A story written by Castley grandmother Gillian Lishman for her four grandchildren over lockdown has been turned into her first published children’s book.
During those early months of the pandemic Ms Lishman couldn’t work her job as a reflexologist or see her youngest family members. With time on her hands, she began to write them a story.
She was inspired by the nature surrounding her dairy farm in Castley, which is a village close to Huby and Weeton.
One oak tree, with its large hollow trunk, stood out so she began writing a story about a mouse that lives there and the adventures it gets up to with friends.
These include Old Owl, who lives at the top of the old oak tree, Scruffy Mouse, who has a workshop where he makes and mends things, and Mattie Mouse, who lives in London and works for the London Parks and Gardens Trust.
Ms Lishman would write a new chapter each week and post it to her grandchildren along with her own illustrations. She said:
“They loved it and are all really into the book.”
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Despite having no professional writing experience, Ms Lishman searched for publishers online and found Austin Macauley.
They turned the chapters that had been sent to her grandchildren into a book called Little Mouse which was published in February.
She said the book is aimed at children between four and 10 and has a positive message about caring for friends.
Despite lockdown separating Ms Lishman and her husband from their grandchildren, the book was one positive outcome:
She said:
“If it hadn’t have been for covid the book would never have happened!”
Little Mouse is available to buy at Amazon.
