Author Visits: Burlington Junior School

I'd like to say a big thank you to Natalie Smith, Matthew West, and all the students and staff I met when I visited Burlington Junior School last week!

It was exciting for me to see that many of the students had already come across my work, and that they were currently reading The Outlaw Varjak Paw in Year 4!  So it was a pleasure to talk to Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 about reading and writing, and to hear about their favourite books.  There were many great readers in this school, and it was brilliant to see how many people wanted to have a book signed at the end of the day!

It was a pleasure to sign books for everyone, but if there's anyone who didn't manage to get a book on the day and would like one, you can always order signed books through Pea Green Boat Books, who did the brilliant bookselling.  And if anyone at Burlington would like to ask me any more questions, or to say anything about the visit or my books, just leave me a comment below!

Author Visits: Acorns Primary School / ChipLitFest

I'd like to say a big thank you to Milly Weaver and ChipLitFest, and to everyone at Acorns Primary School for the wonderful welcome they gave me when I visited them last month!

My visit was part of the ChipLitFest schools programme, which takes authors into local schools; I also had the pleasure of being part of it two years ago.  I very much enjoyed meeting Years 3-6 in Acorns, and talking to them about books and writing.  There were some great young readers in this school, with some terrific favourite books!

They had lots of questions about the writing process, and so I told them all about how Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw and Phoenix were really written.  If anyone from Acorns would like any more writing tips, you can find some here; and if anyone has any more questions, or would like to say anything about the visit or my books, just leave me a comment below!

After the visit, this lovely piece appeared in the school's newsletter – you can read it in full here.  Many thanks to Acorns, and thanks to ChipLitFest photographer Jenny Aston for the fantastic photographs!