Hampshire Rotarian and author, Diana Brooks is at it again!

The Winchester Rotary Club member has just completed her third children’s picture book “Sophie Swan to the Rescue”, with proceeds going to the Winchester Hospice.

The story is about Sophie who lives on a beautiful lake with her loving partner Sebastian, known as Seb. They have seven cygnets who are very naughty one day; they bully a small frog called Freddy. Sophie and Seb are very angry - seven to one is not fair. Sophie comes to the rescue while the cygnets are duly punished for their bad behaviour. The moral of the story is ‘bullying is bad’.

Diana explained that her two previous books, “A Cat Called Smokey” and “Smokey 2” also had moral endings. Smokey is handicapped with only three legs, but he is a brave, kind and generous feline.

Both previous books have sold well raising a considerable amount of money for two Winchester charities supporting the homeless - Trinity Winchester and Winchester Beacon, and also Winchester Young Carers.

“A Cat Called Smokey” had the honour of being recorded as a bedtime story by the actor Hugh Bonneville for Trinity’s Big Sleep Out. It is still available on YouTube.

Diana’s Winchester Rotary colleague, Allen Cobbold, has provided all the quirky illustrations for my books. Fellow Rotarians and friends have supported the sales, with Tesco and Sainsbury’s granting the Rotary club sales days in their stores.

Diana explained: “I am motivated to write these books because I am dismayed to see so many young children worldwide growing up in a disturbed, confusing, war-damaged environment where it is difficult to distinguish good from evil, right from wrong, or to find love buried beneath the rubble of hatred.

“I have tried to give these beautiful, innocent children some clarity by showing them, through the characters in my books, what love, friendship, generosity and responsibility mean. Each book has a clear moral and a happy ending. Surely, this is what we all desire for our children - they are our future.

“All proceeds from Sophie Swan sales will support our precious Winchester Hospice. My father, husband and beautiful daughter, Kate, all died in either the Andover or Basingstoke hospice. Sadly, in those times, we didn’t have the privilege of such a facility in Winchester.

“My own experience of hospices was the immense feeling of relief and gratitude to know that my deeply loved family member was receiving professional end of life care, given with compassion, dignity and love. When I was nursing, (a while ago), there was no such sanctuary of peace, just curtains around the bed, often in a busy ward.”

For further information about the books, email Diana at: letterstodifor@gmail.com