Tuesday 17 March 2009

A Delightful Day


Many thanks indeed to the pupils and staff of the Virgo Fidelis Preparatory School, who made me so welcome when I went to spend their School Book Day with them yesterday.

In the morning I visited three separate classes - the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 - all of whom were delightful and very generous with their lovely hugs! After reading Uncle Alonzo’s Beard, I conducted a short quiz on the book. Each correct answer, of which there were many, won an Alonzo badge. Following the quiz, the children were able to turn the tables on me and ask any questions that they wanted to. I then finished the session by introducing them to one of Alonzo’s relatives, My Scandalous Sister Sophia – a terribly badly behaved little girl, who I am certain had little in common with the angelic nippers of Virgo Fidelis! ;-)

In the afternoon I had the privilege of sitting in on illustrator Garry Parsons' wonderfully engaging workshop with the older pupils. Then, at the end of the day, we both had the chance to chat with the children and say hello to their parents, whilst signing the books that Adriana from the marvellous Tales on Moon Lane bookshop had sold.

Lots of photographs were taken, all of which I am certain were absolutely hideous! I don’t consider myself to be the most photogenic of people at the best of times, but yesterday I was sporting crazy hair, a shiny face and scrunched up eyes (we were outside, staring into the sun) on top of everything else! I can only hope that the incriminating pictures will all end up locked in a deep, dark vault somewhere, never to see the light of day again...

I must offer particular thanks to the Deputy Headmistress, Mrs Pollard, and to VFPS parent, family friend and all-round fantastic person, Isabelle Blake-James, who organised the whole day. It was a real pleasure to visit Virgo Fidelis and I look forward to returning at some time in the future. :-)

3 comments:

Nik Perring said...

Thrilled it went well, Emma! :)

Nik Perring said...

And the illustrator talk sounds fab too.

Emma K-F said...

Thanks very much, Nik - it really did seem to go well. The children were lovely and no-one booed or threw anything at me at all! ;-)

Many thanks also for your general encouragement with the school visits. You know how much I've appreciated it. :-)

Garry's session was indeed fab. I've never seen an illustrator's workshop (as opposed to an author's) before and it was v interesting. Gave me some more ideas for my own presentations too...

Emma xx