Frozen in Time and The Shapeshifter author Ali Sparkes visits pupils at Francis Baily Primary School in Thatcham

A primary school in Thatcham has been treated to a visit from the author of children’s series The Shapeshifter.

Children at Francis Baily listened to Ali Sparkes’ journey as a writer from not being good at reading and writing to begin with to becoming an award-winning author.

She spoke to the pupils about her latest book My Sister is a Dog and held workshops.

Taking four of her books as examples, she talked about the importance of book covers, the blurb and the first page test to find out if you really wanted to read a book.

The Year 6 pupils then voted for their favourite Ali Sparkes book cover, blurb and first page.

Working in small groups they then set to creating their very own title, blurb and first page.

Ms Sparkes said: “Francis Baily School was my last author visit in a very busy year and it was a fantastic one to end on.

“It’s always great fun to visit schools and share my love of reading and writing, but it’s extra fun when you get to talk to such a funny, fizzy, bright audience.

“There was a lot of talk about dogs, thanks to the subject of my most recent adventure novel, and also some workshops in which the pupils came up with brilliant and hilarious ideas for new stories.

“I won’t be surprised if one or two of them end up in print a few years from now.”

Francis Baily said its author visits are always wonderful confidence boosters for pupils with their creative writing skills.