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Books By Colleen Laybourne-Smith - Author

"I was born and brought up in South London but now live in Shrivenham where I moved to with my husband two years ago and we love it here! I previously worked in the beauty business, mostly as a manager in London, for 24 years and was finally able to concentrate on my dream of writing.

"My story-telling started as a child. I was an only child until I was 15, when my brother was born, closely followed by my sister when I was 19, so spent much of my childhood in my imagination. I used to entertain local children with my made-up stories through the fence at end of my garden where they would gather! I also won writing competitions at secondary school but then my story-telling path began to alter.

"Another passion of mine was singing. As I reached my early twenties I started to write lyrics for a band I was with at the time and this song-writing, written in rhyming verse, carried on until just the words took over and I wrote poetry in my thirties. Finally, my love of poetry, story-telling and children came together in my book.

"The Tales of Mr and Mrs Bartholomew Fox, my first book, has a traditional flavour, along with a sprinkling of magic. As a child I always had a book as my constant companion from Hans Christian Andersen to C.S. Lewis and I wanted my stories to also be a place of peace and magic. Family values, love, friendship and respect are interwoven throughout but the greatest message is love.

"It is a collection of 4 stories with 14 illustrations about a fox family, the two parents and their 3 children and is set in a magical wood. The stories revolve around them, their woodland friends and the adventures they share. The stories are written in rhyming verse which I feel is a great introduction into poetry for young children.

"..I hope you get a chance to read my book and I know that adults will love it as much as children, after all, we are all still children at heart!"

Biography from focusonfaringdon.co.uk