Colin Wyatt of Canvey Essex his JetSet books

I want to tell you about a new series of books for children created by local Canvey illustrator, Colin Wyatt – they are animated, colourful and help raise awareness of the problems faced by a selection of animals in the wild and even better, all profits will go to the animal charity, the Born Free Foundation.

A little about Colin…

Colin Wyatt has been an illustrator since 1957 where he worked for Amalgamated Press, which later became IPC magazines, on children’s comics such as Jack and Jill and playhour. But from 1970 IPC bought the Disney franchise and he began working on the prestigious job of illustrating Disney characters for annuals, monthlies and weeklies – his dream job. During those years, he was even invited out to the Disney studios in Burbank, California where he and his family were able to see films being made and animation in action.

Later turning freelance for a few years, Colin co-created the Poddington Peas in 1985. Colin worked on all the animation and Paul Needs from Hadleigh, Essex, wrote the stories. So successful were the peas, it later became a TV series.

About the books…

Now, after years of illustrating for other people, Colin has created his own set of books, illustrating and writing the stories for his series ‘The Jet Set’. Basically, these are books for 5-8 year olds, and all four books tell a tale of the adventures of a group of four superhero animals (The Jet Set) who rescue other animals around the world who are in danger. The underlying purpose and message of these books is to raise awareness of environmental and conservation issues surrounding animals in the wild, and that is why in the back of each book there is a fact file on the animal featured in the book. So, the books are educational as well as giving children wonderful stories to read.

Helping charities and the plight of animals in the wild…

The fact file was put together by Virginia McKenna of the Born Free Foundation, which is a charity the actress set up with the message that wildlife are born free and should stay free and in the wild across the world. (www.bornfree.org.uk )The profits raised will go to the Born Free foundation, which is just lovely, so there are plenty of reasons why to buy the Jet Set books.

I have read all four of the series, and they are beautifully illustrated, colourful, easy to understand, take the reader on a fun journey with the Jet Set, and yet they are also educational and help animals stay in the wild. Who could ask for more from buying a set a children’s books?

 

Getting them published…

And it isn’t just Born Free or Colin who are animal lovers involved in this project. Colin’s daughter, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt teamed up with her Dad to publish these books through her publishing company, Paws n Claws publishing, which specialises in stories about animals in the wild and supports the Born Free Foundation.

Well done Colin, Debz and Born Free – I hope you sell lots of books and keep spreading the word about the plight of animals in the wild.

www.colin-wyatt.co.uk  – Read more about the man himself and the many characters he has worked on such as the Jungle Book, Care Bears, Thomas the tank engine and very many more!

www.thejet-set.com  – Gain some more insight into the books and use the links on this website to purchase the series or a singular book

www.pawsnclawspublishing.co.uk  – Read more about the publishing company set up by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and other books she has published to raise awareness of the problems faced by animals in the wild

www.bornfree.org.uk  – Read all about the Born Free Foundation set up by actress Virginia McKenna and find out where profits from the Jet Set books will be going.

http://debzhobbs-wyatt.co.uk  – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt is also a published author herself and offers editorial help to other writers in the form of critiques and mentoring schemes.

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My Mum and Linda Henry aka Shirley in Eastenders in Southend on sea Essex

Well, we all know that Southend on sea is known for its visitors from the East End, as it’s a popular beach and day trip spot, but this week the cast of ‘Eastenders’ were in town, filming clips to be aired over the August bank holiday weekend, I was told.

I saw them today (Saturday) as they filmed for most of the day along Westcliff Parade, by the Westcliff Hotel – Eastenders characters Whitney, Fatboy, Shirley and Heather were there.   It just goes to show how hard they all have to work, as they had to repeat shots/scenses time and time again.

For an update on the plot and filming, please CLICK HERE for my newest article.  It is about time  Eastenders came to Southend as many of the residents agreed.  As they left at the end of the day, I was so pleased that a very smiley Linda Henry (aka Shirley) stopped to sign a picture of herself and Cheryl Ferguson (Heather) we had in the Echo – as my Mum is a big fan.  She also posed for a lovely photo with my Mum.  Very nice too.  Unfortunately, Cheryl was in a rush so didn’t stop but the whole thing had a good atmosphere, with plenty of ‘extra’s’ happy to talk to us as well as some of the crew.  Their day can start by getting out of bed at 5am and finishing at 9pm, so the job is far from glamourous and that was easy to understand watching them today.

They will be coming back to the area to film for another couple of days, but that’s all for this week as they have been in Southend all week, staying at the Westcliff Hotel, the Roslin Hotel and others.

Some photos from the day…  please click on the photos to view them, and use your back button on your browser to come back to this page…

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