Actress and mother of two Nicky Kemp has always had an inventive mind for developing characters and stories and bringing them to life.  Some of her past work included SKY TV’s animated series The Tidings and The Seven Little Wonders of the World, as well as the theatre tour of the BBC series Animal Alphabet, all written by the wonderfully talented, BAFTA nominated, Richard Digance.
Nicky enjoyed hours of fun and exciting creative play with her children, when they were growing up, helping them utilise their inventive energy by crafting stories together.  Both children were dyslexic, so these stories captured their imagination and delighted them just as much as they  stimulated their creative writing, memory skills, confidence and comprehension.  Colin Camera was one of these stories and featured in a collection of home style books that the children turned to, time and time again.

“A healthy imagination can create special magic within a child that will certainly help them to write better stories and boost their confidence for literacy”

Author meets illustrator:
As the years progressed and the children grew up the Colin Camera stories remained shelved until a chance meeting took place, in a fancy dress shop.  Whilst hiring a donkey costume for her son and his friend, who were going to a birthday party,  Nicky overheard a conversation the shop keeper was having with a stranger.  This stranger, it turned out, was the talented illustrator, Sarah Bates.  At that time, Nicky was looking to collaborate with someone to bring Colin Camera to life, so this chance meeting was fortunate for all concerned.  A donkey costume was hired, the children had a great time at the party and Nicky and Sarah continued their conversations around the potential of working together.  The result was a series of beautifully illustrated, engaging and delightful stories that we hope you and your children will enjoy.

“Children are natural innovators with powerful minds and they have highly charged imaginations”

Sarah Bates – Illustrator:
During Sarah’s childhood, she was always doodling, making up stories and drawing the characters to match. This passion led Sarah to study Fine Art, Illustration and Graphic Design, which enabled her to pursue a career as an illustrator.
“Working on projects and bringing writers stories alive is a fantastic experience, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Nicky”.