School Visits

It can be inspiring for the children to meet a real author/illustrator and see that they are ordinary people who do something exciting !

For me, it’s wonderful to see at first hand, the positive impact picture books can have and hear children’s own enthusiastic and fantastic ideas.

During a school visit, I can read from my books, do live drawing, bring wish trees with leaves for children to draw their own wishes on, turn whole classes of children into Hugh Shampoo as they make their own messy hair out of paper, string, pipe cleaners and worms…talk about the process of making books using my own working drawings, talk about the importance of ideas and editing and imagination, and turn the children into illustrators themselves…as well as a bit of noisy storytelling participation !

The children are encouraged to have a good rummage through my sketchbooks to see the messy drawings that happen before the final printed page.

I have age appropriate activities from nursery up to year 6 and am very happy to work with schools to fit their needs. I have also worked with years 7 and 8 …picture books don’t have to be given up once you reach secondary school !

I can also facilitate short art courses for teachers, to gain confidence in using a range of materials and media in the classroom; building a vocabulary and developing new ways of looking, to explore and support the curriculum.

If you would like me to visit your school or would like more details, please get in touch via the contact page.