West Hampshire man sees first children's book published
Gavin Barrett runs a property business in Salisbury by day!
A West Hampshire man, who's branching out his skills to write and publish his first children's book, says it's 'weird' seeing it on the shelves.
Gavin Barrett from Ringwood has written 'Boris the Germ', a poem spreading the message to little ones about the importance of washing their hands.
It all came about from some Christmas drinks with a friend, Martin Burton, who's provided the illustrations for the book.
Gavin's told Greatest Hits Radio that with three children himself, he's learned a bit about the kinds of stories that resonate:
"A lot of the ones that really stick in our mind are the ones that the kids enjoy but have an underlying good message that saves you having to tell them to do certain things! It gets the message in from a different angle."
Putting the book together has been a family affair.
With Gavin writing it and Martin drawing it, Gavin's wife taught herself how to use publishing software to get it designed and ready for the printers.
From start to finish, it's taken six weeks to make 'Boris the Germ' a reality.
It's aimed at 3 to 6 year olds and Gavin says it's got an important moral:
"For the children, it's not like they're being given a lesson. For them it's a fun story, But the message is clear - introducing children to what germs are all about, how they operate and how we defend ourselves."
It's a bit of a departure from Gavin's day job to become a children's author.
He's normally found running Salisbury property company, Barrakav,
'Boris the Germ' is now available to buy from Amazon and is also being stocked at Salisbury's Rocketship Bookshop.