Copywriting agency and children’s author team up to support literacy charity

Rich Sutherland, left, Joanne Walker and Andy Sanders

Hull-based copywriting agency sobananapenguin has teamed up with local author Andy Sanders to supply a children’s reading charity with over 100 signed copies of his most popular picture book.

I Have an Orange Juicy Drink tells the story of a boy who fights off aliens, elephants and dinosaurs when they try to steal his orange squash.

Agency sobananapenguin purchased 90 copies of the book to donate to Ready, Steady, Read, a local charity that changes children’s lives through reading. Andy then added another dozen copies to the pile, resulting in over 100 books that the charity is giving out to Hull schools alongside fun-filled worksheets.

“I first met Andy when I was working at Waterstones,” said Rich Sutherland, Managing Director of sobananapennguin. “He came in with some of his self-published cartoon flipbooks and I immediately took a shine to the quirky style and vivid colours. Fast-forward 15 years and I thought it would be a great idea to share his wacky tales with local schoolchildren.”

Joanne Walker, founder of Ready, Steady, Read, said: “sobananapenguin buys books for us every month and this particular donation will go a long way.

“We’re also saving some copies to include in our end of spring term reading challenge, as they make fantastic prizes for Key Stage One winners.”

Andy said: “I love mixing humour and heart with my work, and trying to say as much as you can with as few lines as possible. I’m very excited to be working with the guys at Ready, Steady, Read and sobananapenguin to help young folks in and around Hull develop their reading skills through bright and funny stories.”

Andy also has free video workshops available on his Facebook page, which were very popular during lockdown and still get a lot of attention from schools and families.

Children and their parents can discover how to draw tiny chefs, giant sandwiches and much more by searching for “shortandsmiley” on Facebook.