Local author’s new children’s book hitting the right beat

Dale Hall has the beat in his bones, coming from a musical family, and over the years has often been told he brings drums alive.

Now he has done exactly that, with his newly published children’s book Born Again Beat – the adventures of a magical drum kit.

It is the story of Jake, a young man longing to be a drummer.

Eager to get his own drum kit, Jake sets about trying to save his pocket money and earn more by doing odd jobs for an old lady who lives in the village.

It is here Jake stumbles across a drum kit, sleeping in a hidden summer house.

However, as he soon discovers, there is more to this tired old drum kit than meets the eye.

The book was inspired by the many experiences Dale has had over the years.

Dale said: “When I was playing, kids would often sit on the floor and be mesmerised by the drums.

“There were silly things that used to happen – like my sleeve catching in the high hat (cymbals) or the base pedal turning round the wrong way – and I decided to make notes.

“Almost 20 years later, I decided to put all the notes together and make a book, which will hopefully be a good read and also inspire children to get involved with music - and drums in particular, of course.”

Each element of the drum kit in the book has its own personality, beautifully illustrated by Claire Jones.

Dale worked with his 94-year-old dad Dennis to make the book more child-friendly and add those extra bits of humour.

Dale added: “The book isn’t just for little kids, it is really something all children will enjoy as there is a lot of humour on many levels.”

Born Again Beat is available to buy at Welton Paper Shop.

○For more information and to contact Dale visit www.beatthebassdrum.com

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