Hillytown Biscuit Church books follow the adventures of seven children who go to church together. The idea came when I was looking for something to read to my children in a Christian bookshop and realised that children who go to church hardly ever see that part of their lives reflected back at them in books, films, or on TV. In a media obsessed age, is it any surprise that they grow up seeing church as ‘irrelevant’?

Children in small churches, especially, might find themselves particularly isolated if no one they know at school also appears at their church on Sundays. There are just seven children at Hillytown Biscuit Church, aged between three and fourteen, which is just the right number for a gang who have adventures.

Each book also tackles a specific theme as it affects adults and children, and can be used on its own as a way of prompting discussion or exploration of that theme.

In the first book, Hillytown Biscuit Church, Nancy is causing her parents increasing embarassment because she’s too shy to say hello. In the end, however, it’s Nancy who helps her mother overcome her own insecurities and heal a rift in the small church family.

In Hillytown Biscuit Church at Garibaldi Hall, Jake is with the rest of the gang on the church weekend away. During their quest to find the secret castle in the woods, Jake discovers that his dad is a real hero. This book gently and positively introduces the subject of alcoholism - and the family problems it can cause - within an adventure story which will appeal to boys and girls.

The third book in the series, Hillytown Biscuit Church and the Custard Cream Communion Club, develops the theme of ‘Loving your Enemies’, and also looks at different Christian traditions.