A WOMAN from Little Neston has written her third children's book, which is inspired by her visits to Parkgate Marsh as a child.

Penny Chrimes, daughter of the late Reg Chrimes, a well-known figure in the Neston community who died in September 2021, became a children's author, following a career in journalism.

She was born and grew up in Little Neston, and moved away to go to university, and now lives in London. Penny worked on The Mirror training scheme, and the bulk of her career was as an executive producer at Sky News for 18 years.

Penny said: "I'd always wanted to write books.

"I always say in my school talks that it's always been stories for me. As a journalist, your stories have to be true but I particularly love children's books.

"There came a point where I thought 'if not now, when?'"

Penny's first book, Tiger Heart, was released in 2020, just before lockdown. Her second release The Dragon and Her Boy came out in 2021.

Talking about releasing a book during the pandemic, Penny said: "It was sad really. I wanted to go out and speak to people about my book and I couldn't."

'Bring back the river like the old days'

Penny's newest book, Wilder will be released on Tuesday, and she will be doing talks at Neston High School, Linghams and Bear Hunt Books.

She said: "It is especially wonderful for me to be going to talk to students at Neston High.

"It is a school that was very close to my Dad’s heart – he fought for years to get a secondary school for Neston, and it was one of the proudest achievements of his life."

Penny added: "It'll be so nice going into schools and locations across Wirral, as it has that local angle. 

"The book never says it's Parkgate or the Dee Estuary but I recently came and did lots of walks around Burton which is just amazing.

"It is a child-like view of it. I think in my mind I thought it would be great to bring the river back like in the old days.

"It always had that air of mystery and I guess it's sort of stayed with me."

Wilder tells the story of a 'wild child' who goes out onto the marsh and can't speak. No one knows where she has come from, but she has scars all over her.

She has the ability to communicate with creatures, and has a link with peregrine falcon who is her 'spirit guide'.

It becomes her mission to bring back the river to the marsh which has lost its livelihood.

To pre-order Wilder, visit here.