The Raven’s Eye Runaways is a book about … books (as well as a fair whack of activism and the magic in nature) There are lots of ideas in there about the value of reading, writing and having the freedom to explore and understand how different stories make us feel, even influence how we behave. Some ideas for activities to go with The Raven’s Eye Runaways world:

Bookbinding! Bookbinding is a key activity in the book and is a super fun thing to do with kids at home and at school. Kids can be encouraged to make their own little books by simply folding paper and stitching them (carefully) together…

Illuminating! Continuing with the bookbinding theme, kids can also have fun decorating their books by illuminating the pages. This means creating beautiful borders with colour and illustration – you can show them amazing Medieval books like The Book of Kells to inspire them.

Tree inspiration! Trees play a big part in The Raven’s Eye Runaways. I heard from one amazing teacher that they are taking their kids out on tree walks, asking the kids to notice their textures, sounds and imagining what the tree might be able to tell them about where they live and what they’ve seen. What a great way to inspire a story!

I LOVE teaching creative writing and talking about the marvels of reading - If you’re a teacher or librarian and you’d like me to come and visit, contact me via email here (Or you can also go via the amazing ReadNZ Writers in Schools programme).