WHEN IT comes to understanding how kids tick, Todmorden-based children's TV scriptwriter and producer Diane Whitley knows her stuff.

She has proved her worth working on award-winning programmes like Children's Ward, Grange Hill, Big Meg, Little Meg and The New Worst Witch.

Now the 48-year-old mother-of-one has turned her attentions to literature, with a hugely personal book written to help kids come to terms with the death of an elderly relative.

We spoke to her about her debut book, My Nana Is An Alien.

IS Todmorden the alien capital of the world?

That's the question asked by author Diane Whitley in her new children's book My Nana Is An Alien.

Diane, 48, who lives in Todmorden with her husband Dave, has penned the ground-breaking story which tackles the tricky subjects of severe illness and death through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy whose grandmother is dying of the rare illness pulmonary hypertension (PH) and a stroke.

It's a hugely personal effort, inspired by the death of her own mother, Hilda, from the illness in 2004.

"It's a very personal book and in lots of ways is based on my own experiences," said Diane. "My mother had PH, which is a rare lung disease. She also had a stroke. Within a month she died, a lot like the nana in the book."

Perhaps it is this that makes the story so convincing.

"I realised when my mother was dying that things were not always made clear to the younger members of our family," said Diane. "Sometimes it's difficult for adults to discuss illness and death to little ones. But they have as much right to know as anyone and not explaining things to them can lead to all kinds of problems."

In My Nana Is An Alien, nine-year-old Liam Simpson's nana is rushed into hospital. Liam is not only very worried, but also convinced something sinister is going on. Why is Nana speaking a strange language? Has she been captured by aliens? Is his mum involved in the cover-up?

"Children have such vivid imaginations," said Diane. "Liam starts to come to his own conclusions about what's happening. He overhears the adults saying It's not the same woman lying in that bed anymore' and he thinks If it's not her, then who is it?' That's how he draws his own conclusions and he ends up getting into trouble when he takes his nana up to the moors so the aliens will come back for her in their spaceship and give his real nana back."

Diane believes the book is not just for children.

"It's a kid's book that every adult should read as it gives us a child's eye view on this often bewildering world," she said. "On one level I hope children can read it and enjoy it as a story, but on another it's a good guide on how to break the news to your child about a sick or dying elderly relative.

"It's not hugely sad - a child wouldn't get terribly depressed but it does cover the subject. At the end, although the nana doesn't die, Liam knows she is probably going to die quite soon."

Diane originally trained as an actress and has worked extensively at some of the country's leading theatres as well as in film, TV and radio.

She has had plays and series broadcast on Radio 4 and was a regular writer for eight years on kids' TV series Grange Hill. She has also written for Big Meg, Little Meg, 24Seven, The New Worst Witch and Girls in Love and has worked as a producer on Children's Ward and short film Boom Boom Clap.

The book is something of a family collaboration, with Diane's niece Jo Allsopp, a professional artist and tutor, responsible for the amusing illustrations.

"At my mother's funeral I said to Jo: I want to do something in memory of mum and I'm thinking of writing a story.' Coincidentally, she had been thinking the same thing. We approached the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and after they read the script they said they'd publish it. We were never doing it for the money so all proceeds will go to the charity.

"I think I have got a good memory of what it's like to be a child because children over the ages don't change and the emotions and experiences you go through in childhood don't change," said Diane. "What does change, though, is the slang. What they're saying in the playground is what I need help with and that's where I rely on my nieces and nephews."

Diane believes writing the book helped her get over her own mother's death.

"I found it very cathartic for my own grief," she said.

  • The book can be bought via the charity's website for £6.50, plus £1 p&p. Visit www.pha-uk.com.