From Imagination to Amazon: The Journey of The Knight of Light

Nigel Porter
2 days ago
4 min read

At Mr Porter Tutoring, one of the things I am most passionate about is helping students discover that their ideas matter.

Learning is not always about fitting into a traditional worksheet or writing task. Sometimes, the most powerful learning happens when we start with imagination, conversation, and creativity.

Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of working with one of my students, Huey, on a truly special project that has now become a published physical book available to buy on Amazon.

The book is called The Knight of Light, an epic fantasy adventure filled with ancient magic, light and darkness, mythical characters, and a young hero named Arin.

What makes this project so special is not just the finished book itself, but the learning journey that led to its creation.

Supporting a Dyslexic Learner Through Storytelling

Huey is a highly creative and imaginative student with dyslexia.

Like many dyslexic learners, he sometimes finds it difficult to record his ideas in written form, even though his thoughts, verbal explanations, and imagination are incredibly strong.

This is something I see often in tutoring.

Many students have fantastic ideas, but the challenge of spelling, handwriting, organisation, or written structure can sometimes prevent those ideas from reaching the page.

Rather than allowing written barriers to limit creativity, we approached the project in a way that worked for Huey.

Instead of starting with writing, we began with speaking.

Huey created a spoken outline of the story, describing the plot, characters, magical powers, and world-building ideas aloud during our tutoring sessions.

This allowed his imagination to flow freely without the pressure of getting everything down on paper.

From there, we used story maps and visual planning.

Using drawings, diagrams, arrows, labels, and scene sketches, Huey began mapping out the structure of the story.

We explored:

the main character and his journey
the world setting
key magical objects
the central conflict between light and darkness
how different chapters might unfold

This visual approach worked brilliantly.

It gave Huey ownership over the story while allowing him to organise ideas in a way that felt accessible and manageable.

Developing the Story Together

One of the most rewarding parts of this process was seeing the story grow week by week.

Each session brought new ideas.

A character would develop further.

A new location would be added.

A magical power would evolve.

Sometimes Huey would arrive with a brand-new idea that completely transformed the direction of the plot.

These moments were fantastic because they showed genuine engagement and excitement.

The story became something living and evolving.

We discussed:

character descriptions
motivations and backstories
how heroes and villains should develop
how tension builds through a fantasy story
what makes a chapter ending exciting for the reader

This helped develop not only creative writing skills but also higher-order thinking skills such as sequencing, inference, planning, and narrative structure.

Most importantly, it showed Huey that his voice and ideas were important.

Bringing Maths into the Project

Another really exciting part of this journey was how naturally it linked into our maths lessons.

Once the idea of publishing the book became more real, we used Amazon royalties and book sales as a context for mathematical learning.

This gave our maths sessions a meaningful, real-life purpose.

Together we worked on calculations such as:

how much money is earned per book sold
how royalties work
percentages
multiplication and repeated addition
projected weekly and monthly earnings
how many books would need to sell to reach certain targets

For example, we explored questions like:

If the book earns £3 royalty per sale, how much would 10 sales make?

How much could be earned in a month if 25 books were sold each week?

This made maths feel relevant and exciting because it connected directly to something Huey had created himself.

It was a brilliant example of how learning can be integrated across subjects.

English, creativity, enterprise, and maths all came together through one meaningful project.

A Powerful Learning Experience

This project has been such a strong reminder that there is no single “right” way for a student to learn.

For some learners, especially those with dyslexia, the traditional route of planning and writing everything on paper first is not always the most effective starting point.

Sometimes the best route begins with:

talking
drawing
discussing
mapping
imagining

When we remove unnecessary barriers, students often surprise themselves with what they are capable of.

Huey’s creativity, perseverance, and imagination have been incredible throughout this process.

To now hold the finished physical book in our hands and see it available on Amazon is a huge achievement.

I am incredibly proud of him.

More Than Just a Book

For me, this project represents something much bigger than simply publishing a story.

It represents confidence.

It represents creativity.

It represents accessible learning.

And it shows students that their ideas can become something real.

This is exactly why I love tutoring.

Helping young people discover their strengths and giving them the tools to express themselves in ways that work for them is one of the most rewarding parts of my work.

Congratulations, Huey — what an amazing achievement.