What Are You Reading Right Now?

Hello everyone... I am very sorry that I have not written anything in my diary for a little while. I have had a very busy few months - I bet that you have too.

Right now I am reading a book called Leila and the Blue Fox, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, with illustrations by Tom de Freston. I have only just started to read the book so I can't really tell you anything about it - other than that it looks bautiful and very wintry. All of the illustrations are similar in style and colour to the cover of the book. The story is set in Norway where it is very cold so it feel like the perfect book to read at this time of year. As soon as I have fiished it I will send it to school for your library.  

What are you reading now?
 

Welcome Back!!!

Hello everyone... and and special hello and welcome to all of the new pupils in school - hopefully I will get to meet you all before too long.

I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer holiday - even though the weather hasn't been as good as it could have been. I bet some of you have been to some really interesting places while you were off. Please let me know if you have read any good books - perhaps you took part in the Summer Reading Challenge at your local library... 

I've been really busy over summer, doing lots of writing and working on new things. 

When I visited school I told you that I had been working on some dinosaur stories. They have been a lot of fun to write and now they are coming together with fantastic illustrations by Hannah Wood. 

I thought some of you might like to see a couple of the book covers so I have added a picture of them here. What do you think?

From now on I plan to write something in this diary each week. Keep your eyes open as I will be doing a little competition very soon.

Bye for now

Damian

My Favourite Books as a Child

A special thank you to Georgia for asking me what my favouirite book was as a child.

When I was very little my mum used to read me lots of stories. I really liked the Railway Books - written by The Rev W Awdry - about Thomas the Tank Engine, James the Red Engine, Henry the Green Engine, and all the others. I especially liked the illustrations which were done by C. Reginald Dalby. In fact... I think I probably liked the pictures even more than the stories.

Another of my favourite books was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I loved the idea of the little boy, Max, going on an adventure to a strange land. One of the things I love about books and stories is that they let us all go on adventures where we see new things and meet strange and interesting poeple. And we can do it anywhere and anytime we like. 

As I got a bit older I started to buy books with my pocket money. The first book I ever bought was Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. 

I still have the book today - and as you can see, it's looking a little bit tatty. 

Everyone has a favourite book... 

Which one is yours? 

What am I writing at the moment?

Hi everyone... if you leave a comment and ask a question, I will answer it in the comment section, but I think that it's a good idea if I put the question and answer here too - it makes it easir for everyone to see. 

Question – What are you writing at the moment and what your favourite story that you have written so far?

At the moment I'm working on a few different things - so I'm really busy. I'm doing some little picture book stories about young dinosaurs... There's Dino (Dee-No) he's a therapod (T.rex is a theropod too so you can imagine what he looks like - but he's cuter than a big T.rex), there's Steg (he's a Stegosaurus), there's Seren (she's a ceratopsian - like a Triceratops), and there are twins - Bella and Barap (they are sauropods - like Diplodocus).  

I'm also working on some comic book style stories with two dragon characters - they will have strange, funny and silly adventures. I've only just started to work on these, so I don't know a lot about them.

 And... I've just been asked to write a little version of Beauty and the Beast.

Saying which my books is my favourite is difficult... but right now I think that it is Global Heroes 'Arctic Adventure'. You might remember seeing a picture of the book cover when I was in school.

Great to Meet You All

Hi everyone... This is just a very quick message to say how fantastic it was to be able to spend the day with you all last week. I had a great time and I hope you did too. Thank you for joining in with the stories and rhymes and for asking such interesting questions.

And a special thank you for making me feel so welcome. 

I can't wait to hear from you and to share some reading ideas. 

I also just wanted to remind you that this is the part of my website where we can keep in touch. Do you like the way it looks or do you think I should change something?

Let me know if there is anything that you would like me to include here.

Right now I've got to get some writing done - but I'll be back soon.

Bye for now 

Contacting Me

Hi everyone... 

I'm really looking forward to meeting you all next week to celebrate World Book Day. I'll be interested to hear about some of your favourite books (I'll tell you about mine too). I've got lots of stories and rhymes to share with you, and lots to tell you about. 

When I come to school you will be able to ask me lots of questions - so if there is anything that you would like to know about me, writing or being a writer, don't forget to ask.

I can't be in school all of the time so this part of my website is one of the places where we can keep in touch. 

To leave a message on this page, click at the bottom of this box where it says "no comments" (if someone els ehas already left a messag it will change to "comment").

All the messages come to me first, so I will make sure they are all right to go on the web page. 

You can also get in touch with me by email.

Make sure your teacher or your parents know that you are getting in touch. They will be able to help you if you are not sure what to do.

Quick Quiz Questions

Do you know the name of the famous train that crosses over this viaduct? It's in a very famous book...

Over the last few weeks I've been busy writing about dinosaurs (some real ones and some made up ones) and about a frog, a princess and a golden ball - you might know what that story is.

This week Vicky and I are having a little holiday - travelling around Scotland. 

And stories tell of a huge monster that lives in the depths of this loch. Do you know its name? 

Hello Everyone

Hello to everyone at Brinscoll St John's CE and Methodist Primary School - and welcome to your very own Patron of Reading page.

I'm Damian and I am delighted and excited to have been asked to be your Patron of Reading. I can't wait to visit school and to meet everyone for the first time. 

You're probably wondering 

"What on Earth is a Patron of Reading?"

That's a good question...

Well, it's an author (or an illustrator) that builds up a special attachment to a school in connection with books, reading and writing. 

You're probably also wondering 

"Who on Earth are you?"

That's another good question... I'm an author and I've written lots of books and visited lots of schools in Great Britain and abroad. I read lots of books too - and so does my wife, Vicky. She works in a library near where we live in Wales, so hopefully I can show you lots of interetsting books that you might not have seen before. 

You can find out more about me by having a look round my website. And you can ask me lots of questions when I come to visit school in March. I'm really looking forward to meeting you all and finding out what sort of things you like to read and do.

Keep coming back to this page because this is the place where I will leave mesages for you. I will be letting you know what I am reading, what I am writing and I will also let you know about some of the other things that I do.

This page is also the place where you can get in touch with me. I will let you know how to do that very soon. 

Bye for now...

Damian