A visit by author Lucy Strange and illustrator Pam Smy coincided with Hello Yellow day
Visiting authors have unveiled how they create their magical worlds of make believe with children at Newington Community Primary in Ramsgate.
West End actress Emma Swan took Year 3 and 4 pupils on a special voyage into her book The Cruise Ship Kid – Thief at Sea.
Warm, funny and instantly engaging, she talked about her inspiration for the book and the characters who bring the story to life. She shared fascinating behind-the-scenes details about how she develops her ideas and what it’s like to be a real author.
The highlight of the morning came when Emma received a surprise phone call from the book’s main character, much to the delight of the pupils.
Laughter and cheers filled the hall as the children joined in with questions and creative ideas of their own. The visit left everyone inspired to read more — and maybe even write their own stories one day that draw on the children’s own experiences.
Award-winning author Lucy Strange and illustrator Pam Smy joined forces to let Newington’s Year 5 and 6 group into the secrets of their two books, the ghostly Lockett and Wilde’s Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries.
Children enjoyed an inside look into how Lucy plans her stories, and even had a go at planning their own; Pam then shared her sketchbooks with the group and discussed how artistic errors can lead to exciting results.
Assistant Head Teacher Hannah Raven said: “The two visits were an exciting and educational way of exploring what goes in to creating and illustrating stories. Our children were inspired by what they learned.”
The second visit saw pupils wearing yellow outfits to mark the Hello Yellow world mental health day for the Young Minds charity.
Wellbeing awareness and understanding formed part of the day with emphasis on taking time to reflect on how we look after ourselves and each other. Donations for wearing non-uniform raised £519.44 for the charity.