Earlier this month in aid of World Book Day, I was able to visit my old primary school Gilbert Scott in Selsdon/Croydon. I wanted to donate some books to the school/children and was able to give every single child in nursery, reception, and years 1, 2 and 3 a copy of From Root to Shoot. This meant a lot to me as Gilbert Scott was the place where my creativity began. I wasn't a great reader initially and at times I would get incredibly frustrated, I remember being on a special reading plan at school to aid my reading progress. I would have sessions every day and remember going through the reading stages of the famous Biff and Chip books. It was important for me to share my experiences with the children to let them know that even if you find something difficult initially you can overcome anything.
"From initially struggling to read, to becoming a self published author...anything is possible"
To my surprise when I contacted the school to arrange the meeting, I was greeted by an old classmate who is now a teacher at the school. This was super exciting as not only was I having the nostalgic experience of visiting my primary school after 23 years, I was in the presence of an old friend who I spent many lunchtime breaks playing with.
One of the students was so enthusiastic about the book that they had to read it on the way home!
They even made a finger puppet inspired by the book characters and illustrations.
Coming from humble beginnings, I know that some children don't always have access to a lot of books at home. Of course you can always utilise your local libraries, however as we know when children find a book that they connect with they like to keep a hold of it and read it time and time again. I hope that the children of Gilbert Scott primary read their copies of From Root to Shoot over and over and really resonate with the self belief messaging that's promoted throughout the story.
Elisha xx