hands with colourful paper cutouts and mobiles from an exciting new publication -- The Bermuda Fun Book.

Parrot fish, whistling frogs, Longtails and the sea turtle, all portrayed in bright colours may be cut out to form a souvenir mobile or, of course, the book may be kept intact as a keepsake of Bermuda.

It is the work of free-lance designer Mr. Daron Lowe, who says that the idea for the book -- his first -- had been at the back of his mind for a long time.

"There aren't too many children's books that are colourful as well as informative,'' he observes. "I thought it would be nice to have a book about Bermuda that is not just a plain historical book.'' The final impetus to go ahead with the project, he says, was his wish to create a book that would have special appeal for his 22-month-old daughter, Daniella-Jade.

The amazing recent advances of computer technology have enabled Mr. Lowe to create the entire book without putting pen to paper. The project has taken him about a year to complete.

"I did the whole thing on a Macintosh computer,'' he enthuses, explaining that he designed the concept and layout, "piece by piece, using a design programme called freehand.'' First of all, he worked in black and white and then added the colours. He explains: "On a computer you can blend two extreme colours to obtain the translucent effect of water or sky. Of course, I had to work out the problems of folding the pieces of paper by drawing the plans by hand on paper before I began. Once you've created the original, you can enlarge, reduce or duplicate it.'' He is confident that the animal mobiles, once assembled, will work. "I made sure that each piece is backed by a different colour so that it really is three-dimensional. My wife was actually the acid test on whether the whole thing worked! I decided that as a non-designer, if she could assemble it quite easily, then the general public could as well.'' Mr. Lowe's interest in three-dimensional artwork first surfaced when he was a student at Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design in England. "I majored in packaging design, where I had to use cardboard and paper to package things like perfume or chocolates,'' he says.

Bermuda's beasts of land and sea provided an easy choice in subject matter for his book.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist rather than an artist -- I guess this combines the two,'' he laughs.

Daron Lowe attended Whitney Institute, but when his step-father, bandmaster Leslie Lowe went to England to further his musical studies, he took his family with him. So, says Mr. Lowe, "I found myself living in Twickenham, within shouting range of the rugby ground!'' After attending a comprehensive school, he transferred to the Sixth Form Centre at Richmond-upon-Thames, where he pursued a general art course.

Eventually, he decided to specialise in graphic art at Great Yarmouth. Once he had qualified, Mr. Lowe spent about 18 months working as a design assistant at a London publishing house, before returning home, in 1989, with his English wife, Hyacinth.

After a spell with Bermuda Marketing Ltd., Mr. Lowe now free-lances from his own home, where he designs logos, pamphlets and letterheads. "I like the freedom of working for myself,'' he explains.

Mr. Lowe says he is grateful for the time (about eight years in all) that he spent in England.

"Sometimes, I think it would be great if you could take a whole group of Bermudians and send them to live in another culture. Then they would appreciate what they have here and it would also help them to appreciate other people. I thought I knew England and the English, but you don't really get to know a place until you've lived there. I made so many friends over there.'' Mr. Lowe has plans for another children's book and promises that the next one will be "completely different. There's no excitement in doing the same thing over and over again.'' More than that, he declines to explain. "I want it to be a surprise,'' he grins.

But how does the book's creator feel about children cutting up his work of art? "I did make it as a cut-out book. But it can be used either way. It would be nice if people bought two -- one to cut up, and one to keep!'' The Bermuda Fun Book, which is published by The Bermudian Publishing Company Ltd. at $6.95, will go on sale in about ten days time at bookstores and gift shops throughout the Island.

TIME FOR FUN -- Mr. Daron Lowe hopes that children "of all ages'' will enjoy The Bermuda Fun Book. The amazing recent advances of computer technology enabled Mr. Lowe to create the entire book without putting pen to paper. The project has taken him about a year to complete.