Hummy Press

Hummy Press Norwich, UK, based Hummy Press publishes colourful books and imaginative audio stories for children and young adults.

Founded by award-winning writers, illustrators and husbands David Terry and Robert Neave.

For our Hummy Press friends who are feeling sad right now, we send you our love. ❤️
10/02/2025

For our Hummy Press friends who are feeling sad right now, we send you our love. ❤️

As we head into the weekend 🥳 here at HP HQ we thought we'd share a few lovely reviews we've received for our enticing, ...
07/02/2025

As we head into the weekend 🥳 here at HP HQ we thought we'd share a few lovely reviews we've received for our enticing, intergalactic audio tale 'Flo Can't Eat People', written by debut East Anglia author Zoë Patel.

"Once upon a far off planet, many stars ago,
there lived a small pink monster, her mum named her Flo.
Flo had one problem which made her a little sad.
For when she ate us people it always turned out bad."

You can listen to Flo's funny, edible adventure for free at www.hummypress.co.uk

Did you know all this week is National Storytelling week? It's a time to celebrate, and share, in the power of stories! ...
06/02/2025

Did you know all this week is National Storytelling week? It's a time to celebrate, and share, in the power of stories! 📚

At www.hummypress.co.uk we have a number of colourful and imaginative children's story books you can buy, and we also have a growing collection of fabulous free audio stories for children!

If you love stories and want to make some magical story memories with the little loved ones in your life then please visit the website, peruse, purchase and enjoy the free stuff! 🎃🛸🧙🏼‍♀️

Not Hummy Press related but a fantastic opportunity for child actors to star in the upcoming Narnia film. Please contact...
05/02/2025

Not Hummy Press related but a fantastic opportunity for child actors to star in the upcoming Narnia film. Please contact the e-mail address in the casting notice for further information.

Good luck to those who apply! 🍀

Writing tip Wednesday! 📜Since the very first story was told dreams have been used to inspire, and inform, fiction writin...
05/02/2025

Writing tip Wednesday! 📜

Since the very first story was told dreams have been used to inspire, and inform, fiction writing. From 'Misery' by Stephen King to 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley many famous novels have been inspired by the author's dreams. And how many times have you see dreams used in books, TV shows or films to foreshadow important events or add layers to a character or plot?

In fact Hummy Press's resident writer, David, recently had a dream that could be straight out of a 'Spookie Dooke' story. In his dream David was acting as Joey on the set of 'Friends', but, much to Joey/David's confusion, Ross and Rachel's baby, Emma, was entirely made out of Liquorice Allsorts. 😆😟🍬

What is the strangest dream you have ever had? How can dreams help with your writing?

Not Hummy Press related but a great opportunity for a male actor with Down syndrome. Please contact the e-mail address i...
04/02/2025

Not Hummy Press related but a great opportunity for a male actor with Down syndrome. Please contact the e-mail address in the casting notice for further information.

Good luck to those who apply! 🍀

Here at Hummy Press HQ our resident writer David doesn't often make his poetry public. Although David writes all our Hum...
31/01/2025

Here at Hummy Press HQ our resident writer David doesn't often make his poetry public. Although David writes all our Hummy Press rhyming stories he is shy about his poetry and keeps most of his poetic writings to himself. But here is one David wrote recently that he, and we, want to share ...

It's midweek and if you are in danger of hitting that 'slump day' lull with your novel, play or scriptwriting, why not t...
29/01/2025

It's midweek and if you are in danger of hitting that 'slump day' lull with your novel, play or scriptwriting, why not try this little challenge to pep yourself up? 🧐

Try to create a short story, poem, or flash fiction inspired by these lyrics from the Space song 'Female Of The Species' ...

"Frankenstein and Dracula have nothing on you.
Jekyll and Hyde join the back of the queue.
The female of the species is more deadlier than the male."

Space are one David's favourites bands due to the quirky story telling of their songs - not to mention the great tunes! Their tracks are frequently on David's playlist when writing stories for Hummy Press. 🛸

But how do you interpret these lyrics? What do they inspire you to write?

Did you know there are currently 8 free children's audio stories on the Hummy Press website as part of the 'Spookie Dook...
27/01/2025

Did you know there are currently 8 free children's audio stories on the Hummy Press website as part of the 'Spookie Dooke - The Eerie Audio' collection? 👻🍰🐍

Listen in at www.hummypress.co.uk/spookie-dooke

Hi everyone! David here, I'm taking over the Hummy Press social media feeds for a bit as it is our last day of celebrati...
24/01/2025

Hi everyone! David here, I'm taking over the Hummy Press social media feeds for a bit as it is our last day of celebrating Robert for his birthday week. 🎂🥳So this is a perfect opportunity for me to wax lyrical about my wonderful business partner, best friend and husband; my Hummy R. 😍

The truth is there would be no Hummy Press without Robert. No 'Itch the Witch', no 'Spookie Dooke', and no other amazing adventures we've got planned. Robert is the rocket fuel powering me, and all at Hummy Press, on our journey to the stars. Robert takes my imperfect writing and makes it perfect. Robert takes my dreams and makes them a reality. We wouldn't be the award-winning writers we are today, with our books published and in shops, if it weren't for Robert's passion, professionalism and positivity.

Robert is the first person to make a joke, he's always willing to listen and he's the easiest person in the world to make smile. Although he often struggles with, and fears, change Robert is always the first person to say, "Yes", to my bonkers ideas. 'Let's write, and make, a short film!" "Why not." "Let's take some silly pictures to make people laugh!" "OK." "Let's start our own publishing company!" "Yes!"

Everything I am, everything Hummy Press is, and everything we are is down to Robert. He truly is magic and I'll happily be under his spell forever. 💖💖

Happy birthday week my wonderful Hummy R. Love from all at Hummy Press and your Hummy D ###x

Irr. Nirrm. Nirrm Tipo. Nirrm Tipo Eos. (Robert will know what that means!)

All this week at HP HQ we are honouring our Hummy Press co-founder, Robert. It was Robert's birthday a few days ago so o...
23/01/2025

All this week at HP HQ we are honouring our Hummy Press co-founder, Robert. It was Robert's birthday a few days ago so our Hummy Press present is to celebrate Robert and all the wonderful things he does at Hummy Press 🎁🥰

Over the past two days we've looked at the creative site of Robert's work as resident editor and illustrator at HP HQ, so today we thought we'd take a look behind the scenes at the business side of Robert's role. 🤓

Sales and in-person events play to Robert's strengths and these are a main focus for him as Robert and David grow Hummy Press as a local, and national, story business. Robert manages the relationships with shops and organisations who stock Hummy Press books and Robert also takes a central role at events and appearances; even doing a book reading as Hummy Press character 'Wendle the Wizard' at an event for Amber’s Army. Don't worry if you've not heard of Wendle before, he's going to make a very special appearance in an 'Itch the Witch' adventure soon. But more on that later.🧙🏼‍♂️

With a University degree in acting and a background in performance, Robert loves to engage with readers, stockists and story enthusiasts, enjoying any opportunity to bring Hummy Press's stories and characters to life .. and to make a sale! But despite Robert's natural ability for flair and friendliness Robert often feels overwhelmed and panicked in social situations. This is an autistic behavioural challenge that Robert has to work very hard to overcome, and, as a testament to Robert's strength of character, he always pushes through his fears to focus on the job at hand. Often with a smile and a terrible pun. 🤣

At HP HQ we love Robert for his passion, professionalism, friendliness and determination. Robert is the backbone of the company and we can't thank him enough for the hard work he puts in every day for Hummy Press 💖💖💖💖

It's the second day of our 'celebrate Robert' week for Robert's birthday! 🥳🥰Yesterday we looked at the amazing work Robe...
22/01/2025

It's the second day of our 'celebrate Robert' week for Robert's birthday! 🥳🥰

Yesterday we looked at the amazing work Robert does as Hummy Press's resident illustrator and today we're going to take a look at the important work Robert does as the 'editor' for all Hummy Press stories. 🧐

Hummy Press's resident writer is David, but David is the first to admit that he's not the best at spelling, grammar or typing. These are things he has always struggled with since childhood and dissuaded David from writing stories for many years. But this is where Robert steps in as editor. Robert is responsible for proof-reading all Hummy Press stories and correcting David's many, many typos and spelling or grammar mistakes. But more than this, Robert also casts an editorial eye over David's stories, questioning the logic, content and message of each story along with examining structure and tone.

For example; David's first draft of the 'Spookie Dooke - The Eerie Audio' tale 'The Body Builder' was much darker in tone than what has been published. Robert, being a primary school teacher, felt the first draft was too frightening for children and so helped David to re-work parts of the story to be more humorous and to have a more satisfying payoff for young readers.

Another example of Robert's input shaping a story is that of the 'Spookie Dooke' story 'White Picket House'. This was originally conceived by David as the tale of a man recounting a spooky story that his niece had told him. But upon scrutinising the logic of the story with Robert, David re-wrote the story to make the role of the storyteller more ambiguous, which adds to the creepy and intriguing tone of the tale.

Robert claims that editing stories is his autistic superpower. One of Robert's autism behaviours is an ability to hyper focus on details, which has been vital when checking stories for mistakes or gaps in logic. Robert's practical and editorial input as editor ensures that all Hummy Press publications are creatively layered, tonally on point and of a high professional standard.

Robert is, indeed, Hummy Press's spelling and story superstar! 🤩

As part of our celebrations this week in honour of Robert's birthday, today is our first day of taking a little look beh...
21/01/2025

As part of our celebrations this week in honour of Robert's birthday, today is our first day of taking a little look behind the scenes at all the invaluable work Robert does at Hummy Press. 🤓

As well as co-founding Hummy Press Robert is the resident illustrator at HP HQ, having designed and hand drawn all the illustrated elements for Hummy Press's 'Itch the Witch' books. 🧙🏻‍♀️

To create his unique character designs for Itch, Chad, Switch, Farmer James, and all the residents in the land of Farfarr, Robert was drawn to brightly coloured, hand drawn illustrations, preferring a 'sketched' style of art that includes the layers of pencil and pen sketching, paint splats and colouring outside the lines. For Robert this is a child focussed approach to art with characters that are easy for children to replicate and thus encourages them with their own artistic skills. This sketched style also shows children that drawing doesn't have to be perfect to be enjoyed or have value.

The next stage in Robert's process, after designing the characters, is to illustrate the characters and artwork elements in parts. Each character is only drawn once, with each element (such as head shape, hair, hats, eyes, different mouth expressions, arms and legs etc) all drawn individually. David then scans these into the computer and reassembles the parts in photoshop to recreate the characters and landscapes. David then manipulates the individually illustrated elements to suit the overall image. For both Robert and David this is an economical approach to illustrating the 'Itch the Witch' books as it generally means Robert only has to provide David with one set of illustrations per character and David can then manipulate these elements as many times as necessary in photoshop to create different positions and expressions. This also saves Robert having to draw the same character, or landscape, over and over again should there need to be changes to expression or position as the artwork develops.

Once David has digitally created the final artwork from Robert's illustrations they discuss the pictures and make any changes needed. Once they are sure they are both happy with the final images, and that the illustrations are as good as they can be, they approve the artwork for use in the books.

So, from some humble doodles of colourful witches and funny farm animals, Robert's inspired vision has created and shaped the ever-expanding, spellbinding world of 'Itch the Witch' and Robert's artistic skills will continue to create wonderful new worlds through Hummy Press's exciting stories. 🧞‍♂️🧜‍♀️🧚‍♀️

Here at HP HQ it is a very special day because it is Robert's birthday! 🎂🥳In celebration we are going to do a week of so...
20/01/2025

Here at HP HQ it is a very special day because it is Robert's birthday! 🎂🥳

In celebration we are going to do a week of social media posts and behind the scenes peeks at the wonderful, and invaluable, work Robert does at Hummy Press to bring our beloved stories and characters to life. Not only does Robert have a full time job as a teacher but he also works tirelessly as a story editor, illustrator, business manager and content creator for Hummy Press and all at HP HQ couldn't be prouder of him or more grateful. 🥰

So, Robert, to celebrate your birthday we're going to spend the week celebrating you! 😍

Happy birthday! Love from David, the Hummy Press posse, and our Hummy Press fans all around the world! 🧙🏼‍♀️🐔🐻🎃

Not a Hummy Press opportunity; we are just sharing the details of this great competition for Norfolk and Suffolk writers...
17/01/2025

Not a Hummy Press opportunity; we are just sharing the details of this great competition for Norfolk and Suffolk writers from the Maddermarket Theatre

Please contact for more info / submit using the contacts in the ad. Good Luck! 🎭

At Hummy Press HQ we recently announced 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' as our BESTSELLING children's paperba...
16/01/2025

At Hummy Press HQ we recently announced 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' as our BESTSELLING children's paperback title. 🧙🏻‍♀️🐔💖

Now, after having combed through our website analytical data 😵‍💫 we are proud to announce that our most streamed children's audio story is the 'Spookie Dooke - The Eerie Audio' tale 'Cali Cake'! 🎂 🥰

'Cali had a special gift, one you cannot fake.
For people Cali hated, she could turn them into cake.'

'Cali Cake', a story of devilishly, delicious revenge (a dish best served cold), is being listened to by streamers all over the world and is most popular in the UK, the USA, Canada and South Africa.

Have you have your slice of 'Cali Cake' yet? You can listen to 'Cali Cake' and all the spine-tingling 'Spookie Dooke - The Eerie Audio' tales for free at www.hummypress.co.uk

🤖👽👻🎃

The mornings are already getting a little lighter each day in the UK and you can brighten your day with a visit to the w...
14/01/2025

The mornings are already getting a little lighter each day in the UK and you can brighten your day with a visit to the wonderful Norwich bookstore Bookbugs and Dragon Tales to peruse their wonderful array of books and stories - including Hummy Press's very own 'Itch The Witch And A Chicken Called Chad'! 📖💖

13/01/2025

'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' the follow up to Hummy Press's debut children's book 'Itch the Witch and chicken called Chad' is available to buy now from www.hummypress.co.uk

"I love the story of Itch and Switch and think it holds a great message for children."
Katie - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch" reader.

"A fun and beautiful book. I would certainly recommend it as a great read to children and parents."
Lilia - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' reader.

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Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch
Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch

'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' the follow up to Hummy Press's debut children's book 'Itch the Witch and chicken called Chad' is available to buy now from www.hummypress.co.uk "I love the story of Itch and Switch and think it holds a great message for children." Katie - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch" reader. "A fun and beautiful book. I would certainly recommend it as a great read to children and parents." Lilia - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' reader. #childrensbooks #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #CityOfLiterature #birthdaygiftideas #itchthewitch

'Flo can't eat people' by Zoë Patel
'Flo can't eat people' by Zoë Patel

Meet little, pink monster Flo, and her whole family, in Hummy Press's out of this world audio story 'Flo Can't Eat People'. www.hummypress.co.uk/flo-cant-eat-people Written by debut author Zoë Patel this extra-terrestrial treat has been used in schools to educate young minds on the importance of allergy awareness. Zoë had to deal with food allergies in her own family and this became the inspiration for the story. 🍴❤️ #allergyawareness #debutwriter #freeaudiostory #audiostoriesforkids #childrensstories #hummypress

Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad
Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad

Christmas is round the corner! 🎅 If you've started your Christmas shopping don't forget to add Hummy Press's 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' to your list of presents for the little loves ones in your life. 🎁 "I like Chad. I have read the book 6 times. It is my favourite book." - Lilly, aged 6, 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' reader. Available to buy now from www.hummypress.co.uk #lovebooks #bookstagram #bookworm #independentbookstore #childrensbooks #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityOfLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #authors #illustrator #publishers #indieauthor #birthdaygiftideas #presentideas #goodreads #picturebooks #picturebooksforkids #itchthewitchandachickencalledchad #itchthewitch #hummypress

Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch
Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch

Have you got a birthday coming up for a little loved one in your life or are you looking for a creative Christmas present for children? 🧐🥳🎂🎁 Then how about buying them a gift that'll spark their imagination and promote personal, emotional and social development through a colourful story exploring the themes of honesty, friendship and love? "Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch", Hummy Press's exciting new children's storybook, is now available to buy from www.hummypress.co.uk "All our kids love the 'Itch the Witch' books!" Will - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' reader #lovebooks #bookstagram #bookworm #ChildrensBooks #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityOfLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #authors #illustrator #publishers #indieauthor #birthdaygiftideas #goodreads #picturebooks #picturebooksforkids #itchthewitch #hummypress

Spookie Story Snippets - Medusa Grace
Spookie Story Snippets - Medusa Grace

Only two days left to the best night of the year!! 🎃🎃🎃 So here's a 'Spookie Story Snippet', read by the wonderful Will Power, to send a shiver up your spine for the spooky season! 👽💀👻 #Halloween #lovehalloween #spookyseason #SpookySeasonIsHere #ChildrensBooks #ChildrensStories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityofLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #Authors #illustrator #publishers #freestoriesforkids #Freestories #audiostory #audiostoryforkids #paperbackbooks #NorwichDrag #dragstorytime #spookiedooke

Spookie Dooke - Spookie Story Snippets
Spookie Dooke - Spookie Story Snippets

With only 7 days left till Halloween here at HP HQ we're getting in the mood for spooky season! 🎃🤖👽👻 If you fancy something frightful then check out our spine-tingling audio and paperback tales from the mysterious Norfolk town of 'Spookie Dooke' at www.hummypress.co.uk Here's a 'Spookie Story Snippet' teaser as read by the wonderful Will Power #ChildrensBooks #ChildrensStories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityofLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #Authors #illustrator #publishers #freestoriesforkids #Freestories #audiostory #audiostoryforkids #paperbackbooks #NorwichDrag #dragstorytime #spookiedooke

Spookie Dooke - The Booke: Volume One
Spookie Dooke - The Booke: Volume One

It's happy birthday to Hummy Press today, but here's something special we've been working on just for you ... and we hope it gets you in the mood for Halloween! 🎃👽💀👻 'Spookie Dooke - The Booke: Volume One' now available to buy from www.hummypress.co.uk "Welcome to Dooke, our quaint seaside town. Here you will smile and never, ever, frown. Because all is perfect, there's nothing strange here, no monstrous children or teachers to fear. No living lies, no bloodsucking vets, just sunshine and toys for the kids and their pets. So come to the shops, buy an ice-cream or gown and soon you'll never want to leave our quaint seaside town." Something strange is going on in the curious, coastal town of Dooke, and now stories of supernatural shenanigans have escaped the terrifying town and found their way into 'Spookie Dooke - The Booke: Volume One'. Featuring six fearsome fables about menacing monsters, creepy cursed toys and the worst school dinner imaginable .. are you brave enough to read them all? #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #CityofLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #cityofstoriesnorwich #writerslife #authors #illustrator #publishers #indiepublisher #solvethemystery #spookiedooke #paranormalfornorfolk #bookstagram #bookworm #childrensbooks

Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad
Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad

Looking for a book for your little loved ones?🎁 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' is the magical book that enchants children's imaginations and also promotes children's personal, emotional and social development through exploring themes such as friendship, challenges and bravery. "I like Chad. I have read the book 6 times. It is my favourite book." - Lilly, aged 6, 'Itch the Witch and a chicken called Chad' reader. Available to buy now from www.hummypress.co.uk/itch-the-witch-and-a-chicken-called-chad #lovebooks #bookstagram #bookworm #independentbookstore #childrensbooks #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityOfLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #authors #illustrator #publishers #indieauthor #birthdaygiftideas #goodreads #picturebooks #picturebooksforkids #itchthewitchandachickencalledchad #itchthewitch #hummypress

Flo Can't Eat People
Flo Can't Eat People

Who's excited for the BBC radio premier of Hummy Press's 'Flo Can't Eat People' tonight at 6pm on the BBC Upload show? 😁 If you want a teaser of little Flo's story, well here ya go ... #bbcupload #excited #kidsstories #ChildrensAuthors #radio #foodallergies #allergyawareness #audiostory #audiostoryforkids #freeaudiostory #hummypress

Spookie Dooke
Spookie Dooke

Here at Hummy Press HQ resident writer David is getting very excited as Halloween videos and memes have started to appear in our social media feeds. 🎃👽💀👻 This means the countdown is on till spooky season and the release of more frighteningly funny 'Spookie Dooke' audio stories! If you fancy a little tingle up your spine why not check out the scary stories that have already come from the delightfully devilish town of Dooke? www.hummypress.co.uk/spookie-dooke #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityOfLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #cityofstoriesnorwich #writerslife #authors #illustrator #publishers #indiepublisher #freestoriesforkids #freestoriesforkids #audiostoryforkids #audiostoryforkids #SolveTheMystery #spookiedooke

'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' the follow up to Hummy Press's debut children's book 'Itch the Witch and chicken called Chad' is now available to buy from www.hummypress.co.uk "I love the story of Itch and Switch and think it holds a great message for children." Katie - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch" reader. "A fun and beautiful book. I would certainly recommend it as a great read to children and parents." Lilia - 'Itch the Witch and her daughter Switch' reader. Have a lovely weekend everyone! 🥰 #bookstagram #bookworm #childrensbooks #childrensstories #storiesforkids #NorwichWriters #cityofstoriesnorwich #CityOfLiterature #norwichauthors #norwichpublisher #norwichcityofstories #writerslife #Author #illustrator #Publisher #childrensbookauthor #indieauthor #birthdaygiftideas #goodread #picturebooks #picturebooksforkids #itchthewitch

Here at HPHQ we've been getting a lot of love for our new audio story 'Flo Can't Eat People' written by Zoë Patel. If you've not listened to it yet and want a sneak peek .. well here ya go! 👾🍴 #childrensstories #storiesforkids #norwichpublisher #publishers #indieauthor #debutauthor #audiostoryforkids #FreeStories #freestoriesforkids #flocanteatpeople

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