Ben M. Baglio created the brief for two series of children's books - Dolphin Diaries

Dolphin Diaries

Dolphin Diaries is a series of books by Lucy Daniels. This is a work of fiction.Dolphin Diaries is about a young girl, Jody McGrath, who travels with her family as they research dolphins on a yacht called the Dolpin Dreamer.-Characters:Jody McGrath:...

and Animal Ark

Animal Ark

Animal Ark is a children's book series written by a collection of authors under the direction of Ben M. Baglio using the pseudonym Lucy Daniels starting in 1994 . They have now been published in the USA and many other countries...

. Dolphin Diaries features a girl and her family from Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, who travel around the world as marine biologists

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

 and study dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s. Animal Ark features two children who work together to help animals and solve animal-related mysteries. The books were written by commissioned writers in the UK under Baglio's instruction using the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Lucy Daniels. Each author is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page - see Dolphin in the Deep copyright page for an example

Using his real name he also wrote the book series The Pet Finders Club, featuring a group of three children who search for peoples lost pets.

Dolphin Diaries

In Dolphin Diaries

Dolphin Diaries

Dolphin Diaries is a series of books by Lucy Daniels. This is a work of fiction.Dolphin Diaries is about a young girl, Jody McGrath, who travels with her family as they research dolphins on a yacht called the Dolpin Dreamer.-Characters:Jody McGrath:...

, a girl named Jody McGrath discovers and befriends a friendly Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...

 whom she names Apollo. He is a lone dolphin and Jody united him to his "new" pod, and follows her for a while through the series. As the story proceeds, she meets others along the way. She befriends many new people and dolphins.

Other characters in Dolphin Diaries are Brittany Pierce, Captain Pierce, Cameron Tucker, the tutor Maddie, her twin brothers Sean and Jimmy, her mother Gina who is Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and her dad Craig who is Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

List of Books

1. Into the Blue
2. Touching the Waves
3. Riding the Storm
4. Under the Stars
5. Chasing the Dream
6. Racing the Wind
7. Leaving the Shallows

Summer Specials:
Following the Rainbow,
Dancing the Seas

The Pet Finders Club

In The Pet Finders Club, a girl named Andi Talbot has moved to Aldcliffe, Lancaster, from Texas. She has a Jack Russel Terrier named Buddy, who escapes from the house during a thunderstorm and gets lost. While trying to find him, Andi befriends Tristan Saunders, a red-haired boy who has a long-lost cat named Lucy, and he helps her look. They also manage to discover a lost Black Labrador, which belongs to fashion-conscious Natalie Lewis, and the three of them form The Pet Finders Club after Buddy is found. Together they track down lots of missing pets, and even missing owners. There is even a burglary at their local pet shop, Paws for Thought, which is owned by Tristan's mum's cousin, Christine Wilson. But their cases always turn out alright in the end, finding missing, lost or even stolen animals. In the last book, it is shown that Natalie may have feelings for Tristan.

List of Books

1. Come Back, Buddy!
2. Max is Missing
3. Looking for Lola
4. Rescueing Raisin
5. The Dog With No Name
6. Searching for Sunshine
7. Disappearing Desert Kittens
8. Dachshund in Danger
9. Runaway Rascal
10. Help Honey

Animal Ark

In Animal Ark, Mandy Hope and her friend James Hunter help helpless and injured animals throughout the series, and sometimes she helps perished animals on a "mission". Her parents, Adam and Emily Hope, are vets in Animal Ark (the veterinary practice that gives the series its name), which comes in handy in helping the animals she comes across. Mandy has three rabbits, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. She is definite that she will become a vet and help sick animals in need. Other characters are Simon, a fellow nurse, and Jean Knox, the receptionist. There is also a black lab named "Blackie" that belongs to James who sometimes goes on the adventures. Mandy finds that many people are actually very fond of animals and have a heart of gold. When she isn't working with animals, she is helping her parents with their work.

List of Books

• Badgers by the Bridge
• Beagle in a Backpack
• Bunnies in the Bathroom
• Bunny in a Basket
• Cats at the Campground
• Collie with a Card
• Colt on Christmas Eve
• Come Back, Buddy
• Cub in the Cupboard
• Dachshund in Danger!
• Dalmatian in the Daisies
• Deer in the Darkness
• Dog at the Door
• Dolphin in the Deep
• Ferret Fun
• Foals in the Field
• Fox in the Frost
• Gerbil Genius
• Goat in the Garden
• Guinea Pig Gang
• Hamster in the Holly
• Help Find Honey!
• Horse in the House
• Hound at the Hospital
• Husky in a Hut
• Husky with a Heart
• Kitten in the Candy Corn
• Kittens in the Kitchen
• Koalas in a Crisis
• Lamb Lessons
• Mare in a Meadow
• Max is Missing
• Mustang in the Mist
• Owl in an Office
• Polar Bears on the Path
• Ponies at the Point
• Pony in a Package
• Pony in the Porch
• Pup at the Palace
• Puppies in the Pantry
• Puppy in a Present
• Puppy in a Puddle
• Racehorse in the Rain
• Raccoons on the Roof
• Terrier in the Tinsel
• The Brave Bunny
• Sheepdog In The Snow
• Spaniel in a Stocking

Other Books

Baglio has also contributed one title, The First Olympics, to the Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...

 gamebook

Gamebook

A gamebook is a work of fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making effective choices. The narrative branches along various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages...

series. Baglio also wrote the Horseshoe Trilogies.

External links

• Ben M. Baglio - biography on Scholastic.com
• Ben M. Baglio - bibliography on Fantasticfiction.co.uk