A Dorset mother is looking to release the third instalment in her children’s book series, partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
Kelly Elsworthy, 38, is an author and former Dorset Business Mother of the Year finalist.
She created characters including Strawberry Sally and Blueberry Beth to include in The Adventures of the Cuddle Pirate books.
She said: “I wanted to associate character names with fruit and vegetables so that children can associate them with healthy and unhealthy eating.”
Kelly first thought of the series of books when telling stories to her son Jack and his friends.
“They responded so well to the stories,” said Kelly “I decided to put pen to paper and bring the concept to life.”
The Mango Monkey is the third book in the series and includes a fresh fruit and vegetable smoothie bar. It will follow Kelly’s previous books The Jelly Giant and The Fruity Fish.
The books are aimed at children between the ages of three and seven and focus on promoting healthy eating for children.
They follow The Cuddle Pirate crew and The Sugar Shark gang.
Kelly has received a lot of positive feedback.
“I have been contacted by Doctors, dentists and schools to do talks on the books and read the stories.”
Kelly also voiced her views on childhood obesity: “Healthy eating is a massive topic.
If you look at the stats it is worrying how many children are being labeled as obese.”
The Kickstarter campaign raised £957 to go towards creating the book.
All the money will go towards helping Kelly self-publish The Mango Monkey.
As a keen advocator that education in basic nutrition should be promoted from an early age, raising awareness of a healthy diet is a main motivator for Kelly.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre released research in 2014 that 14 percent of both boys and girls aged two to 15 were measured obese in 2012.
Kelly is also making her books interactive through her website, thecuddlepirate.com.
As well as being able to look at profiles of each character featured as part of the Cuddle Pirate crew, there is also an opportunity to ‘join the crew’, by signing up and recieving a priority updates, special offers and opportunities to enter competition.
Alongside the books and website, there is a mobile phone and tablet app available on the App Store and Google Play.
The Cuddle Pirate books are available direct from the website, Amazon and Waterstones.
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