Robert A. Brown lives with his wife in the West Midlands, where he worked as a teacher until his recent retirement. He enjoys writing and reading his stories to children in schools and libraries. He also enjoys birdwatching, wildlife photography and visits to the theatre. He is a lifelong supporter of Stoke City Football Club.
Upon the release of his new children’s book, William the Hedgehog Boy, he shares ten things he would like us to know about himself.
Robert A Brown
I love to have fun and a laugh. One of the highlights of every year is attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with our great friends for our annual comedy fix.
One of my strongest qualities is persistence. The following example is absolutely true. When I was in the sixth form at school I asked a girl if she would like to go out with me. Her reply, and here I quote, “Me go out with you! You must be joking!”
We celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary last year. So persistence seems appropriate.
My wife says I’m a ‘treasure,’ … with a vacuum cleaner!
She adds that my signature dishes for ‘Masterchef’ would be fish finger sandwiches followed by apple crumble and custard.
I think I am very determined as evidenced by completing my debut novel, William the Hedgehog Boy and getting it published. It is not as easy as you may think!!
As a former secondary school teacher of twenty eight years, I have always strived to help children and young people to enjoy learning and have fun. Hence the issues raised in the storylines of William the Hedgehog Boy.
A few years ago, we were offered the chance to release a very fat hedgehog that had been rehabilitated at a local rescue centre, back into the wild. I built feeding stations and made hedgehog homes as described in the book. The hedgehog stayed around and we were able to observe his nocturnal behaviour by viewing the photos taken by my infra-red night camera. These night time wanderings became the inspiration for the book, featuring a lonely young boy and a poorly hedgehog. I hope that William the Hedgehog Boy inspires children and young people to take an interest in wildlife and particularly hedgehogs. These iconic spiky animals have been around since the dinosaurs. They are now in serious risk of disappearing from Britain completely. That is why, at the back of the book, I’ve included some information about how to care for and protect our dwindling hedgehog population and included some website contacts to enable readers to find out more about their super powers. Finally there is a fun quiz, and a word search for readers to enjoy.
I love watching and learning about wild animals and birds and have been fortunate on our travels to see at first hand, a huge range of amazing wildlife including polar bears, brown bears, blue whales, humpback whales, tigers, lions and many more species. It is always a thrill.
I combine that interest with photography and have taken many photos of animals and birds that remind us of our experiences.
Playing and watching sport has always been a massive interest of mine, hence, I became a Physical Education teacher. I have been a lifelong Stoke City supporter so it was a particular thrill, a few years ago, to meet the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews at one of the matches.
