Author Mick Manning has donned a more peaceful mode for his latest children’s illustrated book.

Where his last three novels have harvested his family’s connection with Britain, between 1939 and 1945, his latest offering focuses on peacetime jaunts around the Airedale and Wharfedale countryside.

“Nature Adventures” shows his characters learning about wildlife and the countryside, just as he did growing up in Keighley and Haworth.

Mr Manning, whose dad was head teacher at Highfield School, Keighley, until his death at 52 in 1977, produces the books in conjunction with his wife, illustrator Brita Granstrom.

He said: “I grew up in Keighley and Haworth in the 1960s and in many ways this book is a tribute to my own early experiences.

“We show that nature and adventure can happen at any time and I draw on my own experiences.

“I’d walk with my dad to the top of Rivock Edge at Riddlesden by the time I was four and that became a regular weekend adventure.

“When I moved to Haworth Primary School each classroom had a nature table adorned with seasonal finds.

“It’s as a homage to the blending of art and nature at school that I quote snatches of poetry in the book.”

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