Tuesday 13 March 2012

Primary school children ask the trickiest questions


My sophisticated student daughter hates to admit it but she liked everything about her North Yorkshire primary school, from the home corner and golden time to skipping in the playground and dressing up as her favourite book character.

I loved taking her into the classroom every morning (she banned me from venturing past the school gate once she reached the heady heights of year 2), having a chat with her teacher and admiring the works of art festooning the walls.

But now, 15 years later, I’m visiting primary schools again – sometimes to interview heads and teachers, but often to talk about writing books. I’ve visited loads in the last 12 months and the sessions are always lively, fun and utterly unpredictable. You can prepare your talk as precisely as a military campaign but you always get a couple of questions that completely floor you.

I recently pitched up at a local primary school clutching a copy of my novel, The Rise and Shine Saturday Show, and several of my favourite children’s books (Madeline, The Swish of the Curtain and Clarice Bean.) After half an hour of talking to the four to seven year olds (and them talking to me about their Batman and Barbie books), the eight to 11 year olds were led into the school hall by their teachers.

I told them a bit about my newspaper days, read the opening chapter of my book and then turned things over to them. Scores of small hands shot up. That was great – you don’t want a hall full of bored, silent children. Their questions were searching and incisive, ranging from where writers get their ideas from to what were my favourite children’s books. That was easy – I thrust my battered copies of Madeline and The Swish of the Curtain in the air.

But then like a bunch of seasoned newspaper hacks, the children began lobbing in a few trickier questions. Did I spend more time writing than looking after my children? How many books will I write in my lifetime? And finally they cut to the chase with a belter – how much do I earn? Cue a long silence. For once in my life, I was completely stuck for words.

9 comments:

  1. Haha, I imagine the dilemma was, shall I break the news and put them off becoming writers? Or let them live in ignorance dreaming they may one day become millionaires?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, Sarah. I could have ruined the dreams of a hundred would-be writers in one fell swoop!

      Delete
  2. I loved "Madeline" as a child. It was my favourite book, and I would strongarm my poor parents into read it to me several times each night.

    Sadly my own daughter doesn't really "get it".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm thrilled to hear it, Henriette. My son was astonished the other day when I recited the first few lines of the first Madeline book from memory!

      Delete
  3. I used to be a Primary School teacher and got asked the most bizarre questions sometimes. One that springs to mind is 'Why is your hair really dark at the top and lighter at the bottom?' I knew it was time to get my roots done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That made me laugh, Karen. Mind you, the children I spoke to could have asked me that too.

      Delete
  4. Next time just say 'I earn enough so I have everything I need but not everything that I want'...that should cover it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now why didn't I think of that, Cari-Jane? That is the perfect answer - I'll remember it for next time! Thank you so much.

      Delete
  5. Nice blog. As an author, if you aren't already into cryptic crosswords you might like to have a peek at a series of posts I have been doing on how to solve them. They are just fantastic for clever word play. This is a link to the first post. There is now a new clue each day to solve. Enjoy. http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/cryptic-crosswords-solving-hints-1.html

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...