About the Book
This unique children’s picture book was created by climbers, for climbers and anyone in between, to encourage children in the adventurous sport that is Climbing. The book follows Sophie, an adventurous six year old girl who loves animals and wishes she could climb like they do. It describes the basic movements used in climbing using rhyme and colorful imagery that will help spark any child’s imagination to help them easily understand and remember the basic elements of climbing. Not a climber or don’t have kids of your own? No worries, this book can be shared with any young child; sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, friends children etc. This book was designed in a way that simplifies climbing down to it’s fundamentals by using a fun and engaging narrative that appeals to a younger audience, yet doesn’t compromise on the technical aspects of climbing. Most importantly the book does not require you to be a climbing enthusiast to understand it and can be read by a novice to a novice.
Climbing is for everyone, it is a really unique, exhilarating and adventurous sport. As a female climber and one of few in my area, I feel that it’s important to introduce more diversity in climbing and by having two female leading characters in the book I wanted to encourage this concept of diversity and belonging in children from a young age. This book is supported by Irelands local climbing body Mountaineering Ireland as well as by various climbing instructors and coaches.
The book first went live in November 2020 via KickStarter with amazing responses to the first edition prints. This book is a teaching aid for children regarding the basic climbing movements you need to know to start your climbing journey, whether its indoor or outdoor, bouldering or climbing, these are you fundamentals.
About the Author
Hi, my name is Ciéra, I am a 30 something year from old Northern Ireland. As a Change Facilitator by day, author and illustrator by night and an outdoor explorer and climber on the weekends, it is in my nature to be curious and share my passions with others.
Since I was first introduced to climbing a few years ago, I have become obsessed and now the sport is a huge part of my life. I only wish I had discovered it sooner. Since Covid I have worked hard to increase my skills and knowledge of climbing by working with a number of highly skilled coaches and climbers and by partaking in a variety of courses and achieving the Mountain Training Climbing Wall Instructor Award in May 2022. For more information on how to find climbing courses for your personal and professional development, click here.
I am committed to encouraging diversity and creating a sense of belonging within the sport of climbing from a young age. I am heavily involved at my local climbing gym through Gilford Climbing Club, where in 2021 I partnered with Sport NI and managed the Build Back Better Project Re-Boot: Mountain Moments which ran for a full year. Through this project we gave back to the local community and created two more books about climbing and the local area and much, much more. To learn more about this project click here.
I am passionate about coaching and teaching others about the sport of climbing as well as creating stories to inspire others. I implore you all to instill curiosity and adventure within the lives of the children and adults around you and remember, climbing is for everyone.
If you want to find out more about where you can begin your climbing journey and find a climbing centre in your local area, click here.
What do we mean by climbing? Well, climbing is exactly what it says on the tin, it is a sport where you climb either artificial indoor structures or outdoors on real rock. There are many different types of climbing from indoor bouldering to outdoor trad, depending on which style of climbing you prefer will dictate what type of equipment and knowledge you need to partake.
To learn more about the different climbing styles and what that means to you, click here
There are more climbing centers in Northern Ireland and Ireland than you think! With climbing becoming increasingly popular we are seeing more climbing gyms opening and more councils actually opening dedicated climbing walls, which is amazing to see.
There are also a lot of different climbing clubs that also make use of these indoor centers and are always looking for new members as we climbers really love to share our passion with others. If you want to find out more about where you can go climbing and how to get involved, click here.
If your centre or club is not listed in this post, please reach out and let me know and I will happily add to the list!
There are many climbing courses available for your personal or professional development with an array of highly qualified intstuctors available to train you.
If you want to learn more about what courses are available to you and how you can join them, click here!
In 2021 Gilford Youth Climbing Club and Gilford Climbing Club (Adults) partnered with Sport NI and introduced the ‘Mountain Moments’ Project. With the support of Sport NI and the funding from Build Back Better, Project Re-boot the clubs were able to develop and diversify their members and give back to the community.
To learn more about the project and what was achieved over the year, click here!
How I can Help You!
Proof Reading
I can help by giving your children's book manuscript a full critique with edits and suggestions to improve the story. This can also increase its chances of being published and purchased.
Copywriting & Artwork Review
I will professionally proofread, edit and correct texts and documents.
I check spelling, grammar, flow and readability, so that your text sounds native and perfect in English.
Self Publishing Coaching
Self-publishing can be hard to figure out.
I can help coach you through the self-publishing process and answer any of your questions.
