A SEVEN-year-old from Risca who began telling stories to help himself through lockdown has had his first book published.

Joseph Smith decided he would distract himself from missing his friends and family by telling stories.

He imagined what his two pet cats, Chester and Jeff, would get up to at night when he and his family were asleep.

Chester (R) and Jeff (L)

Chester (R) and Jeff (L)

The real Chester and Jeff...

Joseph would spend hours with his parents, talking about these imagined cat adventures and laughing about all the things he thought they would get up to.

With help from his Mum, Emma, Joseph started writing down these stories which created an enjoyable project for the whole household to focus on during a time when everything else was so uncertain.

The book was illustrated by Mariia Luzina

The book was illustrated by Mariia Luzina

...And their storybook selves, as illustrated by Mariia Luzina

As Joseph and his family had so much fun creating these stories, they decided that they wanted to share this positivity with other families by putting them in a book, in the hope that it would bring others as much joy as them in difficult times.

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After finding an illustrator, Mariia Luzina, who captured the two cats brilliantly with vibrant colours, the book was finally printed by Zenith Print Group and brought to life.

 

Joseph Smith and his book

A website was set up so Joseph could tell the world about his book and make it available for people to buy and share the cat adventures with their families.

Alongside the book, 'The Amazing Night-Time Adventures of Chester and Jeff', Joseph brought his cat adventures to life by taking daily photos of his pets and asking his mum to upload them on their own cat Instagram account so he could brighten someone’s day with the funny pictures.

So far the Chester and Jeff Instagram account has nearly 800 followers and Joseph is already imagining what adventures they will get up to next.