Virtual School Visits

I have been virtually visiting schools since 2012, during which time I’ve done over 240 virtual visits with over 180 different schools in the UK, the US and beyond. You can find a map showing the schools I’ve visited at the bottom of this page.

After offering free 20 minute sessions for several years, I’ve now switched to offering longer, for-a-fee virtual sessions adapted from some of the in-person sessions I do in schools and libraries. Outlines of these sessions are shown below.

I offer a 30% DISCOUNT* for additional sessions booked by the same school as part of the same booking.

Virtual Visit Sessions

🍁 Autumn/Fall Term Special 🍁 THE SANTA TRAP

A reading of The Santa Trap.
A short talk about the inspiration for the story (including the Santa traps I built as a child).
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 5-9 years • Session Length: 30 minutes
UK Price £70 excl. VAT (£84 incl. VAT)
International Price $95 (payment via PayPal)

PICK & MIX

Two readings of a complete novelty or picture book or an excerpt from one of my chapter books. Schools can request whichever two books they like and each reading can be followed by a Q&A.

Suggested Age: 4-9 years • Session Length: 30-40* minutes
UK Price £95 excl. VAT (£114 incl. VAT)
International Price $125 (payment via PayPal)

* The length of this session varies according to the length of the books chosen

PIG TALES

This session features readings of Pigs Might Fly!, The Princess and the Pig and A Spot of Bother. Between readings I talk about how each story was inspired.

Suggested Age: 4-6 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

THE CLOCKWORK DRAGON

A reading of The Clockwork Dragon.
Clockwork Creature collage activity: I show the children how the pieces on a collage sheet can be used to create other clockwork creatures and create a couple of clockwork creatures on request. The collage sheets are available as downloadable printouts which the students can use to create their own clockwork creatures after the session has ended.
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 5-9 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

OWNER’S GUIDES

A reading of Monsters: An Owner’s Guide
A talk about the inspiration and development of the text and illustration of the Owner’s Guide books.
Creating a Monstermatic Monster: I draw a new Monstermatic monster in response to the children’s suggestions.
A reading of Aliens: An Owner’s Guide*
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 5-9 years • Session Length: 60 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

* Aliens: An Owner’s Guide is no longer in print

FAST AND FURRY RACERS

A short introduction to The Silver Serpent Cup‘s animal racers and their vehicles.
A reading of The Silver Serpent Cup.
Design a Racer collage activity: I create a new animal race vehicle by request and show the children how the kit of vehicle parts can be used to create other vehicle designs. The kit is available as downloadable printouts which the students can use to create their own vehicle designs after the session has ended.
A reading of Cleopatra Bones and the Golden Chimpanzee.
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 5-9 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

HOW THE BORKS BECAME: An Adventure in Evolution

A short introduction to the concept of evolution.
Spot the Difference: I challenge the children to spot the differences between the Borks’ appearance at the beginning and end of the book’s timeline and suggest how these differences might help the Borks to survive.
A reading of How the Borks Became: An Adventure in Evolution
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 5-9 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

THE TYRANNOSAUR’S FEATHERS

This session can be co-presented by palaeontologist and co-author Dr Adam Smith, subject to his availability.

A reading of the main text of The Tyrannosaur’s Feathers.
An explanation of the discoveries that led to the changes in T.rex‘s appearance.
Q & A: Dr Adam and I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 6-10 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

THE PLESIOSAUR’S NECK: A Prehistoric Puzzle
This session can be co-presented by palaeontologist and co-author Dr Adam Smith, subject to his availability.

A short introduction to plesiosaurs.
A reading of the rhyming text of The Plesiosaur’s Neck.
An entertaining exploration of some of the explanations scientists have given for Poppy the Albertonectes plesiosaur’s extraordinarily long neck.
Q & A: Dr Adam and I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 6-10 years • Session Length: 45 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

HERE BE MONSTERS

A short talk explaining how a five-hundred-year-old sea map inspired the story and introducing the animal pirates in Captain Cut-Throat’s dastardly crew.
A reading of Here Be Monsters.
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 6-9 years • Session Length: 30 minutes

UK Price £95 excl. VAT (£114 incl. VAT)
International Price $125 (payment via PayPal)

MONSTER TALES

This session features readings of The Clockwork Dragon, Monsters – An Owner’s Guide and Here Be Monsters. Between readings I talk about the inspiration behind the stories and give an insight into the process of writing and illustrating them.
Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 6-9 years • Session Length: 50 minutes
UK Price £120 excl. VAT (£144 incl. VAT)
International Price $155 (payment via PayPal)

THE CONJUROR’S COOKBOOK

Three readings from The Conjuror’s Cookbook, my funny fantasy chapter book series.

Q & A: I answer the children’s questions.

Suggested Age: 7-9 years • Session Length: 40 minutes
UK Price £95 excl. VAT (£114 incl. VAT)
International Price $125 (payment via PayPal)

30% DISCOUNT* for additional sessions booked by the same school as part of the same booking

* For two or more sessions of varying prices, the highest priced session will be charged at full price with 30% discount applied to all additional sessions.

I’m happy to consider virtual visit requests from any English-speaking school, providing the visit can be done between 9:00am and 9.00pm United Kingdom time on a weekday. If you are not in the United Kingdom, you can use the international time converter here to convert from your local time to UK time. Make sure you enter the actual date into the converter so that it can correct for Daylight Saving Time if needed.

Virtual Visits need to be booked at least three working days in advance.

Group size: I am happy to talk to up to four classrooms (on separate logins) simultaneously on my visit. All of my sessions include an opportunity for question and answers and it’s difficult to do this well with more than four classrooms in one session. If you’d like me to visit more than four classrooms, you can book an additional session(s). I offer a 30% discount for additional sessions booked by the same school as part of the same booking.

Payment: I will email you an invoice shortly after the session. Payment must be made within 30 days of the session.
UK Schools: I will only accept payment by either BACS transfer (preferred) or cheque.
US and International schools: I will only accept payments via PayPal. You can pay using a debit or credit card or a PayPal account. My invoice will include a link to a page on the PayPal site where you can make payment.

PLEASE NOTE: My virtual visits should not be recorded without my prior permission.

Software: After using Skype for my virtual visits for several years, Zoom is now my preferred option as it gives the clearest sound and has proved more reliable than the other options.

I’m also happy to arrange virtual visit sessions using Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.

I ask that the schools hosts virtual visits on their own Zoom/Teams/Google Meet accounts, so your school will need to email me a session link at least two days in advance of the virtual visit.

✅ DBS: I have a current UK Enhanced DBS Certificate ✅

Fill out the form below to request a virtual visit

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What you need for a Virtual Visit

Technical Requirements

SOFTWARE: If you haven’t used the video conferencing software you’ve selected (i.e. Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet) to call someone using the school’s broadband network before, make a test call a few days before my virtual visit using the software and hardware you intend to use to check that it all works. If your call is blocked, you may need to change your network’s permission settings to allow the software to be used.
WEBCAM / MICROPHONE: The webcam should be positioned as close as possible to the screen the students will be looking at, so that I can see the students’ faces looking towards me. If you’re using a separate microphone, this should be positioned so that I can hear the students clearly. A cordless microphone, that can be passed from student to student is a great way of ensuring that I can hear students clearly.
SCREEN: Your computer should be connected to a large video screen or white board projector. If you’re using a projector in a brightly lit room, turn off the lights or close the blinds near the screen or whiteboard so that the students can see me more clearly.
SPEAKERS: Sound is important! The students will need to be able to hear me clearly. Your computer’s built-in speakers may not be loud enough for my voice to carry to the back of the room, so you might need to use some louder, plug-in speakers or the TV’s speakers if you’re using a TV screen.

Other Requirements

A room full of enthusiastic students: Students will enjoy a virtual visit much more if they are already familiar with a few of my books. Visit my website with your class to find out a little about me and the books I’ve written. If you subscribe to a school library service, ask if they can provide your class with a selection of my books, including the book(s) I will be reading.
Some questions prepared in advance: If your visit includes a Q&A , students will get a lot more out of it if they have had some time to think about questions they might want to ask beforehand.

BOOK SALES: If you’d like to order copies of my books from a book shop to coincide with my virtual visit this list of my books currently in print may be useful for putting an order together. I’m happy to send out signed book plates for any books purchased in this way.

Scroll within image or pinch apart to zoom in

See a full page version of this map with a list of schools