The Burpee Bears: From bestselling author Joe Wicks, comes this glorious picture book, packed with fitness tips, exercises and healthy recipes for kids 3+

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Howard, who has lived in Belfast for the past 22 years, is delighted to see how his approach is already breaking down barriers and impacting upon those children with learning difficulties, including dyslexia. As well as publishing his own young fiction and picture books, most recently 1, 2, BOO!, Howard has collaborated with some of the greats of children's literature including Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen, Anne Fine, Trish Cooke, Martin Waddell and John Boyne. The message with children always has to be: “Do your best. If you can’t do it perfectly, have a try.” Don’t judge yourself. Don’t compare yourself. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water There are days when it wears me down, not so much my posts as messages from people who are struggling. I try to reply. I’m constantly giving out energy. But I can put my phone away. The first few hours I’ll miss it, but as each hour passes I feel lighter: I’m not in demand, no one can reach me… it’s a nice feeling. I explain to them how to become a detective, looking for clues and descriptive words," says Howard.

I love being playful. Exercise doesn’t have to be serious. But it was very tiring making the series because of Covid. I had to film with each child separately because of social distancing rules. Howard, who illustrated an abridged edition of Jill Tomlinson's story in 2001, is the current Northern Ireland Children's Writing Fellow and he is "thoroughly enjoying" getting out and about inspiring children with their creative writing and reading. In the past there were set rules that you read picture books to such an age, then you read chapter books and then you read the novels," he says. Joe's message is about having children being active and taking care of their mental health and I wanted to reflect the bears vitality, energy and liveliness using bright colours," he explains.Earlier this year the Duchess of Cambridge chose to read the book on CBeebies Bedtime Stories to mark Children's Mental Health Week. In these uncertain times that we are living, books have the power to help support and empower children and assist them in building empathy and understanding of this crazy world.

Then I moved onto pastel pencils and finally I've started working digitally. But no matter what the medium, it always starts with finding the characters and the story." The star has now released his first ever picture book, The Burpee Bears, and dropped in to Kirkhill Primary to do a burpee bear workout with the children, a special reading of the book and also a Q&A session.This is just one of the many "random and creative" scenarios that award-winning author and illustrator Paul Howard has received from 10 and 11-year-olds during workshops when he challenged them to think about what Plop, the little barn owl, in the beloved children's book The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark would be doing now. Children's books now, in terms of their variety of topics and representation of minorities, are much more balanced. That's really important because all children need to see themselves reflected in books." I went to 12 schools all over the country, which was amazing." he said. "I was sort-of running in there, doing a little mini kind-of 'P.E. with Joe' workout, followed by a reading of the book and it was wonderful. I met so many amazing kids and teachers that are doing wonderful things in their schools. Being an illustrator is a very solitary profession and sometimes you forget the effect of what you are doing has on people.

During his two-year fellowship, Howard is committed to "promoting visual literacy as an alternative, accessible gateway for students and children of all literacy levels to engage in, building enough confidence in them to read and create their own stories". This weekend he joins creative writing charity Fighting Words NI in hosting a series of events in Belfast's Crescent's Arts Centre as part of the Belfast Book Festival. The Fellowship was created as part of Queen's University and the Arts Council's joint 10-year Seamus Heaney Legacy project supported by Atlantic Philanthropies.I had a really unhealthy diet. My mum had me at 19 and didn’t know how to cook. Junk food was all she knew. She used to go to Iceland where there were lots of buy-one-get-one-free offers. I got into cooking at university. I’m still very greedy. I love chocolate and ice-cream. I eat way more than any average person, but because I exercise five to six days a week I get away with it. I reverse the process, with the illustrations and characters first and then let the children choose if they want to end the story with a written sentence, an illustration or both. Teachers say how enthused children are with that approach. Visual literacy is inclusive and embraces people of all abilities. Those with learning difficulties may have trouble with words - but it's not to say they can't tell a narrative. The curriculum doesn't cater for these kids and it's an eye opener for a lot of children and teachers." French is the author of more than 300 books and has beenawarded an MBE for her services to literature, literacy, illustration and the arts. She has also received the Scottish Book Trust’s outstanding achievement award and isthe co-founder of the critically acclaimed Picture Hooks scheme to help emerging art graduates find their feet in the world of book illustration. Going out on my motorbike (a Triumph Bobber). Or taking the kids to Richmond Park or Virginia Water Lake. My garden is a little sanctuary. I’ve got an ice machine, a metal bath I fill from the hose and then I throw in lots of ice. I’ll lie in there for four or five minutes and it’s amazing. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water.

While he has seen many technological changes in his craft, the essence of his job remains the same. Speaking to panelists Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, Carol McGiffin and Linda Robson, the 36-year-old exercise guru said: "Essentially it's a book about all the things that I believe in around exercise and movement and improving your mental health, and also coming together as a family - cooking together and exercising and going on an adventure. As I was growing up I remember feeling short-changed when I moved onto the more difficult books with no illustrations. The Burpee Bears is the first in a series of books which chart the adventures of a bear family, with each book featuring a fun and positive story with added exercises and recipes - perfect for families to share and enjoy together.He also welcomes the trend of having more illustrations contained within books aimed at the progressing and older reader, including the lavishly illustrated versions of Harry Potter. With the goal of eating more while exercising less, this book aims to provide clear goals when it comes to a more sustainable diet plan. Offering clear and simple to follow recipes that can be made in fifteen minutes or less, the book lays out each recipe with clear and concise instructions. With over a hundred recipes included, they all have the same goal of achieving a more healthy body weight, while also working out. Combining food and exercise, the book shows how to balance the two within a busy daily schedule, getting the most from both. Children can listen to him read some of his best-loved books or take part in illustration and story workshops. On Saturday June 11 over-16s can join Howard and some of his fellow illustrator friends in a 'draw-off' as they battle it out to create characters and stories from the cues provided by the audience. His illustrations for Burpee Bears were all done digitally using an iPad, over the space of just six weeks. His books have also been well-received, as he often looks at workable weight-loss diet plans that are easy to manage. Ranging from vegetarian diet plans to food for children, he’s created a multitude of different plans, always sustainable and adapting to the needs of the individual. Over time this has seen him become a permanent fixture on the bookshelves of many, allowing him to become hugely popular worldwide. With a lot more to come still, he definitely isn’t finishing any time soon either, as his career carries on growing from strength-to-strength.