NEW LOCAL KICKSTARTER BOOK EXPLORES CARING FOR NATURE

The Woodland Ways is a new children’s book written by Dotty Bretton and illustrated by Paul Parsons. The book is currently a Kickstarter campaign and is the first in a series of situation poetry called ‘Those Ways & Woes’, a light-hearted guide for educating children about their boundaries with a moral message. This series of books can encourage children to be aware of their behaviour, steer clear of danger, teach empathy and compassion, and much, much more.

Dotty wrote The Woodland Ways book because she felt that she was constantly telling her children to ‘not do that’, ‘stop that’, ‘that’s wrong’, ‘that’s naughty’, and so on. She understood that her approach was negative and grew tired of her own moaning at her children. Wanting to free herself and her children from the negative voice, she started to approach challenging situations with positivity and provide clearer explanations to her children in a language they could relate to through stories, characters, and situation poetry.

The Woodland Ways book places a focus on exploring nature and instilling in the young reader a sense of positive respect for wildlife. The book is only £7.00 and there is an opportunity to have your own child appear in the next book! Make your pledge HERE.

…This series of books can encourage children to be aware of their behaviour, steer clear of danger, teach empathy and compassion, and much, much more…

…Keeping the project local felt important to us as the book is about respecting nature and doing what we can to protect it…

Illustrator Paul Parsons says “We want to keep the book as ethically made as possible and we have sourced some great quality recycled paper and a local printer. Keeping the project local felt important to us as the book is about respecting nature and doing what we can to protect it. If we sourced our paper or printers overseas (which would have made production cheaper) it would have defeated the wider message of the story“.

After completing my Graphics and Illustration degree at the Kent Institute of Art and Design Paul Parsons returned to Portsmouth and began his Graphic Design career at the Portsmouth News and a media agency. After ten years in the industry, Paul completed his PGCE at the University of Portsmouth and is now the course manager for The Creative Enterprise course at HSDC.