Rebekah and Jamie Vardy ‘will write children’s book together for release early next year’

Rebekah and Jamie Vardy are to launch a new range of children’s illustrated storybooks.

The model, 39, and her footballer husband, 34, are drawing inspiration from their parenting experience with their blended family of six children, and said they hope to uplift youngsters with empowering messages in the books.

Their first release is titled Cedric the Little Sloth with a Big Dream and is set for release next year, close to World Book Day.

Rebekah is mum to daughter Megan, 16, and son Taylor, 11, from a previous relationship.

She shares Sofia, six, Finlay, four, and Olivia, who will be one next month, with Jamie, who also has daughter Ella, five, from another relationship.     

The couple said: ‘Working on this book together has been a dream for us. We aren’t writers but we are experienced parents, and we know which messages we care most about instilling into our children; it isn’t about having to be the best or winning at everything, but is about trying your hardest, being happy and going after your dreams. 

‘We kept going over the list of topics that we felt passionate about, and we just kept coming back to the same one – just be yourself. 

‘We want children and their parents or guardians to realise that with the right words of encouragement and positive thoughts, they can achieve anything that they want to. It also means being whoever and whatever you want to be.

Speaking about the books’ characters, they added: ‘Our dream is for the Be Yourself Guardians (B.U.G.) to become identifiable characters that boost children’s confidence, ease their anxieties and help them to believe in themselves through these storybooks. 

‘Little Brother Books put us together with an amazing writer and illustrator to guide us through this process. 

‘We’ve shown the drafts and sketches to our children throughout, so it’s been a real family affair and we hope that readers love the first book as much as our family does.’

The books will be aimed at children aged 3 and upwards. 

Matthew Reynolds, MD of Little Brother Books added: ‘It’s been a pleasure working on this new title and format with Jamie and Rebekah Vardy, and our editorial team. With our experience of current kids trends and the important message the B.U.G. team are sharing with kids and parents, we are certain this first book will be loved by children but trusted and respected by parents. We can’t wait to see it hitting bookshelves from February 2022.

Cedric the Little Sloth with a Big Dream tells the tale a loveable little sloth, with a never-ending passion for football. 

Cedric dreams of joining his favourite football team the ‘Rainforest Rovers’ but has had it engrained in him that sloths are too slow and too sleepy to be good footballers. The Be Yourself Guardians step in to boost Cedric’s confidence and remind him that he can follow his dream and join the team.      

Meanwhile, the Leicester City striker is hoping to win planning permission for a new dressing room as part of a two-storey extension at his plush £3million mansion.

Jamie and his former I’m a Celeb star wife want to extend their plush property and landscape the garden.

It would allow the couple to tack on a new en-suite bathroom, along with an adjoining dressing room to one of their existing bedrooms, plans reveal.

A mock-up shows the second-storey add-on resting atop arched foundations which the family could walk through while enjoying their garden.

Designs show the extension would back on to a fancy area with decking, reclining chairs and what appears to be a hot tub.

The Vardys also want to carry out landscaping works on the grounds of their huge farmhouse pad, located just outside Grantham, Lincolnshire.

The couple snapped the pad up for £2.5million in 2016, with the Queen’s bank Coutts & Company acting as lender.

But the couple have carried out major works on the property since then and it is now estimated to be worth north of £3million.