Christ Church Preparatory School and College Foundation Phase Author Visit:  Elaine Macdonald- I See A Buffalo

On Tuesday, 5 April, author Elain Macdonald visit the Foundation Phase pupils.  Elaine read one of her many published children’s books to the pupils. Elaine Macdonald is known as an author, scriptwriter and children’s television presenter in South Africa.  She began her career writing radio programme content, book reviews and corporate scripts.  Three years later she was invited to become one of the writers of the children’s edutainment programme, Kideo.  This series was followed by Fundani Nathi and more recently, Fun Factory.  In all she has written over 1000 educational television scripts.

When writers were needed by MacMillan Education to revamp the South African school’s reading curriculum, Elaine was chosen as one of the main authors of the series, ‘Readers are Leaders’.  These books have now been translated into all official languages and are widespread throughout the country’s schools. Elaine read the book “I See A Buffalo” to the pupils, which is a story about a buffalo who struggles to fit in because of her size. All Elaine’s books have key life lessons to teach her young readers, which she hopes will help them in the future.  Along with the reading of the book, Elaine taught the pupils how to draw a buffalo.  Thank you to Elaine Macdonald, who provided copies of her books to the school, as well as for her time with the pupils.

Christ Church Preparatory School and College Intermediate Phase Author Visit – Hayley Chewins

On Thursday, 7 April, the Intermediate Phase pupils attended a writing workshop with Hayely Chewins, an author who has published books worldwide. Hayley Chewins writes books about magical girls with secrets.  Her debut novel, The Turnaway Girls, was published in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and has also been translated into Polish and Hungarian.  The Turnaway Girls was a Kirkus Best Book in 2018 and made the American Library Association’s Amelia Bloomer List of Best Feminist Books for Young Readers.

Her second book, The Sisters of Straygarden Place, won the Foreword Indies Gold Award for Juvenile Fiction, was an Amazon Editors’ Pick, and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly.  Kate Milford — New York Times bestselling author of the Greenglass House series called it “a magnificent tale.” Hayley lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and a small poodle.

The workshop started off teaching the Grade 5 and 6 pupils how you writing a story and get your imagination flowing.  Hayely had them complete a few tasks to demonstrate how many authors begin with a story and techniques that may help them, such as Free Writing.  Each pupil wrote at least a paragraph, thanks to Hayely, and were very excited to learn that being an author may not be as difficult as it seems. With the excitement flowing, there were many questions to be asked about the life of an author.  Hayely loved all the questions and seemed to be having just as much fun as the pupils.

The pupils all left the hall with smiles on their faces and inspiration in their hearts, ready to start a new adventure of being an author. Thank you to Hayely Chewins for inspiring so many, as well as signing autographs for the pupils.  Her books are available in the school library, as well as for personal purchase from many outlets. We wish you luck, Hayely, with her next books.  We will be sure to add them to our library as soon as they are released.