The Story Behind Lucy’s New Red Shoes
By Neil Roberts
It all began with a missing sock.
Like many families, we had a mysterious collection of odd socks — colourful, unmatched, and utterly useless. One evening, after a particularly spirited hunt for a matching pair, I imagined a little girl opening her drawer to find her favourite red shoes gone. That small moment — familiar and frustrating — became the spark for an entirely new world.
Lucy’s New Red Shoes is more than a bedtime story. It’s a gentle journey through magical valleys, tall shoe trees, talking maps, and friends made along the way. Lucy’s cat, Dennis, was inspired by a real family pet (grumpy, loyal, and always hungry). Each scene in the book is drawn from the kind of make-believe we all play with at bedtime — when socks can become creatures, and shoes might just fly away.
I wrote this story to bring a little warmth and imagination into the end of each day — a kind of whispered “goodnight” wrapped in rhymes and wonder. If it makes just one child smile before sleep, or one grown-up laugh while reading aloud, then it’s done its job.
Thank you for visiting, and if you’ve enjoyed Lucy’s journey, there’s more to come. Feel free to explore the site, follow updates, and get in touch. The adventure has only just begun.
Neil Roberts
Author of Lucy’s New Red Shoes