Kate Cunningham

Awards

• The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
• The Selfies

Organisations

• The Society of Authors
• National Education Union
• National Association of Writers in Education
• ALLi

Details

How it began

For many years I was a primary teacher and was always on the hunt for exciting books that hooked the children and encouraged them to become passionate about reading. When I started my writing journey it was always important to engage the young readers and sneak some learning into the books in a way that made it fun.

Once Vlad Flea sprang onto the page it became easy to let him share the quirky facts and bits of information that make history meaningful, relatable and bring history to life.

Each book is researched using original sources, museum artefacts and often the direct expertise of historians in Museums and Archives.

School Visits

My school visits combine interactive storytelling (helped by Vlad Flea), objects to see up close and handle and a variety of activities depending on the topic. From recreating bucket chains in the Great Fire of London, identifying Victorian objects that Florence Nightingale might have used, and looking at bits of broken history from my mudlarking, we discuss being history detectives. The focus is always on practising literacy skills that I need to be able to research and write the books and relating that back to what the children learn in the classroom.

Sessions allow us to find and explore the details in the layers of each story and the beautiful illustrations.

Every visit finishes with a Q&A slot that allows children to ask about writing, naming characters and the information that inspired each book.

I am also happy to speak in assemblies and can run online sessions and I have tailored sessions (such as The importance of editing for Year 6 classes) on request.

Resources

The Reading Riddle website is also full of materials to help teachers and parents get the most from our books and hopefully save time and energy by providing resources to use before and after a visit.

When we are not visiting schools Sam and I can be found in events in museums, libraries and festivals around the country. I am based in South London and am happy to travel, with visits costed at Society of Author rates, plus expenses for visits outside the M25.

Books by Kate Cunningham

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