New series of children's books set in Sturton le Steeple

Author Suzanne Smith, who has released a new series of childrens books.

Suzanne grew up in Lincolnshire on the family farm, and has used many of her experiences and memories to tell her stories.

Called ‘The Vegetable Village Adventures’, the books are about ‘vegetable children’ who go on adventures and to school around Woodland Farm and Sturton le Steeple, meeting new friends and having fun.

The first book in the series is ‘Tango’s First Day At School’, which was released last week, priced £6.99. It is about the creation of new friends from the Vegetable Village, with whom Tango embarks on a number of escapades.

Tango spends his first day at school with Toby Tomato and a large caterpillar called Cheeky. He enjoys it so much that he can’t wait to go back.

Suzanne, who now lives in Coventry, said: “The Vegetable Village Adventures are educational books. I would like to use them as a tool to encourage children to grow and eat their own vegetables.

“I also want children to have the opportunity to be children, taken from reality into their own world of fantasy where they can enjoy adventures, stimulate their imagination and have fun.”

She admits that her own creative imagination as an author stemmed from her adventures on the farm as a child with her sister. She also spent six years as a boarder at Harrogate Ladies College in Yorkshire, which was a strict, old-fashioned school where there was no time to watch TV, so she had to create her own entertainment.

Suzanne initially turned her hand to writing “to take away the stresses of life”. She said: “I sat down and started to write a children’s book. I soon found myself writing a series of ten and I am still adding to it.”

SUZANNE says that, as a child, growing up on Woodland Farm with her mum, dad and sister Emma, she used to read books by Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter and Charles Kingsley, who wrote ‘The Water Babies’.

“I found all of these authors very inspiring,” she recalled. “They stimulated my imagination. I spent many weekends on the farm creating adventures, entertaining myself and having fun.”