Welcome to Featherbed Tales
Want to see how it works?
With Featherbed Tales you can simply and easily narrate, record and share our beautiful digital books.
Watch our short and fun video to see how.
Now, are you ready to see Featherbed Tales in action?
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Have a watch and listen to little Emily reading Jump Jerboa Jump for her Nanan, Grandad and Aunty Liz.
Press the Play button to start and Next to turn the pages...
And this is our story
Created by Caroline M England, Featherbed Tales was set up in 2020 to help children connect with absent loved ones and to share the joy of storytelling.
When a close friend of Featherbed's founder died in 2016 she left a little boy so young he might not remember his mother. She had, however, previously made a voice recording to welcome him into their family when he was adopted. At this point Caroline started to realise the importance of voice in creating bonds and memories. She recognised that hearing a voice could create a very strong physical connection to an absent loved one.
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Not long afterwards, whilst standing in Coniston Water about to enter a swimming event, Caroline found herself next to an old friend from 25 years previously. Not recognising the wet-suited, neoprene hat-wearing friend until she spoke, her voice immediately transported Caroline back to the fun times they had together as teenagers. These two events started a thought process which would lead to the development of Featherbed Tales.
TEAM
Where the Passion Begins
CAROLINE M. ENGLAND
Writer and Creator of Featherbed Tales
Caroline is a writer based in the Peak District, in Derbyshire, UK. Living where the wind blows down from the moors of Featherbed Moss, much of her inspiration is gathered from the magic of the natural world around her.
She started writing children's books when her own children were young, as a way of making it through the sleepless nights of feeding, colic, illness and tantrums (sometimes it was even the children who had the tantrums). Caroline is passionate about the power of the spoken word and sharing stories together.
COLIN WARE
Technology and Operations
Colin is a technologist based in London, UK. After a 30 year career in management consulting and delivering programmes of work for some of the worlds largest companies, he is now focusing on a portfolio career with Featherbed Tales and charities close to his heart.
Colin will run a mile from writing any of the content, but he has been seen tinkering with some of the illustrations. His main focus though is managing the technical, business operations and commercial functions of Featherbed Tales.
TORI STOWE
Illustrator
Tori is a freelance artist, surface designer and illustrator from Bathurst, South Africa. Although she graduated with a fine art degree in Painting from Rhodes University, she was principally educated in her sandpit under a walnut tree.
Any gaps in her learning were filled by visiting esteemed learned dogs, ducks and bees. Her work is now often seen in retail stores in Australia and South Africa, it is exhibited widely in South Africa and abroad and at The Corner, the studio/gallery in Bathurst which she runs with her husband Craig.
DANIEL WHIBLEY
Composer and Music Advisor
Dan is firstly VERY VERY VERY tall - 7 foot tall in fact! Now we've got that out of the way, we can tell you that he is also a hugely talented professional double bass player, composer and arranger. A member of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011, he has also worked with many film composers, has composed for the BBC Proms, CBeebies, created the BBC's Tom Jones medley for Sir Tom's 80th birthday, as well as the beautiful orchestration for Four Notes - Paul's Tune for Paul Harvey which reached number 1 in the UK singles downloads chart in November 2020. Dan composed our fabulous "Hello, I'm a Snail" song bringing his own special humour and touch of fun to Featherbed Tales.
HOWARD CHADWICK
Voice Actor and Narrator
Howard trained at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and has worked as an Actor in theatre, film, television and radio for thirty years. No stranger to playing animals, his first professional role was playing a hedgehog.
Since then he has played everything from Shakespearean Kings to Pantomime Dames with Directors including Sir Alan Ayckbourn. All our stories come with narration by Howard as well as multiple options for you to have fun creating your own special audio tracks.
CLARE O'BRIEN
Design and Marketing
Clare is a creative diva who brings her artistic talents to our design and marketing. Artist, writer and musician herself, she brings her passion for social media and eye for children's designing to Featherbed Tales.