Two Aberdeenshire dads who made headlines with an online children’s story about life in lockdown last year have published their first book.
Matt Kinghorn, 39 and Euan Wemyss, 38, shot to local stardom in June this year with a story about a family of bears cooped up together in isolation called ‘Grin and Bear It’.
The video was a social media hit clocking up almost 13,000 views in 24 hours and so far it has more than 28,000 views to date.
Now the two friends have self-published their first children’s book, ‘Dreams can come Moo’, an inspiring story about a cow who wants to be something different.
Mr Kinghorn, dad to six-year-old Akira and three-year-old Sorcha is the writer and Mr Wemyss, dad to seven-year-old Alice and three-year-old Flynn, does all the illustrations.
After launching earlier this month, the pair sold their entire stock within 24 hours, and have already had to order a reprint.
Mr Kinghorn, a net rigger at the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, said: “The first story ‘Grin and Bear It’ was a surprise hit.
“I guess it captured the mood at the time when we were in lockdown. We were inundated with people asking if they could buy a copy, but of course, there was no book. It was just my words and a few drawings by Euan.
“We’ve been working on ‘Dreams can come Moo’ pretty much since we did the last story.
“Turns out making a physical book takes a lot longer. It’s not about Covid or lockdown but it’s got a moral that I think is just as topical.
“It’s about being whoever you want to be and encouraging others to be supportive of people doing that.
“Me and Euan are both dads, and while things are better than they were in the past, we’re still very aware of the kind of pressures put on wee ones, or anyone really, to conform to the norm.
“We just wanted to get the very simple message out that, whoever you are – you can be whatever or whoever you want to be.”
A video reading of the book has clocked up nearly 3,000 views on social media.
Mr Wemyss, a communications officer at the University of Aberdeen, added: “It’s been a labour of love and a steep learning curve for both of us – from designing and publishing the book, to working out how to promote and sell it.
“But it’s fantastic to finally have it in our hands and to be able to share it.”
While he’s written as a hobby most of his life, the success of the first story has inspired Mr Kinghorn to take it even more seriously.
He said: “It’s really kicked on since last year. I’ve been lucky enough to have my work played out on national radio and I was invited to do my first ever live performance in front of 200 people at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which was incredible.
“Since then, I’ve started doing open mics and even just reading publicly down at the beach. I love writing and I’d do it even if no one was reading it or listening to it but when people do engage with it, and when I get a chance to work with other people – that brings me the most happiness.”
Mr Wemyss has shown his support for the North East Now campaign, which has made it easy for people to support local firms from a wide range of industries during the pandemic.
The initiative is driven by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and backed by creative agency Hampton and Aberdeen Journals.
He said: “North East Now is a great resource for anyone who lives in the region, or anyone planning on visiting.
“It’s really handy to have an overview of local businesses, events, features and more all in one place.
“Support for the local economy has never been more important as we all try to recover from the pandemic so there’s never been a better time for a website like this.”
For further information on Dreams can come Moo visit www.dreams-can-come-moo.square.site
To find out more about North-East Now, visit www.northeastnow.scot