A disabled man who wrote a book for his daughter using only his eyes has seen his labour of love finally published.

Andrew Knowlman, from Kings Langley, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in April 2015 and now uses a wheelchair and “eyegaze” technology to communicate.

With his daughter Valentina enjoying learning German at school while at the same time developing a passion for baking, Andrew felt compelled to write Die Kleine Backstube (The Little Bakery) for her.

Die Kleine Backstube is the story of the Little Bakery, which has been in the same family for 100 years, and how a young woman follows her passion to try and make something great. It tells of her creativity, hard work and determination, overcoming obstacles along the way.  

The illustrations are by Andrew’s friend Sarah Boyce, who visits him every week so they can work on projects together.

Their follow-up project is an audiobook called The Fantastic Race for Andrew’s son Sebastian, which is about two boys racing through Europe.

Andrew was born in Camberley, Surrey, in 1967 and developed his love of languages at a young age. After completing his A levels, Andrew studied German at Aston University and went on to live and work in Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Australia and France, learning new languages along the way.