Author John Boyne visits King's
On Thursday 7th October the Junior Department were thrilled to welcome John Boyne to King’s College School. John Boyne is best known for his bestselling novel, and later film, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas which tells the story of two children in war time Germany. Whilst this book was aimed at slightly older children, John Boyne came to talk to Years 3 and 4 about his latest novel Noah Barleywater Runs Away.
The session began with a talk about how John Boyne had become a writer, how he began writing for children, and how he began writing Noah Barleywater Runs Away. The appetites of all present were whetted when the author read the first chapter of his new book, leaving us all wanting to know what happened next!
It was wonderful to see so many children desperate to ask questions during the question and answer session. Questions ranged from ‘How long do your books take to write?’ (18 months), ‘Which was your favourite book as a child?’ (The Chronicles of Narnia), ‘Are you like Noah Barleywater?’ (No, but he does have some similar elements), to ‘How do you get the pages to stay in the book?’ (No idea, he’s never been to a printing press!).
Many children had arranged for copies of the new hardback, and were very grateful that John Boyne had time to personally sign each copy.
I have seen many children this afternoon with their noses buried in the crisp white pages of the new book – and I look forward to doing the same! Many thanks go to Mrs King for organising such a wonderful event, the staff of Heffers for their help, and to John Boyne for finding time in his busy schedule to come and spend time with us.
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