This is my first year on the school visit circuit and I was fully booked up for the peak season in the book world – the World Book Day events in schools.

I have been out and about since Thursday, 26^th of February and will be visiting schools as late as 26^th  March.

I have been to big schools and small schools. The big school was so big that they booked me for  4 days so I could visit all the year-groups. The small school was out of London in Surrey in a beautiful village.

I met the little ones in Reception and told them stories about Gola the yak and Farmer Falgu. They joined in the songs and played musical instruments with me. We made up a story about Father Christmas having to visit the under-sea to deliver presents to a shark even though he was attacked by electric eels. We wrote riddles together and made up tall tales.

One of my best experiences was at Havelock Primary where Farmer Falgu had come alive. Each year group had done arts, crafts and scenes from the Farmer Falgu books. They had used all the resources I had provided for the books and we had a wonderful assembly where the signed copies were given away.

I’ve met teachers who were astonished to find using adjectives and adverbs are used sparingly in professional writing and decided to minimise it in class. We had three teachers in Monega Primary who wrote Tall Tales along with their class and bravely read them out.

The best moments are when the children approach you without being told and tell you they liked your books or they declare that they want to be writers or just finish the story they started. Many of the schools I went to are working on book projects – making a book out of the stories that were created during these workshops.

On World Book Day I got dressed up as Farmer Falgu and met with kids who were dressed as the predictable Harry Potter to the not-so-common Mad Hatter.

It is always a worry when you have gigs 7 days in a row – I had to make sure my throat was looked after and I slept well and plan for the travels between faraway neighbourhoods in and out of London.

I hope the children and teachers were as inspired as I was meeting them. Meeting your readers is so much more fun when they are in big groups seated around you, vying for your attention so you could read their stories. A writer turned into a reader and readers turned into writers. The Big Book Swap.

I wish all writers and schools, a very Happy World Book Day and more fire to the imaginations that have been ignited on this day.

From Barking to Hounslow

Surrey to Heathrow

Falgu, Gola and I made our way

to many schools for World Book Day

We read, wrote and merrily sang

workshopped until the bell rang

I made new friends forever

They were all little and very clever.

Reception to Year 6

A noisy and diverse mix

The questions came thick and fast

These memories are going to last.