BLACK Country comedy queen Doreen has released her first book for kids.

The comedy star of stage and screen, created by Quarry Bank born playwright and film-maker David Tristram, has released an illustrated book entitled The Giant Panteater, & other Curious Creatures.

The character, who shot to fame as an internet sensation, has also voiced an audio-book to accompany the release so children can listen to her narrating.

Doreen creator David Tristram said of the book: "It's full of beautifully-illustrated quirky poems, all about strange creatures you’ll never find at Dudley Zoo – mainly because Doreen’s made them up."

Unusual animals featured include a hippo with canary wings, a llama made from spare parts, jigsaw sheep, bees on skis who just love the winter, a baboon that can float, a snake that’s 600 miles long, and a mysterious Muck-Filled Rattypus.

David said: "Many of the stories have gentle moral messages covering issues such as bullying, not judging people by how they look, following your dream, working together, and so on – and at the end of the book there’s even a little quiz, so children can test how much they can remember about the curious creatures they’ve met."

The book is available to buy online at www.doreenforkids.com and it comes in two editions – Cool and Extra Cool. The Extra Cool version includes a special gift message and personalised photograph of the recipient child.

Doreen has already been invited into several schools to read poems from the book and she has proven a popular character for kids' thanks to her starring roles in pantomimes at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre over the last few years. She said of the book: “I wanted to see if a local wench can take on the might of David Walliams.

“It will be interesting to see how far beyond the Black Country the book can travel and gain acceptance.”

This year Doreen has been invited to star in one of the biggest pantos in the country - the Birmingham Hippodrome production of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.