I had a marvellous time sharing the books in two brilliant schools in Burnley.
First stop was Briercliffe Primary where I talked about life as a writer and storyteller. After explaining how Impossible Tales was written, I shared an extract from Blown Away which is one of my favourites from the first batch of Tales. The children laughed at all the right bits which was ace! I then explained about the writing and illustrating process involved in writing Eric. The children spotted the alterations which Martin made at each stage of the process and I think they were really impressed by the final illustrations. To finish off, I read two extracts, one about Eric and the other about Eric’s dad. The children agreed that Martin’s illustrations matched the text which was great.
After grabbing some lunch I headed to St James’ Lanehead C of E Primary which was just down the road. I repeated the author session from the morning and the children listened attentively as well as sharing some of their aspirations for the future. Future occupations included a nurse, a golfer, an actress and a baker. It’s always great to hear what the children hope to do further down the line! Oh, and I chatted to a couple of aspiring authors too!
It was a pleasure to visit both schools. I was made to feel welcome and the children and staff were lovely. Thanks to Mr Blanchett and Miss Stott for organising the visits. Hopefully I’ll get to return sometime in the future, maybe with More Impossible Tales.