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A grandmother in England recently turned made-up stories about a beloved family teddy bear into a children's book
Caroline Bracey, 66, used to tell her grandchildren stories about the bear when they would visit for sleepovers
The new author surprised her grandkids with the book, which she also illustrated, on Christmas Day
A grandmother in the U.K. turned stories she made up for her grandchildren into a real-lifechildren's book.
Caroline Bracey, 66, of Luton, a town 30 miles north of London, used to tell her grandchildren stories about her favorite teddy bear, Fish Finger Legs, per local outletLuton Today.
Bracey got the bear when she was a child, and it sat at the end of her grandchildren's beds whenever they came to stay with their grandparents.
"I told them an imaginary story of how Fish Finger Legs lost his ear … and that's how it began," Bracey told the outlet. "Every time therewas a sleepover,there was another Fish Finger Legs story. I invented a new story each time."
In 2025, Bracey decided to turn the stories into a self-published book — titledThe Adventures of Fish Finger Legs— as a Christmas gift to her grandkids, which she said ended up being a time-intensive endeavor.
"All the images I did myself … hand pencil drawing, then painted them and scanned them … the whole process took about six months," she said.
She revealed the special surprise to her family onChristmas Day 2025— a moment which she described as "emotional."
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"It was quite a magical, surreal moment … There were tears of joy," Bracey recalled.
While the book is available for purchase on Amazon U.K., Bracey said she initially assumed the book would just be for family.
"My intentions weren't to sell it … It was the only way I could actually publish it and purchase it to give it to the kids," she explained.
The book is a story of "fun and imagination." It tells the story of "a small bear who lives in the forests of Canada and longed for adventure … He visits the Amazon jungle, Africa, the seaside, the zoo and a fun fair, where he discovers all kinds of interesting animals and exciting things to do," according to the book's official description.
Bracey, whoworks as a teacher, said that she hopes to continue creative pursuits once she retires, noting that she is partly inspired to do so by her late father.
"Really, my dad would be proud. He died a few years ago, but he was an artist by profession, and he wrote a book many, many years ago as well," she told Luton Today.
Read the original article onPeople
