It was fun being able to sit with the audience, and interesting to be able to view the storytelling through the eyes of the other children. One thing is for sure, children love to have things to look for within the illustrations, and they don’t take in any of the story until they’ve found what they are looking for! I now know that it is always best to get that out of the way first, then begin reading the text! Secondly, children notice different things to adults and sometimes laugh at different times too. For example, the children thought that the spider in ‘The Day My Teacher Came to Tea’ was very funny and wanted to see what his expression was or what he was doing on each page. I think the adults focus more on the storyline, for example in this story, the trouble the boy is getting himself into trying to repair the piece of cake. Of course, once one child starts giggling then others usually follow!
My books are still available to buy in the Forest Centre gift shop, and it looks like I will be back there again in August.
Thank you to Sam Hayden for organising the event and to Sue Harrison, who provided assistance with setting up the room on the day.