Author of Varjak Paw visits East Hunsbury Primary School

Children's author, SF Said, recently visited East Hunsbury Primary School during our RED October (read every day) initiative. Famous for Varjek Paw and the space epic Phoenix, his brand new children’s novel, Tyger ,has just been published, after 9 years of writing, drafting and editing.This epic tale has been heralded as a new classic from authors such as Malorie Blackman and Jacqueline Wilson.

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At EHPS there is a love for reading where adults are passionate in providing every child with the best reading curriculum and opportunities that a school can give. So how could some extra passion be injected into this culture we asked ourselves. The outcome was RED October.

Read Every Day in October was a month-long event designed to enrich the reading culture at EHPS. 31 reading challenges, a Diorama (story world in a shoebox) competition, daily reading events in class, a character/book mufti day and a weeklong Book Fair plus author visits- it was epic.

The highlight of the month was SF Said’s visit to the school. Years 3 - 6 listened to SF Said share his writerly journey- his 90 publisher rejections and hundreds of re- drafts. He inspired both children and adults alike with tales of his inspiration, rejections from publishers and eventual success. Who knew that Varjak Paw was actually Said’s own cat! To finish his visit, SF Said held a book signing in our school library and had his photograph taken alongside his books on the wrapped classroom doors.

SF Said chuffed to bits with his featured door, with EHPS librarian Ruth de Chastelain

In our minds, SF Said is certainly a rockstar author, yet, what is so great about him is that he just wants to write great stories for young readers to enjoy.

Logan, Year 6 said "His stories are absolutely outstanding and it's amazing how he perseveres with his drafting".Another pupil, Cristian said " His books are great! I've read two of them and I can't wait to read Tyger".

On his twitter feed, SF Said said of the school, “It’s inspiring for an author to visit a school that makes READI NG central to everything they do- and it’s inspiring for the children too!”

Below is the link to SF Said's new blog which his visit to the school features in.

http://www.sfsaid.com/2022/11/author-visits-east-hunsbury-primary.html