Lecturer's book deal after four-year delay

Sunderland University lecturer Fay Cavagin has landed a publishing deal for a book which lay for four years as a draft at her home.

Fay Cavagin used the first coronavirus lockdown to revisit the childrens’ story – which is now being published by Blossom Spring Publishing.

“I’ll Get You Home” is the story of a mole that ventures too far from home at night and encounters different animals along the way who support his journey back to safety before sunrise.

The message behind the book is about empowering people to help themselves with support from others.

Fay, a lecturer in childhood studies at the university, drew on her special educational needs background to write the book with her sister Lauren Armstrong, a primary school teacher. She said: “We were both looking for books that would complement what we were teaching but struggling to find exactly what we wanted so decided to write our own story.

“It was just a bit of fun with the kids we were teaching and ended up in a drawer at home."

During the first lockdown, while trying to find ways to be creative with her students remotely, Fay retrieved text and send it off to a number of publishers.

The book has now been illustrated and will go on sale later in the year - aimed at children aged three to seven.

Lauren said: “We are absolutely thrilled we’ve been able to turn an idea we had four years ago into a book that hopefully will help and support children of all abilities."