Lancaster teacher and artist release children's book

A teacher and an artist have joined forces to release a children's book all about a little girl's search for her Daddy's hug.
Artist Tania Sneesby and teacher Tim Milner have joined forces for the new book Wheres My Hug?Artist Tania Sneesby and teacher Tim Milner have joined forces for the new book Wheres My Hug?
Artist Tania Sneesby and teacher Tim Milner have joined forces for the new book Wheres My Hug?

Tim Milner and Tania Sneesby‘s book is called ‘Where’s My Hug?’ which Tim originally wrote for his own daughter.

The heartwarming tale, aimed at 0-6 year olds, is about a little girl called Martha – named after Tim’s five-year-old girl – who goes on a quest to find a hug when her Daddy asks for one, and ventures into her house to look for it.

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“I wrote this story because it was one of those things churning around in my head,” said Tim, who teaches science at Our Lady’s Catholic College in Lancaster.

“Martha was three and a half at the time.

“I showed it to a couple of friends and they thought it had legs. I was introduced to Tania through the Arteria shop in Lancaster and then we got our heads together.”

Tim and Tania held a ‘Kickstarter’ online funding campaign to finance the project, raising almost £3,000.

“This was enough to make sure it was published locally,” said Tim.

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“Martha has seen some of the proofs of the book and she loves it.”

Tania’s hand-crafted artwork using fabric and a needle and thread to create the characters of Martha, Daddy and their snooty cat, are a feature of ‘Where’s My Hug?

The characters were then posed, photographed and photoshopped into the background image to create a unique 2D/3D mix of illustrations for the book.

Tania and Tim also plan to send copies of the book to primary schools all around the country, to add to their school library and help encourage youngsters to read.

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When asked how it feels to be a published children’s author, Tim said: “I don’t think I’m quite at the level of Julia Donaldson and The Gruffalo yet!

“We do have a few more books in the pipeline for 2018.

“But our main message is we want to show young people that you don’t have to be a professional author or anybody special, anybody can write a book.

“You just need to put pen to paper and get your stories down.”

‘Where’s My Hug?’ will be officially launched at Arteria on Brock Street on Wednesday, November 15 between 4pm and 6pm.

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Tim and Tania will be there to talk about the book and sign copies and everyone is welcome to drop in and raise a glass with them.

The book, printed by Stramondgate Press in Kendal, will be exclusively available to buy from Arteria until Christmas and then will be available from other stockists too.

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