My World Book Week

For a children’s author, World Book Day and the week it falls in is always a very busy time, with schools clamouring for visits. My schedule this year ran like this:

Thursday 26 February: Featherstone Primary School, Southall

Friday 27 February: Townsend School, St Albans

Monday 2 March: Carshalton Boys Sports College, Carshalton

Tuesday 3 March: Immanuel College, Bushey

Wednesday 4 March: writing day: took a forced break from school visits to write a chapter of the Fiction Express book I’m currently working on.

Thursday 5 March (WBD): The Manor Academy, Mansfield Woodhouse

Friday 6 March: Lea Valley School, Enfield

Giving a talk about creative writing at Townsend School

It was an exhausting time for an author who, for much of the year, rarely travels further than the kitchen to make himself a fresh cup of coffee. I was sometimes a little overwhelmed by the noise and the bustle of large, busy schools and my hat goes off to teachers who must face this every day. And yet I found it incredibly fulfilling and beneficial. The students listened attentively during my talks, and they worked diligently during my workshops (well, most of the time!).

Speaking at Carshalton Boys Sports College

I learned as much from the students as I hope they did from me. I learned a little about how kids communicate, what they think about, what books they like to read, and what kinds of things fire their imaginations. Most of all, I was reminded that ‘kids’ is not a category, no matter how much publishers and authors like to think it is, and the phrase ‘Kids are really into this at the moment’ is actually as meaningless as if you replaced the word ‘Kids’ with ‘Adults’. Sure, they’re subject to the usual fads and fashions, just as adults are, and there will always be popular authors and books and genres. But that sort of thing is less obvious when one travels from school to school and you hear such different opinions on what they enjoy reading.

Signing a book at Immanuel College

Their responses to a visiting author are equally unpredictable. I was cheered and mobbed for autographs in one school, and listened to in polite silence at another. In yet another, a reading I did was greeted by spontaneous applause. If there is a generalisation you can make, it’s that kids tend to be honest in their reactions, they don’t suffer fools, and they will always, always ask how much you earn.