Will Hamilton-Davies, 21, from Chew Magna in Somerset, recently graduated in Journalism, Media and Culture, where he penned the rhyming children’s book The Shrew with the Flu actually during his final year of studying under his pen-name Bill Bath. Bath is crowdfunding through Kickstarter to finance the £3,357 needed for the illustration and publication of his book.
Discussing the book, Bath said: “I never expected to write a children’s picture book. One night, I was reading my younger siblings bedtime stories and said to my step-mum, Lucy, ‘I swear I could write a story like this in an evening’ . . . I couldn’t.
"It took me several months to write a story I was truly proud of . . . all while revising for finals."
The rhyming poem centres around the adventures of a shrew who struggles to find food on the forest floor, and in doing so explores ideas including self-awareness, greed and how to respect mother nature. bath described how the book additionally addresses his fears about climate change, making it both an entertaining and educational read for children.
Image: Will Hamilton-Davies
Regarding his choice of protagonist, Bath said: “I wanted to write about a mouse; I thought, ‘what’s an animal that people haven’t really heard of that’s both lovable and adorable?’”
He needs to hit his £3,357 goal on Kickstarter to publish the book
Bath has secured sponsorship from eco-friendly guerrilla gardening company Kabloom and illustrator Jennifer Davison to bring his character to life, but needs to hit his goal of £3,357 on Kickstarter to proceed. His campaign will run from Tuesday 5 November 5 to Sunday 15 December. Find out more here.
