Sunderland man releases first children’s e-book to raise money for Children’s Cancer North

National World - LocalTV

And now, is it possible to create a story book that not only teaches children how to read, but also raises money for charity? Let’s take a look at how one man from the North East managed to do just that. That’s coming up.

Transcript

00:00 It was about two in the morning and I couldn't get back to sleep because I was anxious about

00:07 the research I was doing in the lab at the time, which was on children's cancer chemotherapy.

00:13 And I was anxious about the charities because we were constantly being informed that they

00:16 weren't raising as much money because the shops were shut.

00:19 And I was also anxious because I'm struggling to teach my son how to read because I'm not

00:23 a teacher.

00:24 Right.

00:25 And I suddenly had this idea that maybe I could make something which would do all of

00:29 the, all three things.

00:30 I couldn't get to sleep.

00:31 And I woke up and I said to my wife, I've had this idea to do this thing.

00:34 And she was like, that's not the worst idea you've ever had.

00:37 For a lot of us, lockdown gave us the opportunity to spend time learning TikTok dances and how

00:42 to bake banana bread.

00:43 But for one Sunderland-based individual, it saw the seed of an idea lead to the publication

00:48 of his first children's book.

00:50 In light of National Storytelling Week, let's take a look at the story behind The Marshmallow

00:53 Collector.

00:55 And we would just play different ideas until it was like, well, actually, this one seems

00:59 to stick.

01:00 He seems to really like this one.

01:01 So let's make it that we end up, you know, with some candy floss trees or something like

01:04 that.

01:05 And that was popular.

01:06 Oh, well, let's get some candy floss trees.

01:09 Okay.

01:10 So candy floss trees, that might be popular.

01:11 Or, you know, we said we're surfing down a rainbow after a rainstorm or something like

01:14 that.

01:15 So at the time I was working at the university in a lab job where I was helping children

01:21 get the right dose of chemotherapy.

01:24 And yes, the children, they spend a lot.

01:28 I know because we were receiving samples from the patients to check their chemotherapy levels,

01:32 that they sit for long periods of time waiting for chemo.

01:35 And it's really boring.

01:37 You know, and if you're strapped into a bed or you're on a trolley getting your chemo,

01:44 there's no scope for adventure.

01:47 And I wanted to make something that ideally children in a hospital could read and have

01:52 a bit of fun, put a smile on their face and know that the books that they were reading

01:57 were helping other children who were suffering from cancer as well.

02:01 The Marshmallow Collector allows children to create their own adventure by choosing

02:05 their own story character and choosing how their tale develops.

02:09 The reading level of the book can be set from easy to hard.

02:12 Chris Peacock, Chair of Children's Cancer North, said donations from the sale of this

02:17 e-book to Children's Cancer North helps our charity continue to fund revolutionary research

02:22 and raise awareness of the impact of childhood cancer on children and young people.

02:27 It's a combination approach of a bit of repetition and a bit of adventure.

02:32 But also because the book is in four different levels of difficulty, what I found when I

02:37 tested out with children was often they would try the hardest level and there'd be some

02:42 words that they didn't understand.

02:44 But if they dropped down a level, the message is the same.

02:47 And often it's just a simplified version of the same word.

02:49 So they can actually learn a new word by working out what the meaning of it is within a sentence.

02:55 So on the website, the children can vote which of the stories they like the look of the most

03:01 and then that's the one I'll write next.

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