Jamie and Rebekah Vardy have inked an agreement to launch their first range of children’s illustrated storybooks, with the debut title going on sale in time for World Book Day 2022.
Brokered by London Entertainment in partnership with the UK’s leading publisher in children’s annuals, Little Brother Books (LBB), the deal sees the family-focused couple embarking on a project close to their hearts. The Vardys have six children between them, ranging in age between two and 16, and both Jamie and Rebekah believe passionately in encouraging their children to be themselves and believe in their abilities.
Filled with colourful illustrations, the Vardy’s range of storybooks will be aimed at children aged three and up. Their first release, which will retail for £6.99, is titled ‘Cedric, the Little Sloth with a Big Dream’. The Be Yourself Guardians (B.U.G.) are the central characters in each book, with every title having a different storyline and never-ending B.U.G. support.
In this first book we meet Cedric, a loveable sloth with a passion for football and bags of enthusiasm. Cedric dreams of joining his favourite football team, the ‘Rainforest Rovers’, but has been told that sloths are too slow and too sleepy to be good footballers. The Be Yourself Guardians step in to boost Cedric’s confidence and remind him that he can follow his dream and join the team.
Jamie and Rebekah were delighted to have to the chance to collaborate on the project. They commented: “Working on this book together has been a dream for us. We aren’t writers but we are experienced parents, and we know which messages we care most about instilling into our children; it isn’t about having to be the best or winning at everything, but is about trying your hardest, being happy and going after your dreams. We kept going over the list of topics that we felt passionate about, and we just kept coming back to the same one: just be yourself. We want children and their parents or guardians to realise that with the right words of encouragement and positive thoughts, they can achieve anything that they want to. It also means being whoever and whatever you want to be.
“Our dream is for the Be Yourself Guardians (B.U.G.s) to become identifiable characters that boost children’s confidence, ease their anxieties and help them to believe in themselves through these storybooks. LBB put us together with an amazing writer and illustrator to guide us through this process. We’ve shown the drafts and sketches to our children throughout, so it’s been a real family affair and we hope that readers love the first book as much as our family does.”
Matthew Reynolds, MD of Little Brother Books, adds: “It’s been a pleasure working on this new title and format with Jamie and Rebekah Vardy, and our editorial team. With our experience of current kids’ trends and the important message the B.U.G. team are sharing with kids and parents, we are certain this first book will be loved by children but trusted and respected by parents. We can’t wait to see it hitting bookshelves from February 2022.”
