Saturday August 23rd 2025

Dear Diary,

Today, I hosted two activity sessions at Handsworth Library – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The children’s section in this library is huge, with a fantastic selection of books, light streaming in through the windows, and beautiful decorations throughout. It also boasts some super furniture including a number of quirky tables that fit together to make one giant one.

With over a dozen attendees booked in for each timed slot, I was able to start each session off by reading a couple of chapters from one of my books. And as the sessions got underway, more children and parents flooded in to join in with the activities.

There were many avid readers among the groups along with some keen authors and artists. But what I really loved during these sessions was how involved all the parents were. We had mums and dads colouring, plotting stories, and really tapping into their creativity alongside their children. There was a real buzz in the air because of it, and I ended up handing certificates out to many parents as well as children!

Among all the work created, I thought Sophia’s tracing sheet was incredibly neat:

… I really liked Isabella’s book cover, blurb, opening sentence, and excerpt for her story entitled WARNING: Sharks May Bite:

… I thought Gurmanan’s and her mum’s ideas for scary stories were super:

… And I loved Rayhan’s imaginative story entitled The Eerie Silence:

I had a fantastic time at Handsworth library, with so many children and parents staying right up until the very end of each session.