David Elliot, First cover sketch for The Battle of Pook Island, 1996.

Jack's original title for the third book: 'The Mangonel' was changed to The Battle of Pook Island because it was felt by the publisher that few young readers would know what a mangonel was. My promise to Jack to include the siege weapon somehow in the cover lead to a prolonged development process and several unsuccessful designs before an acceptable solution was found.' - David Elliot. Elliot's developmental designs began on this first sheet - a busy frenetic one - and were transferred to the others shown on the wall. Such is the genesis and growth of a book cover.