JUST weeks after Greenpeace pressured Shell to pull out of drilling for oil in the Arctic one of its former campaigners and a Breconshire author has launched a chilling polar tale for children.

Greenpeace chose the London launch of Catherine Barr’s latest book, Elliot’s Arctic Surprise, to premiere its Shell victory film.

For her book is a chilling warning about what could happen to the environment if drilling goes ahead.

Supported by Greenpeace UK, it’s an empowering illustrated story that engages youngsters in climate change with a tale about how children take action to protect one of the last wildernesses on the planet.

Thousands of brightly painted children are shown surrounding a menacing black oil rig as they peacefully protest, mimicking what Greenpeace terms "the power of bearing witness" to something big you believe is wrong.

Men climb down from the rig and one little boy, Elliot, bravely pipes up: "This is Father Christmas’ home. Please don’t spoil it."

There’s a thoughtful pause before the children get the reply they want: "We’ll go home. We shouldn’t really be here at all."

The timely story, published by Frances Lincoln, was launched at Waterstones in Islington, London last Friday, October 16, where Catherine, a partner at Hay-on-Wye based bwa design, was joined by Greenpeace’s head of media, Ben Stewart.

"Ben showed the Greenpeace Shell victory film, which was like a premiere," said Catherine.

Her book highlights what she says she and the environmental campaign groupÕs executive director, John Sauven, decided was a key issue.

"We decided the Arctic is a key issue and this might be a way of engaging children in climate change. I wrote the story as a result of the conversation," explained Catherine.

The book features an afterword by Mr Sauven about the Arctic, climate change and Greenpeace’s campaign to stop the rush for oil at the top of the world.

As it approached its launch, Shell appeared to bow to pressure from Greenpeace to pull the plug on its Arctic oil exploration.

"Shell went to the Arctic this summer and there were lots and lots of protests about them going up there.

"Using more oil causes more climate change that causes the ice to melt. This causes massive sea level changes. Polar bears and other animals need the ice; it’s their habitat. The ice could completely disappear from global warming.

"Plus there’s the issue of clearing up an oil spill, which is a massive issue in the ice. It gets under the ice and massively effects the wildlife," said Catherine.

She continued: "There are three themes to the book; the Arctic as a beautiful wilderness and the creatures that live there, how drilling can cause climate change and the issue of ’bearing witness,’ the mass non-violent protest against something you believe is wrong. That’s the foundation of Greenpeace. It’s standing up to something much bigger than you, which you believe is wrong, which is what the little boy does."

She added: "It was a massive shock to everyone that Shell pulled out. They said they didn’t find enough oil. Greenpeace said it was a result of pressure around the world."

The chill of the Arctic will be felt at Hay Festival’s Winter Weekend when Catherine presents Elliot’s Arctic Surprise to children at the Swan Hotel on Saturday, November 28.

Ben Stewart will also be in Hay on November 28. He tells the extraordinary story of the "Artcic 30" in his book Don’t Trust, Don’t Fear, Don’t Beg, and will appear at Hay Castle with Frank Hewetson, one of the arrested 30 who had scaled a Russian rig in 2013 before masked Russian commandos took control of the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, and the 30 were thrown into jail.