Written by her mum Lucy, ‘Wonder Girl Carmela and Tinker the Stinker’ centres on Carmela’s exciting adventures with her therapy dog Tinker.
In the book, Tinker the toy poodle uses her special magical powers to whoosh her and Carmela on magical adventures around the world.
Carmela, aged seven, lives with the extremely rare muscle-wasting condition LMNA-CMD and experiences severe pain and discomfort every day.
Recently Carmela has been telling her mum she can’t wait to go to sleep each night so she can dream of having magical powers that would mean she no longer has muscular dystrophy.
Hearing this, Lucy sprang into action and spent a month between the hours of 10pm and 2am writing the book, which was illustrated by Paul Humphreys.
She came up with the amusing storyline after several days where little Tinker, aged two, had experienced ‘a bad bottom’.
The book costs just £6.99 and is available from all Waterstones shops or directly from Blue Poppy Publishing here.
All profits will go to Muscular Dystrophy UK and Lucy’s storybook marks yet another fundraising effort from the family.
Lucy said:
My husband and I bought Tinker to help with Carmela’s loneliness, to take her mind off her very rare condition and to comfort her when sad. I decided to use their special bond and write a book to help raise more money for Muscular Dystrophy UK, because the charity has been a huge support to our family over the years. Buying a copy will mean that more vital money can be invested into research to help find a treatment and cure for muscle-wasting conditions.
Carmela said:
I was really excited when Mummy told me she was writing a book about me and my dog Tinker! We love to play together and Tinker makes me smile when I don’t feel very well. When Mummy reads me my story I feel strong and like I don’t have muscular dystrophy anymore. I hope that lots of people buy Mummy’s book to help other children like me who have these horrible muscle-wasting conditions.
Charles Horton, Regional Development Manager at MDUK, said:
We are hugely grateful to Lucy for donating all profits from her amazing children’s storybook to our charity. Carmela is an extraordinary little girl who has done so much to raise both vital funds for Muscular Dystrophy UK as well as awareness of muscle-wasting conditions. We encourage all families with young children to buy a copy of Wonder Girl Carmela and Tinker the Stinker. Not only will you receive a lovely story that will make children laugh, you’ll also be helping our charity continue its fight against muscle-wasting conditions.
‘Wonder Girl and Tinker the Stinker’ can be purchased here.