PUPILS at Dilton Marsh Primary School were recently treated to a special visit by children’s author, Pippa Goodhart, who officially opened the school’s new library.
Pippa, author of books such as the You Choose picture books and Winnie the Witch storybooks, took the time to talk to the children about how she got into writing as well as opening the new library.
Speaking on the visit, one pupil, Poppy, said, “The visit really inspired me to do something like this myself. I don’t really write outside of school but now I want to write my own stories at home.”
Another pupil, Evie, said, “It was a really good experience talking to an author and seeing the behind the scenes of what goes on to make a book, I had no idea how creative you could be!”
Ellie added, “Pippa told us that she comes from a very small town, so it was nice to hear that anyone can become as successful as her if you put in the work. It just goes to show that we can all be like her if we put in the work.”
Eleanor said, “It was really interesting to hear that Pippa said she struggled with reading and writing when she was younger but that she eventually grew to love it.”
As a result of the visit the pupils have started to write their very own stories.
Pippa said, “I was very honoured to be asked to open the school’s new library, it was a great treat. Reading and writing is such an important skill for children to develop and I’m glad the children now have even better facilities to support this.
“I’ve written over 140 books over the past 30 years and all for children – they are the best audience! It brings me great joy to bring my work to schools and hopefully I’ve helped bring about a new generation of writers. I’ve been with each class during the day, and the last question I was asked was, ‘What is the best part of being an author?’, and the answer is genuinely meeting the children that I write for.
“I sit at home writing these stories – it has to be seen by plenty of other people before it finally lands in the hand of a child, so it’s great to be with the children as they read my work. I also think it does the children good to see just how ordinary I am and that I’m not some kind of celebrity – I want them to go away with the belief that they can be authors too.”
The school added, “We’ve loved celebrating the opening of our library today. Pippa Goodhart has shared stories and talked about how she started writing. Lots of budding authors coming home tonight!”
