An innocent question over the existence of fairies has inspired a teaching assistant in Mullion to write her first children's book.

Gilly Sloper has been helping reluctant readers and children with dyslexia develop a love of books for years, joining the staff at Mullion Primary School in 2006.

Now the mum of three grown up children has gone one step further by writing a book, The Fairies of Jenny's Field, in a style that she hopes will be accessible to all levels of readers.

Gilly, whose story was inspired by two pupils at school, Charlie and Nell Boniface, who asked her if she believed in fairies, said: "It starts in present day Cornwall and sees three friends from the school travelling back in time to a Berkshire village in 1960, where they witness something magical and perform an act of heroism that saves the day."

The story draws upon her own childhood memories, of growing up in a village in rural Berkshire and having the kind of childhood that allowed her to roam the fields and woods around her home without supervision.

The book's epilogue sets the scene for her second book, which will see time travellers from 1970 arriving in present day Cornwall. A different act of heroism is required of the Cornish children and they must find a way back to Berkshire to save the fairies of Jenny's Field.

The book is available in hardback costing £11.99, or paperback for £5.99, as well as an ebook, with the cover illustrations painted by Gilly's sister, Valerie Boakes, who also lives in Cornwall.

It can be bought from Blackwells, Waterstones, WH Smith and Amazon as well as Churchtown Books in Mullion and the Saltcellar Workshops in Porthleven.