Oslo
Oslo or Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot is Stephen Bench-Capon's first published work of fiction.
Are you here because you want to buy Oslo?
The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot
Oslo
Interested?
Blurb
Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot is a children's novel about a whale.
Cover illustration by Juana Maria Muschietti.
Design, typesetting and publishing by UK Book Publishing.
Blurb
Interested?
Blurb
Oslo the whale lives with his dad. He likes swimming, blowing water out of his blowhole, and eating krill and ketchup.
Oslo is the only whale he knows whose tail looks a bit like a wellington boot. Not that it matters, but then again, Oslo's tail seems to be at the root of all kinds of unexpected events.
Along the way, Oslo learns a
Oslo the whale lives with his dad. He likes swimming, blowing water out of his blowhole, and eating krill and ketchup.
Oslo is the only whale he knows whose tail looks a bit like a wellington boot. Not that it matters, but then again, Oslo's tail seems to be at the root of all kinds of unexpected events.
Along the way, Oslo learns about a lot of things: goals, opposites, sharing, fairness and panic. But will his big moment end in catastrophe? Or might there be a joyous celebration?
Interested?
Interested?
Interested?
If you are interested and want to know more, you can send me an email at herrbench@outlook.com or get in touch here.
Of course, you can also find out more and buy the book here:
Curious?
Official trailer
Watch the trailer to get a feel for the book, what it's all about and its general vibe. There are no major spoilers. Enjoy!
If you want to learn more about the production, you can read my blog post about making a video trailer on a budget.
Sneak peek
Here I read the first chapter so you can get a direct idea of what the book's like.
Feedback and Reviews
Want to leave a review?
If you have read Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot and you would like to let me know what you think of it, then you are have a number of options:
- Particularly if you bought the book on Amazon, it would be great if you could leave a review there, as that will help other potential customers see what you thought of the book, and potentially encourage them to buy it.
- You can write a review on my Google My Business page. This is technically reviewing me as an author but as Oslo is my only book (so far), you can review the book there.
- If you happen to have a goodreads account (or you can be bothered making one specially), then a review on my book page there would be great.
- You are also welcome to send me a message using the contact form on this website. If you write something nice, I might put an anonymous quote in the next section. I am also happy to put your name next to it if you would like me to.
Any of those would be excellent. I love hearing what people think of the book. Thank you.
Good vibes
I don't want to publish anyone's name without having asked them so most of these are anonymous, but here are a few things people have said about Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot, so that you can get an idea of what people think:
- "very funny"
- "I loved your book"
- "I would agree the influence is Kafkaesque!"
- "It really is a sweet book"
- "What I really like is the little nuggets of humor sprinkled in for the reader"
- "it's rather funny"
- "I can highly recommend this lovely book"
- "Whalympics – A cool word that melts hearts, not only those of whales." – Zoli Magyar
- "Reading Oslo made me feel happy."
- "Your writing is good and I enjoyed both the humour and the way you explain things"
- "What a wonderful book. It reminded me of my childhood."
- "Beautifully produced and full of charming characters!"
As I've said above, if you want to get your reaction added to this list, then do feel free to get in touch.
Oslo in Libraries
Where can I borrow Oslo?
If you haven't read Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot and you aren't ready to buy a copy just yet, then I can recommend borrowing it from a library. You can, of course, also borrow a copy from a library even if you have read it before. That's one of the great things about libraries.
To help, I'm maintaining a list here as best I can of all the libraries I am aware of that have a copy of Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot:
- Robinson College Library, University of Cambridge, Cambridge UK,
- Schule auf dem lichten Berg school library, Berlin, Germany,
- The Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,
- The University Library, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK,
- Egon-Erwin-Kisch-Bibliothek, Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany,
- Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, Berlin, Germany,
- National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK,
- National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK,
- The Library of Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
If you know of any other libraries that have a copy of Oslo but that are not listed here, then do by all means let me know. You can use the contact form.
Are you a library and you would like a copy?
If you are a library or a librarian who works in one, and you would like a copy of Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot for your shelves, then please send me a message and I will be happy to send you a copy of the book.
You can use the form here to get in touch and I'll see what I can do, which will, in all likelihood, be send you a copy of the book. It would be great to hear from you.
Are you a user of a library and you wish they had a copy?
If you are a user of a library and you wish they had a copy of Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot on their shelves, then I believe most libraries invite purchase requests.
Obviously I would be grateful if you would submit one of those to your library. It may be useful to provide the ISBN number, which is 978-1-914-19585-3.
Where in the World has Oslo Been?
Where in the World is Oslo?
Oslo around the world
One of the nice things about having written a book is seeing it go around the world. I like to think that my story is bringing some joy to people all over, even in countries that I have never personally managed to travel to.
Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot has so far been distributed to 13 countries. The map above shows the countries where Oslo has been so far (in alphabetical order):
- Argentina
- Austria
- Canada
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Norway
- Serbia
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- United States Virgin Islands
If you know of any other countries where people live who own a copy of Oslo - maybe you are such a person yourself - then feel free to let me know and I can update the list and the map.
Also if you see any errors on the map, please point them out to me. None are intentional.
Country list and map last updated on the 8th of November 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions - Oslo FAQ
Please get in touch via the contact form or email me at herrbench@outlook.com if you have a question that isn't covered here.
Yes you can buy my book! Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot is now available worldwide on Amazon:
If I haven't listed your country here, you can just click any of those links and probably Amazon will recognize your location and sort you out. If you do have any issues, then let me know and I'm sure we can sort it out.
You can also buy Oslo on the following websites that are not Amazon (though some of them may be owned by or somehow affiliated with Amazon, you'd be surprised how often that's the case):
I normally say that Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot is most suitable for 9-11 year-olds, which would probably make it middle grade fiction.
However, certainly younger children in the 6-8 range can probably read it and/or have it read to them and older children, if not too cynical, should like it too.
In fact, most of the readers so far have been grown-ups, and most of them have enjoyed it too.
Currently, Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot is primarily available from Amazon:
There are also still a small number available directly from the author. So if you would like one of the original print-run, then send an email to herrbench@outlook.com or submit a message via the contact form on this website. But Amazon is probably easier for most people.
To buy Oslo, You just have to go to Amazon and buy it. Easy.
Alternatively, if you do want a copy from the original print-run, then there are a handful still available. So you can send an email to herrbench@outlook.com or submit a message via the contact form on this website. Basically all I need is your address so I can calculate postage costs (from Germany or UK). Then I add about 10 Euros/pounds for the book itself.
As an example, if you are based in Germany, you are looking at 12 Euros (10 + 2 postage). For European Union readers outside of Germany, it's normally 15 Euros (10 + 5 postage).
Note that you should wait for email confirmation of the final amount, as postage costs can change at short notice.
Currently payment is possible via Paypal or bank transfer (to a German or UK account). I would explain that in any email I sent so don't worry if it's not clear at the moment. Amazon accepts whatever Amazon accepts in your local market.
If you order on Amazon, Oslo can be shipped to California or any of the other 49 States of the US. And because it's printed in the region you order it, I am reliably informed that postage shouldn't be too much. In fact, as you can see in the "Where in the World is Oslo?" section, Oslo has already been shipped to the US.
Previously, when I had to send out all the books myself, shipping to the US had to come from Europe so it cost 9 Euros (equivalent in dollars is about $10), which obviously added a fair bit to the price of the book.
The fact that US-based printing - and therefore cheaper shipping - is now possible, is a big plus.
One important point: Please don't be misled into thinking that the countries listed there are the only countries to which Oslo can be shipped. It can be sent pretty much anywhere international courier services deliver to. If you're not sure or want me to find out a price, just look on Amazon or get in touch.
Whether you can borrow Oslo from your local library depends a bit on which library your local one is. You can find more information about which libraries have a copy of Oslo in the libraries section.
The answers to questions like that will be covered on my blog. In fact, this one is addressed in its very own blog post, Why is The Whale Called Oslo?
If you have a specific question that isn't covered on my blog you can send me a message and I'll either reply or write a blog post with the answer in it.
It is! If you are asking this question then I'm afraid your information isn't quite up to date. You can buy Oslo or The Whale Whose Tail Looked a Bit Like a Wellington Boot from Amazon (and possibly other online bookshops, for that matter).
The cover illustration is by Juana Maria Muschietti. You can find more of her work on her behance page.
Copyright © 2023 Stephen Bench-Capon - Author – All rights reserved.