The Burpee Bears: From bestselling author Joe Wicks, comes this glorious picture book, packed with fitness tips, exercises and healthy recipes for kids 3+

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As well as publishing his own young fiction and picture books, most recently 1, 2, BOO!, Howard has collaborated with some of the greats of children's literature including Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen, Anne Fine, Trish Cooke, Martin Waddell and John Boyne. French is the author of more than 300 books and has beenawarded an MBE for her services to literature, literacy, illustration and the arts. She has also received the Scottish Book Trust’s outstanding achievement award and isthe co-founder of the critically acclaimed Picture Hooks scheme to help emerging art graduates find their feet in the world of book illustration. For this bear family, every day is a new day: a day for adventure and discovery. True to Joe’s ethos, each book will feature a fun and positive story. With added exercises -including burpees – and recipes, this book is perfect for families to share and enjoy together! I used to, but now I think more about the mental health crisis. I used to focus on physical transformation – leanness, body shape. But during the pandemic I realised that it’s with mental health that people need help and motivation. Without a healthy mindset and the energy you get from exercise, life feels a lot harder. If you look at exercise from a mental health perspective, the body will follow. I leave them my drawing and then they have a little display with all their owls. There are little parliaments of owls all around classrooms in Northern Ireland now," he proudly beams.

Created by Joe, with the story co-written with acclaimed author Vivian French, and gloriously illustrated by stellar artist Paul Howard. Then I moved onto pastel pencils and finally I've started working digitally. But no matter what the medium, it always starts with finding the characters and the story." This weekend he joins creative writing charity Fighting Words NI in hosting a series of events in Belfast's Crescent's Arts Centre as part of the Belfast Book Festival.

In the classroom children would normally write the story first and then add the pictures," he says. Joe's message is about having children being active and taking care of their mental health and I wanted to reflect the bears vitality, energy and liveliness using bright colours," he explains. Meet the Burpee Bear family - from the moment they open their eyes, they get busy stretching and whirling before heading off on an adventure. Cue a whole lot of lively lunging, crawling and jumping, with Mummy and Daddy Bear’s infectious enthusiasm spurring young Bella, Frankie and Baby Bear (and readers) to enjoy getting active in the great outdoors. With a fun refrain to read (or yell) along with (“Are we ready? Are we steady? Let’s get cuddling/going/jumping/building!”), this is the perfect book to read together ahead of setting off on your own adventures, with tasty, healthy recipes to make on your return. This is my fourth decade of illustrating children's books. It all started in the 1990s with Martin Waddell books using watercolour, which of course you couldn't rub out," he explains.

Being an illustrator is a very solitary profession and sometimes you forget the effect of what you are doing has on people. The message with children always has to be: “Do your best. If you can’t do it perfectly, have a try.” Don’t judge yourself. Don’t compare yourself. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water While he has seen many technological changes in his craft, the essence of his job remains the same. Howard has also enjoyed working with the youngest children "who have no inhibitions" and with the primary four and five age group, empowering them to become illustrators and design a new book cover for The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. Children can listen to him read some of his best-loved books or take part in illustration and story workshops. On Saturday June 11 over-16s can join Howard and some of his fellow illustrator friends in a 'draw-off' as they battle it out to create characters and stories from the cues provided by the audience.In these uncertain times that we are living, books have the power to help support and empower children and assist them in building empathy and understanding of this crazy world. Teachers say how enthused children are with that approach. Visual literacy is inclusive and embraces people of all abilities. Those with learning difficulties may have trouble with words - but it's not to say they can't tell a narrative. The curriculum doesn't cater for these kids and it's an eye opener for a lot of children and teachers." There is more choice available now which is so encouraging. Books like Dog Man and Cat Kid mean that children who are not as confident with their reading can be involved and that may lead them into getting interested in graphic novels." It’s an uplifting story about a bear family who go on a wonderful day out in the woods. It’s about getting active and having fun (and getting caught in the rain)… For this bear family, every day is a new day: a day for adventure and discovery. True to Joe’s ethos, each book will feature a fun and positive story. With added exercises –including burpees – and recipes, this book is perfect for families to share and enjoy together!

Going out on my motorbike (a Triumph Bobber). Or taking the kids to Richmond Park or Virginia Water Lake. My garden is a little sanctuary. I’ve got an ice machine, a metal bath I fill from the hose and then I throw in lots of ice. I’ll lie in there for four or five minutes and it’s amazing. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water.I explain to them how to become a detective, looking for clues and descriptive words," says Howard.

They are one of the most important parts of literature and perhaps one of the hardest to get right. Children's books now, in terms of their variety of topics and representation of minorities, are much more balanced. That's really important because all children need to see themselves reflected in books." As I was growing up I remember feeling short-changed when I moved onto the more difficult books with no illustrations.He also welcomes the trend of having more illustrations contained within books aimed at the progressing and older reader, including the lavishly illustrated versions of Harry Potter. I’ve never been overweight. I was a skinny child who loved PE and sport. I used exercise as a coping mechanism…