The Full Story
Bear Force
The Bear Force charity helps supports children’s mental health by providing simple tools that encourage them to talk about their worries from a very young age. It also helps parents, caregivers and adults working with children, to develop skills and strategies that can be applied to everyday situations that will help them successfully engage with children from the age of 3 years right through to adolescents.
Asking a child to talk about their worries directly doesn’t always work. It is often much easier to work with a child indirectly using tools, distractions, and other mediums to facilitate engagement. The charity’s introduction into the field of young children’s mental health was through its now famous book, ‘Bear Force.’
The book is based around a little bear and his adventures, and whilst it’s an enchanting story by itself it also carries subtext for caregivers to use to help engage with children about what they are really feeling. Once the adult reading the book learns how to use tools to facilitate engagement with children without asking them questions directly, the skill can be applied to everyday situations.
Illustrator
I was thrilled to illustrate this book (originally called 'AB Gets His Wings').
I have always wanted to be a children's book illustrator and my dream finally came true when Richard Bland approached me. He told me his story and the motivation behind the book and I knew it was meant for me to illustrate it.
Vision
The story follows a teddy bear in a toy factory who loves flying the toy planes at night. One day, he is chosen and sent on an adventure. At first, he is worried and scared about what will happen but after meeting pilots, going through a medical examine and making many friends, he becomes a fully fledged pilot.
Launch
For the launch of the book, I was invited to RAF Valley in Anglesey to meet all of the pilots and the the teddy, AB, himself!
It was a great day and many of the pilots and other staff members recognised themselves in the book.
Dr. Nighat
You may recognise Dr. Nighat from programmes such as BBC Breakfast and This Morning.
She volunteered to be the model for the Doctor in the story and is pleased with her depiction.
"It’s incredible- I’ve never been put into a picture before - you captured my hijab 🧕🏽 perfectly 😍"
