Bad Panda at Cliftonville Primary

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

It finally happened! After a decade of school visits, Beti, my trusty laptop, experienced her first technical difficulty. (It probably didn’t help that she’s a first generation computer whose predecessor was cave painting.) But Cliftonville Primary School and I persevered and after twenty minutes of trying to log in and a brief panicked moment where I seriously considered a two thousand dollar thirty-two hour flight to the UK to make sure the author visit happened, we managed to get online for our virtual Bad Panda visit.

I read them an excerpt from Bad Panda: For Sale and then the awesome Year 2s came up with two brand new stories for the baddest panda, including Lin at a theme park struggling to get on the rides because of her height and Lin befriending a Megalodon in an underwater adventure.

Thank you to the brilliant staff and pupils of Year 2 Cliftonville Primary for being so patient with this technologically-challenged author and making the event so much fun.

It’s the finale of Bad Panda…

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

Today is the day you finally get to read how Lin and the zoo gang’s story finishes. Bad Panda: For Sale is out and the fourth book in the series starts with the news that the zoo is going to close and all of the animals will be sent back to where they came from.

Of course, Lin is overjoyed about the idea of being returned to her panda sanctuary and being reunited with her beloved family, especially her brother, Face-Like-A-Bag-Of-Potatoes. But it dawns on Lin that the zoo closing also means she now has to leave her zoo family and she is definitely NOT happy about that: Lin is about to become the BADDEST panda ever so she can have ALL her family together.

It has been an utter joy to live with Lin, Fu, Liony McLionface and the whole troop of animals in this series for the last four years. But the most wonderful part of this journey has been YOU, the readers, the fans of the series. If you hadn’t loved Lin as much as I have, we wouldn’t be here four years later, still putting her stories out into the world. I have loved every picture, letter and costume you have sent me over the years – it has meant so much to me to see how much you have welcomed Lin and her friends into your hearts. Bad Panda fans are the most pawsome fans in the world!

But all pandatastic things must come to an end but I promise, though this is the end of the series, it ends on a happy note for Lin. I really hope you feel this is the perfect ending to the series.

Love and panda hugs,

Swapna 🙂

Happy World Book Day!

Swapna HaddowRoosting With Dave, Scrapbook

Happy World Book Day, readers! I started my World Book Day celebrations at the Otago Literacy Association’s local authors showcase. Alongside Samantha Montgomerie and Rachel McCoubrey, we were invited to share our books with teachers from all across Dunedin.

It was so inspiring to hear Sam and Rachel talk about their work and I got to speak about my 2025 releases – it’s a very exciting year this year so watch the blog for more information.

To round off my World Book Day week I tuned in for a virtual visit with Year 1 and Year 2 at Epsom Primary School. After a reading from Dave Pigeon, we created LOADS of story plans for brilliant stories for the character of Mean Cat from the Dave Pigeon series. There were sandstorms and rainbows and superglue and dinosaurs and I had such a blast meeting everyone.

Thank you to everyone who has got in touch and shared costumes, bookish classroom doors and potatoes – I have LOVED seeing all your pictures. It is so special to see and I appreciate all your hard work and love.

Happy World Book Day to you all!

The Night Before Holi with Scholastic Schools Live

Swapna HaddowScrapbook

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to join me, Aditi and Rosie for our read and drawalong for The Night Before Holi.

I had a blast reading the story and showing off pictures of my family enjoying Holi and then taking part in Aditi’s drawalong. I’m now an official Holi rocket illustrator! If you took part in the drawalong, do send your drawings in so I can show them off in my gallery.

Happy Holi from my family to yours!

The Night Before Holi is out now!

Swapna HaddowScrapbook

Today is the day! The Night Before Holi is out now!

I had the most fun riffing off Clement Clarke Moore’s poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ and celebrating one of my favourite festivals during my time as the University of Otago Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence in 2022 and now finally the book is here! The Night Before Holi is our now and celebrates the wonder of the colourful festival of Spring. Join a little girl and her grandad as they plan for the BEST HOLI EVER! They know all the best spots to throw the bright Holi powder but can they cover the whole neighbourhood in colour in their biggest celebration yet?

Aditi Kakade Beaufrand’s illustrations bring the joy of colour to every page of the book. The book also features a non-fiction page at the back all about Holi, including a recipe to make your own mango lassi in this bright and bold picture book, perfect for the Holi season.

And this year Read It Forward is back! If you purchase a copy of the The Night Before Holi from Bookshop.org UK, 10% of sales will go to support BookTrust and Scottish Book Trust in the work they do to help disadvantaged and vulnerable families access early reading support.

And there’s more! Teachers, educators and homeschoolers, Scholastic has put together lesson plans to go along with the book that you can download for free and use in your classrooms or at home:

Happy Holi, everyone!

Libraries for Primaries

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

Today was my first event of the year and I’m chuffed to bits it was with NLT‘s Libraries for Primaries campaign. The Libraries for Primaries campaign work to address the lack of investment in primary school libraries which is a cause very close to my heart.

With a copy of Bad Panda: For Sale arriving on my doorstep earlier this month, it seemed only right to give all the schools who tuned in an exclusive reading of the book and tell them why I love pandas so much.

Emma from NLT then hosted a Q&A session and I got to tell them everyone about my upcoming book The Terrible Trio: The (Not So) Superheroes and how I became an author.

Thank you so much to everyone who tuned in today and I can’t wait to hear what you think of the finale of Bad Panda.

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Little Dinosaurs, Big Questions out now!

Swapna HaddowRoarsome News

Dr Diplo and the dino gang are back and they are talking about those DINOSAUR-sized questions we all have in my brand new book Little Dinosaurs, Big Questions.

Illustrated by Yiting Lee and written with the help of clinical psychologist Amber Owen, in this book, Dr Diplo and his ten dinosaur friends ask complex questions, including:
– Is it ever good to lie?
– Why do bad things happen?
– What is fairness?
– How do we remember someone we’ve lost?

So pick up a copy of the book from your local bookshop or library or online and hear Dr Diplo’s answers and learn how to navigate these difficult questions with simple exercises and activities. This book is perfect for guiding your little ones through the BIG questions they may have and even got a shoutout, in the January roundup of the best new children’s books to look out for, in The Guardian.

And later this month, an accompanying set of cards to go along with Little Dinosaurs, Big Questions and its predecessor Little Dinosaurs, Big Feelings will be available at your local bookshop and online too!

Help your little ones feel calm, grounded and focused with this boxed deck of 30 mindfulness activity cards, inspired by Dr Diplo and his friends. The Mindful Dinosaurs cards come with a full-colour illustrations on both sides of the cards to break down each practice into easy-to-follow steps, with a booklet included to help guide carers through the activities.

Happy reading, everyone!

What a year!

Swapna HaddowRoarsome News, Roosting With Dave, Scrapbook, The Bad Panda Club

It’s been an incredible year for books and I’ve had quite the crop in 2024.

I can’t thank you all enough for all your love and kindness. Sending a WHOPPER-sized hug of thanks to all the booksellers, librarians, teachers, educators, bloggers, caregivers and most importantly, BRILLIANT readers who have supported my books – I appreciate you all. To say thank you, here’s a wee pic of my Archie with this year’s haul:

If you are buying a Swapna Haddow/Swapna Reddy book this year and would like a signed bookplate, do get in touch, otherwise I wish you all a wonderful season of books and cosy nights in reading.

See you in 2025 for more brilliant things!

The Big Teddy Bear Sleepover

Swapna HaddowHalfway Round the World with the Haddows, Scrapbook

October 12th marked Bookshop Day. Here in Dunedin, University Book Shop hosted The Big Teddy Bear Sleepover with The Sleepy Storytellers.

Making up The Sleepy Storytellers were me, Emma Wood, Gillian Torckler and Susan Wardell. Children were invited to bring along their teddy bears for a story time and a crafts session where they made a bed for their bear.

First they had to check their bears in:

Then we had storytime and I read But Then to all the children, bears and their grown ups:

Once all the children tucked their bears in, they said good night before leaving their bears at the sleepover.

The staff at UBS and the awesome foursome of The Sleepy Storytellers made sure the bears were safe and happy all night.

There was a little mischief, after all their was cake in the fridge, but all the bears were fantastically behaved overall:

The next morning the children came back to pick up their bears and share a porridge breakfast with more stories from Emma, Gillian, Susan and I.

What a weekend! I had such a wonderful time and I know all the bears have made fantastically magical memories. After all, where would be better than a bookshop to have a big sleepover?