LOCAL children’s author Antony Wootten came to Guisborough Bookshop to sign his latest books.

Antony works under the trade name of Eskdale Publishing, as he lives and works from home in Grosmont. He said: “I’ve always loved writing stories from when I was a child. My dad loved writing and I copied him and I never stopped. I do it all the time.”

He was a primary school teacher for 19 years and also paints the countryside around him in North Yorkshire.

His debut novel, A Tiger Too Many, was published in November 2011, and is a dramatic story for the nine to 12 age range. Set in London Zoo, during the Second World War, it is a tense tale of a young girl’s desperate struggle to save a beloved tiger cub.

Despite the traumas of air-raids and evacuation, and her older brother going missing in action, Jill never gives up, even when the zoo is bombed and she finds herself among the burning debris.

His new novel, Grown-ups Can’t Be Friends with Dragons, was published on December 15 and features Brian, who is always in trouble at school, and whose home life is far from peaceful. He often runs away to the cave by the sea where he has happy memories. But there is something else in the cave – a creature, lonely and confused. Together they visit another world where they find wonderful friends, but also deadly enemies.

Brian’s life is torn between the two worlds, and he begins to realise that, in the real world at least, grown-ups can’t be friends with dragons.

The third book on display was There Was An Old Fellow From Skye, which is a collection of his funny limericks for all the family to enjoy. Featuring everything from King Arthur and his knights to inter-stellar space-travel, the book is packed with tiny tales which should tickle the ribs of children and adults alike.