Kaikorai Primary School ‘Paws For Reading’ Book Week

Swapna HaddowPawsome News, Roosting With Dave, The Bad Panda Club

After having to cancel my book week events at Kaikorai Primary School due to COVID, I was finally able to visit today to make up for lost time.

It was wonderful to be back at the school where my own mancub had been a pupil and to see their brand new hall.

I started my day with the Juniors and we had a Grizzly Bear-tastic event, hearing My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and drawing bears of our very own.

I then met with Years 3 and 4 and we created 100 brand new ideas for Bad Panda which is quite handy because I may have a couple more books in the series up my sleeve. We heard about Lin meeting heavily-moustached men and water dragons and riding rafts to the middle of the Amazonian river.

The Seniors did not let down with their imaginations when it came to an afternoon of creating new Dave Pigeon stories. I let them in on some top secret Dave Pigeon news and they created some new adventures for Mean Cat which saw her meeting a new enemy in a character called Greedy Cat and investing in a fleet of supercars to drive down the streets of Dunedin.

Thank you so much to the staff and pupils who made my day at Kaikorai Primary so fantastically fun.

Meet the Fellows at Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Swapna HaddowChildren's Writer in Residence

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery hosted a Meet the Fellows forum with Nicholas McBryde hosting and inviting the public to ask questions about the Fellows’ work.

We spoke about our creative processes and how we hoped our art would engage with the community. With us all at varying stages in our Fellowships (in fact, mine was completed in July), it made for interesting discussion about how we dealt with refilling our creative wells and where we were in our careers.

Photo courtesy of University of Otago

Thank you so much to everyone who came along and for those who couldn’t make it, a recording of the event will be made available via the University of Otago website.

Day of Goodness with SLANZA and National Library

Swapna HaddowScrapbook

Today, I got to spend my morning with the lovely school librarians in Dunedin as part of their SLANZA and National Library Day of Goodness. My entire love of books and writing started with libraries and kind librarians who put aside Sweet Valley High books knowing I would want to read them first, so it was quite a feat not to spend the entire morning fangirling this brilliant group of people.

Instead we talked about seeing ourselves in books, what to do with too many ideas and Sweet Valley of course.

Thank you so much for having me and for a yummy morning tea.

It’s Bad Panda 2 day!

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

Bad Panda: The Cake Escape is officially out in the world today! Lin the panda is on a mission to find her missing best friend, Fu – but has he been stolen by the boy who was looking to add to his sinister collection of stuffed animals? And can Lin and her zoo friends find him before it’s too late?

Illustrated by my pal Sheena Dempsey, illustrator of the Dave Pigeon and Bad Panda series, this book is one of my faves and I hope you love it too.

I’m thrilled to bits that it has already made Waterstones‘ radar and is in their round-up of Best Children’s Books to Look Out for in August.

I hope you all enjoy Lin’s latest adventure!

Children’s Writer in Residence: My last month!

Swapna HaddowChildren's Writer in Residence

It’s my last month of being the University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence! I have had such a wonderful time and I can’t wait to hear who will be stepping into the role next. Here are my top editing tips for once you have finished that epic first draft:

My Children’s Book of the Month is: Aroha’s Way by Rebekah Lipp and Craig Phillips.

Thank you so much to everyone who came along to celebrate the Fellows at the Hocken. It was wonderful to share what I had been up to during my time as Children’s Writer in Residence and to say a huge thank you in person to everyone who has supported me during my time.

Photo courtesy of University of Otago

Workshopping with Otago Literacy Association

Swapna HaddowChildren's Writer in Residence, The Bad Panda Club

Today, I was invited to run two workshops with the Otago Literacy Association. First up were a group of Year 5 and 6 from lots of different primary schools across Dunedin. We created brand new Bad Panda plots and talked about reasons why you might fall in a canal.

Next, I got to speak to teachers from around Dunedin. We had a go at some of the writing tasks I set for pupils during my workshops in schools and the teachers brought their creative A-game. We heard about pandas taking a trip to the pub and evil caretakers called Karl.

Thank you to everyone who came along. I hope to hear all your pandareffic stories soon.

A double shortlisting!

Swapna HaddowScrapbook, The Bad Panda Club

I am thrilled to bits to see that Torn Apart has been shortlisted for the incredible Historical Association’s Young Quills Award!

This means the world to me as the partition of India rarely features in young historical fiction so I’m so thankful to see Torn Apart feature on this incredible platform. You can have a look at the full shortlist here.

And guess what? Bad Panda has made it on to the amazing Alligator’s Mouth Award shortlist!

Every book on this list is one of my favourites! This is Team Dave Pigeon’s second time on the shortlist so fingers, wings and paws crossed.