Harriet Bremner, a self published author, visited Belfast School to coincide with the launch of the Belfast School Reading Awards.

Harriet was joined by her lovable miniature dachshund, Poppy, who features in all of Harriet's books. Harriet did a presentation on why reading is important and how she gets an idea for her stories with our Year 5-8 students.

 She used "Use Your Voice" as an example for the children. This is a story set in New Zealand High Country with a very important message around mental health and how important it can be to 'use your voice' and speak up. A Huntaway named Jess lost her bark and was feeling blue but with the help of Pops and her farmyard friends she found the courage to get through. 

It was great to see how engaged the children were with the story and with the process of a book going from an idea to being published. Some of the children were a little surprised at how a simple idea can be the basis for a story. 

The children picked up on the underlying message in  "Use Your Voice"  and were all able to walk away with strategies to help if they were ever feeling down and the signs to look out for. 

Our Year 1-4 students were given the opportunity to come to a book reading of "Bob n Pops". This is Harriet's original book about an unlikely friendship between a southern man and his miniature dachshund. The children loved the story and particularly enjoyed getting to meet Poppy, the star of the story. 

The children were all given the opportunity to purchase a book from Harriet and got the chance to meet Harriet and Poppy properly. 

We have copies of Harriet's books available in the Library.

We thank Harriet and Poppy for taking the time to come in to speak to our tamariki. We are positive she inspired many to get creative by writing their own stories.