On Friday 30th October 2020, schools from all around Christchurch went to “The Piano” in town to listen to New Zealand authors; Jonathan King, Miriam Lancewood, Toby Morris, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Weng Wai Chan and Tania Roxborogh.

This festival took place for New Zealand authors to inspire kids to be creative and adventurous in life. It was organised for students at schools to come and meet some of the hardworking authors.

We spoke to Cate Donaldson-Scott (Room 16) to see what she got up to in the morning. “My favourite author was Miriam Lancewood because she has inspired me to do amazing things and look around our planet Earth. All the hard work and dedication that goes into writing a book is amazing but I also admired the simplicity of her life living in the wilderness. It was a fun event and I enjoyed it a lot because of the learning experience. I would definitely go again.”

We also asked Zoey Pratley (Room 13) about her thoughts on the afternoon event. “My favourite author was Weng Wai Chan because her book (Lizard's Tale) was about what had happened in her life so it wasn’t entirely fiction. How long it took to make each of the books made me appreciate the books more. I would definitely go back because I would like to see more New Zealand authors and learn about their backstories.”

Overall this day away from school was a great learning experience for the kids that went to‘Read Aloud’, and was very entertaining. 

By Emma Harden & Samantha Waters, Room 16