A familiar face to many in Pinner has scored a big success with his first book proving be a fast seller.
Jerry Lyons, 47, is well-known in the village as he was the editor of MyPinnerNews from 2012 to 2015.
His book is called Spot the Different and tells the story of Lucy, a young girl who is worried about not fitting in.
She meets Spot, a magical ladybird who introduces Lucy to a group of unique animals including a camel with no hump, a bird that hates flying and a dog with no bark.
Jerry explained how he became an ‘accidental author.’
The father-of-one said: “I wrote it for my daughter Charlotte who was asking questions about why people are different. She was asking things like why people were different colours or had different physical abilities.
“I struggled to come up with articulate answers for her, so I put into a poem as a little bedtime story which she understood and enjoyed.
“The poem became a book when a friend of mine read it and asked if he could send it to an illustrator, Andy Willard. That turned into a set of brilliant illustrations and then someone offered to publish it.”
The first print run of 1,000 books sold out in just five weeks.
Jerry added: “The book is aimed at four to eight-year-olds but carries an important message for kids of all ages that it’s cool to be yourself and that life’s better when we embrace and enjoy the differences in others. I think the initial success is down to it really striking a chord with children but also their parents and schoolteachers.”
£1 from each book will be donated to The Children’s Literacy Charity.
Spot the Different is on sale via spotthedifferent.co.uk and MyPinnerNews readers can have their copies signed with a personal message from Jerry by contacting Hello@spotthedifferent.co.uk
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