Falkirk mum’s debut book helps to explains COVID and lockdown to children

A young Falkirk mum-of-two has published her first book helping parents explain lockdown and COVID to their children
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Ashley Lees,29, wanted to explain the pandemic and the international lockdown retrospectively.

The children's book called ‘The year We Stayed At Home’, published last month, and it features a ‘memory’ section where children are encouraged to write down their memories, and stick in family photos.

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Ashley self-published her book while on maternity leave with her second child, but normally works as a sales executive in the motor trade.

Ashley Lees launches her new bookAshley Lees launches her new book
Ashley Lees launches her new book

She was inspired while night-feeding her new-born, and couldn’t get back to sleep - and wrote the first draft all in one night.

But it took a few more months for her to draw the illustrations and get the book published.

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Ashley said: “I wanted to publish the book as I wanted to show my kids that if you want to achieve something you can.

Ashley's new bookAshley's new book
Ashley's new book
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“I’m shocked and a bit overwhelmed to see all the positive feedback I’m getting from strangers!

“I did a Q&A about the book at my seven year-old’s school, and they were asking so many questions - and I was happy to answer them.

“I got the idea for the book in the first place to explain lockdown to my son, who lived through it but never fully understood it - so it was good to see the book itself was answering questions for his class!”

Ashley’s book is available to buy online at Waterstones and The Book Depository.

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It will soon be available to buy in-store at the Waterstones on Falkirk High Street.

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