Tom really wants to be an explorer.

When Tom’s head isn’t in the clouds it’s in an atlas. He follows adventurers not footballers and his schooldays are spent dreaming about travelling from Tibet to Timbuktu. One day a private wish blurted out loud started his freewheeling adventure:

“I’m going to cycle around the world.”

His classmates laughed. No one believed him, least of all his teacher.

“The mountains will be too high!” “The deserts too hot!”

Everyone shouted their reasons why his dream was impossible.

Ride along with Tom as he overcomes his fears and sets off on the first part of his biggest ever adventure: to try to become the boy who biked the world.

What some other explorers say about the author’s adventures:

“An incredible journey of mammoth proportions.” -Mark Beaumont

“Alastair’s journey stands out as amazing.” -Sir Randulph Fiennes

“Epic Journey.” -

Bear Grylls

Wondering what to get this Christmas for the person who has everything? Remember the children’s classic you read a thousand times when you were young?

What if Goodnight Moon was about saying goodbye to another Moon? Say goodnight to Keith, his drumsticks, his pile of sick, and more. Goodnight Keith Moon is a hilarious parody of the Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd children’s classic Goodnight Moon, this book will appeal to fans of rock music and every parent who has read it to their children. Classic rock aficionados won’t get fooled, they’ll spot a busload of Who references, from the pinball game in the corner to the ghost of Cass Elliott.

Living up to our name at Can of Worms Goodnight Keith Moon is a Word of Mouth Press release: Books Worth Talking About – tell a Friend!

This is the word of mouth from The Huffington Press:

“Everyone’s favorite children’s book about a notorious drummer who died of a drug overdose. Wait, that’s not what it was about? eel, authors Bruce Worden and Clare Cross have updated the classic story to revolve around the death of The Who’s Keith Moon with hilarious results. Brimming with rock references.”

To order copies in time to stuff your stockings go here.

A grandmother of two, Tess Burrows came to climbing late in life when she found her true calling in campaigning for the Tibetan cause. In her latest book, Cold Hands, Warm Heart, Tess races to the South Pole to promote Earth Peace. She not only learns to push the limits of the human body, but also to push out the reaches of the human spirit. Joined with her partner, Pete, the pair joined the historic South Pole race to compete with Olympic champion James Cracknell and Ben Fogle. To complete this mission they would have to battle severe medical problems, lack of money, hardship and deprivation. For Tess it was more than combating cold hands with a warm heart, it was also a journey to push out the reaches of the human mind.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart is more than the account of a sixty-year old woman’s incredible attempt to race to the South Pole, but also the tale of that same woman carrying a collective call for compassion through elements too daunting for most of us to withstand.

Praise for Cold Hands, Warm Heart

“These pages offer inspiration to put in the extra mile, to keep striving, to work through the struggle…” -from the forward by Sir Ranulph Fiennes

“The astonishing courage and humour of Tess Burrows makes this terrifying journey a joy to follow.” Joanna Lumley

“The spirit of adventure doesn’t get much tougher than this!” Ben Fogle

The Hay Festival and the National Trust have announced the winners of the Outdoors Books of the Year poll to find the best recent writing about the outdoors.

Members of the public were asked to nominate their favourite book, published for the first time since 2010, which celebrates in some way the joys of the outdoors.

Titles ranged from fact and fiction to prose and poetry, across a wide variety of themes, from gardening and wildlife to extreme sports and travel.

Hundreds of votes were received via the National Trust’s website, which ran the poll between 15 April and 20 May.

And our very own Mission:Explore was among the winners. You can visit here to order copies on a special offer. Our congratulations to all the other winners.

And you can go here to read the Press Release from the National Trust.

Hello! We had a great day on the Southbank in London launching Mission:Explore balloons. (PLEASE NOTE our balloons and tags are all biodegradable – breaking down as quickly as oak leaves).

This is where we’ll be mapping all the discovered balloons.

If you’ve found a balloon, let us know:

where you found it, and when and what number is on the tag.

Let us know your contact details as well (we promise not to sell it or spam you!) and we’ll add it to the map. If your balloon wins one of the prizes, we’ll send you some delightful goodies. Send these details over to us at explore at canofwormsenterprises dot co dot uk.

While you’re here, it would be terribly rude not to introduce ourselves. We’re the publishers of Mission: Explore, a series of books that National Geographic called “bold, cool, exciting …and just plain fun!”. The aim of the books to to get children exploring our world and seeing it in a different way. The authors, The Geography Collective, have a brilliant website where you can find exciting missions all over the UK – there’s even an iPhone app! Check it out here.

You can buy any of the books at a special discounted rate using the button below: