Former councillor creates 'Amazing' range of children's books

Mark Baker gave up his position on the council in 2015 to travel the world. He had previously worked as a nursery nurse and graphics designer, where he helped design websites for films including Mr Bean’s Holiday, Atonement, Hot Fuzz and United 93.

Mark sold up everything he owned for his global adventure, which included visiting Russia, Mongolia, China, America, Thailand and Vietnam.

His travels and experiences, including a stay with a Taoist master in the hills of South Korea which involved 4am rises for two hours of meditation, have helped inspire his books.

After taking photographs of faces he found in everyday objects, like plugs, switches, and doorknobs, he created a set of characters called the Metas. He teamed up with local primary school teacher Adam Galvin to create a series of children’s storybooks about each of these characters.

One of Mark’s favourite creations is a character called Sam who has a doorknob for a nose which enables the superpower of unlocking any door and travelling anywhere as a door on a car, plane or even a rocket.

The pair have also collaborated once on a series of children’s factual books which they branded as R Amazing. They have currently created and published three books: People R Amazing, Men Who R Amazing and Women Who R Amazing. With six other working titles in progress: Mythical Creatures R Amazing, Dogs R Amazing, Cats R Amazing, Mums R Amazing, Dads R Amazing and Horses R Amazing.

Mark said: “We aim to share ingenious and unique ideas that we hope readers will love, or even hate. We would much rather 50 per cent adored or detested what we do than have 100 per cent think our ideas are just alright.”

Each book has a supporting website with fun games and an ever-growing range of merchandise which can be found at www.R-and-Q.com/brands/