Lite Knight is the story of Roller, an overweight but lovable 11 year old, who with his two friends, a girl Tiger and a boy Gerald, has to enter his favourite comic book, 'The Guardian Knights of Eclados', where they must train to become knights and develop superpowers so that they can save their super hero guardian knights. Has Roller got the strength and willpower he needs to become a knight, and defeat the evil Lord Ecktor before all Eclados is enslaved?
Lite Knight is an exciting children's adventure set in a fantasy Arthurian futuristic world where everything is powered by crystals (including the knights' armour and even their mechanical 'hover horses'), but on a deeper level it's about childhood obesity and its root causes. In the comic book world Roller will need to learn willpower and self-discipline to become a knight, the same skills he needs in the real world to manage his weight. However, Ecktor and his evil plan to use food 'crystals' to control the town's people and turn them into an army of crystal fed knights (regardless of the side effects) is really an allegory for the fast food and drink industry, the real cause of childhood obesity.
Roller's struggles with overeating, low self-esteem, and using food for comfort mirror real world childhood obesity challenges for children and their parents. Roller's emotional eating - especially in moments of fear, embarrassment, or anxiety - reflects how children often use food as a coping mechanism. His journey focuses on building willpower, self-discipline, and self-worth rather than dieting. Roller has an internal "negative voice" that symbolizes anxiety and self-doubt. Sagramore the wizard teaches him a technique to deal with negative self-talk that parents can use too. Children learn that bravery isn't the absence of fear, but acting despite it.
The 'crystal food' in Eclados acts as a powerful allegory for highly processed, addictive, fast-food products that offer instant gratification but long-term harm. The evil Lord Ecktor in turn, becomes a symbolic stand-in for the fast-food industry, using clever marketing, addictive ingredients, and false promises to manipulate people for profit.
Johnston, Allan: - "Born in Liverpool, Allan's initial career choice had been to become an engineer. However, after volunteering with a variety of children's groups in his spare time, he decided to re-train as a teacher. After teaching in both the Mainstream and Special Needs sectors, in 1990 he left the classroom to join the BBC and became a Children's TV Producer. Over the next 21 years he created and produced all sorts of shows, on a variety of topics. His most well-known and proudest creation is 'Something Special' - AKA Mr Tumble. Receiving a BAFTA as well as 3 Royal Television Society awards, the series has become CBeebies' flagship and longest running show programme. In 2011 Allan left the BBC to become Head of Children's Content at Jungle Studio's in Soho. Here he created a series of Apps for young children, receiving Editor's Choice from Apple, as well as consistently topping their education charts. In 2014 he combined his TV and new media skills, to create entertainment and distraction systems for Children's Hospitals. The Hardleys (a family of Victorian subterranean creatures) surfaced at Adler Hey Children's Hospital in 2015 and are still there today... doing their thing to entertain and distract Liverpool's little ones. Most recently Allan has been working with Stephen Fry to create a Philosophy series for BBC Learning. Allan is married with two children and lives in Carshalton. Apart from his family and friends, his greatest love is Everton Football Club."
Ruta, Danny: - Born in London to Italian parents, Danny graduated from Westminster Medical School in 1985. After several years in clinical medicine, Danny pursued an academic public health career in Scotland. His research interests included measuring patient health status and quality of life. His 'Patient Generated Index' of quality of life is used to measure medical outcomes in patients with cancer and other health conditions in many countries around the world.In 2006 he became the Director of Public Health (DPH) for Newcastle upon Tyne where he first began work on tackling childhood obesity. In 2010 he returned to London as the DPH for the London Borough of Lewisham, and the London public health lead on obesity, where he was a founding member of the London Mayor's Child Obesity Task Force.Danny was instrumental in introducing the 'Daily Mile' to London primary schools, with tens of thousands of children still running a mile every day. He worked with the Jamie Oliver Foundation to design and implement Jamie's nationwide Sugar Smart campaign.After retiring as a DPH in 2019, Danny spent several years as the Artificial Intelligence lead at Guy's Cancer Centre, using his academic skills to evaluate AI in cancer care.Danny returned to Scotland to be closer to his son in 2022, and now lives in Aberdeenshire with Fiorino, his Chesapeake Bay Retriever. He still works part time in public health, when he's not walking the highlands, writing, and indulging in his lifelong passion of film animation ... and yes, he loves classic Disney movies!
