Author Visits

I regularly visit schools and libraries all across the UK working with children from 5 - 11. I run a 'Create a picture book' workshop for children of 7+, that gets excellent results, while with younger children the focus is on drawing - often making big group drawings together.

'Create a picture book' workshop

I begin by talking about the close links between drawing and writing - how our own alphabet developed from pictograms, and how the best storytelling drawing uses very simple shapes - like picture-writing.

I use hand-painted word cards to generate startling combinations, sparking ideas for characters and stories, and I encourage the children to be as imaginative as they can. I always say that I want to see ideas that 'no one in the whole history of the world has ever thought of before!' The children almost always rise to the challenge.

But alongside fostering originality, I also stress the importance of creating a satisfying narrative structure. It is a fascinating exercize to distil even the craziest ideas into the strict form of a 12-spread picture book. I end the workshop by showing the children how to turn their story into a finished book of their own.

At festival events and bookshops, I enjoy involving parents in writing and illustrating their own stories too.

Please email me for any further details and about my rates and availability.

David Lucas’ stories hold you spellbound and then he shows you how to do it yourself, by giving us all hints on illustration and storywriting at the workshops. His visits are magical and we’re looking forward to a few more budding authors and illustrators emerging in West Dunbartonshire!
Anne Louise Anglim, Senior Officer, West Dunbartonshire Libraries

David used effective, creative techniques to build the group's confidence and get their ideas flowing, resulting in not only the enthusiastic children, but also their rather more tentative and self-conscious parents, creating original and moving stories.
Lisa Yates, Learning Manager, V&A Museum of Childhood, London E2

An excellent visit that really inspired the children. They are now very enthusiastic about both writing and illustrating their own books.
Teacher, Highdykes Primary School, West Dunbartonshire

Here are a couple of stories that have come out of my workshops, both fit into the 12-spread structure of most published picture books:

This was written by one of the dads at a workshop at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London.

THE ELECTRIC KING

The Electric King was plugged into a wall - on a very short cable.

The King asked the Royal Inventor to help.

The Inventor invented the battery.

The King was delighted.
He roamed far and wide, over the mountains, through the forest, across the desert.
But in the desert his battery ran out.
The King was stuck.

Meanwhile the cunning Inventor was spending rather a lot of time with the Queen, buying her presents of chocolates and flowers and telling her how pretty she looked.

Weeks and weeks went by. (picture of the Electric King, stuck in the desert)

In the City everyone thought that the King was gone for ever. The Inventor asked the Queen to marry him. The Queen said, “Yes.”

But that night, in the desert, there was a tremendous storm. The King was struck by lightning! Suddenly he was filled with power. He raced back to the City...

...he burst in on the wedding of the Inventor and the Queen. He was just about to blast the Inventor with a lightning bolt, when he had an idea. “I'll spare your life,” said the King, “on one condition: invent the battery charger!”

The Inventor did as he was told. And then the King waved goodbye to the Inventor, and he waved goodbye to his faithless Queen. He had never liked being King. And he set off to see the world, free at last to do as he pleased.

THE END

This story was written by two boys aged 10 at
St. Anthony’s R.C. Primary School, Woodford Green, London
I asked the children to work in pairs and to write a story about two animals.

THE TWO DOGS

Two ferocious pit-bull terriers lived in a pub.
It was dark outside.
Mist coiled around the lampposts in the street.
Bats flew in the night air.

A dark shape came to the door. The door opened with a creak. Creeak!
It was Dracula!
But the dogs weren't afraid of vampires.
“GRRR!” Barking furiously they chased him away.

But it wasn’t long before there was another dark shape at the door.
The door opened with a creak. Creeak!
It was Frankenstein!
The dogs weren't afraid of monsters.
“GRRR!” They chased him away.

But now there was another dark shape at the door. Creeak!
It was The Mummy!
The dogs weren't afraid of mummies.
“GRRR!” They chased him away.

But who was that? A Witch came to the door. Creeak!
The dogs weren't afraid of witches.
“GRRR!” They chased her away.

A Ghost came to the door. “Woooo!”
The dogs weren't afraid of ghosts.
“GRRR!” they chased him away.

Just then the Landlord of the pub came downstairs, dressed as a pumpkin.
“Oh dear,” he said,“I wonder when my friends will arrive?
I can't have a Halloween party on my own.”
“Oops,” said the dogs, looking at each other, "We thought..."

The Landlord shook his fist.
“GRRR!” he said, and he kicked the two dogs out into the street for the night.

THE END