Booktime: Interview with Dr Punam Krishan, author of You and Your Body

How did the book You and Your Body come about?
I've got two young children and I wanted kids to connect not just with a particular part of the body, but also to understand the feelings that they get and experience. Especially for the very younger children, to have something that’s interactive and colourful, but also educational. I felt a real pull to write my own book, from reading to my own children. Hopefully this book will make children fall in love with the human body like I did.

The book has a lot of interactive, lift the flap elements – how did you go about creating these?
One thing I’ve learned from children, in order to keep them engaged and excited, and interacting with an educational book, it has to have lots of colour and flaps. Children love flaps! In order to bring the vision to life, I collaborated with the publisher and illustrator on simplifying the text down. Through the colours and flaps we made it very exciting, so it almost becomes like an advent calendar. You have to lift the flaps to see what’s going on in the heart, the veins or the blood cells. It wasn't easy, because you’re limited with words when you're working with flaps, but we got there in the end. My daughter, who is four, was the first to test it. They're very honest, kids, they don't lie, and she loved it.

Did you find it hard to write text that a very young child would understand?
That's where my experience as a mum came in! My children ask a lot of questions and I love explaining things to them. Also, as a GP I deal with children, the vast majority of patients I see are children and families. The skill of a GP is that you really want to educate them about their health, and so you use language that they will understand, that are age appropriate. But it's fun explaining health to children, and watching them in wonder. Watching them understand how their body works, it's great to see.

You are a GP, but you also appear on TV. How did you get into the world of media?
It was never the plan to go on telly! If someone said to me back at university that I'd be on TV one day, I wouldn't believe them. I could barely do presentations in front of a group of people. But I was found on social media. Initially it was a show for BBC Scotland called Laid Bare. That was looking at people's lifestyles, and stripping their lifestyles back to see what the likelihood of their developing chronic conditions would be. That was the first show I did. Then, I was found on Instagram for Morning Live. I was sharing about my life as a medic and as a mum, and about mental health. My passion is helping the public realise what their healthcare needs are. In a world full of misinformation, and scary headlines, I really enjoy and feel a sense of duty to help in any way I can.

What was it like to go on Strictly Come Dancing?
It was incredible! I have watched the show since it started twenty years ago, and it's my favourite time of the year. So to have the opportunity to it was so terrifying, so out of my comfort zone, but also brilliant. To jump into the television and live out my dream of dancing in beautiful costumes, the hair and make-up, it was wonderful. I feel like I'd had a lot of personal growth as a result of appearing on the show. It was an experience I'll never forget.

Which books do you enjoy reading?
With my children, Julia Donaldson is a firm favourite. I think that she's really achieved a connection with children. I really enjoy reading her books with my kids. The kind of books I read now tend to be motivational, inspirational books. If there are any books out that are about the journey of someone who’s gone from not having much to achieving what they want in life, I will read it. I love to read or to listen to audiobooks about self development.

Have you got another book planned?
Yes, my next book will come out in August. It's for slightly older children, The Superhero's First Aid Manual. So it’s a book about first aid for children, as they are often the first people at the scene of an emergency.