, Maisie is now off with her and her writer father to the Himalayas, where adventure - and hidden treasure - await! But first they must discover who is really behind this quest to find the treasure, and what links they hold to Maisie's family.
Review of Maisie vs The Himalayas: "A fun read full of danger, humour, and heart."
Find out more: Maisie vs Antarctica Maisie vs The Himalayas
Q&A with Jack Jackman introducing his Maisie adventures
"I like to think my books are helpful not just for exploring different parts of the world but also for
exploring deeper issues, like what makes someone a hero? And what is treasure?"
1. Can you tell us about your move from teaching into being a writer? What inspired you to write your own books, and what kinds of stories do you enjoy writing?
Writing and teaching have always gone hand-in-hand for me. I taught abroad in that mystical age before we all had computers in every pocket so I had to write all my own materials for the classroom. I wrote an interactive novel for my class in Buenos Aires which I then turned into my first full-length children's book, though I never published it.
I love writing adventures, fantasy, science-fiction, historical fiction - basically anything that lets me live in a different world while I'm writing it!
2. What are your books, Maisie vs the Himalayas and Maisie vs Antarctica, about? What happens in each novel? Do we need to read them in order?
The Maisie books are about a feisty 11-year-old girl and her dad who seems boring but has impossible. In the first book, Maisie vs Antarctica, they crash land in Antarctica and strange things happen that Maisie just can't explain. In Maisie vs the Himalayas, they're trapped in caves deep underground by a woman who has her own dark secret about Maisie's Mum.
They're both standalone stories but it makes sense to read them in that order. Unless you're the kind of person who flips to the last page to see how it ends, in which case you probably don't care about spoilers.
3. The relationship between Maisie and her father is at the heart of each story. Why do you enjoy writing about them?
"We have too many rules in this house," my daughter once protested. Hmm, I thought, that's exactly what Maisie would say. And that became a theme of Maisie vs the Himalayas. My daughter's views on my parenting are a constant source of inspiration.
But even though Maisie and her dad are pushing against each other there's a deep love that unites them and that's what I wanted to share, both with the wider world and with my own three children. And also that Dad has excellent reasons for all his rules. That message is just for my children. Then there are some people who assume that the boring father who spouts random facts and has deep dark secrets is based on me. But he's not. All my secrets are shallow.
4. What inspired the setting for each book - the Antarctic and in the latest book, the Himalayas? How do you make a place feel real in your stories?
I try to make the places as real as possible. The caves in Maisie vs the Himalayas are based on cave systems I explored in Iceland, Ireland and especially Slovenia (the amazing Postojna cave system). Maisie vs Antarctica was based on my own experiences of working there. Anything that adds an element of realism to the story will help transport the reader there. Sometimes it's as simple as a particular smell.
5. Was Maisie vs the Himalayas a tricky novel to plot? What is your favourite moment in the story?
This was a tricky novel because I had to write the whole story three times. The first two times just weren't quite right so I'm glad I had the time (and the mental fortitude) to start all over again and end up with something I feel good about.
Personally I like the bit where Maisie is dangling over an abyss. I've abseiled myself down cliffs and glaciers and that first moment when you go over the top and have to trust the rope is such a challenging experience that I wanted to capture it. My other favourite bit is where Maisie finds out the truth at the end of the book. I love that moment when you go, "Ohhh, so that's why," whether I'm writing or reading a book. And of course I like feeling that I've done something clever.
6. What kinds of things will children learn about the world in these stories? As a teacher, are you keen that children learn new things as they read your stories?
Every time I cook carrots my children get worried that I'm going to tell them yet again about why they're orange (the carrots, not the children) or about World War II propaganda about seeing in the dark.
I have an annoying urge to turn mundane events into Teachable Moments. So I deliberately set out not to make my books educational. I don't think I succeeded very well because there are quite a few Dad Facts in these stories . . .
7. Apart from a great class read, how else would you suggest teachers could use your books in class to support children's learning across different subjects?
I like to think my books are helpful not just for exploring different parts of the world but also for exploring deeper issues, like what makes someone a hero? And what is treasure? I don't know that they are helpful, but I like to think that. (See Creative Challenges, below)
8. Maisie and her father have some pretty awesome abilities. If you could invent your own 'super power', what would it be?
Memory. I have an awful memory. Flying would be cool but in Scotland I'd get blown all over the place. Invisibility would get very lonely very quickly. Being able to read minds would be good, it'd really speed up spelling tests in school. Also, memory. I have an awful memory.
9. Maisie and her father travel to some impressive places. Where do you plan to take them next and can you give us a glimpse into their next adventure?
I've just got back from Egypt because that's where Maisie and her dad are going next: into the Sahara and deep inside the pyramids in Maisie vs the Pyramids. There's a sneak peek at the end of book 2.
10. Maisie's father travels for his work. Where does your work take you, and where do you go to seek out inspiration?
Being an author has meant travelling around Britain to visit schools and bookshops in places I've never been before. Schools and bookshops are two of my favourite places so it's a fun way to spend my days!
I am fortunate to live in Scotland where we have some of the most incredible scenery combined with awesome history so a typical day out for us often involves mountains, a rugged coastline and probably a castle or two.
School Visits: What do your events involve, and how can schools get in touch to organise their own event?
I love travelling round to visit schools. For this new book I've created a treasure hunt event (with real treasure chests) which I'm really excited to share. It shows how you might go about planning a story and also asks you to think about what treasure really is. Within Scotland, school visits can be arranged through the Scottish Book Trust's Live Literature programme. Otherwise my publicist [email protected] is the person to speak to.
Creative Challenges themed around the Himalayas
1) Make your own treasure chest. Decorate a shoe box and fill it with your own personal treasure. Photos? Mementos? A favourite book? Your parents' life savings? (I don't recommend burying it in your back garden.)
2) Plan a trip to Bhutan. How would you get there? How long would it take to get there? Can you get there using different types of transport?
3) Measure happiness! Bhutan measures its success in terms of how happy the people are, not how much money they have. How would you measure people's happiness without just asking them how happy they are? Make a survey and find out how highly the people in your life score!
4) Paint your own mountain range using only shades of brown or green. Use lots of layers to give it depth. Then you might try putting in some Himalayan creatures like snow leopards and eagles. Or, if you're like Maisie, thunder dragons battling cloud giants.
5) Draw a map. All of Maisie's books involve maps. Draw a map of your own cave system. You could even add squares to turn it into a board game and play to see who can escape the caves.
6) Make a model of the Himalayas out of cardboard. Egg boxes are really good for this - I like to use the pointy bits between the eggs to make my peaks.
October 2024
Watch Jack Jackman introduce his first Maisie adventure, Maisie Vs Antarctica (Nosy Crow)
Drawing on his own journey to Antarctica and a visit to the Halley Research Station, Jack Jackman's Maisie Vs Antarctica is an adventure-packed journey that takes Maisie and her father to the icy landscapes of Antarctica and a fight for survival against the elements. It's a story about plane crashes, survival and accidental heroes, told by 11-year-old Maisie.
Read a chapter from Maisie Vs Antarctica.
Creative Challenges themed around Antarctica
1) Plot Maisie's journey on a map and compare it to Shackleton's journey on the Endurance in 1914.
2) Create a landscape or wall display using only different shades of blue. You could populate it with origami penguins.
3) Create a 'survival box' of all the things you'd need to survive in Antarctica. Bring in items to create the actual box or just make drawings of the items. The class can vote on which things to include, especially if you restrict it to just six items. Maths bonus: write the weight on each item, and calculate what you can put in if there's a weight limit.
4) Build igloos in class using ice cubes. (I did this with a class once, so much fun!) Calculate how many ice cubes you'll need before you start. Write instructions for the stages of building an igloo.
5) Make graphs to show how the temperature changes over the year in Antarctica and how the hours of sunlight change over the year. Work out the mean, median and mode.
6) Write the beginning of a story that starts with the main character realising they're lost.
Maisie vs the Himalayas
Maisie vs Antarctica
