What fun! This week I’m on tour with Storylines Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa. We are travelling in a loop around Taranaki Maunga, visiting schools and libraries along the way. You can see updates on the Storylines Trust Facebook page, and on Instagram.
Also on tour are authors Ben Brown, Cristina Sanders, and Stuart Lipshaw. Our Storylines rep Helen and driver Michel are keeping the wheels turning both literally and figuratively.
Most of our group arrived in beautiful sunshine yesterday, and I had time to take in part of New Plymouth’s wonderful coastal walkway. Here is how it looked in the early evening light:
This morning Stuart and I visited St Joseph’s School in Waitara, where I spent time with a class of Year 0-2 students. We talked about playgrounds, and performed the main actions and sounds of the story. They drew some great alternative cover designs for Grandpa versus Swing!
I went on to Fitzroy School with Ben, and met with students there from Years 2 and 3. They had detailed questions about the process of writing and illustrating picture books – we even ended up talking about the copyright page and dedications! They also had some playful ideas for different possible endings to the story, including rescue by aliens.
Finally, in the pouring rain, Stuart and I headed to Central School in New Plymouth. I met with two classes of Year 2 students there. We talked about storytelling and family tales, and they came up with some very adventurous alternative rescue scenes for Grandpa.
All of the schools, the students and the teachers were very welcoming, and keen on stories and storytelling! Thank you all for a fun and friendly start to the tour.
School photos taken by Michel Mulipola and Helen Villers.
Tania Scott Sickling 