Joan Woodruff

I've always enjoyed writing for fun. (I once had a six-month correspondence with the cat next door.) As a child, I wrote sketches for my friends to perform. As an adult working on the children's ward at the Royal Marsden Hospital, I wrote and produced 16 annual staff pantomimes. Conservation has always been very important to me. I am a member of Friends of the Earth and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The idea for Gullpower first came to me soon after I read an article on plastics pollution. I was visiting the south coast, and a seagull left a deposit on my windscreen. The two things came together, and I thought, "Aha! That's what I'll write about." Gullpower is my first book. Many years ago I met Helen Sharman. She told me that she almost didn't apply for the job of astronaut as she was convinced that she wouldn't be selected. Her mother persuaded her to apply, and in 1991 she became the first British person in space. Her advice to me was never to put off trying for something if you really want to achieve it. And that is why I decided to have Gullpower published.

Author news

Gullpower is currently on sale in the I360 shop in Brighton, also in Barnes and Binns, Hove. Now on sale in City Books, Brighton and the Steyning Bookshop, Steyning. 5 Stars Eco warriors with poo bombs! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2022 When her friend becomes entangled in plastic waste floating in the sea, Poppy the seagull determines to do something about it. After galvanising her fellow gulls and convincing their enemies the crows to join them, they embark on a global adventure to save the world from plastic pollution. Gullpower is a fast-moving story with an important message for our times: by cooperating with our enemies, rather than fighting with them, we can overcome even the most serious of problems affecting us all. The story is told with great empathy and humour, and the illustrations are the icing on the cake. 5 Star Gulls have the Power to Change the World Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2022 How to tell small children about how to help save our Planet? Write a funny story about a bird war on plastic pollution. Gullpower is a band of Seagulls who scavenge beachgoers picnics and find to their coast how plastic can be very damaging. Clever Gull Poppy devises a plan with her friends and enlists the help of their enemies the Crows, for a world wide assault on manufacturers, with their own secret weapons. It will entrance, education and have your children in stitches. I love this book. March 2023 - a wonderful morning spent with the pupils at Woodlands Meed school, Burgess Hill. They listened to extracts from Gullpower, asked lots of questions and requested signed copies.