I reverse the process, with the illustrations and characters first and then let the children choose if they want to end the story with a written sentence, an illustration or both. I had a really unhealthy diet. My mum had me at 19 and didn’t know how to cook. Junk food was all she knew. She used to go to Iceland where there were lots of buy-one-get-one-free offers. I got into cooking at university. I’m still very greedy. I love chocolate and ice-cream. I eat way more than any average person, but because I exercise five to six days a week I get away with it. His illustrations for Burpee Bears were all done digitally using an iPad, over the space of just six weeks. I used to think if I tried drugs, I’d become an addict. It frightened me. I suppose I am addicted to social media… and to helping people. I’m very purpose-driven and get a buzz out of that. I’m obsessed with doing more content, more videos, going to other countries. The Fellowship was created as part of Queen's University and the Arts Council's joint 10-year Seamus Heaney Legacy project supported by Atlantic Philanthropies.

The star has now released his first ever picture book, The Burpee Bears, and dropped in to Kirkhill Primary to do a burpee bear workout with the children, a special reading of the book and also a Q&A session. He also welcomes the trend of having more illustrations contained within books aimed at the progressing and older reader, including the lavishly illustrated versions of Harry Potter. Joe's message is about having children being active and taking care of their mental health and I wanted to reflect the bears vitality, energy and liveliness using bright colours," he explains.While he has seen many technological changes in his craft, the essence of his job remains the same. In the past there were set rules that you read picture books to such an age, then you read chapter books and then you read the novels," he says. Then I moved onto pastel pencils and finally I've started working digitally. But no matter what the medium, it always starts with finding the characters and the story." Howard, who illustrated an abridged edition of Jill Tomlinson's story in 2001, is the current Northern Ireland Children's Writing Fellow and he is "thoroughly enjoying" getting out and about inspiring children with their creative writing and reading.

I became successful because my workouts were 20 minutes long and my recipes 15 minutes. I wanted to show people that they can lead a healthy life with minimal effort. There is more choice available now which is so encouraging. Books like Dog Man and Cat Kid mean that children who are not as confident with their reading can be involved and that may lead them into getting interested in graphic novels." Going out on my motorbike (a Triumph Bobber). Or taking the kids to Richmond Park or Virginia Water Lake. My garden is a little sanctuary. I’ve got an ice machine, a metal bath I fill from the hose and then I throw in lots of ice. I’ll lie in there for four or five minutes and it’s amazing. Nothing brings you more into the moment than freezing water. The Burpee Bears is the first in a series of books which chart the adventures of a bear family, with each book featuring a fun and positive story with added exercises and recipes - perfect for families to share and enjoy together. Earlier this year the Duchess of Cambridge chose to read the book on CBeebies Bedtime Stories to mark Children's Mental Health Week.Children's books now, in terms of their variety of topics and representation of minorities, are much more balanced. That's really important because all children need to see themselves reflected in books."

Being an illustrator is a very solitary profession and sometimes you forget the effect of what you are doing has on people. There are days when it wears me down, not so much my posts as messages from people who are struggling. I try to reply. I’m constantly giving out energy. But I can put my phone away. The first few hours I’ll miss it, but as each hour passes I feel lighter: I’m not in demand, no one can reach me… it’s a nice feeling. Teachers say how enthused children are with that approach. Visual literacy is inclusive and embraces people of all abilities. Those with learning difficulties may have trouble with words - but it's not to say they can't tell a narrative. The curriculum doesn't cater for these kids and it's an eye opener for a lot of children and teachers."This is my fourth decade of illustrating children's books. It all started in the 1990s with Martin Waddell books using watercolour, which of course you couldn't rub out," he explains. As well as publishing his own young fiction and picture books, most recently 1, 2, BOO!, Howard has collaborated with some of the greats of children's literature including Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen, Anne Fine, Trish Cooke, Martin Waddell and John Boyne. The Workout Badges will be available on The Body Coach TV YouTube channel and on the YouTube Kids app, starting 22 September

I used to, but now I think more about the mental health crisis. I used to focus on physical transformation – leanness, body shape. But during the pandemic I realised that it’s with mental health that people need help and motivation. Without a healthy mindset and the energy you get from exercise, life feels a lot harder. If you look at exercise from a mental health perspective, the body will follow.This weekend he joins creative writing charity Fighting Words NI in hosting a series of events in Belfast's Crescent's Arts Centre as part of the Belfast Book Festival.