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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The star has now released his first ever picture book, The Burpee Bears, and dropped in to Kirkhill Primary to do a burpee bear workout with the children, a special reading of the book and also a Q&A session. 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.

I went to 12 schools all over the country, which was amazing." he said. "I was sort-of running in there, doing a little mini kind-of 'P.E. with Joe' workout, followed by a reading of the book and it was wonderful. I met so many amazing kids and teachers that are doing wonderful things in their schools. 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 Workout Badges will be available on The Body Coach TV YouTube channel and on the YouTube Kids app, starting 22 September I leave them my drawing and then they have a little display with all their owls. There are little parliaments of owls all around classrooms in Northern Ireland now," he proudly beams.In the classroom children would normally write the story first and then add the pictures," he says. I really believe in all those things, so it's everything I love and believe in a children's picture book." Howard has also enjoyed working with the youngest children "who have no inhibitions" and with the primary four and five age group, empowering them to become illustrators and design a new book cover for The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.

There is more choice available now which is so encouraging. Books like Dog Man and Cat Kid mean that children who are not as confident with their reading can be involved and that may lead them into getting interested in graphic novels."

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 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. While he has seen many technological changes in his craft, the essence of his job remains the same. 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.His illustrations for Burpee Bears were all done digitally using an iPad, over the space of just six weeks. I love being playful. Exercise doesn’t have to be serious. But it was very tiring making the series because of Covid. I had to film with each child separately because of social distancing rules. This is my fourth decade of illustrating children's books. It all started in the 1990s with Martin Waddell books using watercolour, which of course you couldn't rub out," he explains.

This is just one of the many "random and creative" scenarios that award-winning author and illustrator Paul Howard has received from 10 and 11-year-olds during workshops when he challenged them to think about what Plop, the little barn owl, in the beloved children's book The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark would be doing now. 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.

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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. 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. 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.