BEST-selling author Bruno Vincent visited Barrow Hills School in Witley to present a creative workshop on the art of storytelling and the inspiration for some of the creepy characters and atmospheric settings in his Tumblewater collection of children’s books.

His contemporary rewrites of Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five, part of the Ladybird parody series for grownups – with titles such as Five Go Gluten Free and Five Go Parenting, proved an instant hit, flying off booksellers shelves over Christmas.

The Tumblewater books, published by Pan Macmillan, are his first for children.

A bookseller and book editor before turning his hand to writing, Bruno’s books for grown-ups are co-authored with Jon Butler and have been translated into seven languages.

Pupils at the prep school delved into Grisly Tales from Tumblewater, and School for Villains – both books feature the popular orphan-turned-storyteller Daniel Dorey who, in the telling of the tale, unexpectedly becomes part of the story itself.