Author Mini Grey takes Thatcham primary pupils on creative adventure during Francis Baily visit
An award-winning author and illustrator has left pupils of a Thatcham school in awe after her visit.
Suited in a pinafore, donning wolf ears and a tail, Mini Grey, author of The Last Wolf, gave year 2 pupils at Francis Baily School a “lively, interactive and engaging” assembly on March 1.
She talked about where her ideas come from, often mixing food and toys. She showed the children her desk scattered with lots of toys which she plays with, to bring them to life, and give her ideas.
Swapping the wolf ears for antennae, she then showed the children how her visit to a museum to see dinosaur’s skeletons sparked her to think about how little time humans had been on the earth - which led to her latest picture book, The Greatest Show on Earth - the 4.6 billion Year Story of Life on our Planet.
Ms Grey thanked the school and its staff for their hospitality and said: “It was a real treat to visit Francis Baily. There was so much enthusiasm from the staff and children, it was a delight to run workshop sessions with everybody.
“It’s wonderful to visit a school that is working to instil a love of books and reading in its children.”
After finishing her assembly with bunny puppet Mr Cadabra, the illustrator held three creative writing workshops, reading to the children and drawing together.
The pupils said “it was like we were illustrators, it was the best,” following their exploration of new wolf characters where Ms Grey had told them “not to worry about a blank page, just start to draw and the ideas will come”.
The book signing at the end of the day was “very popular” with one pupil saying they loved that Ms Grey signed their copy of Space Dog and even drew a little illustration of the character.
Francis Baily School said: “Mini bought her books and characters to life, it was a fully engaging day for all and the children have taken away lots of skills and motivation.
“Mini was very inspirational, giving the children confidence to draw so they were keen to practice some more.”
