An award-winning children’s author has visited a Stonehaven primary school in her “dragonmobile”.
Edinburgh-based Lari Don, author of the bestselling children’s book series Fabled Beast Chronicles, spoke with and read to pupils of Arduthie Primary school yesterday in an effort to inspire their imaginations.
The author’s young fans were given the chance to see a dragon from their favourite books come to life thanks to a little magic, imagination, and sewing by Mrs Don’s marketing executive and her faithful Fiat Punto, which was described by the publicist as “the most dragon-like of cars”.
Mrs Don said: “The thing that we try to do is to bring a little magic into the kids lives and let their imagination grow, which is why we’ve given our car a costume and have been telling them we flew here by dragon.”
The 45-year-old author, who grew up in Dufftown, has relaunched her bestselling book series seven years after they were first published in an effort to inspire a new generation of children.
She added: “I’ve been spending a lot of time with the children, and we’ve been making stories together about volcanoes, unicorns, and anything they can think of really.
“I’m trying to make kids realise that writers like me aren’t special, and that anybody can write a story if they have enough imagination and excitement.
“It’s a privilege to help kids feel more confident in the power of their imaginations, and it’s so fun to interact with all the kids, because you don’t get nearly this much fun from a book tour for adults.”
P6 teacher at Arduthie, Mhairi Thomson explained the importance of the author’s visit for her pupils.
She said: “Being skilled in writing is a key component of learning, but it needs to be something to get their imaginations flowing too.
“Topics like these keep their attention, so it’s great to have something so hands of for the kids to help them engage and learn.”