The old adage ‘everyone has a book in them’ is certainly proving true for one Newham family. Mother Carla St-Omer and eldest daughter Emilia have each published their own book with original artwork and now her youngest daughter Olivia is planning to come to the party.

Carla, who had always enjoyed making handmade books to read to her daughters when they were younger, became motivated to create once more when she noticed that, after starting school, Emilia, who has dyslexia, was losing interest in reading and writing.

After watching ‘how to’ videos on YouTube, both Carla and Emilia started working on their own individual projects: Olie Spring Is Coming by Carla St-Omer and Horrific Halloween: Warning before you read! By Emilia St-Omer.

“The aim of the exercise was to serve as a confidence builder for Emilia,” said Carla. “It really did bring her confidence up.”

Carla, who now home-educates both girls, and Emilia have plans to publish again but this time with Olivia, who wants to add her own book to the family’s growing self-published library.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.