My first Patron of Reading day at Air Balloon Hill

Yesterday, I spent my first day at Air Balloon Hill Primary School as their new Patron of Reading. It all kicked off with two assemblies, first with Years 3 & 4, and then Years 5 & 6.

I talked about how I became a writer, why the combination of giant crabs and toilets still give me the heebie-jeebies and then read the opening of my Angry Birds Treasure Island book.

Then, it was off to Year 5 for a day of writing workshops. We had fun putting the school into all kinds of danger in our stories. We found ourselves in the middle of the Earth, terrorised by living tornadoes in unicorn farms, flushed down giant toilets and even stuck up an alien’s nose! Nicely gross that last one.

In between, I made sure I kept popping into the brilliant new school library where the Patron of Reading board has started to take shape. Hats off to School Librarian Angelica Ramos Gamazo, who has sneaked subtle penguins into the Patron of Reading title in honour of the alter-ego I use when writing the Skylanders books.

The board is where the children will be able to leave notes and questions for me. You can find out more in the video blog I’ve just sent to the school as a thank you for making me so welcome. My voice is a bit creaky, mainly because I’ve talked so much yesterday. No change there then, some people would say!

After a quick assembly with years 1 & 2, it was back to the library to meet some of the children and parents who were returning their books.

A big shout out to Heidi from Year 5 who popped in to let me have a story she wrote in the afternoon. It’s a tale of three brothers who set out to climb a mountain in Alaska. (That’s it to the left!)

I had a brilliant day and can’t what to go back on the 24th November when I’ll be working with Year 3 on story starters.

If you’re from Air Balloon Hill thank you once again and don’t forget to enter this week’s reading challenge. All you need to do is read at least three times and you’ll be entered into a draw to win some of my signed books.

And also don’t forget to let me know about your favourite book of all time. Let me know what it is, and why you love it so much, and I might mention it on my next video blog. Check out the video above for more info!