The world premiere of the audio version of a popular children’s book will take place in West Cumbria.
Cult British music legend John Otway is the voice behind The Bee Polisher, written by Helen Gerrard and William B Taylor.
Husband-and-wife Helen, 54, and William, 43, who now live in Derbyshire, said they were excited to return to the area – which is where they met in 2010.
The Bee Polisher is the story of how a simple misunderstanding can change life dramatically – and how important bees are to nature.
It will be heard for the first time at an event at Moorforge, near Gilcrux, later this month.
William said: “Helen had a dream in which John Otway was reading our book, so we posted him a copy and amazingly, without us even asking him to, John recorded the first chapter and sent us the MP3!”
John has had hits with Really Free and Bunsen Burner, has appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops.
Helen added: “We both thought his voice was perfect for our narrator – it was so full of life, humour and joy. Will quickly created an audio script, sent it straight back to John and it just grew from there.
“We were supported by a cast of friends, fellow musicians and family members with little (zero) experience of audiobooks there were several moments when the ultimate completion of this project felt worryingly far away and unreachable.
“However – almost poetically – every setback and obstacle served only to lead down different avenues to bigger and better outcomes nobody could have dreamed of way back at the beginning.
“Recorded both at home and remotely, the audiobook has been a labour of love for us as authors and is a credit to everybody who helped in its creation.”
The idea for the fairy story popped into Helen’s head and she showed her initial story to William, who developed it further. Helen created the illustrations.
It has been dedicated to Cumbrian legend Alan Whittaker – known as Wizardmarra.
Helen said: “He provided his expert storyteller’s advice, opinions and support with the initial manuscript. He was over the moon when we told him the manuscript had been accepted for publication, but sadly he passed away shortly before the book made it to print.”
The Bee Polisher, first published in 2019, is being relaunched as an ebook, large print edition with extra illustrations and an audiobook.
They have been invited to Moorforge as part of its week-long Book Flood event – from October 22 to October 30 – based on the Icelandic tradition of giving books as presents on Christmas Eve.
On Tuesday, October 25, the pair will be giving a talk for children at 11am and a talk about their book and the creation of the audiobook at 4pm.
At 6pm, the audiobook will be played for the first time, with a short question-and-answer session afterwards.
