Magnus Church of England Academy year seven students visited by author Tom Mitchell

Pupils at a school were visited by children’s author Tom Mitchell, who shared his writing process and inspirations.

Magnus Church of England Academy, year seven students heard about the author’s new book which comes out in March – How to stop the end of the world.

The school gifted the students Tom’s book – When Things Went Wild as an attempt to encourage them to keep reading through their time at the school.

Tom Mitchell said: “I want to demonstrate that the students themselves can become writers. I often find they have preconceptions about what it means to be an author, and I hope my visit will allow them to see that authors are not just academics locked away in a room writing endlessly.

“That they are just ordinary people who may like reading and writing, -but can also like football and other interests too.”

Tom believes that there is no such thing as a child who doesn’t like reading, just that they haven’t found the right book yet.

He added: “There is a book out there that will inspire each of them, and as a teacher and an author, I have tried to be funny and entertaining in my books as a gateway for young people to feel confident about approaching other topics to read.”

Student, Izzy Kirtley from year seven said: “I love reading and have done since primary school. It broadens your imagination and makes you more creative.

“So, Tom’s talk really interested me today, especially hearing about where he gets his ideas from. I would love to be a teacher or a writer one day. I think I would write fantasy books or maybe horror stories.

“I am also very happy about receiving the book which I think is a great idea, and I will definitely start reading that very soon.”

The assistant principal at Magnus, Sarah Harper said that the school values the impact reading has on their students and how important it is for the students to hear from a published author, to understand what inspired them, see where that creativity stems from and where that creativity can lead.