Easter record breaker and a library opening to be proud of...

Another very busy week leading up to the Easter break. More school visits in Devon starting at Blackpool Primary School near Newton Abbot on Monday. A fabulous reception from all the children with more record breaking sales of Bradley Baker books during a very hectic signing schedule that lasted over two hours.

 

Then onto Cockwood School near Dawlish for a very special event. I showcased the Bradley Baker adventures to years 4, 5 & 6 in a very crammed classroom. The lack of space didn't affect the presentation with all the children totally engaged and enthused. A very long queue followed during the book signing event that preceded the school's library event. Special thanks to Alison for organising the event. The visit to Cockwood was further enhanced with an invitation from the headteacher Lorraine Curry for me to officially open the new school library. It was also a great pleasure to meet the Mayor of Dawlish... and she even asked me to sign copies of my books!!! It was a privilege to be part of the library opening at Cockwood and I was awarded a card and Easter egg as a thank you! Very proud indeed :)

 

 

It was then time to visit a quaint rural school in Doddiscombleigh with a pupil roll of just 34. It's amazing that these small schools still manage to survive but I can see why... the welcome was great and the children were superb. I really enjoyed presenting my Bradley Baker adventures and I informed everyone about the new book, which will be published in the Summer. Here's a trailer, please check it out... 

 

 

It was nice to be featured in a local newspaper again... following my visit last week to Whipton Barton School in Exeter. Here's the article that appeared in the community news section of the Express & Echo;

 

 

 

The week finished with a fantastic achievement for some Gifted & Talented students in Torquay... I attended Westlands School to help the year 7 classes to complete the publication of their very own book of short stories. The students have been working really hard over the past few months and it was great to see all their efforts come in to fruition, as the button was pressed to launch the book complete with its own ISBN. The session was the last of four and the book is now available to purchase online priced at £6.49  Here's a copy of the front cover... please keep a look out for it!!!

 

 

 

I joined "dubbler" this week. It's a very useful social media portal where you can record your own messages and post them with a photo. I'll be using this new online media format from now on to talk about my writing and explain more about up-and-coming publication projects in more detail.

 

 

Please keep a look out for "dubbler" and check out this link to follow my posts; http://dblr.me/f/b3TZyUo1NZoaVcG41jeQE8ZwqCQli7t6P4UVhHkX9B3rENHzhxQGqRqZNUZ3E1XRw

 

Have a great Easter Holiday everyone and I'll catch up with you again in a couple of weeks when I will be breaking through the boundaries of Devon and heading up the M5 to visit schools in the Gloucester area.

 

Bye for now, DLJ

 

Blackpool bound... but no sign of a tower!

Another fantastic week meeting lots of primary school children and their teachers. Monday got off to a grand start with a trip to Homelands in Torquay. The students loved the Bradley Baker showcase and queued to buy signed copies in the hall... here is class teacher Hannah with her pupils proudly holding their new books;

I then headed up to the TeignValley to present at a lovely village primary school in Christow, where headteacher David Lamoon hosted a fabulous event. An audience of 80 children were totally enthused by the showcase presentation with a very high percentage of all three BB books purchased following the visit.

Mid week fast approached and it was time for a return visit to Cockington Community Primary School for our second literacy workshop. It was great to see all 60 children again with their stories ready to be loaded onto the T-Drive. The pupils were split into teams and they worked very hard to start the publication process for their very own school book! Westlands School in Torquay followed and I hosted their third literacy workshop... we are now ready to complete the project during the final session next week! Exciting stuff and I'm looking forward to seeing the completed book of short stories finally come together :)

The working week finished at Blackpool (no not the one with the famous tower) ... the primary school in Liverton near Newton Abbot. The 300+ audience were astonished at the site of a smoking bath but absolutely loved the presentation. I spoke with Diane Boyden who organised the event and she was delighted at the site of children busy writing their own stories in wet-play straight after the event. Very inspiring and good to see the youngsters so enthused!!! I'm really looking forward to my return visit on Monday.

If you haven't had the chance to see the new Bradley Baker book trailer... you can view it on YouTube; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxwzGQx-HRM

That's all for this week folks, except to say that my events schedule is looking very busy leading into the Summer term and indeed beyond with bookings appearing in the diary for Sept & Oct!!! Fabulous!

Catch up soon and best wishes from DLJ

Abbey to Whipton... another busy week!

It's been another very busy week... starting at Abbey School in Torquay on Monday to meet the children again following my showcase event before the weekend. The old school building provided a perfect setting and the enthused students queued patiently to have their Bradley Baker books signed.

I headed up to Exeter in the afternoon (and what a contrast in buildings - a large modern school packed with very excited children indeed) to meet teachers and pupils at St Michael's School. What a reception... there were posters advertising my visit on every entrance, with 300+ students waiting in the hall to see the Bradley Baker showcase extravaganza! A brilliant event and special thanks to Sally Baker (no relation to the boy hero) for organising the day and for really promoting the visit.

I attended an arranged awards ceremony at KEVICC on Tuesday morning... children from all 12 Totnes Schools were in attendance with their respective Headteachers and parents. Here are three of the students representing Broadhempston Primary with their certificates.

A return to St Michael's School in Exeter followed in the afternoon and I was delighted to be interviewed by the local press and have pictures taken of the signing event. I'll post some more updates when the news story appears in the Express & Echo.

A paid a return visit to Torre Primary in Torquay on Wednesday morning to meet classes 1 & 2 to hear about their storytelling and creative writing exercises. Its great to see so many young children stepping onto the literary ladder and producing such fantastic work. Thanks to Sue Julyan for inviting me into school again. I then headed over to Westlands Secondary School for the second of four literacy workshops... we are well on the way to producing a fantastic book, which will create 30 new authors who will be published online. Great stuff!!!

Thursday soon came around and it was time to visit the children at Topsham Primary School. The showcase was absolutely brilliant with lots of pupils taking part and recreating the characters form my Bradley Baker adventure books. This was followed by a busy book signing event...

 

The week was topped off with a return author visit to Whipton Barton... this time it was the infants turn to enjoy the Bradley Baker showcase and we all had a great time. It's such a wonderful school (both Juniors and Infants) and I'd like to thank Sarah Ronson for looking after me on the day.

 

 

That's all till next week folks... thanks for viewing this week's blogspot.

Best wishes DLJ

 

World Book Week... what a blast!

What a blast!!! That has to be the busiest World Book Week I have experienced so far...

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teaching staff at the six schools that hosted their fantastic events this week... and to over 3000 children that displayed a copious amount of excitement and enthusiasm during the Bradley Baker Showcase Events.

The week of activities began on Monday morning at Hazeldown Primary in Teignmouth, then onto St Sidwell's in Exeter in the afternoon. On Tuesday morning I visited the pupils and teachers at Chudleigh Community Primary and then returned to Hazeldown in the afternoon for a book signing event. I received a wonderful welcome from a group of 60 children at Stokeinteignhead Primary on Wednesday and then returned to Chudleigh for a record breaking book signing event in the school library.

The Bradley Baker roadshow continued at a rapid pace into World Book Day on Thursday when the Bradmobile arrived at Gatehouse Primary in Dawlish... it was an amazing reception and the hall was crammed packed full of children all dressed as their favourite book characters. I then called back at Stokeinteignhead before the final day of presentations.

It was a perfect finish to a perfect week, on Friday I attended Abbey School in Torquay and the children absolutely loved the Bradley Baker books. The local press were in attendance and took lots of pictures and I'm looking forward to returning to see all the students again on Monday.

Back to school next week (literally) and especially looking forward to Tuesday when I will be presenting awards at KEVICC to the Gifted & Talented students in the Totnes Learning Community. I will choosing a winner who will have their new character profiled in my next Bradley Baker adventure book "The Gullfather of New York", which will be published in the Summer.

If you get the chance, please check out the trailer for the new book... here's the link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxwzGQx-HRM

Best wishes for now and catch up again soon.
DLJ

A week full of adventure...

Wowzers!!! What a very busy week this has been... with lot's of school events in Devon filled with adventure stories and a great deal of creative writing from some very talented students!

On Monday morning I attended Galmpton Primary School near Brixham to host the third of four literacy workshops with a class of year 6 pupils. We are just one step away from completing their book publication project for the school, which will feature the children's "disaster-themed" stories. Then in the afternoon I visited Brixham C of E Primary School to complete their publication project... uploads were completed and class 6 have created a fantastic book of short stories, which is now available to purchase online and titled "The Mystery Piano"... please look out for it and support the project!

On Tuesday it was time to work with the Gifted and Talented children again from all 12 schools in the Totnes Learning Community. We held the final "Character Building" workshop in the library at KEVICC and I'm really looking forward to the awards ceremony on 12th March in the Aerial Theatre where the winning character will be chosen to feature in my next Bradley Baker adventure; the Gullfather of New York.

Cockington Community Primary School was my next stop on Wednesday morning... the first of four literacy workshops. Sixty children were chosen to take part in character profiling sessions, which will lead to the publication of their very own school book of short adventure stories. I'm looking forward to our next session in three weeks time... after the children have drafted their stories ready for editing!

Thursday was a very interesting day and a change to my normal routine... in the morning I was invited to judge a poetry competition at Abbey School in Torquay. Special thanks to Kirsty Porter for asking me to assess the finalists, who represented children from all age groups who were outstanding and it was a difficult task to choose the overall winners. I will be returning to Abbey School next week to showcase my Bradley Baker adventure books and affording the children an opportunity to have their very own books signed too. In the afternoon I whizzed upto Exeter to attend a showcase presentation at Countess Wear Community Primary School... and I returned the following day to host a book signing event. A massive thank you to Louise, Julie, Gilly and Bryony for all your help. The children were very excited when I arrived and I received a fantastic reception... following a presentation by the Lord Mayor in the hall, the eager students made their way to the library and certainly showed how enthused they were by purchasing copious amounts of books from my signing table!

On Friday, I also attended St Sidwell's Primary School in the heart of Exeter's Cathedral City and the children loved the Bradley Baker showcase... and a big thank you to Fliss for arranging the event. I'll be returning next Monday to meet all the children again to answer questions and hold a book signing event in the school library.

I'm very much looking forward to "World Book Week"... next week is crammed-packed with more school events and I'll update you on how they all went next time.

Bye for now and thanks for reading this latest blog update... have a great week!
Best wishes, DLJ