About The Author 

AnneMarie Callan, was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved to the UK with her family at the age of 13.  In her late fifties, she moved to beautiful sunny  Spain.  She has two sons and four grandchildren.

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“Previously a fashion designer, IT consultant  I’m now enjoying the creativity of being a children’s author, illustrator, and narrator. 

Skellee was a character I created many years ago.  At first, there was only one Skellee character but over the last four or five years, as I created more stories, I had to create more Skellee characters.  It became too much for one Skellee to deal with.  The Skellee Superheroes were born. 🙂

I loved the idea of creating modern-day folklore, superheroes, for children and this is what the Skellee Rescue Service represents.

Even though I was dreadful at telling stories to my own children, I think I have made up for that shortcoming by readily entertaining my grandchildren, who loved the Skellee stories.

I have also tested them on a group of nursery and after-school children whose ages ranged from two to seven.  The response was incredible, according to the school staff.  I certainly had tremendous pleasure seeing their little faces light up, particularly on the second story about the football.

In the end, it was the inspiration from my grandchildren, most particularly, Rhianna, who instigated my developing the characters in a commercial way.  Since reaching that decision, everyone I told the stories to, wanted to add something and basically get involved in some way or another.

However, my biggest obstacle along the route was learning to paint.  

Having a father who was a brilliant artist and studied at The Slade School of Fine Art, meant it was quite a hurdle for me to overcome my fear of not achieving anywhere near his standard.  Of course, I may never reach that high standard, however, I was fortunate to meet an amazing motivational watercolour artist, Mary Aitkinson, in Javea.  She instilled in me that I had a gift and gently pushed me along the way until I achieved the confidence I needed.   

 

 

By the time I finish the first edition of the whole A to Z series of Skellee books, I’m sure I will be quite good at painting and the second edition of the books will certainly be different.  I just hope that people will find these first paintings of the scenes and the characters, endearing. (No complaints, as of yet 🙂 )

The rescues that each Skellee Superhero has to perform are generally not possible by other rescue services.  However, each of the Skellee Superheroes has unique superpowers for each rescue and nothing is too difficult for them.  🙂

I know that children will love the stories and that is what is most important to me.  :)”

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About The Skellee Superheroes

The Skellee Superheroes are a series of books for young children aged from 3 to 8 years old.

Each Skellee superhero has a uniqueness which only a Skellee Superhero can have.  Every child who knows about the Skellee Rescue Service knows how to contact the Skellee operator and knows that a Skellee, and only a Skellee, will come to the rescue.

 

The series is growing towards being an A to Z of Skellee superhero characters.

All the books include a fun interactive quiz, which has the added advantage of helping young children with comprehension, a skill they will use at school!   Added to each story is a fact sheet related to the subject.

The paperback versions will include a *Free* audio of the book.

I’ve recently had the books reviewed by a qualified Primary Headmistress, who is also a proof-reader and editor. The review was more than I could have expected and she even mentioned how she could turn each book into several lesson plans.

The reviews have been very motivational and certainly keep me going on to reach the 26th Skellee Superhero story.

Have you watched the video on the Home page?  https://youtu.be/P9RLesbqBSw

If you would like to contact us – please click here.

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