Book club
Vegetables for Tea and Milk for Me
As a farmer , a food-lover and a mum , Caroline Knox has plenty of reasons to be interested in healthy eating and quality produce . The birth of her son in 2003 set her wondering if he would grow up to be a faddy eater , and as she sat feeding him , she put pen to paper and wrote the story of ‘ Vegetables for Tea and Milk for Me ’, which was recently published for 3-7 year-olds . Caroline , who has been NFU Chairperson for the Island for six years , says she was inspired by the promotional work done across the industry to encourage people to Buy British , understand where their food came from and to enjoy it . “ I have spent time in schools and at the County Show talking to the public about food and farming so , I knew there was a market for my story ” she says .
“ In 2012 when we had the first milk crisis , I added milk to the story to support the industry , and then we had the Olympics so I brought in more sport ”. Caroline started drawing tentatively , and then took an evening class in InDesign , the desktop publishing program . Her perseverence has finally been rewarded and 13 years after the initial inspiration , she was delighted to see her book roll off the press . “ I hope people will read the book to their kids to help them think about the link between healthy eating and fitness , as well as the source of their food ” she says . “ In the back of the book there are links to lots of educational resources aimed at kids so , there are useful references for further study as kids get older ”. She added that support for the book on the Island has been tremendous , with an everincreasing number of outlets stocking it . You can check out Sandwich Books on FB and Twitter for a list of stockists .
Made on the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight can boast an unusually full history of automotive , marine and aviation industries . In his new book , Isle of Wight resident David L . Williams shows the rich diversity and , often , international importance of the ships , boats , rockets , seaplanes , hovercraft and much , much more that have emanated from this beautiful and industrious island . Each chapter looks at a different industry in detail from pre-Victorian origins to the present-day and considers the main companies ( including White ’ s , Saunders-Roe / British
Hovercraft Corporation / Westland Aerospace / GKN , Britten-Norman ) and their products . The book features plentiful photographs and is a fantastic sourcebook of information for local residents and anybody interested in industrial , maritime , aviation and transport heritage .
The vackie heroes
The vackie heroes is a new book from Island author John Lea , a children ’ s tale about evacuees John and Grace . Like many children in 1941 , John and his sister Grace were sent from their home in Wimbledon to Ilfracombe to escape the expected bombing in the London area by Hitler ’ s Luftwaffe . They didn ’ t want to leave their home or their mother . John and Grace ’ s father had joined the army and was fighting in France . The train journey to their new home was long and arduous . They had no idea what they would find when they arrived . Luckily , they were taken in by kindly Mr and Mrs Jones , who had run a guest house in Ilfracombe . There were three other girls with them and they soon made friends among themselves and with the local children , who insisted that the evacuees be known as Vackies . School took place in a Methodist hall , but because there were so many evacuees and few teachers they could only be taught for half a day . This gave the evacuees lots of scope to find adventure . Within a week or so John and Grace had found more than they had bargained for . The excitement changed their whole view of their new surroundings and the people of Ilfracombe . The story is based on the author ’ s memories of his time as an evacuee , but the events are complete fiction . This children ’ s adventure story is available from The Ryde Bookshop , online , or from A H Stockwell Ltd , Ilfracombe , 01271 862557 . www . visitilife . com 49