world book day tour, part 2

When I got into my pirate gear on Wednesday morning, my first pre-World Book Day stop was Newbottle and Charlton Primary School in Oxfordshire. Louise told me that it was the first time they'd ever had an author visit the school. I felt honoured to be the first, and the schoolchildren were wonderfully enthusiastic.



Here's the pirate they led me in drawing, Cap'n Ugly Hardrock Davios (or 'Dav' for short).




Here's their head, fellow North American Diannah Dean, introducing me. The kids did a great job of saying ARRR! like a pirate.



I read You Can't Scare a Princess! to the school, then talked them through a little slideshow about how I made the book, starting with the piece of paper with the story text on it. Here I am, showing them how I designed the character of Captain Waffle.



Then I led Years 5-6 in a comics workshop. First we designed some pirate characters, then we had a Comics Jam session. Here are some of the pirates, starting with Captain Bendy Bum:







And here are a few of the Comics Jams! Some of them are surreal, to say the least.













I finished with a book signing, and it was lovely getting to meet some of the kids there.



Louise took me off to Culworth Primary School, and on the road, we stopped off at a churchyard to look at this intriguing old tomb stone of a former African servant who had died at the age of 16:



I took a few snapshots of some snowdrops growing outside the school, next to the old grounds of Culworth Castle.



Louise took a photo of me taking a photo of the snowdrops...



Here are Reception and Year 1. We're talking about digging long, winding pirate tunnels.



They helped me draw this pirate, Captain Pants:



The older kids were studying Greek myths, so we adapted the comics session and they instructed me on drawing a very bizarre version of Hercules and Midas. Hercules was a centaur, for starters, so it wasn't very accurate, but it was fun anyway. They'd also prepared by designing their own heroes and villains, which we used in another Comics Jam.





I didn't manage to get many photos at Culworth, but this broccoli attack scene made me smile:



After another big book signing, Louise took me back to her place, and we collapsed with tea and slices of her very welcome home-baked cake.



Louise is a great cook, she'd even prepared another pudding for after dinner! Former DFC publicist and now Bounce book sales rep Catherine Stokes came over for the evening meal and we had a good natter about publishing and had fun catching up.



And then I crashed and slept like a log. A good day! Thanks to the schools for hosting me, and Louise for looking after me!

Edit: Oo, here's a video of Catherine when she was the lexicographer for Countdown!



(Read my World Book Day blog posts Part 1 here and Part 3 here!)