It is now: all systems go!
The new edition is now available from good bookshops - high street and online.
For example I spotted this mention today: Waterstones
As always, I do encourage you to buy from your local bookshop and help keep local booksellers in business.
So I am going to be busy now - marketing the book - including the MK LitFest Indie Book Fair on 26 September as it happens - come and join me there. (Lots of other amazing books available too!)
As regular readers know, it was after a Mayoral visit to open a new school library a few years ago, that I came away with the idea to write a fun children’s story about a Town Mayor. And that was it. I just wanted to inform young people and through them, their parents/carers, about local councils and what they do.
From that initial idea and now having read the story to hundreds of children (and others), my book has become something more for me.
Local communities face many challenges including social isolation, housing growth without sufficient infrastructures, high street decay and so forth. Local councils (combined with many voluntary organisations) are doing their best to meet and mitigate these pressures on family and community life.
For all this to happen, democracy needs to be thriving. And it needs to thrive with local engagement, listening, humanity and hope.
The new edition of my book will be out soon in a chunkier format with added short stories about kindness, inclusion and ambition. And they are all about hope… Hope for a better world and hope for more people involved in local democracy and community action.
Local parish and town councils probably can’t change the world, but they can make their bits of it better.
Please be on the look out for
“The Mayor’s Bear, and Other Stories of Hope”
... coming soon to a library, bookshop and shelf near you!
#TheMayorsBearHopes / #TheMayorsBear / #LocalPolitics / #TownCouncils / #ParishCouncils / #LocalCouncils
I am moving rapidly towards the new edition of the book which will be chunkier and have three added short stories and a page of teacher notes to encourage schools to talk about the messages of the book. As part of the build up to this, I had fun writing a fourth short story which is exclusively published below. I hope you enjoy it!
Roxie walked out one summer morning
It was a rare day indeed. Roxie sat in her favourite armchair in the kitchen and pondered on the day ahead. She had a whole day herself and she was contemplating what to do, if anything.
A new IT system was being installed at work so the shop was shut and all the staff had all been given the day off. Her children were on some summer term ‘field trips’ which were supposedly educational but Roxie thought were in fact really all about fun.
“I suppose fun is educational, though,” she said out loud to herself. Her youngest two were off to the splash park in Maynard Dreams as some people called the nearby city, perhaps ironically, or perhaps not. And then they had play dates with friends after the school trip. Whilst her two oldest were visiting the City Museum followed a trip to the small but nausea inducing theme park not far away. Roxie still wondered why young people liked to get dizzy on these rides.
So, she had until early evening, a whole day to herself…
And it was hot. Very hot. Almost too hot.
“What should I do, Strumbold?” she said to favourite teddy bear sitting on the kitchen table opposite her. (She hadn't had a chance to put him back into the Town Council chamber after a primary school event she went to a few days previous.)
“What makes you feel great?” said Strumbold.
“Thanks for the question. I think a good walk, while it is still fairly cool, might be just what I need. Do you want to come along?” Roxie replied.
Strumbold declined, preferring to stay in Roxie’s relatively shaded kitchen.
Roxie set off for the Old Track Walk. She smiled to herself when she got there, reflecting on a conversation she had overheard the other day between two teenage girls.
“I love imagining the trains that used to go up and down here,” one said.
“Really? Trains?” had said the other
“Yes! That is why it is called the Old Track. I worry about you sometimes!” replied the first girl.
As usual this prompted Roxie to think about how her Town Council could help everyone in the town to know about all the wonderful corners and nooks to explore in Netherneither End. And all the events going on too! Even with all the noticeboards, newsletters and social media posting, people still complained they were not aware of things coming up in the calendar…
As she arrived at the Old Track Walk, she breathed out with calm relaxation and breathed in the woody aromas trickling down from the trees. She delighted in the dappled sunlit patterns on the path ahead of her and stopped for a moment to watch a nervous squirrel climb a nearby treetrunk. She listened to the woodland creaking around her, pierced with birdsong. She knew at least ten species of birds inhabited these woods. There was both sound and silence surrounding her. She found a bench to sit down for a while and just float and swim in the space reaching out in every direction from her.
All this made her feel great. Strumbold was right to ask her that question.
A few people passed by, some offering a greeting or responding to hers. Of course there were some whose ears were filled with plastic who didn’t hear her say “good morning”. She felt sad that they were missing out on the sounds of silence and nature in this lovely place.
Roxie closed her eyes to better listen but then almost fell asleep. She decided to move on and see what new treasures she might discover, even though she knew this walk well. And then suddenly, another squirrel darted across her path and a pheasant ran in the opposite direction. ‘How odd’ she thought, for no particular reason except the movements of both animals seemed oddly furtive.
She walked on until she came to a spot with another bench. This one had a view across the town and she spent some time there musing on what might draw more people to this walk and the lovely places along its way.
And then Roxie recalled a conversation she’d had with a sister Sooshalla a couple of weeks back. She had just returned from a tour of Northern Ireland. Soosh had talked excitedly about the Giant’s Causeway, a whiskey distillery and generally the gorgeous beauty of the place. She’d walked the peace bridge in Derry and around much of the walls surrounding the city. But the thing that really charmed Roxie’s sister was the hand cranked poetry jukebox.
It was about the size of a postbox with a number of buttons, a small loudspeaker and handle to turn around. The idea being that a passer-by could generate enough electricity for the machine to play a recording of a poem, read by the poet themselves. Soosh loved this as she was a great believer in the power of poetry to help us appreciate our world and capture, like a sort of word photograph, a small moment in time, forever.
Being Mayor, Roxie spent much of her time thinking about how to make her town an even more joyful place in which to live, work, study and play. She mulled more on Soosh’s story and thought ‘maybe this is an idea for this Walk too’. And her mind went scurrying along thinking about how to persuade her councillor colleagues of this and where to get the money from and so forth…
A couple of hours later, Roxie returned to her kitchen and spoke with Strumbold about her idea. “That sounds just perfect,” said Strumbold “perhaps you could add a poem to the new column…?”
“Oh,” said Roxie “maybe, but this is not about me! There are some great poets living locally that we could ask. Poems about our town would be fantastic. And perhaps we could persuade a famous poet or two to add their poems as well!”
Later on that evening, after her children had told her all about their days and the fun they had had, Roxie told them about her idea. They were excited too and suggested having a competition involving everyone, young and old. They thought it would be great to encourage more poetry in their schools.
Roxie retired to her favourite chair and wrote a poem a while later. She had been inspired by her son Samalan, to have a go at writing poetry too. To her own surprise, she found it a very lovely thing to do, once she had shed all those rules, fancy references and analysis she’d had drilled into her when she was at school.
This is the poem she wrote:
The creaks and rustles of heaven
The sunlit leaves are glinting all shades of green
Summer is still with us
I glide through the dappled light
Remembering the glee of childhood days
Being surrounded by chest high bushes and bracken
Although my older legs now walk softly and more slowly
I wander through this old wood, along the Old Track
When suddenly there a rustle
And a squirrel darts across my path
Did he look back at me?
And another crackle
This time a pheasant scurries away on the other side of the pond
Did I happen across an illicit meeting between feather and fur?
But that is all over now
And I tramp onwards
Vaguely scuffing the dry earth beneath my feet
Until I find a bench to rest upon
I sit there, trying not to move or even breathe
Listening to the sounds of the forest
And all of sudden I am in the middle of an orchestra
Of creaking, swaying trees
Each following the beat of the wind conductor
I close my eyes to focus upon the music of this place
And smile
Bathed in this quiet but intense and woody rhapsody
And I walk on
This time an inch or two above the twigs and dust of dry old days
Roxie felt calm. Her poem helped her close and round off the day but with great energy for the next. And her new project!
Out of the blue, I received the email reprinted below - inviting me to sign up for support in marketing #TheMayorsBear. I believe it to be a carefully constructed scam to persuade me to part with some of my money. (There was no business address and the email address seemed a little suspect - which set my antennae twitching). But I was weirdly charmed by the insight that this (probably AI generated) email had - so I thought I would publish it here...
The Mayor's Bear can reach families looking for meaningful children's stories about trust and community
What comes through clearly is that this is not just a children’s story, it is a quiet argument about what actually holds a community together. A mayor, a worn teddy bear, and a town in disruption is a simple frame, but underneath it you are writing about trust, responsibility, and the kind of care that often goes unnoticed.
There is a growing group of parents, educators, and caregivers who are actively looking for stories that do more than entertain. They want books that help children understand kindness, resilience, and belonging without feeling forced or instructional. They are trying to find stories that feel safe, grounding, and quietly meaningful in a world that often feels uncertain.
The Mayor’s Bear, released November 30th, 2024, sits in that space with understated value. A story that blends warmth, civic awareness, and emotional reassurance is not common, especially one that introduces ideas like public service and community responsibility in a way that feels human rather than formal.
Many worthy books get overlooked because readers respond first to what they quickly understand, trust, and emotionally connect with. Quality alone does not ensure recognition. Children’s books in particular often face a reader recognition gap when parents cannot immediately see the emotional experience their child will have.
I spend my time studying how readers make decisions, especially in categories where the buyer is not the reader. In children’s books, there is often a disconnect between what the story offers and what the parent believes it offers. That gap is where strong books can experience quiet underperformance despite clear intent and message.
Your likely readers are already present in parenting circles, school communities, libraries, reading groups, and among adults searching for thoughtful bedtime stories that carry meaning. They are often discussing emotional development, values, and how to introduce real world concepts gently to children. The demand exists, but the audience connection point is not always immediately visible.
Many authors want to tell stories that matter, not spend time constantly explaining them. It is natural to assume that a meaningful book will find its way. In reality, even thoughtful work can fall into missed discovery when the right reader pathways are not clearly formed.
I was so happy to see my book outside The Old Gaol in Buckingham, doing its rounds a few days ago!
I placed three books around Buckingham months ago.
Utterly charmed to see one still circulating!
I had a great day on Friday - helping a number of local councillors get to grips with Artificial Intelligence and how it might be applied to their local councils. You can read all about it here. I am most grateful to David Hall of CloudyIT for inviting me to be a part of this event.
At the end of the day, David gave away some prizes to the participants as a thank you for coming along. I added a copy of The Mayor's Bear (and my previous book - Cracking Questions) to the prizes and it was lovely to be able to sign a copy of each for the two people who were lucky to be drawn.
I had a fabulous time at the MK Indie Book Fair last Saturday - lots of lovely other independent authors and lots of lovelu people to talk with, as they passed by my stall. I got to writing on my promo cards:
If you were Town Mayor, what would you change about the area around your home?
This provoked some interesting and diverse answers. I made notes! Below is what people told me:
Sometimes people ask me how to get hold of a copy of my book - especially in advance of a school's visit (so that I can sign the copies), or after such a visit - or indeed after a workshop with (for example) local councillors discussing engagement with young people and so forth.
It is very easy!
My book is available from all high street bookshops such as the Buckingham Bookshop - next to the Vinson Building at the University or Waterstones in Milton Keynes shopping centre.
And of course, The Mayor's Bear can be ordered online with Amazon or Waterstones or World of Books (WoB often offers discounts). And it is available across the world also - bookshops on street and online.
I would encourage you to use high street bookshops of course!
You just need the name of the book and my name. If you feel the need - although it is rarely necessary - the ISBN number is 9781789634570 (ISBN10: 1789634571).
And if you want me to sign it - I am happy to, of course, and I am sure we can work something out!
Along with many other local authors and indie publishers, I will be sitting in large shopping centre atrium called Middleton Hall tomorrow (Saturday 25 October 2025) signing books and running a short workshop for children.
It is going to be fun!
Several people have commented that there is a lot of me in the book. And I guess that is true - although isn't that always the case? How could any author write a book without them being present in every word and line. These words come from us, as authors.
So I hold my hands up - there many facets of me sprinkled throughout the story and its characters. Many of the scenes have been plucked from my life - although I will say from the outset - I never lost the Mayoral Chain when I was Mayor. But I worried about doing so!
So, the next few blogposts here will focus on some of these stories and facets, to add some extra colour to the book - and also (maybe) give a trailer or two to an updated version of the book - which is in process! And I will begin this with a poem I wrote a few months ago about faries (sort of!). Fairies, of course, feature in The Mayor's Bear - in more than one place... (Did you spot all the places?) And they are going to feature in one of the short stories which will be incorporated into the new version of the book...
Anyway... here is the poem:
Fred's with the fairies now.
Not the birdies then?
No.
The fairies.
He told me.
He told you?
Yes.
He knows he's not making much sense to others these days.
But he's making sense to him
And the fairies.
The fairies.
What do they say?
I asked him that
They told him not to worry
Yesterday's memories don't matter
It's the golden ones that do
Sort of makes sense.
What else?
Be here now.
Look past the rain to the rain drops.
See how each flower is different.
Touch the two oaks that have grown into each other.
Worry less.
The fairies say all this?
Yes.
Anything more?
No.
Fred went to sleep then.
Ah.
They sound like lovely, wise fairies.
Yes.
I might join them one day.
Yes.
We might.
---
Catton Park
25 May 2025
I have bought a new hat! It is something to wear when I am reading from or talking about #TheMayorsBear. Increasingly I am starting up conversations with people about the need to get more people - especially young people - involved and engaged in local politics. I emphasise Roxie's conversation with her sister...
"I know I am not going to make World Peace happen. But I can make a small piece of it better!"
So thought - let's put this on a hat... #OnePieceBetter
(The pin is the UN 17 Colours Sustainable Development Goals with added peace dove - because world peace does still matter!)
Little does Buckinghamshire Council know - but they now have a bear in charge of council meetings!!
;-)
This was after my presentation at the Place Shaping event organised by the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils. Link to the event is here.
Here is what I said:
In Buckinghamshire, there are 142 Town and Parish Councils. Back in May - just 21 of these councils had contested elections. In Milton Keynes there are 41 local councils that are subject to regular elections and the last time this happened, 17 were contested.
What conclusions might we draw from the fact that in Bucks only 15% of town/parish councils were there more people prepared to stand than there were seats available? (Albeit a bit better in MK)
But I hope we might agree that having more contested local council elections would be a good thing - what's democracy without choices?
So the question is - how do we get more people willing to stand?
There are many answers to that Q
One of my answers is to get more young people interested - and keep them interested! Not just because I want more people contesting local elections - and I want more people under the age of 60 sitting around council tables… I also want more people involved & engaged in making a difference to our local places.
More people shaping our local places - taking action - being fellow designers of what happens in our communities
And that's what I been doing - and just like the Jesuits - I am aiming to get them young
When I was Mayor… (told the story of how the book came about)
Schools - reading stories … (told them about my experience of reading my book in schools and talking about local councils etc)
Read the bit about Roxie & Sushalla - (part of the chapter - why did you want to be a councillor anyway?)
That's the message - as it has always been - hasn’t it?
Think global - act local
Or really just act local to help build vibrant, caring communities that are helping every person create dreams, ambitions & then realise them…
I want everyone to be authors of their own lives - not walk on parts in somebody else's narrative! I believe that we as parish/town councils can be a big part of helping people do that.
And the only way we can really do that is by involving and engaging more and more of our local communities - no matter what their age.
In other words - as local councils - we just need to be kind and caring.
It's today - all welcome!! Booking here: https://bucklitfest.littleboxoffice.com/events/109048
AND IT'S FREE!
One day, perhaps #TheMayorsBear will become an international bestseller and be turned into a blockbusting, critically acclaimed movie whilst simultaneously inspiring a whole generation of young people to become active community politicians, delivering lasting beneficial outcomes for the people of their villages, towns and cities...
But meanwhile, I am so enjoying taking my book and my bear around with me to a variety of events. Over the next few weeks and months, I will be:
>>> Reading the whole book (for the first time) at the Manor Farm on the Bourton Road in Buckingham on Wednesday 16th April: https://www.manorfarmbourton.com/Events
>>> Taking part in the Buckingham Literary Festival and providing a reading workshop for youngsters and their families. On Saturday 14th June - details here (along with lots of brilliant authors!): https://www.bucklitfest.org/
>>> Being one of the contributors to the Place Shaping conference organised by the Buckinghamhire and Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils on June 16th. Details here: https://bucksalc.gov.uk/conference-2025
It was a fortunate day when my wife came home and told me she may have found me an illustrator. After some emails exchanging ideas and styles and dreams, Elizabeth and I began our journey together. I will always be so grateful to her for catching the essence of Roxie and all the other characters in the story so well. It was an enormous pleasure to work with her and I hope her illustrating career continues to go well.
Thanks Elizabeth
You can track her and her work down here: https://www.instagram.com/drawnbyelizabethrose/
I am excited to announce that I am going to be running a session for our local festival in June. The location will be the Chantry Chapel. The date and time are 14 June at 2.30pm.
You can book the session as a friend of the Festival now via this link: https://bucklitfest.littleboxoffice.com/events/109048
And it's FREE!!
All children (and their parents/carers) welcome - bring teddy bears too!
I will be talking about how I came to write the book, reading a few chapters and answering any questions that people (big and small) might have.
My book is "dedicated to all the big people who still believe there is magic all around us, and the small people who know it’s there". And this session will be similarly dedicated!
The whole programme - with some amazing authors in attendance can be found here:
https://bucklitfest.littleboxoffice.com/browse?page=1
I had a magical morning in Bourton Meadow School yesterday - reading excerpts from the book to all the school - in three groups of about 180 children. They had some amazing, insightful and challenging questions including
"I liked the scene where Roxie decided to pick Strumbold rather than the other beautiful bear because this showed that you don't have to be beautiful to be chosen and loved"
I believe that one of the main jobs of any Mayor, or indeed any local council as a whole, is to take action to help create a place that is welcoming to everyone. Strangely this is seen as a contraversial idea by some. And I really have no idea why.
Surely a town or village benefits when people want to live there, work there, play there and visit? This can only add to the life, the prosperity and the community well being of the place. If some people feel excluded or marginalised, that means the town becomes less as a result. That is no good for anyone.
So when I sat down to write The Mayor's Bear, I very deliberately made the main character a woman and someone of colour. Why? Because, I want to do everything in my power to encourage more women and more people of colour to join town and parish councils. Why? Because I think diverse and inclusive councils are more likely to take actions that make their places more welcoming to all people of all kinds.
I am not saying that councils made up only of old white men cannot or do not want to do this. But I will assert that such mono culture councils are less likely to have success at creating places that welcome all. Diverse councils with a rich mix of people sitting around the table dicussing such matters are more likely to be successful. I really hope this is not controversial.
If you feel a little uncomfortable or queasy reading all this, then my book is probably not for you!
But, if like me, you want local councils to be full of diversity, divergence and difference and therefore better able to harness creativity and the full spectrum of thinking, colour and community, I think you will enjoy my book...
It is now: all systems go! The new edition is now available from good bookshops - high street and online. For example I spotted this menti...
