Book club
“The stories just
seem to flow and I
don’t go anywhere
now without a
notebook to jot
down the ideas as
they come to me.”
Not surprisingly, the book carries
a dedication to Jean’s mum,
and she describes a strange
coincidence that has convinced
her she has her mother’s ‘blessing’
for the project.
She and Roger were on a two-
month cruise in the middle of the
Caribbean earlier this year when
she noticed that after her gym
workout, a butterfly had settled on
her water bottle and showed no
sign of flying away even when she
picked the bottle up and carried
it back to her cabin. The next day,
the butterfly was still there, happily
drinking the water.
Then there was the fact that the
day she received the first proof of
her book, would have been her
mum’s 103rd birthday.
On April 8, Jean was doing a
book signing of Granny Butterfly
at Waterstones, although by then,
she was already well into planning
book number three, and with
lots more ideas for extending
the series with further butterfly
adventures.
She laughed that artist Robert
was going to have his work cut out
keeping up with her.
Although the books are aimed
at readers aged between 5-8, the
stories are also ideal for bedtime
reading to younger children, with
their bright and cheerful themes
and pretty illustrations.
For Lancashire-born Jean, who
arrived on the Island 42 years ago,
the books are opening up a whole
new chapter of her life.
“Everybody in the family says
they can’t quite believe it” she says.
“The stories just seem to flow and
I don’t go anywhere now without
a notebook to jot down the ideas
as they come to me. Apart from
having bought myself a handbook
of butterflies just for reference, it’s
certainly not something I need to
work very hard at!”
As well as being available on
Amazon, the book is also in half
a dozen libraries in the UK, and is
also available at Ryde Bookshop
and, aptly enough, Butterflies Cafe
in Yarmouth.
www.visitilife.com
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