Type of Artist:
AuthorInteractive author talks and writing workshops
Reception and Key Stage 1
Kitty's Superhero Adventures
Paula uses her Kitty superhero series to explore where stories come from and how they develop. She works with the class to develop their own superhero character with animal-like powers! She can adapt her talks and activities to ensure they are appropriate for the age and group of children involved.
The Storm Dragon
For those who are keen on dragons, Paula uses her book The Storm Dragon to talk about these magical animals before working with the children to develop a dragon character together. Children then get the chance to invent their own dragon. For reception, there are dragon masks that they can decorate.
Key Stage 2
Robyn Silver the monster hunter
Paula talks about how stories and characters develop, and shares her tips for getting inspiration and turning an idea into a detailed story plan. She works with children on developing characters and what they can do to bring their writing to life. She uses her Robyn Silver series to talk about what works in a story. She runs a writing workshop with classes to get them involved in inventing new monsters for the series. Children are encouraged to use her techniques to design their own monster character - drawing a diagram and describing the monster using powerful vocabulary.
4-11 year olds
No maximum number in a talk as long as the powerpoint screen is large and well-lit. Around 30 to 40 for a writing workshop.
Flexible
45 minutes for a talk plus time for signing afterwards.
1 hour for a writing workshop. These times can be flexible.
I’ll travel anywhere that I can reach within 2 or 3 hours by train. I live in Buckinghamshire and can easily reach London, the South East and the Midlands. For further afield ask me and I’ll look into travel arrangements.
Train
https://paulaharrison.jimdo.com/
Kitty and the Tiger Treasure
Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue
Robyn Silver: The Midnight Chimes
Robyn Silver: The Darkest Dream
The Red Moon Rising trilogy
The Secret Rescuers series
The Tiara Friends series
The Rescue Princesses series
We were very fortunate to have Paula visit our school to talk about her book - The Midnight Chimes. She talked about how she became an author and what inspired her to write the book. She then followed this with a fun and interactive session which encouraged the children to participate and they loved creating new monsters for Robyn Silver! Paula engaged all the children with different activities and they were able to go back to the classroom and use this inspiration for their creative story writing.
Paula also took the time to answer the children's questions and sign their books at the end.
Janet Cooper, school librarian.
I arranged a school visit for Paula and thoroughly enjoyed seeing how immersive the whole event was. Students from years 3-6 were eager to take part, answer questions and offer suggestions for Paula's 'monster designing' segment. There was an excitable buzz in the room once Paula finished her event and it could have gone on for much longer with all of the questions the students had. It was a delight to see so many children excited to talk about reading and writing after the event.
Melanie Taylor-Bessent founder of Little Star Writers and Authorfy.
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