They say social scrolling is bad for you. And I generally can't argue that, but I do hold a personal exception for May 29th 2024 when I first made the discovery of such a patient and intuitive photographer and caretaker of wildlife living at the bottom of his garden. As from the moment I found Gez’s page, by serendipitous accident, I fell in love with a small family of mice. From there, I met Blacksox the Fox, and Mr Prickles and Steve the blind hedgehog who Gez built a pathway for so he could get from his home to his food and water bowl, without getting lost and going hungry. Along with many other characters he documents the lives of every day for his audience.

The words wholesome and magical don’t come close to describing what I stumbled across that day. And so I immediately contacted Gez to tell him how inspiring his work was and how much I hoped to write and illustrate children’s books with all the characters and stories so that children could enjoy them for years to come. I’d also love to tell you I had my professional hat atop my head when I pitched this to him, but I didn’t. Instead, I opened with “oh my. I love your page”, before blurting out how much I’d love to collaborate in a children’s book and then signing off on my professional proposal with the words “I’m melting!”. Not exactly a page out of business proposals 101. But something in my childish excitement for the creatures I had found in his magical world resonated with Gez, and a short while after, we picked up the phone to chat.