Hartlepool student Max Wrigley publishes first children’s novel Sammy the Seagull

Max Wrigley, 25, has published Sammy the Seagull and is already working on a contemporary novel.

Sammy the Seagull follows the tale of a hungry seagull craving his favourite food but after being unable to find it, settles for something else instead.

On his journey to find his favourite food, Sammy has an important lesson to learn about stealing and sharing.

Max, a third-year creative writing and English literature student at the University of East Anglia, found the inspiration for his children’s book after noticing seagulls’ behaviour in Hartlepool.

He said: “The idea for Sammy came after a seagull decided it would be a great idea to land on my finger and steal a chunk of my freshly opened sandwich and a separate event of watching two birds fight over a bit of bread on top of a streetlight from my lounge window.

"The legend Stephen King said ‘my idea about a good idea is one that sticks around’.

"The bread fight hadn't left my mind and that's when I thought of writing a book with lessons around ‘stealing is bad’ and the prospect of sharing.”

Max originally had his heart set on publishing a novel before the end of his studies before deciding to go into publishing children’s books instead.

Max, originally from Middlesbrough, said: “Writing a full-length novel for publication before graduating sounded like a huge task on top of my university work. Writing children's books sounded more manageable, given they are of a much less word count.

"I aim to write books which either have an educational aspect or underlying meanings connected to ongoing issues that people experience, with sexual orientation, gender identity and the benefits system being a few examples.”

Max has also written another two children’s books that form a two-part series about a stegosaurus who gets bullied for having rainbow spikes and learns how to embrace being different.

Published by Olympia Publishers, Sammy the Seagull is aimed at children aged five to eight and is available to order online from a number of retailers, priced £6.99p.