A leading children’s author from Australia flew in to inspire the imaginations of children in Park Gate.
Jacqueline Harvey with pupils at Park Gate School
Pupils at Park Gate School met popular author Jacqueline Harvey, whose series Alice-Miranda is a hit in England and her home country.
The school’s Discovery Club, a book group for reading enthusiasts, enjoyed lunch with Jacqueline before she spoke to Years 3, 4 and 5 about her life ambition of becoming an author.
Having worked as a boarding school teacher and deputy head mistress for 20 years, she took to writing Alice-Miranda, which is about an adventurous nine-year-old schoolgirl’s life at boarding school.
Jacqueline said while writing these books, in her head she felt nine-years-old again, so used her life experiences at that age and as a teacher in a boarding school to capture the attention of her readers.
“Alice-Miranda goes to boarding school and it appeals to her sense of adventure,” she said.
“She’s an extremely positive role model for children. Nothing fazes her. She’s about being a good friend. There’s always a mystery to solve and heaps of adventures.
“Having been a teacher, always working with kids, I love being able to tap into their imagination and enthusiasm and that children think anything is possible.
Abbie Allborn, 10, William Everdell, 10, and Ruby Butler, 11, read Alice-Miranda
“I hope these children will be inspired to read and follow their own dreams in life. Certainly for me I wanted to be a writer and a teacher from an early age and to have done that I’m living the life I want to live.”
Cathy Nailer, who runs the Discovery Club at the school in Northmore Road, said: “In association with Waterstones book shop in Southampton, the Discovery Club was given the opportunity to meet Jacqueline.
“We were thrilled to be able to meet her. It gives the children a chance to hear about the life on an author and realise what it’s like to actually write books.”
Park Gate was the third of 25 schools Jacqueline was visiting in two weeks in the UK.
Alice-Miranda, which is a 10-part series, currently has four books available in England.
The next book Jacqueline will be writing will be about Lucas Nixon, who runs throughout the Alice-Miranda series.
She has also recently released book Clementine Rose, whose title character lives not far from Alice-Miranda and although they do not know each other yet, the two may well meet in future books.