Book One ✦ The Secret Beneath Our Feet
A mysterious door. A magical map. Two unlikely friends about to discover a world that should not exist.
MAXHey! You made it! Want to see something impossible?
PIPJust so we’re clear, the last impossible thing nearly ate us.
MAXPip!
PIPWhat? I’m being welcoming!
The first adventure
When Max finds an impossible door in ordinary Riverdale, he meets Pip, a small fox with a big mouth, and follows a trail of clues into a world of enchanted maps, lost things and places that should not exist.
This is more than a graphic novel. Readers are invited in: to solve puzzles, crack codes, help creatures in trouble and, at the very heart of the story, design an Explorer’s Mark that is entirely their own.
112full colour
Wow…
Welcome to somewhere that shouldn’t exist.
Chapter Three · The Place That Disappeared
Meet the explorers
The explorer
Ten years old, endlessly curious and braver than he feels. Max notices things other people walk straight past, like a door in the footpath that definitely wasn’t there yesterday.
“It said don’t open. It didn’t say don’t touch.”
The companion
Small, loyal, spotted and magical, with opinions about everything. Pip knows far more about this world than he lets on, and always carries an emergency sock. Just in case.
“What? I’m being welcoming!”
Two places · one extraordinary adventure
Drag the compass to cross over, from Riverdale Park to the realm of the Heart Tree.
The familiar neighbourhood park where the mystery begins, and where a playground goes missing.
An ancient guardian in a realm of wonder, waterways and glowing paths. Something here has been broken.
A trailer in pages
Three real pages, just enough to feel the mystery, the humour and the wonder. Tap any page to read it properly.
The story doesn’t just happen to you
Again and again, Max and Pip stop and ask the reader for help. No worksheets, no homework: just real problems only an explorer can solve. Here’s a taste.
Create · Chapter 2
Every explorer needs a symbol nobody else has. Design yours.
Help · Chapter 3
A tiny bird is lost and frightened. What would you say?
Solve · Chapter 5
Thirteen bells, two locks and a missing number.
Solve · Chapter 7
The ship is trapped. Only the right symbols will set it free.
Ten more challenges are sealed inside the book. Codes, mazes, a missing whistle and something that won’t stop following… No peeking, Explorer.
The Explorer’s Riddle
Right at the front of the book, a riddle waits. The answer is hiding somewhere in the adventure, in plain sight, for anyone sharp eyed enough to spot it.
The prize
One lucky explorer wins a personalised printed copy of The Explorer’s Mark, signed by the author, Priscilla Rose, with their own name as the hero.
Open to explorers of all ages in Australia, from 15 November 2026 to 31 March 2027. Explorers under 18 enter through a parent or guardian. Enter the riddle · Competition terms
A story with their name on it
In the personalised edition, your child steps into the story as the hero. Every time someone calls out to Max, they call out to your child instead.
Try it: type a first name
PIPMax! The map knows your name!
Just for fun. The name stays on this screen and is never saved or sent anywhere.
Your adventure starts here
The original
A$27.95
Personalised
Opening soon