A CHILDREN’S book written by husband and wife Ben and Jo Harte in hospital while Jo was in labour has become a sell-out hit.
Ben, who previously lived in Melksham and whose mum still lives here, says, “Jo, an English teacher, and I, came up with the idea for ‘Do You Know the Colours of the Rainbow?’ while expecting the birth of our first child. We wrote the story whilst at hospital between contractions, when Jo ‘had some time to kill’.
“With a busy lifestyle, the opportunity to sit down and get writing didn’t arrive until we were in hospital waiting for Isabella to be born in September 2017.
“Our inspiration came via a mischievous magpie that visited our garden and stripped the branches off a tree to build a nest. We decided to nickname him ‘Marvin’ and he became an integral character in the story.
“We always said we would write our idea down one day as we both love children’s books.”
They drafted the story together in a notebook Ben had in his hospital bag. The tale also features characters called Isabella, named after their daughter, and Harry, which was their choice of name if the baby had been a boy.
The book was launched in April and since then publishers have busy supplying retailers.
Ben says, “It has, at times, ‘sold out’ online at Waterstones, WHSmiths and Amazon.”
Ben moved to Bowerhill in the summer of 2000 and spent two years at Wiltshire College in Chippenham, studying performing arts. He also took on lead roles in four LoganWest productions (Cinderella, Annie, Little Shop of Horrors and West Side Story), the first three of which were held at the Assembly Rooms.
He then moved to Coventry to study a theatre degree and onto London where he was a body double for Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter film franchise.
He is now a primary school teacher in a village school close to Newbury, West Berkshire.
