Book week: an exciting, busy time for schools where children’s literature is given its time to shine. What makes these weeks even more special? We'd suggest it's if a real-life author or illustrator visits the students.

In August, Pōneke author Juliette Maclver visited Ss Peter and Paul School to talk to ākonga for book week. The school holds book week every two years - this year’s with the theme ‘Dive into reading.’ “Juliette seemed like a great fit for this theme as her writing is so bold and adventurous,” reflects Anna, the librarian at Ss Peter and Paul School.

Juliette is the author of the middle-grade Faelan the Wolf series (Scholastic), and award-winning picture books including Duck Goes Meow (Scholastic) and The Grizzled Grist Does Not Exist (Gecko). With the third and final installment of the Faelan series newly released, it was the perfect time for Juliette to visit Ss Peter and Paul School.

Book week is very important to Ss Peter and Paul School and they go into the week with the aim of promoting a connection with stories. “Our goal for any author visit is to connect authors with students, promote a love of reading and grow our schoolwide reading culture,” Anna says. “Author visits generate a huge amount of enthusiasm for the author in terms of borrowing from the library. Author visits also spark some pretty amazing conversations both in classrooms and in the library about the writing, illustrating and publishing process.”

The ākonga at Ss Peter and Paul School look forward to each book week and having writers come in to talk makes it even more memorable. “Each visit is like a mini celebration of the wonderful world of books and art,” says Anna. “They send a powerful message to our students that reading and creativity are important and worth pursuing and celebrating. We feel so lucky to have access to so many wonderful, creative people.”

Juliette spoke to two separate groups of students during the morning. She first visited Years 5 and 6 and read a few of her picture books. After morning tea, she spoke to Years 7 and 8 where she talked to the ākonga about their own writing ideas. The Year 7 and 8 students had recently been practicing writing picture books, and Juliette took the time to answer questions and look at their work. Her thoughts were invaluable to the young writers.

Anna was well-prepared for Juliette’s visit. “We had boxes with her books set up in the library for students to browse and during some classroom library visits we read her stories aloud.” This meant that the ākonga were well-acquainted with Juliette’s work and had time to prepare questions before her arrival.

Juliette’s picture books are full of wonderful and creative rhymes and rhythm. During her visit, she explained her writing process and taught the children about rhyming patterns. “They were so busy being entertained that they didn’t realise they were learning at the same time.”