The Burpee Bears: From bestselling author Joe Wicks, comes this glorious picture book, packed with fitness tips, exercises and healthy recipes for kids 3+

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This weekend he joins creative writing charity Fighting Words NI in hosting a series of events in Belfast's Crescent's Arts Centre as part of the Belfast Book Festival. Howard, who has lived in Belfast for the past 22 years, is delighted to see how his approach is already breaking down barriers and impacting upon those children with learning difficulties, including dyslexia. Howard, who illustrated an abridged edition of Jill Tomlinson's story in 2001, is the current Northern Ireland Children's Writing Fellow and he is "thoroughly enjoying" getting out and about inspiring children with their creative writing and reading.

They are one of the most important parts of literature and perhaps one of the hardest to get right.The Workout Badges will be available on The Body Coach TV YouTube channel and on the YouTube Kids app, starting 22 September Earlier this year the Duchess of Cambridge chose to read the book on CBeebies Bedtime Stories to mark Children's Mental Health Week. Children's books now, in terms of their variety of topics and representation of minorities, are much more balanced. That's really important because all children need to see themselves reflected in books." I reverse the process, with the illustrations and characters first and then let the children choose if they want to end the story with a written sentence, an illustration or both. As well as publishing his own young fiction and picture books, most recently 1, 2, BOO!, Howard has collaborated with some of the greats of children's literature including Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen, Anne Fine, Trish Cooke, Martin Waddell and John Boyne.

His books have also been well-received, as he often looks at workable weight-loss diet plans that are easy to manage. Ranging from vegetarian diet plans to food for children, he’s created a multitude of different plans, always sustainable and adapting to the needs of the individual. Over time this has seen him become a permanent fixture on the bookshelves of many, allowing him to become hugely popular worldwide. With a lot more to come still, he definitely isn’t finishing any time soon either, as his career carries on growing from strength-to-strength. As I was growing up I remember feeling short-changed when I moved onto the more difficult books with no illustrations.I explain to them how to become a detective, looking for clues and descriptive words," says Howard. I had a really unhealthy diet. My mum had me at 19 and didn’t know how to cook. Junk food was all she knew. She used to go to Iceland where there were lots of buy-one-get-one-free offers. I got into cooking at university. I’m still very greedy. I love chocolate and ice-cream. I eat way more than any average person, but because I exercise five to six days a week I get away with it.

I used to, but now I think more about the mental health crisis. I used to focus on physical transformation – leanness, body shape. But during the pandemic I realised that it’s with mental health that people need help and motivation. Without a healthy mindset and the energy you get from exercise, life feels a lot harder. If you look at exercise from a mental health perspective, the body will follow. The Fellowship was created as part of Queen's University and the Arts Council's joint 10-year Seamus Heaney Legacy project supported by Atlantic Philanthropies.While he has seen many technological changes in his craft, the essence of his job remains the same. Teachers say how enthused children are with that approach. Visual literacy is inclusive and embraces people of all abilities. Those with learning difficulties may have trouble with words - but it's not to say they can't tell a narrative. The curriculum doesn't cater for these kids and it's an eye opener for a lot of children and teachers." In the past there were set rules that you read picture books to such an age, then you read chapter books and then you read the novels," he says. During his two-year fellowship, Howard is committed to "promoting visual literacy as an alternative, accessible gateway for students and children of all literacy levels to engage in, building enough confidence in them to read and create their own stories". With the goal of eating more while exercising less, this book aims to provide clear goals when it comes to a more sustainable diet plan. Offering clear and simple to follow recipes that can be made in fifteen minutes or less, the book lays out each recipe with clear and concise instructions. With over a hundred recipes included, they all have the same goal of achieving a more healthy body weight, while also working out. Combining food and exercise, the book shows how to balance the two within a busy daily schedule, getting the most from both.

In the classroom children would normally write the story first and then add the pictures," he says. In these uncertain times that we are living, books have the power to help support and empower children and assist them in building empathy and understanding of this crazy world. Then I moved onto pastel pencils and finally I've started working digitally. But no matter what the medium, it always starts with finding the characters and the story."There are days when it wears me down, not so much my posts as messages from people who are struggling. I try to reply. I’m constantly giving out energy. But I can put my phone away. The first few hours I’ll miss it, but as each hour passes I feel lighter: I’m not in demand, no one can reach me… it’s a nice feeling. The message with children always has to be: “Do your best. If you can’t do it perfectly, have a try.” Don’t judge yourself. Don’t compare yourself. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water Since being awarded an MBE by the Queen last year for his efforts during the Covid pandemic, 'The Body Coach' has been on a nationwide tour of primary schools promoting his new book.