This afternoon in school, the children from Key Stage 2 were visited by Steve from The Northern Children’s Book Festival.
First, he asked us what we already knew about the job of an author and illustrator. He then asked if we have heard of the author Dr Seuss and what books he has written. Comments included ‘Green eggs and ham’ and ‘Cat in the hat’.
Steve then spoke about the importance of reading and how it expands our minds. Steve impressed us by saying he has written a total of 268 books! He then showed us a book of pictures and writing from when he was a child. He told the children that his creativity to write books has taken time, lots of time, from as early as his own childhood.
Steve then showed us some of the books that he has written. Some of them included characters such as; a kung foo kitten, a witch and mermaid. He told us that in his books, we as readers become the characters and decide what happens throughout the story. He explained that he came up with some of the characters from his books from what he observed in his childhood. An example of this was his school cook, who would often make coloured custard and concrete cake, which never went down well, so he decided to make a book all about a killer custard! He then showed us the layout of his books.
Steve then chose 2 children from the audience and told them they would be becoming warrior princesses as he read another one of his stories. The children were then in charge of each side of the hall, as their audience helped them navigate them through the book. After the activity, Steve showed the children some of the books he created during COVID, which are William Shakespeare plays that he has turned into comic books. One of the comics he showed us was; ‘Othello’.
At the end of the session, Steve took part in a question and answer activity based around himself and his books.
