Author is a natural at writing children’s books
A Livingston storyteller has published her first children’s book that aims to teach youngsters about the values of friendship and kindness.
Mary Ann Wood has written a collection of four charming stories about a family of hedgehogs and their friends that she hopes will help children enjoy learning about nature.
In ‘The Pricklebottoms and the Crocodile’, twins Sarah and Suzie explore the forest behind Acorn Row and have a terrible fright, but is everything as it seems?
‘Lost and Found’ sees the woodland community pull together to help Tilly Rabbit find her beloved brooch and in ‘Percy Pigeon at your Service’, we meet the mischievous Steven and Brian Crow, who must learn to treat others with kindness and care.
Meanwhile the children must keep the secret in ‘Mr Pricklebottom’s Surprise Birthday Party’. Will they keep quiet and how will the shy Mr Pricklebottom react when he arrives?
These brightly illustrated tales will help teach children the values of friendship and kindness, and encourage them to enjoy nature and there is a morale or lesson entwined in each story.
Mary, from Livingston, said the book was inspired by walks in the park with her children and grandchildren, collecting acorns, leaves and observing the wildlife – and naturally inspired by making up her own bedtime stories for the children.
She said: “I have always made up stories for my children and grandchildren at bedtime.
“I have also spent a lot of time with my grandchildren making up stories to keep them entertained.
“We have a park next to my house called Howden Park and as I have stayed in Livingston for over 34 years we have spent plenty of time going for walks and searching for conkers every year.
“There is a multitude of wildlife in particular birds”.
She continued: “The main inspiration for the book and the first story was going for a walk with my grandchildren, in particular my grandson who when he saw a large branch that had fallen from a tree and was hidden in the grass he said it looked like a crocodile, so we imagined what we would do it if was.
“It was many around four years later that I thought of this for the first story.”
When she’s not writing Mary works as an administrator and was previously in Queen Alexandria’s Royal Army Nursing Corps. She previously worked in military hospitals in Wiltshire and Germany.
‘The Pricklebottoms: A collection of short stories’ is published by Austin Macauley and is now available to purchase online at Amazon and bookshops. Visit www.austinmacauley.com/book/ pricklebottoms-collection-shortstories.