Sheen hopes to get children talking about homelessness

Hollywood actor Michael Sheen has said he hopes his new children's book will get the next generation talking about homelessness.

Sheen is launching A Home For Spark The Dragon, which tells the story of a dragon who loses his home and then goes on a quest to find a new one.

He said he hoped it would help children to start thinking about ways they could make a difference in future.

"I've always believed that telling stories is an important way to make change in the world - and in the long run, stories for children can make the most change of all," said Sheen.

Sheen has co-written the book with Jess Webb and with illustrations by Sarah Massini.

The book will help to raise funds for homelessness charity, Shelter, when it is released on 5 June.

Sheen, 56, said: "I feel very fortunate that I got to grow up in a safe and happy home, but knowing that for many people this isn't the case, has increasingly made me want to do what I can to help."

He said he hoped children would enjoy reading about Spark the dragon and his animal friends who live in "a magical woodland world" as they embarked on "a quest to find a new place to call home".

"I hope Spark's adventure is fun to read and at the same time, that his story gives a way in for young readers to talk about what it is to be homeless - and to start to think about ways to make a difference," he added.

The Welsh actor said he was proud to be publishing the book in partnership with Shelter, "supporting the important work they do to fight the housing emergency".

Publisher Puffin and Sheen will give £1 from the sale of each hardback copy and 50p from the sale of each paperback copy of the book in the UK and Ireland to Shelter.

The charity said that the latest statutory homelessness statistics showed that over 164,000 children were currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation in England.

The charity said the figure had increased by 21,650 (15%) in just one year.

Sheen has played historical figures such as former Nottingham Forest and Derby County manager Brian Clough in The Damned United, former British prime minister Tony Blair in three films including The Queen, and comic actor Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa! on BBC Four.

The actor has more recently been seen on Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway on Channel 4.

In this documentary he used £100,000 of his own money to wipe out £1m-worth of debt for 900 people in south Wales.

In January, Sheen announced he would be funding a new theatre company to fill the gap left by the folding of National Theatre Wales.

He will be the artistic director of Welsh National Theatre, which will aim to tell "big stories on big stages for big audiences".