AN AUTHOR who grew up in Salisbury is celebrating the release of her debut children’s book.

Jenny Pearson, who now lives in Durham, penned The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates.

“It is very exciting,” says the former South Wilts Grammar School student. “I never thought I would be a writer in a million years.”

She says after moving from London to Durham she did not have to start work straight away and was at home with her youngest son, adding: “I thought I would do more marathon running or go back to swimming then I tried to join the rowing club but they said 'we don’t have any room at the moment'. I was looking for something to do and the writing kind of just happened. It was quite a surprise."

“I read everything I could read about writing and read all the children’s books I could read and did courses. I wrote a different book for a whole year . It got a bit of interest but then I realised it wasn’t quite right then I wrote Freddie Yates in six weeks and that got swept up,” says Jenny. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind after that.”

The characters in the book, Jenny says, have been inspired by children she has taught over the years as well as some real life events.

As she explains: “The characters come from little parts of all the kids I’ve taught over the years - their characters and speech.

“All of that is drawn from this big expanse of children I have taught, which is hopefully why they come across as quite realistic even though the plot is a bit bonkers."

The book is Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Month.

On what readers can expect, Jenny says: “Lots of humour. It is a mad-cap adventure across Wales. It is funny but also heartwarming and is about the importance of family in its varying forms, friends. There are superheroes and there’s some miracles and an eating competition and some very helpful sheep. It’s a slightly bonkers adventure that has heart.”

She has two more books in the pipeline, The Incredible Record Smashers and Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List, and has written a fourth one.

The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates is available online from Waterstones and will be available from other retailers from Thursday (April 30).