A family have combined their skills as a writer, designer and animator to create an interactive children's book about brightly-coloured twin monsters who reunite after being separated at birth.

Robert Hanvik, who lives with his wife Karen and daughter Ella Ransom in Maidstone, thought up the Monster Twins, inspired by Miss Ransom's love of similar cartoon characters when she was younger.

An early riser, Mr Hanvik, 55, would often spend his mornings scribbling down ideas for the book, before he came up with one he wanted to pitch to his family - a tale of twin monsters, Bella and Bertie, who grew up 6,000 miles apart, but find one another and discover their shared past.

A communications consultant who trained as a journalist, Mr Hanvick did all the writing, with Miss Ransom drawing the bold, vibrant characters.

The 18-year-old did this alongside studying an animation degree at Bournmouth University.

Mrs Hanvik, who works in digital marketing and design, was in charge of the layout, design and building the website, where people can now buy a paperback copy or e-version of the book.

The online version also includes interactive 'hot spots' which, when clicked, give information about landmarks in the two cities the story is based in - London and Singapore.

Already having sold several copies after telling friends and relatives about their venture, the family are now in talks with three publishers to produce the Monster Twins on a larger scale.

Mr Hanvik, who is originally from the States, said: "We held focus groups to see what kind of reactions the book received and it captivated us.

"Kids as young as two and three simply enjoy the big, vibrant, colourful illustrations, whereas 11 and 12-year-olds like to interpret the story behind the story. But it did appeal to a very wide age range."

He added: "My wife also looked into the psychology of colour and so we chose magenta for Bella as she's passionate and innovative but can also be outrageous, and orange for Bertie who is warm and friendly. And the kids seemed to pick up on these characteristics. "

Mr Hanvik has already thought about where Bella and Bertie will end up in the next two books - with voyages to America and the Middle East on the cards.

A paperback copy of the Monster Twins is £7.95 and the e-book, £5.95. Both can be purchased from the Monster Twins website by clicking here.

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