World Book Day 2015

For World Book Day this year, I asked people on Twitter to send me photos of children dressed as characters from my books.  I was amazed by the responses.  This is my favourite: a boy dressed as Frollix, one of the Axxa aliens from Phoenix.  Look closely and you'll see he's got the horns, the hooves, the mirrorshades and even an eyeball!  It was tweeted to me by @matildasbacon – thank you so much!

Another favourite is this excellent gang of cats from Varjak Paw (or possibly The Outlaw Varjak Paw!)  It was sent to my by Mercenfeld School in Leicester, who I had the pleasure of visiting earlier this year.  I love the costumes – and the cool cat poses!

Meanwhile, here's Emma as Varjak Paw!  This photo was sent to me by my brilliant fellow author Michelle Robinson.  So thank you Michelle – and thank you Emma!

@AmyLuvsKatz is another terrific Varjak – thank you @bookclubforum for the photo!

Here's a fab Varjak from @kiteclothing, with a very kind recommendation!

And another wonderful Varjak, with great whiskers and nose, from @ClareMillsLPT!

Meanwhile, over at Bridgewater Primary in Northampton, Sally Bones and the Elder Paw are facing off in deadly combat!

And finally, here's Oona as Varjak, with the most incredible cat make-up I think I've ever seen!  Thank you Bridget Nicholls for the photo – and thank you Oona for an amazing piece of art!

I'd like to finish by saying a very big and heartfelt THANK YOU to all my readers.  When I see people dressing up as characters I created, or whenever I hear from readers that they've enjoyed my books, it makes all the hard work of writing feel worthwhile.  That's an amazing thing for an author – so thank you all for keeping the Way alive!

School Visits: Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

It's World Book Week again!  I love this global celebration of books, and I always visit a lot of schools during the week.  This time, to kick things off, I had the pleasure of visiting Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School in Brixton today.

First I talked Years 3 & 4, and then Years 5 & 6.  I met some fantastic readers with some amazing goals and dreams, and I heard lots of great questions about writing Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw and Phoenix.

I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone I met for the wonderful welcome, and to the brilliant bookshop Tales On Moon Lane, who organised the visit for me!  They're going to be running a stall at the school throughout World Book Week, so anyone who would like to buy one of my books can find them all there.  And if you'd like one signed, just let them know, and I'll send you a signed book plate!

World Book Week 2014

Every year, World Book Day gets bigger and bigger.  This year, it became an entire week!  I was honoured to take part in a special video made by The Guardian to celebrate the occasion.  Along with my fellow authors Jacqueline Wilson and Jim Smith, I was interviewed by a reader dressed as a character from my books: in my case, Varjak Paw!  The video is here and is absolutely fantastic; there's also a full transcript of the interview that you can read here.

I also visited many schools, and met lots and lots of great readers and writers!  First up was Our Lady Queen Of Heaven Primary School in Wimbledon, where I met Years 6, 5, 4 and 3.  It was brilliant to see so many Varjak Paw fans, and so many people interested in my new book Phoenix.  For anyone who missed it, here's the Phoenix book trailer again:

On World Book Day itself, I visited Montem Primary School in Islington, and talked to Years 6, 5 and 4.  It was inspiring to see so much enthusiasm for books and reading – and I was delighted to see a tiger on the way out of the school, because the new book that I'm working on is called TYGER!

Finally, I visited Friars Primary School in Waterloo, where I met Years 6 and 5, many of whom had read both Varjak Paw and The Outlaw Varjak Paw, and some of whom I understand are now reading Phoenix!  I hope you all enjoy it... and I hope that everyone I met had a totally brilliant World Book Week!

World Book Week 2013

What a great World Book Week that was!  Here's a huge thank you to the all the hundreds of children & teachers I met in the last few days - at St. Paul's Primary School in Cambridge, Highlees Community Primary School in Peterborough, and Beatrix Potter School in Earlsfield.

It was amazing to meet so many Varjak Paw fans, and to sign so many books!  Thanks to you all for making me feel so welcome, and for saying such nice things about my work...  I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of Phoenix when it comes out in August!