When we interviewed Barbara Dykes a few years ago, she was enjoying success with the publication of two books. She had created Grammar Made Easy and Spelling Made Easy, which she co-authored. During her early life in Kenya, when she helped her husband run a cattle ranch while home educating her four children, together with an African boy, Barbara continued writing, but it was her special focus on reading, writing, and spelling, which launched her career. In 1994, she wrote Sound Start, a book of nonsense rhymes for Nutshell Products.

'Grammar should be fun to teach and fun to learn,' she says. 'I'm currently writing one of twelve units of the Diploma in Teaching Literacy. This unit concerns the development of writing systems, the history of alphabets and the orientation of writing forms. The next will be on the history and historical influences on the English language.'

In her free time, Barbara enjoys Tai Chi, caravan trips, and painting.