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. …
The Open University’s Reading for Pleasure Author Spotlight
I’m chuffed to bits to be September’s Open University Reading for Pleasure Author in the Spotlight. You can read about my favourite books and why I choose to read here, with a handy download for classrooms and projects available too. Thank you to The Open University and all they do to encourage reading for pleasure.
Book Week at Trinity College
It’s Book Week at Trinity College and I was invited to meet with years 7, 8 and 9 to talk all things books. I spoke with the pupils about discovering books as a child, my connection to Matilda and why ALL our stories are important. It was fantastic to get so many questions about writing, being an author and how …
Happy World Book Day!
It’s World Book Day but the World Book Day fun started, for me, last week with the Pass the Pen takeover on Twitter. World Book Day in collaboration with BookTrust champion emerging authors and illustrators and I was paired with the BRILLIANT Natalie Denny who took over my account on 27th February to talk about her fantastic series Keisha Jones. …
Signing off for 2023
Phew! That was a BIG year! You’ve all made so many of my dreams come true, starting with a phenomenal World Book Day release for Dave Pigeon. I was chuffed to bits to see so many schools join in with mine and Sheena’s big virtual event. HUGE thank you to everyone who shared their work with us. Dave was back …
My top tips for chairing a festival event
This weekend was the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival. The theme of the festival was ‘a moment that marks the beginning of a journey, to the place where the river meets the sea – Te Pūao’ and the incredible star-studded line up of writers, illustrators and creatives included Witi Ihimaera, Fiona Farrell, Jacinta Ruru, Stacey Morrison, Ruth Paul, Susan Wardell, Michaela Keeble and Tokerau …
Letter to Brandywine Community Schools
I’m heartbroken to hear that the Ballet Bunnies series and other incredible books from a Books Saves Lives grant have been blocked from student access in Niles, Michigan. The Ballet Bunnies series is about a girl who is kind and courageous and is everything those who ban books are not. We Need Diverse Books have urged the school board to …
Library Day at Otago Girls High School
I was invited to be part of Otago Girls High School’s Library Day this year. The event has been running for an incredible 86 years so I was really chuffed to be part of the celebrations. This year the theme was ‘Childhood Nostalgia’ and everyone got dressed up for the occasion. There was a Miss Piggy, a couple of Grus, …
Ask me anything at Columba College
Today, I joined Years 5 to 8 at Columba College as part of their Book Week. I told them all about the books I read as a child and what reading meant to me and ultimately how my experiences with books impacted my writing journey. The pupils asked me heaps of questions about writing, publishing and how to stay motivated …
Writing Young Fiction with SCBWI NZ
Thank you so much to Team SCBWI NZ for inviting me to talk about creating young fiction. I loved hearing everyone’s under-pressure pitches and hope you are all off to work on your young fiction series right away. I thought I would just highlight my key points about young fiction here: •Remember to invest in your characters and create characters …