Author who sees life through a child’s eyes

It's the morning of Dolly's visit to Rotherham to promote a children's reading scheme and, as president of the School Library Association, Gervase has been invited to meet her.

"Dolly has a big initiative going in America, it's called Imagination Library and it involves getting reading books into children's homes for the first five years of their life," says Gervase.

"She was invited over here by the leader of Rotherham Council to talk about the scheme. The idea is to introduce it here then develop it in other areas."

As an Open University consultant, former teacher and schools inspector and prolific writer of more than 50 academic texts, best-selling novels, poetry, short stories, Dales memoirs and children's books, Professor Phinn is all for boosting pre-school literacy.

"If every parent read to their child at home for half an hour a day, and encouraged their children to read, we wouldn't have the literacy problems we have today," he says. "Children love to read, and they love being read to, but so many families just don't take the time to enjoy books together. I met one child who said: "We've only got one book in our house - it's that big yellow one under the telephone."

It was the no-nonsense, straight-talking Dales children Gervase came into contact with while working as Senior General Inspector for English and Drama that gave him endless material for his career as a writer, raconteur and broadcaster. Dubbed the James Herriot of schools,' he tours his one-man show around the UK and on cruise liners.

"Those children I worked with had tough lives, many lived on bleak, isolated moorland farms and were made to muck out before and after school," he says. "There were no leisure centres or amusement arcades. It gave them a blunt honesty that I loved.

"There was the little farmer's daughter who'd been helping her father with the lambing. That must be lovely, bringing newborn lambs into the world' I said to her. Nah,' she said. The best bit is when me and my brother get to slide on the afterbirth'." One little boy gave a detailed account of planning rules breached by a neighbouring farmer - "Any fool can see it's a barn conversion, you only have to look at the window layout," said the six-year-old.

Gervase also recalls the school Nativity when the baby Jesus doll suddenly piped up in mid-American accent: "Hi, I'm Tammy, change my diaper." The boy playing Joseph' panicked, grabbed the doll and punched it until it talked no more.

Gervase's gentle mimicry of children has endeared him to a growing fanbase. While most of his material comes from children, he has the keen observational eye of an Alan Bennett or a Victoria Wood, and often picks up gems from people he meets.

"I always carry a notebook around," he says. "I cut things out of newspapers and listen to the radio a lot. I'm interested in people and the things they say. Like the people who say Don't turn round but look who's behind you.' The key is to write it all down."

He deals effortlessly in the feelgood factor - it's warm, inoffensive and a little whimsical. His books sell by the thousand and people flock to hear him speak. They should turn his Dales memoirs into a Sunday night comedy drama series, it would do wonders for the nation's Monday morning spirits.

"I was in talks with some TV people about that but do you know what they said? There's too much Yorkshire on telly at the moment.' I don't know how you can have too much Yorkshire," he sighs.

Now, for the first time, Gervase's live performance has been captured on a DVD, allowing fans to have a chuckle from their living-rooms. Filmed at Wakefield Theatre Royal during his sell-out 2007 tour, Tales From The Dales features his funny and occasionally poignant stories and enthusiasm for life in the Dales, told from a child's perspective.

There's the teacher, Miss Reece, who brings some live chicks into the classroom for the children to look at. Desperate to stroke the chicks, but told they can't, a couple of the children start to stroke Miss Reece's yellow mohair jumper. "You look like you've just been laid Miss," said one little boy.

Then there's the six-year-old girl who told Gervase: "When I'm 21 you'll probably be dead."

He throws in bits of poetry, a song or two, and memories of his own childhood.

"I was an average child, I was never on the Top Table'," he muses. "But I loved reading and my most prized possession was my I Am A Free Reader' badge from school."

Gervase has been drawing on his childhood to write his autobiography. "It's a memoir from childhood to university, an ordinary account of growing up in a South Yorkshire town in the 1950s. It's not Angela's Ashes, there's no extreme poverty or abuse, but it's something people may be able to identify with," he says.

"I've also written a children's novel about bullying called A Bit of a Hero and I drew on my own experience of bullying for that. My wife cried when she read it. She said, That happened to you.' "It wasn't easy growing up with a name like Gervase on a Rotherham council estate, and children can be cruel. These days there are lots of unusual names in schools but back then it was all Roberts and Davids - and only one Gervase.

"I was bullied by three boys in primary school, I had months of being very unhappy. I met one of the bullies years later - he said Remember me? I used to be your pal at school.' I said: You were no pal, you were a nasty bully.' You never forget.

"I hope my book will help children realise you don't have to put up with bullying and you should ask for help. A good school always says no to bullying."

He has Esther Rantzen to thank for boosting his profile - she invited him on to her TV show in the Nineties and the rest is history - and he credits her with doing "more than anyone else in this country" to tackle bullying, through her charity Childline.

Gervase is currently working on a book he plans to release next Christmas, called Bright Little Buttons - "about the happy and sad lives of children I've met" - and a poetry selection. But, overall, he prefers performing to writing. "I'm a social person, I don't like sitting at a computer too long," he says.

Does he despair of the emotional and materialistic over-indulgence of today's children, and their lack of the freedom that previous generations enjoyed?

"It's all about having the right labels and possessions now, I find that very sad. I'm very much against children having televisions in their bedrooms, it's too distractive," he says. "When I was growing up we'd cycle out for the day with a supply of sandwiches and pop. We didn't have mobile phones but we played out until it was getting dark.

"Now children are driven everywhere and wrapped in cotton wool. If they get told off at school, parents side with their children instead of supporting the teachers."

He still has a hand in teaching and remains passionate about the profession. But with all the paperwork and litigation threats, he's not surprised good teachers are leaving.

"Teaching is still the best job but we lose teachers after a few years because of the way schools are run now; there's too much focus on league tables, targets and a snowstorm of paperwork. There are risk assessments with every school trip! No wonder our teachers are the most stressed-out in Europe," he says.

"A good teacher changes lives. I want today's children to have the dynamic, enthusiastic, dedicated, inspiring teachers that I had at school.

"Behind every good child is a good teacher. To keep those teachers the system needs to change. Assessment of pupils should be more low key, there shouldn't be formal tests from such a young age."

He remains optimistic about children though.

"Children are always children, I celebrate their joy, humour and uncluttered view of life. At a time when the world seems so dark, we need to be reminded that there's goodness."

With that, he's off to get ready for his lunch date with Dolly Parton.

• Gervase Phinn Live: Tales from the Dales is out now.