Steve Cole: An Author Entertains

The annual Book Week at Leighton Park is one of the most popular school traditions and students were not disappointed by the first visiting speaker of the 2019 event, the inimitable and energetic author, Steve Cole.

Creator of the highly successful children’s book series the Astrosaurs Academy and Cows In Action as well as writing for the Young Bond series, Steve has an impressive background in writing and editing including responsibilities such as Project Editor for Sci-Fi titles at the BBC and Managing Editor for Ladybird Books.

Keen to encourage even more students to read and broaden their literary horizons, Leighton Park’s Librarian, Chris Routh, who is also Chair of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, threw open the invitation to get involved with books and invited Year 5 pupils from eight local primary and prep schools to join us for Steve’s first session of the day on Tuesday 5^th March.

Guests from St Mary’s School, Waverley School, Redlands Primary School, Whitley Park School, Redlands Primary School, Whiteknights Primary, Farley Hill Primary and Grazeley Primary shared in Steve’s presentation in the school’s Main Hall. Initiating waves of laughter with his irreverent and humorous talk, Steve encouraged the visitors to widen their imaginations, discussing what makes a superhero. The children were delighted to consider superheroes’ strengths and weaknesses and were reminded of the differences through the examples of the Hulk who has unlimited strength and Superman whose weakness is Kryptonite.

Students then had the opportunity to have their Steve Cole books signed by the author in the new Michael Malnick Centre for music and media which opened at Leighton Park earlier in the Spring Term.

Although most of the visitors returned to school to recover the from onslaught of Steve’s hilarity, St Mary’s Henley and Waverley School were able to burn off some steam with a few outdoor games before a workshop led by the Leighton Park English Department.

Exploring the literary presentation of monsters and their characteristics based on themes from Steve Cole’s book ‘Stop Those Monsters!’ student were inspired to create their own monster character thinking about traits such as appearance, personality, habitat, preferences, and how it can be defeated. There were some excellent artistic interpretations created and annotated by the pupils before they headed down for a well deserved lunch.

Steve didn’t get much of a rest before he was back on stage in Peckover Hall, this time talking spies to the Year 7s and 8s. With fascinating insight and a wide ranging knowledge of espionage techniques Steve held his audience captive. There was an explanation of camouflage, secret weapons and the best way to approach a target depending on the circumstances. It really was amazing how much knowledge Steve had at his fingertips from his research forays for the Young Bond series.

Later in the day the Year 9 Book Group were lucky enough to enjoy a Q&A session with Steve about his books, his career as an author and editor, and his plans for the future.

Steve’s versatility as a speaker, presenting to children aged 10 in the morning and engaging in literary discussions with this teenage audience in the afternoon, reflects his range as an author, skilfully penning books that appeal to a wide range of audiences and across a broad range of genres. It was a pleasure to have Steve at Leighton Park School and we very much hope he will join us again.

Reflecting on the event, Chris Routh commented, “What a fantastic way to kick-start the annual Book Week at Leighton Park School – a real celebration of reading for pleasure and an inspiration for budding young writers.”