Today, I read My Dad is a Grizzly Bear at the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival as part of the Story Time Double Decker Bus. Kathryn van Beek and I took turns sharing our picture books with two bus loads of children, parents and grandparents. The children helped me read My Dad is a Grizzly Bear complete with actions and …
World Book Day with Churchwood Primary
Yesterday, I spent World Book Day with the keyworker pupils of Churchwood Primary. I beamed in from New Zealand to the school in East Sussex to first meet with the Infants for a My Dad is a Grizzly Bear reading. This was the very first time I was reading the book to anyone so it was very exciting. We then …
Across the Ditch: Maxine Beneba Clark – When We Say Black Lives Matter
I’m so chuffed to have been asked to interview Maxine Beneba Clark about her new book for The Sapling. You can have a read of the full article here and find out all about Maxine Beneba Clark’s stunning picture book ‘When We Say Black Lives Matter’.
Dave Pigeon at East Taieri School
Today I visited East Taieri School with ReadNZ’s Writers in Schools programme. It was my first school visit since lockdown and I was worried I might be a bit rusty but the staff and pupils at East Taieri were so kind and welcoming that I soon got back in the swing of things. We created brand new stories for Mean …
Interview in Dunedin Libraries NB
Thank you so much, Jackie McMillan for this brilliant interview in Dunedin Libraries latest edition of NB. You can read it in full here.
Happy World Book Day from New Zealand!
It’s World Book Day and I wasn’t going to miss out on all the fun back in the UK so I was chuffed to be invited to speak to the Writing Extension group at Kaikorai Primary School, where I met with sixteen brilliant young writers. We talked about planning stories and shared ideas on writing. And then we played a …
The Wild Imaginings Children’s Writers and Illustrators Hui
I’ve just had the best sort of weekend for me – a booky weekend. The Wild Imaginings Children’s Writers and Illustrators Hui took place in my new hometown of Dunedin last weekend, with the WILD in Wild Imaginings standing for Writers and Illustrators Love Dunedin and it turns out we certainly do. Team Wild Imaginings put on a fabulous weekend …
‘Writer alights in the land of birds’ – Otago Daily Times
Thank you so much to Karen Trebilcock and the Otago Daily Times for this brilliant feature in today’s Otago Daily Times. I was interviewed for the article ahead of the WILD Imaginings Children’s Writers and Illustrators Hui next weekend, where I will be running a workshop on ‘Writing a Young Fiction Series’. If you are coming along, do pop by …
A year in New Zealand
It’s been a whole year since Family Haddow arrived on the shores of Aotearoa and we have had the most incredible twelve months. I can’t even begin to list all the amazing adventures we have had but needless to say, it has been a year of surfing, snowboarding, beautiful hikes and making wonderful new friendships. I keep waiting for the …