Wakefield grandma and grandson pen their first book together

Retired Wakefield lecturer Anita Fatchett and her grandson Harry worked together on crafting the first edition of Mr Oakes’s Garden.

The book deals with the adventures of a child and the creatures he encounters at the bottom of a garden.

The creatures have their own experiences, joys and troubles that reflect the kinds of things children might encounter in their own lives.

Anita said: “It came from the early days of bedtime stories with me as a grandma making up stories to tell.

“I could create stories that related to things in life.

“From there Harry said ‘Grandma these stories are good’.”

After that the pair would work together and Harry would offer his judgement on what worked and what didn’t.

“It was a role reversal – he would ‘red pen’ it like being at school but the child doing it to me. He would tell me ‘that doesn’t work’ or ‘that isn’t nice’ but it was good because that was the point – it was a cross-generational approach.

“Harry has worked closely with me over the past two years and ensured all the stories meet the needs and understanding of young children.

“The learning curve for us both has been steep, but certainly worthwhile and enjoyable.”

Anita said a few copies of the book were passed on to Darling Reads on High Street in Horbury so anyone looking to kill two birds with one stone in supporting local authors and a local business should look no further.

The sequel to the book is set to come out in February.

Anita used to lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University and Harry, 14, is a pupil at Silcoates School having started out at Horbury Primary School.

The book is also available at Waterstones and online at Amazon.