A Bookish Adventure

I started this blog to document an extended trip to the US and UK in 2012, introducing children to my Alice-Miranda series. It's hard to believe that it's just on four years since we launched the first Alice-Miranda title - and now there are nine books out in Australia with another five still to come. When I first came up with the idea of this precocious seven and a quarter year old, I had no clue that she would take me on such an amazing journey, not only in Australia but also across the world. I visited 37 schools while we were away in 2012 and gave over 80 talks - it was fantastic. In 2013 I've been on lots of new adventures in the UK - visiting schools from London to Southampton, Lancashire, Scotland, Newcastle and back to London again. After that I headed off to meet readers in Singapore. In Australia I've been to Melbourne, Perth, Albany, Alice Springs and Brisbane. There's a new series too - about a gorgeous little girl called Clementine Rose. She and Alice-Miranda don't know each other yet, but they will soon.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

A return visit to Sarum Hall, Swiss Cottage

The second official tour day dawned with some sunshine.  I was really excited to be heading back to see the girls at Sarum Hall, a school I had visited last year.  This time we went by car and it was lovely to see the beautiful buildings enroute - and the extraordinary houses in the area surrounding the school in suburbs like St John's Wood.

We were greeted warmly by Tina Pritchard, a teacher I had met last year and the lovely Kate Agnew from Muswell Hill Bookshop.  Lisa from Random House met us there and soon enough I was having a great time talking to the girls in Years 3 and 4.  I'd met the Year 4 girls last year and so it was terrific that they already knew Alice-Miranda.  They had lots of fantastic questions and I also had the opportunity to introduce them to Clementine Rose and do some drama from the book.

The library at the school is small and perfectly forrmed - a real haven for booklovers and after the talk we went upstairs so the girls could purchase books and I could sign them.  Alice-Miranda certainly has a lot of friends at Sarum Hall :)

The last child I spoke to was a little girl called Frederika, who already knew me from Australia.  Would you believe she recently moved to London from Roseville College in Sydney.  She had all of the Alice-Miranda books and was hoping that her mother was going to Sydney soon so she could add Alice-Miranda In Paris to her collection when it comes out in March.  It was great to see her and I think I do remember her a little from my past visits to Roseville.

I adore Sarum Hall and can't wait to visit again soon.

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