Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Festival, My Books, Ocean Heart, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Writing, Young Adult

What I did for World Book Day!

I delivered my first ever face-to-face author event for World Book Day. It was extra special because I got to attend the high school where my book Ocean Heart is set.

The Setting

Ocean Heart is set in Felixstowe. When I started writing the novel there were two high schools in the town. Deben High School and Orwell High School, both named after local rivers. The two schools had some rivalry and I didn’t want my book about that so I merged the schools together and made Felixstowe High School.

Little did I know that the council were going to do this. The old schools were knocked down and a new modern building erected.

I’ve never had the opportunity to visit the high school so it was really fun to see if it was anything like I imagined. The school was lovely, and very modern, and a lot bigger. I was very impressed.

The students

I met up with groups of five to six students from Key Stage 3. The plan was to introduce myself, and my book, and discuss what had inspired my writing.

I’m not great at public speaking, so I took a notebook with some conversation bullet points to boost my confidence and feel more prepared. I’m not sure what I’m scared will happen, other than making a fool of myself.

The students were very sweet and polite. Once I flipped the attention off myself and onto them, I was able to relax and the conversation flowed better.

We discussed my writing, debut novel, and reading. The students came up with some great questions for me, some that madrWhen we discussed their interests they even had some book recommendations for me.

The book recommendations

My notebook came in handy to write down the books the students recommended I read.

Reflection

I’m so thankful to Felixstowe High School for having me. I appreciated that Deputy Head, Darren M arranged for me to chat with a small groups rather than in-front of a large audience.

Darren also got me thinking about delivering some leisure learning courses for Creative Writing. I’ve been going over old books, notes from courses I’ve done, to explore the idea. Ifurther

I think the more I do, the easier it will get. As a natural introvert, I have to push myself outside my comfort zone but this is good for my professional development. Plus, afterwards I was buzzing that I did it.

Discover Ocean Heart

You can pick up Ocean Heart from all good book shops and online retailers, and borrow through your library or Overdrive.

Ally Aldridge Books, Personal

Jolly World Book Day

What is World Book Day?

It is a day to encourage children’s reading. Events are held across the UK to encourage children to talk about books such as dressing up as their favourite character. Many kids receive a voucher to get a sponsored book for £1 or £1 off a book of their choice.

Many publishers and other sponsors will host competitions so it is worth checking social media. Last year, I won the box set of “Percy Jackson” by Rick Riordan from Write Children’s Books For Children who ran hourly competitions on Twitter!

The Jolly Postman

This year, my son has chosen to be “The Jolly Postman” by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. He loves the books which are interactive and every other page is an envelope with a letter inside (or card, puzzle or mini book, etc). Plus, he has a red bike – very cool to a 4-year-old!

He has:

  • The Jolly Postman (blue version)
  • The Jolly Christmas Postman (red version)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfxg4DYBSMQ/?hl=en&taken-by=redfae

Both books were bought by Noah’s aunty Hev (you can follow her blog “This Pug Can” by clicking here). No prizes for guessing which was for his birthday and which was for Christmas.

After role play in his (Postman Pat) costume as the Jolly Postman, we got warm inside with blankets, wotsits and the books themselves.  Usually, we read these at bedtime but today we had time to do the puzzle and play the board game.

I also feel I need to say a big thank you to Asda.  The costume sold out online.  Other stores had a similar one for an extra £10 and someone was selling Asda’s costume on Amazon for twice the price!  Asda tweeted back to help track down a costume for Noah.  In the store, staff retrieved it from the warehouse and Noah changed his mind!  He now wanted to be a lion from “How to Hide a Lion!” by Helen Stephens.  We began leaving the store and he changed his mind again and did want to be the Jolly Postman.  The staff returned to the warehouse to get it again.  They were so helpful and friendly and didn’t complain once about the interchangeable mind of a preschool diva.

Have a jolly World Book Day

I hope you have a jolly world book day and I would love to hear about what books you have been enjoying or the characters your child dressed up as today.

Ally plus text