A SIDMOUTH woman is putting her creative skills to good use with a new website of children's stories.

A SIDMOUTH woman is putting her creative skills to good use with a new website of children's stories.Jill Cooke, 59, started writing short stories for children two years ago and had her first one published in The People's Friend in March 2007.Mrs Cooke, who lives in Manstone Lane, has now launched a simple website in the hope of reaching new readers.She said: "I love writing and it doesn't matter that I am deaf. The Friend is a story magazine and it is the only market for short children's stories."Several friends are now grandmothers and they are always looking after their grandchildren because mum has to work. So my stories usually feature a grandparent and a grandchild."Mrs Cooke has hidden a little spider, called Herbert, in each picture for children to find.Before she began to lose her hearing in the 1980s, Mrs Cooke was an English teacher and now works part-time behind the scenes in Sidmouth's British Heart Foundation shop. She said: "A few months ago a wicker picnic hamper was donated to the shop. That sparked a story about the Hamper Folk, who are the things that live inside the hamper and have a day out at the seaside. It will be published in the summer."Mrs Cooke's stories can be found at http://thecookebox.googlepages.com.