How four quiet words became a whole world Some stories don’t start with a plan or a plot. They begin quietly, in the middle of an ordinary moment: a little hand in yours, the sound of leaves under boots, a sentence spoken as if it had always been waiting in the air. That’s how this one began. In 2018, during a sunny walk, my then six-year-old daughter looked up at the sky and said something that would change everything. It was a simple sentence, spoken so naturally you might have missed it if you weren’t really listening. But for a little girl whose only form of communication was to sing songs and recite long passages from her favourite books, this spontaneous moment of original speech went straight to my heart. That sentence became Please Cloud, Don’t Cry, my debut picture book and the first of many stories I hope to share with you.   Who I am I’m Leanne. I write and illustrate children’s books from a quiet corner of the world where weather meets wonder, and where the smallest moments hold the biggest stories. I’m a mum to a beautiful neurodivergent daughter who taught me to listen differently –