posted on 27 Nov 2016

Young authors of the future?

I was invited to attend this exciting event by Verna Wilkins who is a well- loved children’s author, the founder of Firetree Books and my personal friend. It took place at the imposing Brent Civic Centre as the official launch of ‘A visit to City Farm’, a picture book written by Verna, beautifully illustrated by Karin Littlewood, and made for and with two Year 5 classes at Chalkhill Primary School in the London Borough of Brent. I arrived a bit early and couldn't help but share the nervous tension from the children and their teachers bubbling before the start as the audience drifted in slowly and the sound checks were done. 

Verna was there to welcome me and looked her usual glamorous self, dressed in a gorgeous orange and gold outfit. Some council officials arrived with the mayor wearing his gold chain to add a bit of grandeur to the proceedings (although I wish that he could have worn his complete ceremonial outfit).  And so we were off at last.

Salma, an engagingly smiley girl introduced herself as the compère and kept everyone on track throughout the performance.

We then met Rose Ashton, the head teacher who warmly thanked Verna for her inspirational working partnership with the children along with all the other contributors. One of the teachers, Miss Mentore explained how she had met Verna at a conference and invited her to work with her class in order to give them the experience of writing a real book and to learn all about how it is put together and published. She wanted them to understand that their real life ordinary experiences could be published and that people who look like them could be represented in the illustrations. 

Verna continued to give some context for the project by explaining that this was her third book written in close collaboration with children. The first was ‘Abdi’s Day’ composed with children from the Somali community in a Harrow school. They too had been involved in the whole process and made editorial decisions about the theme of the book which was a school day trip to the seaside. She emphasised how they had needed to educate her about this because she had grown up and gone to school in Grenada and so had experienced a very different childhood. She explained how listening respectfully to their ideas gave them confidence and that this was important in shaping them as writers. For instance they dismissed her original idea for the name of the protagonist, ‘Hassan’ and instead chose ‘Abdi’ because it was a ‘cool’ name. Her second collaboration was with children from a school in Uganda and was very different and equally educational from her point of view. She told us that most of the children’s books they had seen depicted white children and were stories that bore little resemblance to their lives. The resulting picture book ‘A Very Busy Day’ was closely constructed with them sharing their ideas with her from beginning to end.

What makes Verna so special is that she does not patronise children. I believe that she really does value their ideas and I would imagine that her willingness to listen and take them seriously must be delightful to watch as they work together. This latest project involved a Year 5 class discussing, writing and editing a picture book aimed at younger children in the reception class in the school. Because of this intended audience they apparently insisted on the need for a partly rhyming text, which duly happened. They were closely involved with the whole process including looking at the first draft of the printed illustrations that arrived from the Chinese printers. She thanked them for giving her another wonderful creative experience because she is usually used to writing alone and this kind of collaborative writing has changed her whole approach. She told us how proud she felt when the book was available to buy from a stand at the recent Brent Christmas Market and a pupil came along with a friend and said ' look this is our book'

Simona Sideri, who is the other half of the Firetree Books team read out some very positive reviews which must have made the children feel even more important ' a true celebration of diversity, ‘A gorgeous little slice of picture book heaven’, ‘a real gem’.

Then at long last the children gave us their excellent version of their story, some parts using individual voices and others as a chorus. I particularly enjoyed the coats rhyme:

All was performed clearly with verve and expression and brought alive with sound effects and plenty of music played by the children’s orchestra – the drums were a great way to represent the train approaching.

All the children's names are written on the front page and I decided that I would try to get a book signed by them all, including Verna of course. The general buzz and fizziness reached fever pitch as the children surged forward to sign their names. Some wrote with great concentration and others asked if they could do a ‘proper’ signature which was illegible but distinctive nevertheless. I couldn’t help wondering how many of them had been to book signings before. Several seemed quite impressed when I explained that my copy of their book might be very valuable one day if any of them become well-known authors in the future. I certainly hope that some of these nine and ten year olds might be inspired to keep writing as a result of this wonderful experience and that my prediction might even come true in ten years or so.

Karen Argent

November 2016