A primary school teacher has taken teaching a step further as he writes and publishes a book that helps them learn about literacy skills.

English teacher, Neil Warmington, 35, wrote his own children’s book, Enquiring Eric and the verb race, to help his pupils get to grips with literacy.

He said: “I was in the middle of teaching and the children were struggling with the concept of onomatopoeia and this was what got me to thinking that I could create something to help develop their understanding.”

Enquiring Eric is a story about a young boy gets transported into a different world, where he meets a mouse who introduces him to other talking animals who teaches him all about verbs.

But Neil needed more than just the words to get the children’s attention, so went searching for an illustrator and it was through mutual friends and social media, that he got into contact with secretary from Plymouth Helen Manley.

Helen said: “Neil approached me with the idea of Eric and after a read through of the first draft, the ideas were already bubbling.

“I loved his enthusiasm for the project and with him being a teacher, I knew he had some great ideas on the learning side too.

She continued: “It’s forever been a bit of a dream of mine to illustrate children’s books, but now I’ve had my first work published its a little life ambition realised, and I hope it continues!”

After completing the final draft, the pair brought their book to life using “create space”, a tool on Amazon, and now they have their first copy of Enquiring Eric.

Neil said: “It was amazing actually holding the book in my hands and thinking that I wrote that.

“When it was all completed, my pupils were actually my first critics and luckily they were very nice about it!”

Enquiring Eric and the verb race is now available to buy on Amazon.