news_stjohn_l12_l.jpg

Read, read, read

On Thursday 19th January, Lauren St John visited Years 5 & 6. Lauren was born and raised in Zimbabwe, spending a large part of her childhood on a remote farm, and always dreamed of being an author. Her first series of books, The Animal Tales are exciting, beautifully written and researched stories about leopards, dolphins, giraffes and elephants. Although the books are fictional, a lot of the concepts of the books were based on her experiences with these animals. The children and staff alike were mesmerised by Lauren’s experiences with among others a boa constrictor that had decided to eat her.

Lauren has spent much of her life working with Born Free, a charity that is devoted to returning captured animals into the wild, and enthralled us with tales of the release of tigers and dolphins to name but a few.

Whilst Lauren was growing up on the isolated farm, she often spent time fantasising about adventures and solving mysteries in far-flung places, such as St Ives, Cornwall and in 2010, published the first of a new series of books, The Laura Marlin Mysteries. In Dead Man’s Cove and Kidnap in the Caribbean, Laura finds herself in some very sticky situations with only her ingenuity and quick thought to save the day.

We were extremely fortunate to hear such a talented author relate just some of her extraordinary life. Lauren left us with the following good advice; when one child asked how to become an author, Lauren replied “READ, READ, READ”.  PC

Back to news stories