A NEW book is set to help children understand the importance of personal safety for themselves and others when they return to school post lockdown.

The story of Mr Goose’s pursuit to find a new home was written by Ayr dad, Grant Kennedy and illustrated by local artist Louise McBride and is set in Alloway and the Doon River

On his journey, Mr Goose meets new friends and some not-so-friendly creatures, until he finds his new home with the local swan family.

Grant, a risk and resilience management consultant originally came up with the idea for the story when the real life Mr Goose was killed by a fox.

Grant said: “My wife told me, you can’t just write a book and I said yes you can, so I just went and wrote it quite quickly and the story came together.

“Then I left it for a while until I met Louise at a school fete she was running and saw her drawings, I thought that type of artwork and style would go perfect with what I wanted it to look like, so we worked together to create storyboards of what we wanted it to look like.”

Grant, who has taught companies all over the world about personal safety, also created a model that will help teachers when they go back to school in August which will be trialled at Doonfoot Primary.

Louise, who studied at Glasgow School of Art, now specialises in local landscapes, featured in Mr Goose.

She said: “I loved the idea behind the book and often paint the area surrounding the River Doon, where it is set, so it seemed like the perfect project for me. It’s a beautiful area that I never tire of capturing.”

You can find Mr Goose on sale in the Doonfoot Co-op, Seafield Stores, and on Amazon. Find Louise on Facebook: Art by Louise McBride, and for more information on Grant’s work: www.krisk.co.uk