We woke to a bright, blue day on day four of the tour, and at last saw the mountain in all its majesty. It was well worth the wait!
My first stop was at the very colourful and friendly Normanby School. The Year 0-3 students there had lots of ideas for playground rescues, from hitching up a monster truck to inverting the swing seat to pop grandpa out! They also had lots of questions about how books are produced.
At Hāwera Public Library we were visited by Years 1 and 2 from St Joseph’s School. They did a great job of putting mixed up pictures from the story back in order, and we talked about writing and library visits. Their ideas for freeing Grandpa focussed mainly on teamwork and choosing the right tools.
Stuart and I stopped at Hāwera Christian School for the last visit of the day, where I met with the small class of Years 0-4. They noticed that Grandpa versus Swing was featured on their Scholastic calendar for September! They retold the story from mixed up pictures, imagined different rescues, and drew alternative book covers for Grandpa or for their own playground rescue stories.
A note on travelling with authors: there are stories flowing all the time! It is wonderful to soak them all up. I am constantly learning from true masters of the art. And many times, every day, often right in the midst of a good yarn, this phrase pops up in answer to a question: “that’s another story!”
School and outdoor photos taken by Michel Mulipola and Helen Villers.
Library photos taken by Katherine Bosworth and Cristina Sanders.
Tania Scott Sickling 