Jay’s crafty book launch

Whistle-Stop Thistle is a children’s story about a community of little people called Thistle-Folk who live in a miniature town behind a bramble bush.

The Thistle-Folk are scavengers, who together with a friendly magpie, try to find new uses for the rubbish left behind by lazy humans.

The book was created by artist Jay Stelling, who has an unusual approach to illustration. She has made the entire world of Whistle-Stop Thistle as a physical set, using scrap materials in production to build the houses and props.

The characters in the story are actually puppets that have been posed and photographed for each of the scenes.

Jay grew up in Ripon, studied at Leeds Arts University, and now lives in Knaresborough.

Jay said: “This book aims to show children just how easy it is to make art from rubbish that would otherwise be thrown away.

“Maybe if we were all a bit more curious and crafty with our waste then we could preserve our green landscape.

“I am passionate about protecting the beautiful landscapes of North Yorkshire.”

The book is currently on Kickstarter, where backers can make a monetary pledge to help Jay to reach her final goal to get the book printed and into local bookstores.

Visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaystelling/whistle-stop-thistle to ffind out more, including the rewards on offer.