We got featured on Sussex Local

Modernised fairy stories with current social topics

Not another Fairy Story! Well…..it depends on what you define fairy stories as.

Are you immediately drawn to thinking of Disney’s fairy stories, where the prince finally gets the princess? Or maybe you think of the wicked stepmother, evil fighting good?

Either way the similarities of those fairy stories and the stories in Tawny Owl Wood, is the fact that they both carry relevant social topics, but with a clear difference. Tawny Owl Wood is in the here and now.

When Walt Disney created all those wonderful films, he used the social topics of those times. However, fast forward 100 years and we have very different social topics which we need to address and sometimes find it too hard to start the conversation.

Tawny Owl Wood has been lovingly created through the vision of Louise A Shaw and Sarah-Leigh Wills from Happydesigner. Louise has used her very personal stories to help cover a wide range of social topics, with Sarah using her many years of expertise to design and develop the Tawny Owl Wood brand, characters and books to look, feel and represent the vision and ethos of the Tawny Owl Wood concept.

The books are not only filled with wonderful stories about life in the woods, but they have also been written in such a way that they aid conversations that may be difficult to start and have been considered a game changer in raising these social topics in a subliminal, child friendly way for both listener and reader. The creators have created two different book series with the age ranges from early readers (0-5yrs) and young readers (7yrs-12yrs).

Louise started creating Tawny Owl Wood back in 2007 but never had the confidence to showcase them to the world. Now, sixteen years on and having the full support of her family, she is able to follow her dream and bring to life the world of Tawny Owl Wood. Louise then approached Sarah at Happydesigner in 2021, to help take the concept to the next stage. Now two years on, the creators are getting ready to launching in Autumn 2023.

Tawny Owl Wood will be releasing the first of six books, with further releases next year.

A world where diversity and inclusion are key and where there is a place for everyone. To find out more about the books, the creator and to meet the characters why not visit www.tawnyowlwood.co.uk

Come along and get lost in one of the stories, who knows, you may even find yourself within the pages.

Don’t forget to find us on social media, Tawny Owl Wood is on TikTok, Insta, FB and more.

Illustrations for Tawny Owl Wood credit and copyright Sarah-Leigh Wills @happydesigner