The Portal with No Escape

On a quiet farm where every day blurs into the next, eleven-year-old Sam dreams of the adventures Grandma always describes. Then one afternoon Grandma whispers a secret about the old wooden horse sculpture on the living room shelf. One press, and Sam is pulled through a glowing portal into a fog-soaked forest he has never seen on any map.

Trapped in a world called Nambia and chased by a slime-covered creature with eyes like burning coals, Sam discovers an ancient book that holds the only way home. To defeat the Slimy Slug guarding the portal, he must gather six impossible ingredients, from the tears of a tiger to the venom of a cobra.

He cannot do it alone. With Daisy, a tiny talking bird who hides a magical secret of her own, Sam climbs trees to escape a roaring tiger, builds a shelter through a stormy night, helps a wounded deer, and learns that all those boring farm chores have made him braver than he ever knew.

A warm, fast-paced adventure about courage, unlikely friendship, and the kind of home you carry inside you, no matter how far you travel.