Colleen Laybourne-Smith

"I was born and brought up in South London but now live in Shrivenham where I moved to with my husband two years ago and we love it here! I previously worked in the beauty business, mostly as a manager in London, for 24 years and was finally able to concentrate on my dream of writing.

"My story-telling started as a child. I was an only child until I was 15, when my brother was born, closely followed by my sister when I was 19, so spent much of my childhood in my imagination. I used to entertain local children with my made-up stories through the fence at end of my garden where they would gather! I also won writing competitions at secondary school but then my story-telling path began to alter.

"Another passion of mine was singing. As I reached my early twenties I started to write lyrics for a band I was with at the time and this song-writing, written in rhyming verse, carried on until just the words took over and I wrote poetry in my thirties. Finally, my love of poetry, story-telling and children came together in my book.

"The Tales of Mr and Mrs Bartholomew Fox, my first book, has a traditional flavour, along with a sprinkling of magic. As a child I always had a book as my constant companion from Hans Christian Andersen to C.S. Lewis and I wanted my stories to also be a place of peace and magic. Family values, love, friendship and respect are interwoven throughout but the greatest message is love.

"It is a collection of 4 stories with 14 illustrations about a fox family, the two parents and their 3 children and is set in a magical wood. The stories revolve around them, their woodland friends and the adventures they share. The stories are written in rhyming verse which I feel is a great introduction into poetry for young children.

"..I hope you get a chance to read my book and I know that adults will love it as much as children, after all, we are all still children at heart!"

Biography from focusonfaringdon.co.uk

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Featured Books, with extracts by Colleen Laybourne-Smith

The Tales of Mr and Mrs Bartholemew Fox
Colleen Laybourne-Smith
This is a wonderful story told in rhyming verse and perfect for parents to read aloud to their young children or for slightly older children who have just learned to read to enjoy alone.  Readers will be introduced to lots...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 30/06/2011
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