On the back of the huge success of the first Caesar the War Dog book, Stephen Dando-Collins was asked by publishers Random House to write more books in a series of adventures featuring Caesar, his handler Ben Fulton and his family, and Ben’s best friend Sergeant Charlie Grover VC.

The second book in the series is Caesar the War the Dog: Operation Blue Dragon. In this book, once again Caesar, Ben and Charlie team up, this time to save the life of one of the most important people in the world when he’s taken hostage – someone they’ve all come to know well.

Once again, Caesar will be in the middle of a life-and-death adventure, involving heelos and Hercules, parachute drops, an attack on a terrorist base, and, of all things, a submarine! And once again, Ben Fulton’s children Josh and Maddie will play a vital role in finding the object of their father’s quest.

The good news is that Stephen has written Caesar the War Dog: Operation Blue Dragon, and delivered it to the publishers. The bad news is that you’ll have to wait until August for it to come out. But you can order your own copy now at any bookstore, or online.

As for book number three, there’s more good news and bad news. The good news is that it will be out in August next year, and it will be another dangerous and exciting mission taking Caesar, Ben and Charlie across the world. The bad news is that we can’t even tell you the title yet! (We know the title, but it’s classified Top Secret for now.)

There’s lots more really exciting news about Caesar coming. Check here again soon to find out more. Will you love it? Roger to that!

Waterhouse, who was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and who was known as ‘the Tasmanian’ in Hawaii, was one of the 13 members of a rebel white committee which planned the queen’s overthrow. When it appeared the coup would fail, several rebel leaders lost their courage, and, says Dando-Collins, it was only when Waterhouse took the reins and drove the coup forward that the queen’s removal was achieved.

Dando-Collins, who was himself born in Tasmania, has spent seven years researching and writing TAKING HAWAII, and was given unprecedented access to Native Hawaiian sources during the research.

“Was Queen Liliuokalani wrong, or was she wronged?” Dando-Collins asks. US President Bill Clinton seemed to think it was the latter, for in 1993, a century after the event, he signed an official apology to the Hawaiian people for US complicity in the queen’s overthrow.

TAKING HAWAII is published by E-Reads of New York, and is available as both an e-book and paperback via leading online retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

For example, in the latest (November) issue of ‘Reading Time’,  influential journal of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, a long, laudatory review ends, ‘Teachers and librarians should find “Caesar” a valuable teaching tool, and young readers, through an engrossing story, will have their horizons widened and their emotional lives deepened. This is a book for our times.’

‘I loved this book. It’s one of the best war stories I have read, and its Australian… Verdict: Fantastic!’ Herald-Sun, Melbourne

‘A fascinating account of these amazing dogs and their trainers, the story of Caesar will open a world unknown to many students.’ ReadPlus

‘Stephen has done a wonderful job!’ Deborah Abela, bestselling Australian children’s author

‘Action-packed and heartwarming’, Family Magazine

‘Will appeal to readers young and old’, Otago Daily Times, New Zealand

‘I loved this book, and shed a tear or two following Caesar’s adventures… Would make a great book for group reading, and suits everyone from 9 to 99′, Lamont Books review

‘A heart-warming adventure… Most of all it’s a story about a remarkable dog’, Magpies

Before he could go home, Stephen embarked on a tour of eastern Australia to launch MISTAKEN IDENTITY: The Trials of Joe Windred, and to promote his new children’s novel CAESAR THE WAR DOG.

Since its national launch in Orange, NSW, where Joe Windred was once mayor, by John Davis, the current Mayor of Orange, MISTAKEN IDENTITY has excited the attention of many in the media, especially Richard  Fidler, who had Stephen back on his ‘Conversations’ hour to talk all about the amazing Joe Windred, and Fran Kelly on ABC Radio National’s Breakfast program. Press reviews have mirrored the Gold Coast Bulletin, which described MISTAKEN IDENTITY: The Trials of Joe Windred as ‘remarkable’ and ‘moving’. Melbourne’s’ Herald Sun and Brisbane’s Courier Mail both listed it as the recommended biography in their Ten Books For Fathers Day.

Meanwhile, CAESAR THE WAR DOG has been selling up a storm since its July release and attracting wonderful reviews. Readers young and old say they can’t put the book down! Just weeks into its release, a reprint had to rushed through. And we will soon have great news about the next book in the CAESAR THE WAR DOG series, as Caesar, Ben Fulton and Sergeant Charlie Grover VC head out on a another dangerous, life and death mission. More on that soon.

Caesar the War Dog, the amazing new children’s novel by Stephen Dando-Collins, is released in Australia and New Zealand by Random House on July 2.

Based on the true stories of Australian Army dog Sarbi, which was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, British service dog Endal, which became the most decorated dog in history, and the US Navy’s SEAL Team 6 dog Cairo, this exciting and moving adventure is set to grab the hearts of readers young and old around the world.

Caesar the War dog is also available as a braille and large print book through Read How You Want, and at school book fairs around Australia via Scholastic. The buzz for this book is enormous, with copies already flying off bookstore shelves prior to publication day.

Foreign editions are expected to soon follow, and, yes, the book is already being talked about in Hollywood!

Grab a copy while you can. Caesar is on the move.

See Stephen at the Unlock the Past Expo at Centennial State High School, Jindalee, Brisbane, where he’ll be talking about the research and writing process for books ranging from his latest Australian bestseller, ‘Crack Hardy’, to his upcoming new release, ‘Mistaken Identity: The Trials of Joe Windred’.

Monday, June 25, 7.20 pm.

Wednesday, June 27, 9.30 am.

Tickets at the door.

TAKING HAWAII: How Thirteen Honolulu Businessmen Overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893, With a Bluff, has now been released by E-Reads of New York, as an e-book and print-on demand paperback.

Stephen spent many years researching this revealing book, discovering that the military coup that toppled Queen Liliuokalani, and resulted in Hawaii becoming a US territory and ultimately a US state, was led in its final stages by an Australian born in the same place as Stephen. Even one of the key architects of the coup was to marvel that it actually succeeded.

Jude for yourself whether the queen was wrong, or wronged. To obtain the book telling the full, true, dramatic tale, told from all sides, visit ereads.com, or Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and other leading online book retailers.