(Above, Jade, right, meets up with NE Lifestyle Editor, Sally Proud, after featuring in their November issue ahead of her book release)
Actress Jade Byrne, 34, from Darlington, County Durham, is set to release her debut children’s book, Daisy Donald, on November 14, World Diabetes Day.
A day significant in the young author’s life, Jade having been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes some thirty years ago, in November 1989, with the book itself taking on the topic in an exciting and exhilarating manner.
“I’ve met a lot of people throughout my life, and more recently in the Type 1 Diabetes world, of the lack of understanding and also learnt from those that it’s not their fault that they’re ignorant to what Type 1 is. It’s actually because they’ve not been taught about it,” explains Jade.
“That’s why I made my show (the one-woman, biographical stage show, Pricks) because if you’re going to teach people, you need to start from the bottom up.
“If you learn from a young age, then you can pass it on for generations to come.”
Throughout the ongoing run with Pricks, Jade came up with the next stage in her mission to educate with the production and publication of Daisy Donald.
Unkempt yet loveable, Jade’s creation is that of a 6-year-old, ginger-haired, dungaree dress-wearing child who wears a superhero cape to fight off an invisible monster, Daisy’s invisible illness that is Type 1 Diabetes.
“I really love children’s books, and books that rhyme,” said Jade of her publication.
“And that’s why Daisy Donald had to rhyme, that and I find those type of books much more fun to read.
“I find that I can relate to so much and hope that other Type 1’s, or people with connections to it, will also be able to relate to that monster; I also hope people in general will pick up the book, not just those in the Type 1 community.
“I hope any child without any connections can pick it up and learn something, or a parent to pick it up and read it to their child without realising what it’s really about until they get to that part of the book and therefore have learned something new about Type 1 Diabetes, the reality of it.”
As a Type 1 Diabetic, and a ‘celebrity ambassador’ for the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), a percentage of sales from the book will go to the charity for whom Daisy Donald will be released in line with their World Diabetes Day superhero campaign.
Jade Byrne’s debut children’s book, Daisy Donald, will be released on November 14, further information of which is available via her WEBSITE and TWITTER and on sale from Amazon and ETSY
