Author’s visit wows school

The appearance of popular children’s writer Oliver Jeffers at Tawa School last week proved just as compelling as his beloved picture books.

The author and artist of How to Catch a Star, Lost and Found and The Great Paper Caper visited the school on May 8 as part of an Australasian tour.

The Belfast native wowed his young audience in the school library before leading a paper aeroplane contest in the quad.

The winner, which came to a stop at least four metres from its departure point, earned its maker a picture of a trophy, drawn by Jeffers.

At question time, the author of nine popular picture books said he hated choosing which was his favourite, but The Incredible Book Eating Boy was close to his heart.

Asked how long he had been writing and drawing, he replied: ‘‘I’m 34 [years old], so that means I’ve been an author for 32 years.’’

His advice for budding authors of children’s books was to let the pictures tell the story. ‘‘You should show, not tell.’’ His favourite books growing up were by Roald Dahl and he was inspired by the illustrations of Quentin Blake. His first book, How to Catch a Star, published in 2004, won critical acclaim and he has received numerous awards for his other stories.

Planes away: Pupils at Tawa School were keen to show visiting author Oliver Jeffers how far they could hurl their paper planes.

Telling tales: Oliver Jeffers had the kids eating out of his hand when he was telling his stories last week, his Irish accent, relaxed attitude and amazing drawing skills keeping the kids enthralled.