Chris with her Bradford-based Cones book
AUTHOR Chris Madeley has written 26 books in the Cones series, following the adventures of four personified traffic cones while delivering important messages to children.
The books explore different areas including road and rail safety and construction environments in a fun way, as well as looking at STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) careers.
Leeds-based Chris has worked on her books with different companies including Persimmon, Network Rail, Quickline Communications and Everton Football Club.
Balfour Beatty has collaborated with Chris on a number of books. Her 25th book Cones and Transforming Bradford, focuses on Balfour Beatty’s regeneration of the city centre.
Her most recent book, Cones and Sustainable Homes, launched last month in Glasgow. Commissioned by Persimmon Homes, it is designed to inspire the next generation of construction professionals, using the cone characters to explain how modern, sustainable homes are built. It was unveiled at the Duke of Wellington Statue, famously known for having traffic cones placed on its head.
Cones and Transforming Bradford
The Cones being shown around Bradford’s newly-transformed centre. All illustrations: Emily Vaughan
An illustration from the Cones book showing Bradford centre
*We spoke to Chris about her Bradford-based book Cones and Transforming Bradford.
Q: When did you start working alongside Balfour Beatty and how did it come about?
A: It was an amazing coincidence – my husband Keith and I were at a Christmas dinner at Bramham Park; sitting between us was a woman who worked for Balfour Beatty. Keith said that we were looking to speak with the company about a possible collaboration. The woman replied that only that afternoon she and a colleague had been tasked to find out more about the Cones books.
A meeting was then held with them and their regional director and our first book, Cones and Building Bridges, was commissioned and covered the replacement of the Regent Street Flyover in Leeds and the construction of the East Leeds Orbital Route.
Q: What gave you the idea for the Bradford book?
A: Balfour Beatty won the bid for transforming Bradford by greening-up the city centre through work such as pedestrianisation, cleaner air, cycle tracks, and pocket garden areas. Following on from the success of Cones and Building Bridges, Balfour Beatty wanted to capture this project in the same way and, as it would be finished at around the same time as Bradford’s City of Culture came to a conclusion, they thought it would make a positive contribution to this great achievement by the city.
So, Cones and Transforming Bradford, was commissioned. Chris worked with Balfour Beatty’s Social Value Team to capture the story for the children of Bradford in a fun and factual way with the help of Sir Titus Salt and references to Bradford’s industrial past.
Q: What have local children said about the Bradford book and will it be taken into schools?
A: The book was launched in November last year in Bradford City Hall’s Council Chamber, with teachers and children from several local primary schools present. It will now be a resource for Balfour Beatty to take into schools in the Bradford area and beyond, to explain to children about construction work, the careers and exciting opportunities available, the reasons for disruption in their localities and the benefits achieved for the community.
Children attending said they enjoyed hearing Chris read the story – demonstrated by the silence as they listened, and the 45 minutes of non-stop questions afterwards. Comments from teachers were very positive, one saying that she couldn’t get over how engaged the children had been and the number of questions asked, as normally in the classroom, they did not volunteer questions easily.
Q: What thoughts do you hope children will take away with them after having read the Bradford book?
A: As with the other Cones books, I really hope that the children will adopt an ‘I can do that’ attitude and realise that they can find a role which suits them and not be shoe-horned into careers and situations which are not necessarily right for them. I would like girls to realise that they are part of the ‘I can do that’ culture and for children to embrace the inclusivity and diversity culture which will make communities grow and prosper. I would like them to be proud of their home city and play their part in taking it to a bright, happy and healthy future.
Chris talks to children at the book launch in Bradford’s City Hall
Cones and Sustainable Homes launched in Glasgow. L-R: Persimmon Homes regional chairman John Roocroft, Lord Provost of Glasgow Jacqueline McLaren, Keith and Chris Madeley, with schoolchildren
Q: Do you enjoy writing your books, and how do you get the ideas?
Yes, I very much enjoy writing the Cones books – they have endeared themselves to all my family. The ideas which form the story are taken from very careful and detailed research about each subject, visits to relevant sites/establishments, and endless questions; as the books are educational I want to make fun facts feature largely in the stories. Wherever possible there is adventure, a spot of disobedience and consequences, but at the end of the book I want children – and, maybe, their parents – to know more about the topic than when they started. Safety is fundamental to the stories, as are moral and ethical principles to help them as they progress.
Q: Does illustrator Emily Vaughan enjoys working on the books?
I write copious illustration notes for Emily and provide photographs. She has the uncanny ability to see into my head and produces magnificent illustrations to the stories.
Q: Are any further books planned for the future, and if so on what topics?
A: Persimmon’s second book is in illustration at present and is about modern methods of construction – there are some mind-blowing new innovations. I am also delighted to be able to say that Cones have been commissioned to go ‘down south’ – I have been asked to write stories – to capture the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the construction of the Lower Thames Crossing. This will be the longest tunnel in the UK and is one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe which will bring benefit to the whole of the country, not just the south east. There are quite a few other irons in the fire as well.
*Please add anything else you would like to say about the book?
A: Team Cones, Conestance, Conerad, Cone-Vera and Conen join me in sending Bradford and its citizens my conegratulations on all their diverse efforts to maximise their Year of Culture. I thank Balfour Beatty and Bradford City Council for their generosity in providing every primary school child in the Bradford area and several libraries with this book – 52,520 books. I hope the children enjoy their Bradford Cones book and pass it down generations to demonstrate the forward thinking to improve both mental and physical health of all citizens. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to see this project to a lovely coneclusion.
Q: How can people get hold of the book?
A: This book and the other Cones books can be ordered through all good book shops or from Amazon.
*Cones and Transforming Bradford by Chris Madeley is published by Fisher King Publishing. Visit fisherkingpublishing.co.uk