Cheshire gran ploughs up book charts with tractor tale

2 Oct 2018 03:02

A family's rescue mission to save rusting tractors has led to a Cheshire great-granny ploughing her way into the children's book charts.

Ruth Paterson's delightful debut novel, Meet the Tractors just reached the top ten of Amazon's children's short stories chart.

The 79-year-old retired teacher and surgery receptionist has also been awarded five-star reviews from enchanted readers.

Ruth admits her inspiration for the stories came from watching her sons and their pals restoring old tractors on the family farm.

She said: "It started with the restoration of the first old tractor we had on our farm, when my sons were small boys.

"It lay abandoned and unloved in an out of the way corner."

"When it came to being scrapped, memories of the brave old tractor surfaced and my elder son - who is now in his 50s - decided that Hendrix, as he had always been called, meant too much to betaken away to the scrap yard."

"So the restoration began and five more old David Brown tractors were purchased and restored."

"Each one had a personality - there was my story, wanted to be told."

Meet the Tractors introduces young readers to six vintage machines - Hendrix, Charles, Oliver, Arnold, Mr Brown and Monty - as well as their drivers.

Throughout Ruth's colourful book, which has been beautifully illustrated by Julian Stelfox, each of the tractors is thrown into its own farmyard adventure.

Ruth added: "They all have feelings and they all work hard."

"But they also like to party."

"Each chapter tells a story of one of the tractors who invariably after an adventure becomes a bit of a hero."

A busy life, first as a teacher then as a receptionist, prevented talented Ruth embarking on her writing career earlier.

The mum-of-two, who also has five grandchildren and one great grandchild, did have a short story published in The Lady magazine during the 1980s.

But it has only been in the last few years she has found the time to compile her imaginative children's short stories.

Ruth has just completed a festive sequel to Meet the Tractors and is currently working on a third collection of stories.

For more details, visit Amazon and search for Ruth Paterson where the paperback and Kindle formats of Meet the Tractors are both available.

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