IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL SCHOOL VISITS
Please scroll down to find out more about virtual school or book club visits.
IN-PERSON VISITS
I love meeting young readers at my school visits!
Recommended age groups for my books are as follows:
- Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep and Ferdinand Fox and the Hedgehog – Nursery or Reception (or early in Year 1)
- Henry Haynes and The Great Escape or Ferdinand Fox Saves the Day – age 6-7, so Year 1
- Eeek! The Runaway Alien – reading age 7-10 yrs, therefore suitable for Years 2 and 3.
- Walter Brown and the Magician’s Hat – 7-9+ years (Yrs 2-4)
- The Secret Lake – reading age 8-10 years, but enjoyed by younger and older! I normally present to Years 3 and 4, but sometimes also to Year 2.
- Return to the Secret Lake and Beyond the Secret Lake: Y4-6 At 52,000 and 60,000 words (more than twice the length of The Secret Lake), these gripping sequels are suited to sessions for Year 4 upwards.
Format
Depending on class sizes and how many year groups I am seeing I can present to one or more classes together – or to several year groups in the hall.
In addition to the format outlined below, I provide workshop activities for each book that tie in with the curriculum, for use during or after my visit.
Reception
For Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep and/or Ferdinand Fox and the Hedgehog attention spans are clearly short so the whole session normally only lasts about half an hour. I open by asking the children about local foxes they have seen – we then move on to play a few simple rhyming games as a lead-in to the story. I have a fun presentation that includes all of the colour illustrations from each book to accompany the story as I read, as well as live footage of a beautiful fox that fell asleep in an author friend’s garden and of a hedgehog running up the side of my parents’ garden. (Both are a huge hit with the children!)
With Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep, there is lots of ‘favourite food’ discussion and the children help with counting the time as the story progresses with the chime of the church clock. With Ferdinand Fox and the Hedgehog, the children love learning about what hedgehogs and foxes eat in the wild, where hedgehogs hibernate, and how we can help them hunt or hibernate by creating hedgehog highways and making safe places in our gardens.
Year 1
For Henry Haynes and The Great Escape I ask the children about visiting the library – and we talk about how librarians can help you find good books. We also talk about how much fun children’s writers can have making magic things happen – including children falling into books! I then read an excerpt from the book, alongside slides of the illustrations. I then take questions. The session lasts around 35 minutes. With Ferdinand Fox Saves the Day we discuss the challenges of writing in rhyme as I take them through a couple of the stories alongside fun slides and videos. We also discuss what it means to be an ‘unsung hero’.
Years 2-4
For Eeek!, The Secret Lake and/or Walter Brown and the Magician’s Hat I talk about the inspiration for the book, then do a reading for 15 minutes, then take questions about the story and about being an author in general. I then show the children my book websites and author blog as well as slides and videos showing how I work with my illustrator in Bosnia – the ‘before and after’ illustrations go down very well! With the older groups I also have slides showing how I worked with my editor on Walter Brown and the Magician’s Hat. The session normally lasts 45 -50 mins.
Years 5-6
For Years 5 and 6 I have two main options: a more general talk with slides on writing and publishing in the digital age, showing ‘how books get made’, or a session based on how I planned and wrote The Secret Lake and Return to the Secret Lake. Both sessions allow time for Q&A, of course!
Book orders
I allow advance orders using my online shop for schools (or using the school’s system if you prefer) around a week and a half before my visit then bring in books pre-signed for the children . This method saves time for everyone on the day, and helps me plan required book numbers. I also bring in extras on the day for the inevitable last-minute or forgotten orders.
Reluctant readers love Eeek!
Eeek! The Runaway Alien has been singled out as being a great book for boys and reluctant readers– and is included on the LoveReading4KidsUK website’s Reluctant Readers’ list, curated by Julia Eccleshare of The Guardian and The Literacy Trust.
A number of teachers have contacted me to say they have used Eeek! very successfully in class for Year 3 Literacy or for Book Clubs.
I am almost fully booked for World Book Day week 2023. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss a virtual or in-person visit around that time or later in the academic year.
Previous schools visits up to 2021
[Visits continue into 2026-27 but I am no longer updating this section!]
Spring 2021
A range of virtual visits for World Book Day week 2021 — see lower down the page for feedback from some of these. Didn’t get time to list them!
Autumn 2020
- Tower House School – Reception – Yr 4 (5 x Virtual Visits)
- Fairvew Elementary School, Illinois, USA – Fifth Grade (Virtual Visit – Dec)
- Jolly English Language School, Bulgaria – Ages 6-8 (Virtual Visit – Dec)
Summer 2020
- John A Sciole Elementary, Buffalo, New York USA (Virtual Visit)
World Book Day week – March 2020
- Parkgate House School, Clapham (Nursery – Y2, KS2 Assembly)
- Orchard House School, Chiswick (Yr 3, 4, 5, 6)
Autumn 2019
- Barnes Montessori (whole of school – The Christmas Tree Wish book launch)
- Tower House School (Reception – Yr 4)
- King’s House School, Richmond (Yr 4)
Summer 2019
- Barnes Montessori (whole of school)
World Book Day week – March 2019
- Springfield Primary, Sunbury (whole of school)
- St Paul’s Juniors, Barnes (Lower Firsts)
- Edison Primary, Hounslow (Reception – Y2)
- The Orchard Primary School, Hounslow (whole of school)
- Hambrough Primary, Southall (whole of school)
Autumn 2018
- Mordiford Primary, Herefordshire (whole of school)
- St Mary’s C of E Primary, Fownhope, Herefordshire (whole of school)
- Tower House School, East Sheen, London (Reception to Y5)
Summer 2018
- Brandlehow Primary, Putney (Two visits over two days: Years 1-4)
2018 World Book Day week and either side Feb/March – various
- Redcliffe School, Chelsea (whole of school)
- Thomson House School, East Sheen (whole of school)
- Penworthham Primary School, Streatham (Nursery and Reception)
- Orchard House School, Chiswick (Years 3-6)
- St Mary’s and St Peter’s Primary, Teddington (whole of school)
- Saint Christina’s Catholic School, St John’s Wood (whole of school)
- Willesborough Infants School, Ashford, Kent (whole of school)
- Willesborough Junior School, Ashford, Kent (whole of school)
2017
World Book Day week Feb/March – various
- Newton Prep, Battersea – early Feb (Years 2 & 3)
- Ashton House, Iselworth – mid Feb (whole of school)
- Martin Primary, East Finchley (WBD week celebrations – whole of school)
- Christ Church Primary, Brondesbury (WBD week celebrations – whole of school)
- East Sheen Primary, East Sheen (WBD week celebrations – whole of school)
- St Mary Magdalen’s, Mortlake (WBD week celebrations – Yrs 1-4)
- Rokeby School, Kingston (WBD week celebrations – Yrs 1-4)
2016
- Sheen Mount, East Sheen (World Book Day – whole school)
- Latymer Prep School, Hammersmith (Years 3 & 4)
- St Anthony’s Prep -Islington (Years 3 & 4 – Walter Brown book launch)
- St Osmond’s, Barnes (whole school) – November 10th/11th
2015
- The Old Vicarage, Richmond (whole school)
- Lowther School, Barnes (whole school) – World Book Day
- Sheen Mount, East Sheen (whole school – poetry recital judge)
2014
- St Elizabeth’s Primary, Richmond (whole school – World Book day week)
- Barnes Primary (Reception – Year 3 – World Book Day week)
- King’s House School, Richmond (Reception – Year 3)
- Norland Place School, Notting Hill (whole school)
- The Study Prep, Wimbledon (Reception – Year 3)
- Milverton Primary, Leamington Spa (Reception – Year 4)
- St Anthony’s School, Hampstead (Reception – Year 6)
2013
- East Sheen Primary, SW14 (whole school – World Book Day)
- St Joseph’s, Hanwell Middlesex (Yrs 2,3, & 4)
- Graceland Nursery School, SW13
- Kew College (whole school)
- Holy Cross, Kingston-upon-Thames (Yrs 3 & 4)
- Tower House, East Sheen, SW14 (Reception/Year 1)
- Welwyn St Mary’s, Herts (whole school)
- Holy Cross, Kingston-upon-Thames (Reception /Yr 1)
- St Gabriel’s Primary, Westminster (Yrs 4/5)
2012
- The Harrodian, SW13
- Colet Court, SW13
- The Lowther School, SW13
- Tower House School, SW14
Please do get in touch if you’d like to book a visit.
Here are two wonderful pieces of writing from pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 at Redcliffe School, Chelsea in March 2018, following my creative writing workshop based around The Secret Lake. Their task was to write an account of the discovery of the time tunnel from Stella’s point of view, also practising ‘show don’t tell’.
Here’s an interview with the librarian of St Elizabeth’s Primary, Richmond, about Eeek! The Runaway Alien after I was invited there on World Book Day a a few years ago. Eeek! is still a firm favourite (closely behind The Secret Lake) at my school visits!
VIRTUAL SCHOOL VISITS
I also offer live and pre-recorded virtual school visits in the UK and worldwide. For live sessions I can host using Zoom (with all appropriate password protection in place), or can join using your school’s preferred software. Please email me at kpinglis@wellsaidpress.com if you’d like to enquire about a booking and discuss format. The photo collages below are from a recent series of school visits with Tower House School in London, UK from Reception up to Year 4, another with 80 fifth graders just outside of Chicago, USA who had read The Secret Lake ,and with The Jolly English language school in Bulgaria who had read The Tell-Me Tree. 😊
