March 7th 2024.
It was a surreal moment as I stood in front of a sea of curious young faces at my old primary school. As a grown adult in my 30s, everything seemed much smaller compared to my memories of this place. But that wasn't the only change that had occurred since I was a student there.
As I spoke about my journey as an author, a hand shot up in the audience and I nodded to the eager little boy. "Are you really an author?" he whispered in awe. "And you went to this school?" I couldn't help but smile at how strange those words sounded to me. Growing up, reading had always been a struggle for me and I found books to be intimidating. The idea that I had now written and published one of my own was mind-blowing.
It all started when I was just seven years old and my teacher suggested to my parents that I might be dyslexic. To be honest, it was a relief to finally have an explanation for why reading was so confusing for me. Words like 'there' and 'they're' or 'they' and 'then' all seemed to blur together. My parents tried to help me with flashcards, but nothing seemed to stick. After testing, my teacher's suspicions were confirmed - I had a learning difficulty that made reading and writing a challenge.
But my primary school was incredibly supportive. My teachers came up with creative ways to help me remember spelling, like the phrase "big-elephants-can't-add-up-sums-easily" to remember how to spell 'because'. And even now in my 30s, I still use those tricks.
When I moved on to secondary school, I was pulled out of my regular classes with a few other students who also had learning difficulties for extra support. But unfortunately, not everyone was understanding of our struggles. I'll never forget the jeers of "thick!" and "stupid!" from my classmates. I quickly denied needing any extra help, not wanting to be targeted by bullies.
But in reality, not accepting the help I needed only made things harder. English and language classes were a nightmare and studying for exams took me much longer than my peers. My brain just worked in a different, more visual way. So after finishing school, I pursued graphic design in college and university before landing a job in advertising and marketing.
It wasn't until I met my partner, Roxanne, in a bar with friends that things really started to change. We connected immediately and it felt like our brains worked in the same way. She told me that she was also dyslexic, but had been open about it in school. We bonded over our struggles with reading.
Roxanne shared with me her study technique of listening to songs to help her remember information. I was amazed and grateful that audiobooks were now widely available - they were a game changer for me. And as someone who loves autocorrect, I couldn't imagine not having that feature to catch any spelling mistakes.
As we watched our two boys grow up, it was incredible to see them develop their own interests and personalities. Phoenix, in particular, loved reading and would often be found curled up with a book. Roxanne and I wanted to encourage that, but we also knew that not all children enjoyed reading in the traditional sense.
So we came up with the idea of writing our own book. At first, it seemed ridiculous - two dyslexics writing a book? But the more we talked about it, the more excited we became. We decided to make the main character a sausage roll named Greg, who would go on adventures and always narrowly escape being eaten.
We approached a publisher and they agreed to help us write the story audibly, using our ideas and voice notes. We even had our first reader, Phoenix, approve the funny parts. Our book, "Greg the Sausage Roll: Santa's Little Helper", was released in 2021 and became an instant hit, reaching number one on the UK Book Chart and becoming the top-selling picture book of the year.
Knowing that our book could be a child's first book is an incredible feeling. We want to spread the message that books can be enjoyed in many different ways, whether it's reading with family, listening to an audiobook, or acting out a story. And most importantly, never let your difficulties hold you back. Greg has shown us that anyone can be a superhero.
As we continue to write more books about Greg, we are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of World Book Day and celebrate the joy of reading. Seeing children dressed up as Greg and holding our book is an honor. We hope that our story inspires others to find their own unique way of enjoying books and never give up on their dreams, no matter their struggles.
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