Sarah McIntyre gets school kids bubbling with creativity

Published on: 21 May 2019 Author: Catriona Wightman

Author and illustrator Sarah McIntyre visits over 300 students as part of her tour of Northern Ireland.

Sarah McIntyre joined BookTrust and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for a tour of five primary schools this month.

The much-loved author and illustrator met over 300 children during her visits to Newtownards and Belfast and hosted interactive book sessions encouraging them to harness their creativity.

As well as talking about how she makes her own books and teaching the students how to draw her Dinosaur Firefighters character Dipsy the Diplodocus, she helped the students to come up with their own ideas for books.

And the children certainly delivered, suggesting stories about spider teachers, lion astronauts and beetle spies.

The students who took part in the sessions all received their own copy of Dinosaur Firefighters to take home, while the schools were given a selection of Sarah's books for their libraries.

Inspiring children

'Seeing the faces of students as they become inspired to read and draw is one of my favourite parts of being an author and is always so rewarding,' Sarah said.

'It's also wonderful to see the teachers' growing appreciation of drawing in the classroom and using it as a way of encouraging the children even further.

'The fact that every child got a copy of the book to take home was the cherry on top and created a huge wave of excitement among the kids!'

Meanwhile, Damian Smyth from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland said Sarah's sessions had been a 'great success'.

'Artist visits like this are a fantastic opportunity for pupils to meet a successful writer or illustrator and gain an insight into their creative process,' he said.

'The Arts Council is pleased to support BookTrust NI in promoting the value of reading to young people across Northern Ireland.'

Download the full press release

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