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It’s Day 2 of the But Then Library Tour with Dunedin Libraries and I started the day chatting to Jeff at OARfm about the tour. We spoke about the book and what inspired the story and my love of libraries. I even revealed TOP SECRET news that Daron and I were working on a follow up to But Then… so watch this space for more exciting news on that.

Port Chalmers School popped along to Port Chalmers Library to join in But Then… fun and we created a whole flock of albatrosses and penguins and a herd of seals too!

Thank you to Simon from The Star for popping along and writing about the tour in the paper this week.

It’s Day 1 of the But Then Library Tour with Dunedin Libraries to celebrate the launch of But Then…. The plan is to have a MEGA readathon of the book at ALL the public libraries across Dunedin.

We started at Blueskin Bay Library and Waitati School came to visit.

And after a reading of the book, the children got to work making their very own Grandad and librarian glasses and designing their own library cards.

Stay tuned for more But Then fun from the But Then Library Tour with Dunedin Libraries.

It’s the end of the Storylines Northland Tour and despite a sore throat, I made it to the end of the week without losing my voice.  Day 4 started at Pukepoto School with Years 4, 5 and 6. We talked about my books and I told them the real story behind But Then.

Next up was Awanui School and I was visiting with Vasanti Unka. There was a puppet storytelling and Vasanti and Years 1, 2, 3 and the nearby kindy helped draw Vasanti’s invisible friend Niko.

My last visit of Day 4 was to Waihārara School, the northern most school in the Far North that we were visiting on the tour. I read But Then to the whole school and they helped me out with their impressive animals sounds.

And then it was time for an ice cream during a stop at Cable Bay.

Favourite comment of Day 4: I have seen a penguin. Unfortunately, it was because my dad ran over it.

And then it was time for Day 5 and I was off to visit the final school of the tour. It was a fantastic finish to the week as Years 0, 1, 2 and 3 from Oruaiti School helped me design library card full of overdue excuses that included sliding down a rainbow and dropping it, leaving it on the moon and Mum holding on to it for too long.

What an awesome tour. Here are some epic stats: in total, we travelled over 1420km, saw approximately 3223 pupils and made 29 stops! Thank you to brilliant Anne for looking after us so well all week. And thank you, beautiful Northland!

Favourite comment of Day 5: My favourite place to read my book is in my classroom with my class.

Kia ora Day 3  and finally a full day of the famous gorgeous Northland sunshine! My day started at Ohaeawai School with Years 0, 1, 2 and 3. They did a brilliant job of sussing out all my fibs in a game of Two Truths and A Lie and then we created 76 brand new library cards full of excuses for overdue books. There were naughty nanas, cruise ships and pirates.

I then got to visit Kawakawa Primary School and spoke to Years 2, 3 and 4. We came up with 45 brand new But Then… stories and we heard about sharks, volcanoes and teachers who stole books!

My final visit was to Umawera School, where Vasanti Unka, Angie Belcher and I teamed up to talk about out books. I love listening to Vasanti and Angie and came away inspired to get back to my desk to write again.

After an ice cream and a trip to Ahipara beach, it was time for dinner and a sleep.

Favourite question of the day: Is that Angie riding a hammerhead shark?

It’s Day 2 of the Northland tour and my first stop was St Joseph’s Catholic School. I had the best time creating library cards full of excuses for overdue library books with Years 0, 1, 2 and 3.

We then headed to Kaihu Valley School where only two pupils were in from the roll call of six! It was wonderful to finally hear Vasanti Unka, Philippa Werry and Angie Belcher talk about their writing journeys.

The last school of the day was Opononi Area School and I was back with Years 0, 1, 2 and 3 where I read them But Then… and we created lots of library card designs.

Favourite question of the day: I left my book on my other waka. (Yes, like yesterday, technically not a question but this was a brilliant response to my question about overdue library book excuses.)

It’s a girls trip up north to beautiful Northland with Vasanti Unka, Phillipa Werry, Angie Belcher and Anne Dickson. We had an absolute blast today visiting heaps of schools and I’ve been taking But Then... on tour.

First up, I got to visit Ōrewa Primary School and spoke to 180 Year 0 to Year 2 who helped me design a library card with all the best overdue library card excuses they could think of including a crocodile eating it and a ghost stealing it.

I was then off to see 420 Year 2, 3 and 4 at Whangapāraoa School where we created 420 brand new excuses for an overdue book. Most of excuses involved poo but thankfully their brilliant librarian reassured me this was an excuse she had never heard or seen.

And I finished off my day at Wellsford Primary School with Years 2, 3 and 4 and we made up even more excuses for overdue library books – over 100 of them! There were brilliant excuses that involved candy, eagles swooping in and clowns in cars.

Favourite question of the day: I love books! (Yes, technically not a question but I’m a sucker for a statement of love for books.)

Stay tuned for more adventures from Te Tai Tokerau this week!