WITH first hand experience of being bullied as a child, a first time author from Barry has written a magical story aimed at helping children and young teens overcome their fears.

Loosely based on his own childhood experiences, Adam Hartland has seen his debut novel The Sketched School Boy published and receiving rave reviews from parents and children alike.

The Sketched School Boy depicts the fears, loneliness, and trauma a young boy endures at the hands of a bully.

The boy, 11-year-old Ned Oakes, whose days are spent pre-occupied with fantasies of being a hero, is being bullied and he’s too afraid to reveal it to anyone.

Ned is gifted with an incredible thirst for drawing as well as a vivid imagination, skills he uses to conquer his biggest fears, learning valuable life lessons along the way.

As well as entertaining children, the book is aimed at 10 to 14-year-olds, Adam hopes that his book will also encourage anyone suffering at the hands of bullies to have the courage to speak up and not suffer in silence.

Adam, a 27-year-old teaching assistant, said that he used his experience of being bullied as a child and also from working with children to write The Sketched School Boy over the course of 18 months.

"Bullying is all around us," he said. "I want to tell kids that you can over come it and you can beat it by speaking to someone with authority. Don't be afraid."

The Sketched School Boy has been published by Barry based publisher Lock Publishing and is available in hard copy or for Kindle.

Adam, who studied journalism and has previously explored his love for writing through blogging, says he is delighted with the reviews he has received so far.

He said: "It's been really good. I've had a lot of positive feedback from conversations with people who have read it, school kids seem very interested in it and parents seem to love it.

"The message seems to be coming across the way I intended it to and that's the most important thing."

The Sketched School Boy can be bought from Amazon.co.uk, for information visit www.lockpublishing.com/hartland