Alex

I love helping my Mummy and Daddy. Sometimes, I help with the washing up or sweeping crumbs from the floor, and sometimes I help to hang the washing on the line outside. Anna is so funny and she’s always trumping. We have so much fun together, although she sometimes snatches things from me when I’m using them. I often help Anna, but she needs to learn to do things by herself. My favourite sports are football and basketball, and I’m in both teams at school. I love beating Grandpa at football, I won 10 – 0 once. I also enjoy building things with Lego, and drawing and colouring in, and reading. I can play on my computer, but only for a short time each day. I’m really good at literacy and numeracy and my favourite subjects at school are Maths and English. I love school and meeting my friends there. My teacher is funny. I used to go to Beavers, but I’m too old now, so I go to Cub Scouts. I also go to football practice every week. Sometimes, Mummy and Daddy take Anna and me to the cinema, or we go out for a meal. We also go to see animals and birds in zoos, or go to a museum. I’m starting to ride my bike now and sometimes I go for rides with Daddy or Grandpa. I’m going to work hard like my daddy when I grow up, but Auntie Lucy doesn’t want me to grow up yet.  Auntie Lucy is beautiful and when we go out with her and do things we sometimes can’t tell Mummy or Daddy because it’s our secret. We can’t even tell you.

Anna

Hello, I’m Anna and I often try to get my own way. Alex is clever and he sometimes helps me when I copy him. I love my brother even though I sometimes take things from him.
I’m always funny and making people laugh. I love going to nursery school and can’t wait to go to proper school. I taught myself to come out of nappies. I like playing with Alex’s cars and like playing with Lego too. I love my Minnie Mouse dolls and get lots of Minnie Mouse clothes. I’ve got a Minnie Mouse cover on my bed. I love my baby dolls and like pushing them in their buggy. I’ve got a new umbrella. I like playing with my little kitchen and making a cup of tea for everyone.
When Grandpa comes round he pushes me on the swing and I go really high.
I’m good at doing puzzles and I’m trying to learn to write and draw like my brother.
Grandma always sings nursery rhymes to us. Mummy is beautiful and helps us all the time. She tells me off sometimes, but she always tells me why. I love Daddy, he’s the best daddy in the world. And we both love Freddie, our dog, he’s so funny.  

Learn with Alex and Anna books are charming every-day stories for children. Each story is written around a basis of positive family and personal values.

With a mix of fact and fiction the stories encompass topics such as how trees grow, how aeroplanes fly, the importance of honeybees and how going to school is neccessary. Even subjects such as how the brain develops, how to be safe inside and outside of the home, and the importance of adding up are tackled.

In these stories, Alex and Anna are young children. Being young, they are at the stage when they soak everything up around them. Like all young children, they always ask the question why?

With the aid of significant people helping them on their life’s journey, Alex and Anna are duly taught educational subjects whilst learning important life skills in a fun and friendly way.

At the end of each story, there are a number of questions for your child to answer. By answering the questions, the learning and understanding of the story’s subject will be reinforced. Some books may also have instructions for your child to carry out an experiment. This could be a recipe to bake cupcakes, an experiment to understand the water cycle, or asking them to create their own fire drill for the home. These experiments will reinforce the child’s learning by doing.

Alex and Anna hope that through these stories your child will have just as much fun learning as they did whilst growing up. They also hope that your child will be able to discover their own life’s journey.

Educational books for children

It’s funny how one event can become the catalyst to change your life. This was the case in 2010 when that unpronounceable Icelandic volcano erupted, throwing airlines and air travel into disarray. I was in England visiting my family and couldn’t return to Spain. What had seemed like a slight inconvenience, turned out to be one of the most important periods of my whole life.

Spending extra quality time with my grandson, Ashley, the seeds of ‘Learn with Alex and Anna’ were sown. Telling him countless stories, I was rewarded each time with: “That was a great story, Granddad”. From this point, my stories for children began.

I wrote a few stories with Ashley as the main character, later adding my granddaughter, Lilly, when she was born. People who then read the stories encouraged me to consider publishing them.

Watching some parents interact with their children, I realised that some adults needed educating just as much as some children. So, I changed the ethos of the series and Learn with Alex and Anna, educational stories for children, began to take form.

Living in Spain at the time, I joined Wordplay Writers, engaged an editor, taught myself to draw, designed the book, learnt how to format, then independently published. Hey presto, some years later 15 books have been published.

The Learn with Alex and Anna series of stories are essentially educational, and through them your child will discover lots of new and interesting facts, concepts and information. Each story is written around a basis of positive family and personal values. They are not gender specific, and offer challenging words to enable children to stretch their vocabulary.

Written for children six years plus, they encourage grownups to read to their children, to learn things together. As a child’s reading age improves they can read the stories themselves. Older people with learning difficulties and a young reading age can also benefit from these books.

Any child has a fantastic future ahead of them; all they need is a little support from the most important person in their life … YOU!

My grandchildren Ashley, Lilly and Emily, hope that through their “Learn with Alex and Anna” stories, your child will have just as much fun learning as they still do while growing up.

When Peter started his life his mother just happened to be with him at the time. Born in Ipswich, Suffolk he grew up amid a dysfunctional family. Peter attended state school and became a respected scholar and athlete competing at county level in football, basketball and athletics. He left school with ‘O’ level and GCE qualifications. Further education awarded him with ‘A’ levels.

He then joined the Suffolk Constabulary and during his service learnt many skills and gained further educational qualifications. He competed in sports at international level. His policing career brought him into contact with people from across the whole spectrum of life, from those who lived in poverty to those who lived a life of prosperity. He met people who had little respect and people who had very few issues. He was promoted to sergeant and after qualifying with a National Police Trainers’ Certificate and Certificate of Education he became a police trainer. He further qualified with a Certificate and Diploma in counselling with the London School of Counselling Skills and Therapy.

After retirement, Peter worked for a charity helping people to withdraw from drug and alcohol abuse, before moving to Spain where he became a music producer (visionxvmg) and then an author.

Peter is a member of Wordplay Writers, Costa Blanca Spain. Peter is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, (SCBWI), the international professional organisation for writers and illustrators of children’s literature.

Peter is divorced with two wonderful adult children; a daughter and son. Peter’s daughter and her partner have given him a wonderful granddaughter. Peter’s son and wife have given him a magnificent grandson and granddaughter.

Peter spends his time between England and Spain, Norway and Sweden and lives for his family and children. He believes in strong family and friend relationships, with good values and respect for other people no matter what their particular circumstances.

‘You’ve been given a gift; it’ll never fail you. You can fail it – but not the other way around.’

Your children have the ability to become whoever or whatever they want to be. They just need a little help and guidance along the way; it matters to them. You matter to them.

The inspiration for writing this series of children’s stories came from reading to both of my children when they were young, and now to my grandchildren as well. I have found this to be one of the most pleasurable experiences, not just in my life, but in theirs too. Reading has had an enormous impact on all of us.

I knew from the very second they were born that I was one of the most important and influential people in their life. I noticed they were sensitive to my facial expressions, my tone of voice, my gestures and my body language. I realised that my children, and grandchildren, were looking, listening and learning from me, and so what I said or did had a real impact on them.

Children benefit from the warm and caring attention of their parents and other significant people around them. Smiling, showing interest, hugging and cuddling makes them feel special, important and wanted. Children look to others for support and reassurance so they can develop feelings of being safe and secure.

This foundation enables them to become self-assured, to interact with others in a positive and meaningful way and to understand between right and wrong. It gives them a healthy self-image and gives them confidence as a learner. This learning sets them up on the path of life.

Any child has a fantastic future ahead of them; all they need is a little support from the most important person in their life.

YOU!