Oryn Barnett loved reinventing fairytales and using the stories to keep his students entertained. Last year he decided to create one of his own. Bear’s Family follows the adventures of Bear, “a lovable cub” raised by wolves. As one might expect, the blended family confuses many of the other animals, who openly stare and whisper and sometimes ask “curious questions”.

“He knows that his family are different from the others, and his family reassure him that they love him for who he is and that they wouldn't have it any other way. Even if he had a green tongue and purple fur, they would love him just the same,” said Mr Barnett, a teacher’s assistant at Saltus Cavendish, who became a foster parent after Bear’s Family was published.

The book is his first, written for children around the same age as his kindergarten students.

Incredible as it seems to the other animals, the cub and his parents have much in common, including a “love for picnics, stargazing under the shimmering night sky, and cheering for Tuesday Night WrestlePalooza”.

“Bear’s life isn't all that different from other young animals. He cleans his room, goes to school, brushes his teeth, and yes, even gets timeouts sometimes,” reads part of the book’s synopsis on Amazon.com.

“His best friends, Raccoon and Moose, love spending time with him playing catch, skipping rocks, and battling imaginary aliens. They sometimes ask curious questions about Bear's unique family, but Bear answers as best as he can with the love and support of his parents.”

Mr Barnett wasn’t a writer but, convinced that his imagination would see him through, set to work developing his story last year.

The idea came from an episode of Modern Family, a sitcom about “three modern-day families from California [who] try to deal with their kids, quirky spouses and jobs in their own unique ways”.

“I was kind of influenced by what I was watching,” he said. “They had a similar story and after that, ideas started popping into my head about writing a story about that.

“And so, yeah, the idea came from watching the TV show and then different inspirations came after that. I didn’t have any experience at all but just decided to do it, to explore [whether I could write] a book.”

The 34-page book took him about a month to complete. He is thrilled with the work by TullipStudio, the illustrator his publishers, Kp Publishing Company, paired him with.

“With adjustments and all that, it took maybe a few months [to complete]. They had to go in and out with edits but it took maybe a month or so [for me to write] if I’m remembering correctly,” he said.

“I like making up stories. When I was taking care of students in [Saltus’s after-school programme], I would tell them a fairytale story but put as many twists in it as I could, just to make variation.

So for example, for a story like The Three Little Pigs, instead of three little pigs it would be three little wolves and the big bad pig.

“I like to twist it up a bit, or just make slight variations in stories. And so writing a book just went on from there, just from me making up stories.”

Part of his inspiration came from the two years he spent teaching at Bright Beginnings Nursery & Pre-School and from the many students he has met in his six years at Saltus.

“Just being around them and seeing the joy when I tell them stories, that’s what led me to write a book,” he said.

He has yet to read Bear’s Family to his students although many of them realise he is now a published author and a few have purchased the book.

“I do plan to write more, it’s just a matter of what’s next. I have a few ideas, but I would also like to write Christian books for children as well. So I'm just trying to get some ideas for that as well,” Mr Barnett said.

• Bear’s Family is available in hardcover and paperback at The Bookmart at Brown & Co and on Amazon.com