Jamie Oliver visits pupils at Great Bradfords Junior School

Jamie Oliver surprised pupils at Great Bradfords Junior School in Marlborough Road, Braintree, for the publication day of his new children’s book, Billy and the Epic Escape.

The book is a follow-up to his debut children’s novel, Billy and the Giant Adventure.

Billy and the Epic Escape, which features illustrations by Mónica Armiño, follows the titular character as he and his friends work together to protect the magical waterfall woods against a mysterious red lady.

Jamie, who lives at nearby Spains Hall, visited the school’s pupils to celebrate the release and also open a new school garden with a reading area, which was sponsored by his book publisher, Puffin Books.

Exciting - Great Bradfords Junior School pupils with a teacher and Jamie Oliver (Image: Justin Wrench)

New - another look at the garden (Image: Justin Wrench)

Great Bradfords Junior School Headteacher Justin Wrench is extremely grateful for Jamie's appearance and for the sponsorship.

He said: “We are delighted with our new garden area.

“The area has been transformed and is an excellent space for children to enjoy planting and growing along with reading outdoors for pleasure.

“We can’t thank Jamie and his publishers, Puffin, enough for this opportunity and we hope that the children will love using this space."

Fantastic - an image of some tables and chairs in the garden with the new polytunnel (Image: Justin Wrench)

Smart - the garden's storage shed (Image: Justin Wrench)

The whole outside space is fenced off, has tables and seats for pupils, an area for growing plants, a storage shed, and a new polytunnel.

The polytunnel provides the appropriate heating conditions, allowing gardeners to be able to grow flowers, veg and more at any time of the year.

Jamie started as a pastry chef before rising to prominence in 1999 after his BBC Two programme The Naked Chef aired at the time.

Over the years, the chef has run multiple restaurants, hosted and appeared on numerous television shows, released cookbooks and pivoted into children’s stories.

Book - the front cover for Billy and the Epic Escape (Image: Justin Wrench)

Selfie - Justin Wrench and Jamie Oliver together on the day (Image: Justin Wrench)

He has spearheaded the Feed Me Better campaign in effort to encourage children to eat healthier school dinners in the early 2000s.

Mr Oliver also set up the Ministry of Food to inspire schools and communities across the UK to inspire and empower more people to enjoy the benefits of cooking and eating balanced meals.