'Be more Seth' - Sunderland teacher-turned-author prepares to pick up the pen full-time after reaching book sales landmark

Mum of two Laura MacLennan, 40, graduated from her Performing Arts degree at the University of Sunderland in 2004 before starting a career in the city as a teacher with a focus on special educational needs and disabilities.

After time spent teaching Drama at Southmoor Academy and Thornhill Park School, where she remained for six years, Laura has most recently been working with children on the autistic spectrum as part of the Sunderland Autism Outreach Team.

But his summer Laura has decided to focus on writing full-time, after seeing her two children’s books, ‘Don’t Be Silly!’ and ‘Don’t Be Scared!’, reach 1,000 sales.

The main character in the book is Seth, inspired by her own two-year-old namesake son, who Laura refers to as her ‘rainbow baby’ – a term used for a baby born after a miscarriage or other devastating baby loss.

Both books feature Seth and and his imaginary colourful friends, the Rainbow Monsters, with an underlying message of kindness and “being yourself”.

Laura, who now lives in Newcastle with husband Brett, Seth, and six-year-old daughter Eliza, said: “The first book Don't Be Silly! is about Seth wanting to build a tree-house and asking his rainbow monster friends for help.

"The monsters want to help Seth, but they don’t want to work with each other because they all look different.

"They’re all different shapes and colours but Seth says, “don't be silly” and talks about how our differences are our strengths and how we all play our part in creating special things.

“I want my kids and everyone's kids to learn from an early age that it’s okay for them to be who they are, and that they don't have to be like everyone else to have an impact.”

To help promote her message, Laura has even coined the phrase ‘Be More Seth’.

She added: “I want children to think of it themselves and challenge their friends or bullies to Be More Seth when they see intolerance and discriminatory behaviour. It’s all learnt behaviour, so let's teach them a better way through story instead.”

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The sequel, ‘Don't Be Scared!’, sees each monster visiting the tree-house with a different fear, such as moving home, new schools and new babies.

But Seth encourages them not to be scared and to talk about their problems.

Laura eventually hopes to use the books to create a theatre production to be performed in schools to promote diversity and anti-bullying.

She added: “I want to thank everyone who has bought and loved my books and got me to visit schools with it. It’s pure magic to see how much these characters are loved and how much children are already growing in confidence just by being brave enough to own who they are.”

Laura has also penned a book inspired by her daughter Eliza which she hopes to publish next year.

Don’t Be Silly! was published on August 24, 2021 while Don’t Be Scared! was published on June 22 2022. Both books are available to buy at Waterstones in Durham, Seven Stories in Newcastle or from the Seth and the Rainbow Monsters website