Today I plunged through the swirling snow to Princess Frederica CoE Primary School in Kensal Green, north London, and was met with a warm, enthusiastic welcome!
For the assembly with the younger half of the children, we focused on There's a Shark in the Bath. We talked about how sometimes it's good to take something a little scary and turn it into something silly, because it's hard to be scared of something if we're laughing! Here's a bath with a very silly shark in it. (The kids helped me with the design.)
With the older half of the school, we focused on Pugs of the Frozen North by Philip Reeve and me, and everyone drew a pug - they were excellent pugs! Here are a few examples:
Teacher pug! (I love it when the teachers draw, too. And the kids get so much more inspired, seeing from their example that drawing isn't only 'for kids'.)
Year 2 (6-7 year olds) got a special workshop all of their own, where I read them Jampires by David O'Connell and me, and taught them how to draw a Jampire:
Then everyone made a poster about the sort of creature that might steal their favourite food! Here's a teacher's Pizzapire:
Another Pizzapire:
(Pizza's a big hit at Princess Frederica.)
IceCreampire:
Cakepire:
Thanks to Amanda Constance, Queens Park Books, the friendly teachers, and everyone who made my visit so much fun! I hope the kids go on to make lots more drawings and stories.