This term our annual Beanstalk BookFest took place in London and Liverpool, offering our partner schools in those areas the opportunity to bring children to attend free author events. 

In London, children from schools all over London were treated to sessions by Ramzee, author and illustrator of the comic-book style 'The Cheat Book' and Maz Evans who talked about her 'Who Let the Gods Out?' series, 'VI Spy' books and the 'O Maya Gods' series. 

Ramzee, a refugee from Somalia told the children about coming to England, moving schools a lot and finding a love for graphic design and drawing. He spoke about libraries being his favourite places when trying to settle in new areas and new schools and growing up enjoying 'The Lives of Christopher Chant' by Diana Wynne Jones (which he described as being like Fortnite but in a book!). 

Maz Evans gave the children a whistle-stop tour of all her books and taught them how to play 'Pok A Tok' involving several school staff! Asked how many facts she'd learned this year and how many books she'd read, Maz struggled - but was able to answer which of her books took the most effort (Simply the Quest) and which was her favourite (all of them!).

Our generous London hosts were Francis Holland School who provide the venue and facilities by way of a donation to our work and who also bought copies of the books for each of the schools' libraries, which the author's signed.

In Liverpool, the wonderful Natalie Denny, author of the 'Keisha Jones' books entertained children from Bishop Martin CE Primary who were all very excited to see her. Not least, because she features as one of the authors to collect in their 'reading stickers' challenge. Natalie told the children that her favourite book growing up was 'His Dark Materials' by Philip Pullman and that she used to read it one chapter a day in the school library because she didn't have a copy at home.

And in the afternoon, our corporate supporter The Very Group provided the venue for children from three local schools to hear Maria Motunrayo Adebisi talking about her 'Koku Akanbi' books. Maria answered a myriad of questions which revealed that one of the characters in her books is based on her Dad and that her first book took three years to write which elicited a huge gasp from the audience!

We always love to attend the Coram Beanstalk events, because they are a wonderful opportunity for children from across Key Stage 2 to learn about the writing process from a successful writer, and to engage with a book on a personal level which will hopefully lead to them reading it from cover to cover. On this occasion, we took a range of children from Years 4, 5 and 6 to hear from Ramzee, author of The Cheat Book. This talk was highly engaging for a number of reasons. Firstly, Ramzee is a young male author with a lifelong passion for comics and mischief. This immediately inspired and excited all the children, but most crucially the boys (some of whom are definitely reluctant readers and writers!) Furthermore, Ramzee related a lot of his presentation to his own childhood in London, visiting corner shops to buy comics and seeking solace in public libraries. These experiences are relatable and created a connection between Ramzee, his comic-style book and the children. The fact that he illustrated the book himself generated even more enthusiasm to read it! The Francis Holland School is a lovely setting for the event, and it was made doubly special because one of our Beanstalk volunteers joined us for the occasion. We funded the staffing for the trip through the Pupil Premium Grant, and I would argue this is an excellent way to motivate disadvantaged pupils. The opportunity to meet the author and ask him questions at the end fuelled the children’s spark for creating their own stories about their lives. It was a worthwhile, memorable trip, one that will be recalled with joy by all the children who took part.

Katy Lawrence, Edward Betham Primary

Thank you so much for organising this wonderful event. It was a really great experience for our children and they thoroughly enjoyed the session. There is already a waiting list of children wanting to borrow Maria's book from our school library and I have been asked if Speke library stocks her books! A very successful event - thank you all again! 

Patricia Kent, Stockton Wood Primary