Helping youngsters confront their fears in our lockdown era

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From The LittleHampton Gazette:

Samuel and the Monster has been self-published by Alexia Pinchbeck at £9.99.

. . . .

Alexia, aged 38, who lives in East Wittering, said: “Samuel and the Monster, a picture book for two to five-year-olds, is a short, simple story with brightly coloured, bold illustrations that overnight put a stop to my four-year-old son Samuel’s nightmares and broken nights. It is written and illustrated by me.

“After experiencing six months of horrendous nightmares and disrupted nights with my then three-year-old, Samuel, as well as the demands of a newborn baby, I was beside myself with sleep deprivation.

“Then, one night, everything changed. Trying a completely different approach, I got Samuel out of his bed, told him take a deep breath and declare with conviction ‘There are no monsters!’

“We repeated this until he was giggling, happy and in a relaxed state, when I asked him to repeat the mantra ‘I am Samuel, I am Samuel, I am Samuel and I am amazing!’

“By the end, he was a different child, and went back to bed relaxed and happy. Overnight, his nightmares disappeared. And, rather than reclaiming my night’s sleep, I went down to the kitchen and wrote and illustrated this simple story between 2am-6am.

“It was very spontaneous, with no planning whatsoever, and the words and illustrations have altered little since that initial 2am version. By the time Samuel woke at 7am, I had a story and pictures to accompany it and I read it to him. He was thrilled. And, more importantly, he has slept through the night since.

. . . .

“With everything that is going on currently, I questioned whether now is the right time to launch, but after much thought I realised that now more than ever we need a book which provides a discussion point for fears, anxieties and our monsters for youngsters between 2-5 years old.

“I believe this book now has more relevance to a child who might be experiencing greater anxiety around their existing fears, or new worries. That, and of course all of us parents at home are needing more books to read with our children than ever before.”

Alexia added: “The actual experience of writing and illustrating the initial idea was exciting. It is a simple story and idea, with brightly coloured illustrations and loveable characters. Even the monster. The whole time I was painting I was full of energy from 2am-6am, motivated by the possibility of helping Samuel to sleep and, by association, the rest of the family.

“It then took a year to get to this initial point through to publication, some points of which have been really quite challenging. It took me many months to come to the conclusion that I would self-publish, namely after a conversation with a friend who has both published and self-published books made me realise that, even if successful in eventually getting an agent, it could be two years before I would then see the book on the shelves.

“So, having run a – very different – business already, at the beginning of the year, I made the decision to self-publish. I got my website up and running, worked with a graphic designer and a book designer to turn the book into a book of the standards of a traditionally published book, explored all of the print, production, packaging and postage.”

. . . .

“Samuel and I are working on a sequel to Samuel and the Monster together, as it turns out there is more to the story that we are learning about at the minute. As he is home with me homeschooling, we’re using it as an opportunity to work on our writing and storytelling skills. His tales are marvellous.”

. . . .

“But it was only a few years ago, shortly after having my first child, Samuel, now nearly five, that I actually got really honest with myself about wanting to write and illustrate books. “Whilst initially this was children’s books, recently the desire to write something longer form has started to niggle at me, so I’m finding a few minutes every day to start to write that.

“If not writing, the words start to build up in my head, and its almost like they curdle into something negative if not siphoned off for good purpose.”

. . . .

“The feeling writing gives me is addictive, whether analogue: a gorgeous black pen spooling out across a smooth blank page of a notebook or, slightly less satisfying but still enjoyable nonetheless, letting out a flood of words on to the blank screen of my computer.”

Link to the rest at The LittleHampton Gazette and here’s a link to the author’s website, where you can order a copy.

Unfortunately, PG was unable to find the book for sale or pre-order on either Amazon or Amazon-UK.

PG was unable to resist a photo on the author’s website of Ms. Pinchbeck reading to Samuel. Click on the photo to see the author’s Portfolio and more photos.