The students at Hurlingham wear the most beautiful powder
blue blazers and sweet berets. Emily and
I were welcomed in and taken to the staff room to wait for the morning assembly
to finish. My first session was speaking
to the Year 5 and 6 students. They were
very quiet and extremely well behaved.
They asked a lot of great questions and I enjoyed having time to explore
not only Alice-Miranda but some writing tips as well.
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.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Hurlingham School
Hurlingham School is located in Putney, a short tube ride
from Victoria Station. I love that each
suburb is like a village with narrow streets and pretty houses; generally a mix
of Victorian and Edwardian. I imagine
the drawbacks of living in such close quarters are a lack of parking and
perhaps privacy, but the High Streets are gorgeous and the convenience of being
able to wander down to the shops and restaurants would outweigh the downside.
After a quick cup of tea I met the Year 3 students, then
Year 4. They were both lively groups and
there were plenty of volunteers to play the roles of Jacinta and Alice-Miranda
when it came time for some drama. The
children knew quite a lot about Australia – although it’s funny that our claim
to fame more often than not seems to be the huge range of deadly creatures that
might at any given time inflict a deadly wound.
I have explained to the children I’ve met on numerous occasions now that
although Australia does boast an extensive range of nasty critters, we
generally don’t have to avoid Taipans, sharks and crocodiles on a daily basis.
I have some Alice-Miranda caps that I’ve been giving out to
students. The little girl I chose to
receive the cap yesterday was terribly sweet and what I adored was that when
she came out to get it, the other children were unanimous in their support. They were all congratulating her and telling
her how cute it looked – the children were so kind to each other. I loved that.
The Golden Treasury once again supplied books for the children
to purchase and I signed a great big box before Emily and I headed back to the
hotel. We got off the train and it was
raining quite heavily. I hope that we get
to see some lovely Spring weather at some point during our time in the UK.
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