St Augustine’s CE Primary School

Swapna HaddowRoosting With Dave

Last week we were invited to meet the pupils of St. Augustine’s CE Primary School by the wonderful staff and the very lovely folk of the Alligator’s Mouth bookshop. Without Sheena, it was the job of the pupils to help me create new characters and brand new stories and of course, with Christmas around the corner, we had to have a character or two with a pair of antlers.

I was so impressed with the imagination and brilliance of the pupils that I came away excited to get cracking on some TOP SECRET writing projects of my own. And of course decorate my Christmas tree in a way that Dave Pigeon would approve.

Here are a few photos from a fantastic afternoon at St. Augustine’s. Thank you to all the staff and children who made me feel so at home:

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North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award: WINNER!

Swapna HaddowRoosting With Dave

IMG_4250DAVE PIGEON WON THE NORTH SOMERSET TEACHERS’ BOOK AWARD: READ ALOUD CATEGORY. WE WON! And yes, I am so happy I am shouting about it!

Yesterday afternoon, we were treated to a wonderful awards ceremony, packed full of children’s books and delicious cakes. Shortlisted authors and illustrators were invited to Bournville Primary School in Weston-super-Mare to celebrate an amazing shortlist of books and we got to take our families along too.

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After a quick stop at the beach for a lunch of fish and chips and mushy peas, we headed to the ceremony which was packed full of authors, illustrators, teachers, librarians and lots of people passionate about children’s books.

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The full shortlist

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The Read Aloud category shortlist

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WE WON!

This award is a rather special one because it was voted for by teachers, librarians and educators. It was my brilliant teachers and librarians that got me hooked on reading as a child and I can’t thank them enough for opening up my world to adventures and characters that have inspired and challenged me. Reading improves empathy. That’s a fact. In the world we live in now, it’s more important than ever that we encourage children to read and to learn to empathise.