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Children urged to explore the natural world around them
Nicola Davies, prolific author of children’s books, well known for the The Day the War Came and Lots among many others has been appointed the new online Writer in Residence for the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, BookTrust.
During her six-month residency Nicola will be drawing on her experience as a zoologist, former Wildlife presenter and now creative writing teacher and author to encourage children to explore the natural world around them, discovering more about it through words and pictures.
Nicola Davies says about her residency at BookTrust: “I’m very happy to have been chosen to be a Writer in Residence for BookTrust - there are soooooooo many things I want to do over the next few months! I love nature, poems and pictures so there will be lots of focus on these.
“My aim for each of the posts of my residency is to offer you a bit of the three ‘I’s - that’s Information, Ideas and Inspiration. Information, because you may need some clues about what you’re going to write about; Ideas because you might need some help with how to write, and Inspiration so that you can really feel that your writing can be fabulous. There’ll also be a poetry writing competition that you can enter and win books and a visit from me for your school.”
Other highlights of Nicola’s residency will include a poetry competition for primary schools, sharing her favourite poems about nature, encouraging children to look at the beautiful world around them and sharing what they see with pictures and poems.
Diana Gerald, BookTrust CEO said: “We are delighted to announce Nicola as the next BookTrust Writer in Residence. This online project gives visitors to BookTrust’s website a special insight into the brilliant minds of an array of writers and illustrators. We fully support Nicola on her mission to get children exploring and appreciating the natural world. We hope children across the country enjoy getting outside discovering, reading and writing about their adventures.”
The BookTrust Writer in Residence project has been running since March 2009 and has featured authors and illustrators including Nadia Shireen, Cressida Cowell, Sita Brahmachari, Patrick Ness, Polly Dunbar, Bali Rai, Matt Haig, Laura Dockrill, Chris Riddell, Sarah McIntyre, Philip Ardagh, Taran Matharu and Phil Earle. The residency encourages each writer or illustrator to explore topics that they are passionate about, with past residents exploring themes such as the power of stories, diversity in children’s literature and the importance of libraries.
Keep up-to-date with all of Nicola’s blogs here.