Wimbledon BookFest 2014: Sarah Lean and Paul Stewart/Chris Riddell book events

Happy World Book Day!

Wimbledon BookFest arranged a fantastic pair of events today, and this intern was lucky enough to attend the shows at Holy Trinity Primary School and Donhead school to see authors Sarah Lean and the author/illustrator team, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. This being the case, the BookFest blog is happy to present its first double feature.

Writing advice was abound today and certainly took centre stage. The unrelated events seemed to correlate on this point, and with the Young Writer's Competition in mind, this was definitely helpful for today's budding writers. 

Sarah Lean kicked things off at Holy Trinity by publicising her two books, the new adventure Hero, following the trials of young Leo, and the tribulations he encounters based on his highly active imagination. Alongside this comes the story of Jack Pepper, the canine companion to Leo in Hero, publicised for World Book Day. Every child in the hall was gifted with a copy of the short story and were almost certainly bursting with new ideas for their own writing.

Sarah Lean spoke with a gentle enthusiasm that transferred to the attentive audience. First of all Sarah assisted them with spreading their imaginative wings. Displayed on the school's high-tech screen were images of clouds. Soon enough, the children were spotting figures and animals as varied as Elephants, dogs, lions, slugs, a map of the UK and even a wrecking ball.

Influenced by Sarah herself who experienced an imaginative childhood (one where she lived in a hut in the woods with a horse called Midnight, an Alsatian and a Siamese cat), the children saw that they could glean inspiration from their surroundings, and the simplest shapes available to everyone in the sky. 

Given the nature of her newest work. There was a big discussion on the nature of the hero in writing fiction. After acting out a scene from Hero, which saw boys and girls take on the parts in the imagination of Leo in a Gladiator fantasy including a booming God Jupiter, a teacher and Leo himself, Sarah posed the question: what makes a good hero. Answers on a postcard?

Fortunately, Sarah and the children provided the answers. Firstly, a writer must think about what's going on around them that would make a hero. Stories of random acts of kindness, and of saving those in need were brought to attention. Sometimes even the simplest of events can make a hero. Above all, a hero must be changed by the story, and learn something about themselves along the way.  

Sarah's event paved way for a second of the day with a very similar theme. As Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell took the stage at Donhead school to talk about their ongoing Edge Chronicles, the audience were presented with yet more perspectives on writing and means to gain inspiration.

Writing accomplices for 22 years after their sons met aged 2 at nursery, the pair quickly struck up a lucrative writing partnership and have penned around 30 novels together. Set up with a flip chart at the front of the hall, Chris commenced to stretch his drawing fingers, and demonstrated his prowess as Stewart began to talk the children through the world of the Edge.

A world of sky pirates, floating cities, deep woods and stone gardens, the fantastical land captured the attention of the budding fantasists in the crowd. The chronicles began when Riddell handed Stewart a detailed drawing of a map. Stewart explained how as Riddell filled around 20 sketchbooks a year with a host of weird and wonderful characters, Stewart filled them out with invented personalities, names, traits, loves and likes. From the map, a world was born, and these characters began to inhabit it.

Both events made the point that a character's appearance may not necessarily reflect their personalities. The pair described one creation, the Banderbear, a hulking creature with huge tusks and arms that could pop yours from their sockets. In the imagination of Paul Stewart, the bear's small ears showed inspiration of a gentler soul, and a good listener who helps protagonist Twig on his adventures. 

Taking ideas from everywhere, and working as a writing team became a new angle for young writers to approach their own work. They described creating a fantasy world and creating rules together. A world without powerful wizards, but fantastical creatures, and a protagonist who didn't possess some omnipotent indestructible nature like a King Arthur character, but one that could well die in Chapter Three. Sharing ideas, inspiring each other, and reading work back and forth were the pair's message to the children, and encouraged them to do the same. Fill their sketchbooks with words and pictures and let their imaginations run riot.

Reflected in the plentiful sales of The Edge Chronicles books at the end, the duo certainly seemed to have struck a chord with the boys and girls, and the BookFest waits with baited breath for stories of animals and fantasy worlds themed around The Message, this year's starting point.