One wet walk home proved the write stuff

Coo Clayton has been a primary school teacher in Edinburgh for the past 15 years.

Originally from St Andrews, she now lives in the capital with her husband and three young children, and is always coming up with little stories to keep the kids entertained.

One wet November evening, Coo was collecting her daughter Maggie from nursery.

Both were in a bad mood and Maggie’s refusal to wear her mittens didn’t help.

The walk home should have taken five minutes, but instead it was nearer 20 because Maggie kept throwing the mittens out of her buggy.

By the time the pair reached home, the mittens were ruined – but it gave Coo the idea for a story, Maggie’s Mittens.

It tells the tale of a little girl, Maggie, who refuses to wear her mittens and finds a way of getting rid of them as she visits various locations around Scotland.

No potential children’s book is complete without some great illustrations and Coo was on the lookout for just the right artist.

When the head of art at Coo’s school met illustrator Alison Soye in a coffee shop and saw some of her work, she knew she was just perfect.

The duo’s debut has just been released and is Waterstones’ Scottish Children’s Book Of The Month. Not a bad result for a frustrating trip home from nursery!