Lancaster angler's fishy tale for kids

Fishing fan Alan Harrison has brought out children’s book ‘Curious Colin Carp’ all about a fish whose curiosity gets the better of him.

It is 28-year-old Alan’s first book and he hopes it will lead to a series based around watery characters.

Alan, who lives in Lancaster, first went on angling trips when he was a toddler and today still fishes regularly.

The stores assistant at Aldi in Garstang found that reading to his young daughter Emilia inspired him to create his own stories which she loves to hear.

“I realised there was a gap in the market in that there was no coarse fishing stories for children,” he said.

“I believe more children need to be encouraged more to go out and explore nature rather than just be sat indoors on computer games.

“I’m trying to get my daughter into angling too. She comes with me and sits there, she’s half-interested!”

The story is aimed at 0-6 year olds and tells of how Colin spots a mysterious orange object floating in the pond and can’t resist checking it out.

His friend quickly realises it’s a fisherman’s hook and must race to save her friend before it’s too late.

Aside from Colin Carp, the other two characters in the book are his friend Marie - named after Alan’s wife - and Alan Angler, named after himself!

Curious Colin Carp is published by Austin Macauley and is available from bookshops and internet retailers.