Wherever you are, wherever you're from, whatever race, colour, creed, gender, or sexuality, I say welcome, welcome, and once again, welcome.

Lenny Henry books and biography | Waterstones Lenny Henry books and biography | Waterstones

He concludes with melancholy frankness that working within the entertainment industry can “make you the most neglectful gardener on Earth”. When their mum mysteriously disappears in a lightning strike, just like their dad, the twins are all alone and know they have to stick together - if only to face their new guardian's terrible cooking! There will be photographs, joy, clips and all manner of plugs (shameless) for everything that I'm doing.Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. In both this and his first children’s book, ‘The Boy With Wings’, Henry focuses upon young black characters, and is consciously addressing the lack of diversity in children’s literature.

The Book of Legends is Out Now! - Lenny Henry

This is a pacy fantasy adventure, jam-packed with groan-making jokes, and touchingly dedicated to Lenny Henry’s own childhood local library in Dudley.

He devised The Boy With Wings as a superhero story “because when I was young, there weren’t any who looked like me”. His appearance on Desert Island Discs in 1989 is a fascinating document that makes for uncomfortable listening now. When I tell him that my nine-year-old daughter loved his Book of Legends so much that she stayed up for hours in bed with it, palely turning the pages long after she would normally have fallen asleep, Henry barks with pleasure.