Author visit
School visit
Want me to come to your school to talk about Finch’s Heart with your friends? I’ll do what I can to arrange a visit!
YAY!
An author visit!
What do you want to talk about?
What a visit entails
An author visit can be anything you want it to be. It might include a reading from my book during an assembly, a writing workshop, a Q&A or a PSHE session to discuss some of the themes in the book. I love talking about books and sharing my joy of reading with others.
Why an author visit?
It’s a super fun way to connect with authors and explore story-telling. But more than anything it’s a chance for your mind to go on a little adventure.
Session lengths
This will really depend on your school and how I might fit into the curriculum. Teachers - how I love them! - are excellent people so I would want my visit to be super fun for you and helpful to your teacher.
Themes we could discuss
Finch’s Heart is a book about learning to deal with grief and the healing power of art. So we could discuss lots of things from art, loss and friendship through to characters, plot and what makes a good story.
Books I loved as a child
Judy Blume
Are you there God? It's me Margaret (and all her other books)
Judy Blume was the first author I came across, who tackled subjects such as puberty, divorce and bullying with honest realism, empathy and humour. As a child, I felt, ‘Ah, finally an author who speaks my language’.
Gudrun Mebs
Sonntagskind
I read this book in Germany when I was bout 10-years-old. Sonntagskind (Sunday Child) tells the story of an 8-year-old orphan who lives in a children’s home and yearns to be one of the ‘lucky’ children, who get taken out on Sundays by foster parents. Will she be one of them? This book really taught me about empathy and putting myself in someone else’s shoes. It won the German Prize for Youth Literature in 1984.
Francine Pascal
Sweet Valley High series
My brother, who is now 53, still teases me that I read these books when I was a tween! Set in a Californian High School, the series is about a set of twins, one of whom is studious, the other mischievous. It is about friendship, romance, betrayal etc. and I seem to remember that lockers and cheerleading featured heavily. This series inspired me to go to an American High School myself for a term when I was 16.
Books my kids loved
When my son Bobby was in primary school, he devoured books. He particularly loved Wonder by R.J. Palacio, War Horse and Shadow by Michael Morpurgo, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.
Bobby says: “Noughts and Crosses was a book that made my heart beat. It was like a thriller with romance. And I loved Morpurgo’s books because they were about the emotional attachment we have to animals and as a kid, animals are everything.”
When she was younger, Annie really enjoyed reading the Little People, Big Dreams series e.g. Frida Kahlo or Vivienne Westwood etc. We also loved reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo together and then discussing all the girls’ amazing achievements. She devoured the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and Anna at War by Helen Peters. The Nation’s Favourite Children’s Poems published by BBC was a firm favourite. It features On The Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan. I challenge you to recite it without laughing! It’s like medicine.
Annie says: “I love it when books make me feel big emotions. And I love stories based in history, where you learn how it might have been for a child during e.g World War II.”
Minu and I read The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell together, all snuggled up in bed when she was eight or nine. We loved the adventure of it all. She also loved Rooftoppers and The Good Thieves by Rundell. Then quickly launched into the The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. We also loved reading A Poem for Every Night of the Year by Allie Esiri together.
Minu says: “Reading The Hunger Games felt like you were always on the edge of your seat. I totally fell in love with the dystopian genre.”