STEPHEN LEWIS enjoys a children's Christmas tale inspired by a real-life tree in a valley deep in the Yorkshire Wolds

"Up high on a Wold, not far from where you live, stands an ancient tree. Hidden within its twisted roots is a little door..."

So begins Lee and Neil Clark's magical new Christmas story for children, The Elves of the Wild, White Wolds. It's a tale of two mischievous little North Pole elves, Dudley and Dot, who spend the year making toys for Father Christmas to deliver on Christmas Day. One Christmas Eve, unknown to Santa, they hitch a lift on his sleigh, determined to see the world while he is out delivering presents. But something goes wrong. Dudley and Dot find themselves stranded on a wet, wintry Yorkshire Wold. And there's a big, wild fox somewhere nearby...

Lee, the communication manager at York Museums Trust, got the idea for the book from an ancient tree deep in a horseshoe valley up on the real Yorkshire Wolds.

He and his brother, professional illustrator Neil, grew up at the foot of the Wolds in Bishop Wilton. And one winter, when they were home for Christmas, they heard how, almost overnight, a tiny little door had suddenly appeared between the tree's roots.

They went in search of it - and found it was true. "It's a little wooden door, with a little metal knocker," says Lee, 38. "It makes for a magical setting." Word of the door quickly spread - and children even began leaving presents beside the door for whoever lived inside the tree 'house'.

But whose 'home' was this?

Nobody seemed to know. So Lee made up a story, told it to Neil, and Neil agreed to illustrate it. The story of Dudley and Dot was born...

It's a lovely Christmas book, aimed at children aged 4-6, and ideal for reading aloud to young children. Dudley and Dot get lost, Santa tries and fails to find them, and their fellow elves back at the North Pole fear they're lost for good. But this is a children's Christmas story - so thankfully it all turns out well in the end.

Neil's illustrations are exquisite - and there will be a particular joy for local readers in spotting some of the locations. In one scene, Santa can be seen scrambling across the huddled roofs of a village high up in the Wolds, while snow falls out of a dark night sky. At one side of the picture is a church that looks suspiciously like St Edith's, in Lee and Neil's home village Bishop Wilton...

The brothers have published the book themselves. So will they do any more?

It depends, says Lee. It was really just a bit of fun. But if the book sells well, who knows?

He's already been invited to read from the book at one Wolds primary school. So it's looking like a fair bet that in the not-too-distant future, Dudley and Dot might have some more adventures...

  • The Elves of the Wild White Wolds by Lee Clark and Neil Clark is published by Lee and Neil Clark, priced £6. It is available from Brew & Brownie, Museum Street, York; The Balloon Tree, Gate Helmsley; and Readwell & Write, Pocklington; or direct from Lee and Neil at facebook.com/wildwhitewolds/, priced £6 plus £1.30 p&p.