On Wednesday 13th December we were delighted to welcome author Danny Thompson to read his book ‘The Christmas Tale of Elaine Gale’ to a captive audience of Y5 pupils from Willows Primary School.
The story is Danny’s first book and tells the story of three siblings who build a snow queen that comes to life and attempts to put an end to Christmas. The book has been superbly illustrated by Connor Edwards whose drawings set the scene for a festive adventure. The story itself was inspired by Danny and his wife, who built a magnificent seven foot snow queen instead of a snowman some winters ago.
After they had listened to the story told by Danny himself, students were able to ask questions about the inspiration for the story and how long it took to write. This was then followed by an English lesson to explore poetry writing technique and a chance to write a few extra verses for the story as well as an art lesson that showed how to draw a picture of the ‘evil’ Elaine Gale!
The students had a wonderful time and plan to continue their work around the story when they get back to school.
Lottie Hearn, Assistant Headteacher said: “It is always an absolute pleasure to invite students from our local primary schools. It is so important to us that they get to experience life at The Friary long before they arrive as eager Year Sevens. It has also been very exciting to share Danny Thompson’s visit to us and to hear him read his story in person”.
