The Junior School have enjoyed visits from two authors over the last few days. On Friday world renowned author, David Almond paid a virtual visit to the classrooms of Years 4, 5, 6 and 7, from his home in Newcastle. David Almond has won many literary prizes and has been awarded the OBE. He spoke about his life long career and his passion for writing. He discussed the wonders of the imagination and showed us his notebooks full of ideas and sketches. He spoke about his love of the book read in Year 4 ‘My Name is Mina’ and also of ‘Skellig’, perhaps his most famous title, which is read in Year 7. This book has been translated into forty languages; has sold over a million copies and has also been made into a film, a stage play and an opera. We all thoroughly enjoyed listening to his talk and hearing him read excerpts from ‘Skellig’.
Years 1, 2 and 3 had their own visit from author Alan Durant, joining us from South Africa. He has a successful career as a writer having studied English Language and Literature at Keble College, Oxford. He read two of his most well known books to the children, ‘Burger Boy’ and ‘Quill Soup’. We enjoyed hearing these actually read to us by the author with the voices and expression he had intended. He also read one of his funny poems about ‘Custard’ and talked about his book ‘Dear Tooth Fairy’. Alan has written over one hundred books even though he was a reluctant writer when he was in primary school.
Both visitors were welcomed by our Year 6 librarians and both answered questions asked by the children. We are very grateful to them for visiting us and inspiring us all by sharing their love of both reading and writing.
