A fantastic Author Event with Fiona Sandiford

Usborne school events are all about bringing books to life for children and we’re sure teachers will agree that there is no better way to do this than through an author event. While our authors have been busy doing lots of virtual events over the last year, we were very excited to be invited to Holy Trinity C of E School to join in with their real life author event with Fiona Sandiford, author of The Great Dodo Comeback!

Organised by Independent Usborne Partner, Darlene Martin-Elder, the event was carefully planned to tie in with what pupils had been learning in class. Darlene told us: "Organising author events for schools is an absolute pleasure. Seeing the excitement and enthusiasm of children as they listen to authors and join in with discussions with them fills me joy. Meeting an author in real life is exciting in itself, but more than that, the children can get a deeper insight into the book, the inspiration behind it, how the author came up with the ideas, and how long it takes to write a book. Plus, hopefully inspiring some pupils to want become an author themselves one day."

Independent Usborne Partner Darlene Martin-Elder with Laura Martin-Elder and Fiona Sandiford

The pupils had been learning all about the environment and had been talking about issues relating to it in class, so Fiona’s talk all about de-extinction, the animals at risk from extinction, and the science involved in both those things fitted in perfectly with what they’d been learning.

Fiona started the event by talking to the children about the plot of her book, The Great Dodo Comeback, and by sharing an extract from it all about the planned de-extinction of the dodo. She then explored the real-life science behind the book with the children in an interactive session that we all learned a lot from (even the teachers!).

We were really impressed by how well the children participated in the event and loved all their ideas for which animals they’d like to bring back from extinction – unsurprisingly, dinosaurs were top of the list! Fiona also opened up a debate about the issues of bringing animals back from extinction and the children had brilliant points about the changes in the world such as global warming, deforestation and the impact of cars. The children were so engaged in the session and we were amazed by how much they knew about the world around them and about zoology.

The author event in action and Fiona with all the signed copies of The Great Dodo Comeback that the children had ordered.

After the session, the juniors were invited to ask Fiona questions about being an author and about the science behind her book. Everything from how did she get into writing in the first place and what inspired her first book, to could we bring back the dinosaurs and which animals would you write about next were asked. It was clear that meeting Fiona had inspired the budding writers and scientists in the room and it was great to listen to the perceptive questions that were asked.

No author event is complete without getting your hands on a signed copy of the book and it was brilliant to see so many dodos in one place! Plus, as the school had organised the event through their Independent Usborne Partner, Darlene Martin-Elder, they earned an extra free book for their school library too!

There’s nothing quite like an in-person author event and we loved every minute of it!

Nicky Peet, Chair of the PTA told us: "The children were so excited to meet a real author and gained so much from the experience after the tricky year they’ve all had. The event organisation was made so simple by The Wonder of Books - they were really efficient at replying to emails and sending over lots of additional info for the children, clearly love books and were great at sharing their knowledge and experience of working with Usborne. Can’t wait to organise another event soon!"

If you're interested in booking an author event for your school, speak to your Independent Usborne Partner for more information, or check out the author events page of our website.