As Ryedale author Andy Seed’s third and final book in his All Teachers Great And Small series is published today, he tells MIKE LAYCOCK of the touching reaction they have received – and reveals he has clinched a new publishing deal.

ONE ex-teacher said he laughed so much that he kept his wife awake at night, while a jaded young teacher said he felt rejuvenated. An elderly woman said the humour helped her recover from a serious illness, while another said she kept her blind husband chuckling by reading out extracts.

Such is the heart-warming feedback former teacher Andy Seed has received since his first book, All Teachers Great and Small, was published two years ago. And it’s not only from readers in this country.

“Just last week I had an email from a lady in New Zealand who had greatly enjoyed the first book, telling how it had brought back so many memories of her own time in school,” said Andy, who lives nowadays in Amotherby, near Malton.

The books are based on Andy’s experiences living and teaching in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1980s, after moving there from York, and are similar in style to the All Creatures Great and Small books of James Herriot.

Those books were turned into a popular TV series, and there is a possibility the same could happen to Andy one day. “My agent contacted me to say that there has been interest from a number of TV companies, including ITV, in the series,” he said.

“As yet nothing has moved beyond this initial interest, but a film and TV agency are handling negotiations and it’s certainly been interesting thinking what a TV serialisation might look like. Lots of readers have said the books would be perfect for the small screen and my wife and daughter have had lots of fun thinking which famous actors might play us.”

The third book in the series, All Teachers Bright And Beautiful, is published today, and there will be no more.

“This will be the final book in the series. It’s a set of memoirs and there are only so many true stories to tell from my own life as a teacher, and our time living in the Dales. Some writers seem to be able to conjure a never-ending stream of anecdotes and knit them together into a narrative, but I want mine to stay true to life and so this will be the final ‘All Teachers’ book.

“I do have plans to write further autobiographical stories about other periods of my life, however, and I’m planning one of these at the moment.”

Andy has just won a deal with Bloomsbury – publishers of Harry Potter – to write three humorous non-fiction books for children aged seven to 12, who love wordplay, fascinating facts, jokes, talking games, fun lists and nuggets of information about the sillier side of life.

Andy said the trilogy had been enormous fun to write, not least because it involved looking back on a time when he was young, full of energy and life was simpler.

“There was no internet then, nobody had a mobile phone or a computer and there was a much greater sense of community, especially in the wonderful village where we lived in the Dales.

“I really enjoyed recounting the memorable village characters that we met back in the 1980s: the crusty, weather-beaten farmers who had great stories to tell and the parents of the kids I taught who encompassed every type of likeable rural character.

“Then, of course, there were the children in my class: the wags, the plodders, the smart and the shrewd – so many funny and memorable things happened at school over the years (often with me as the victim) that it was a joy to recall them.”

• All Teachers Bright And Beautiful, published by Headline and costing £14.99, will be launched today at Hoppers shop in Malton’s Market Place between 10am and 2pm.


Extract from All Teachers Bright And Beautiful...

Mr Seed has taken children on a trip to Robin Hood’s Bay:

I returned to geography. ‘Yes, the cliffs all along this coast are crumbling away as the sea crashes against them at high tide and during storms. Does anyone know what we call that?’

‘A bit of a bummer,’ whispered someone at the back a bit too loudly.

‘It begins with “e”,’ I said trying to drown out the titters.

A hand went up. Unfortunately it was Martine’s. ‘An emergency?’

‘No, it’s not an emergency,’

‘It would be if yer house fell in t’ sea!’ At least she cheered us all up.

Dan had a guess. ‘Earthfall?’

‘That’s a good try, Dan, but it begins E-R.’

‘Er…’ said everyone, much as they had been doing before.

There were no guesses.

‘E-R-O,’ I said.

I could see Martine’s hand rise again and Emma’s eyes go wide. I couldn’t risk it. ‘It’s erosion,’ I said.

‘Awww, I were gunna say that,’ said Colin.

‘I weren’t,’ mumbled Martine.