A Day to Remember... Egham Chatterbooks Meets Author, Dame Jacqueline Wilson

In twenty years time, if you ask any of the Chatterbooks members to tell you about one of their special childhood memories, I'm sure they'll tell you about the time they met the author, Jacqueline Wilson. It was a rainy afternoon on Saturday 1st October, with intermitent sunny spells but inside Windsor Boys' School, this famous children's author lit up the room with her inspirational talk about how her love of reading and writing, from an early age, led her to become an author. Her message to all aspiring young authors (and there were a lot of them in the room) was to just keep writing, forget about grammar, forget about structure, just let your imagination and creative juices flow and enjoy the experience.


As if Jacqueline Wilson's amazing talk wasn't enough, Egham Library Chatterbooks was asked to go back stage and have their own private meeting with her. She was everything the children imagined her to be: charming, friendly, interesting and fun. She had a lovely natural rapport with the children and the conversation and interation between them was so easy. Jacqueline willingly signed their books, had her photo taken with them and to top it all off, she took part in a short Chatterbooks session where she answered questions about her book, 'Worry Website' and about her writing in general.


You may be asking yourself, how did this all come about? Well, the first ever Chatterbooks was launched in October 2001, 15 years ago, and to celebrate the event, Egham Library Chatterbooks was chosen to meet the Chatterbooks Patron, Jacqueline Wilson.  Here is the Chatterbooks Q&A (written and presented to Jacqueline Wilson as a display board):

Lucy asked: "What inspired you to start writing?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I love books very much."


Sophie asked: "How did you think of all the characters names?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "That's the fun bit, making them all up. I had great trouble finding a name for the character of my recent book, [to be launched on Thursday 6th October] as I found out that  another author had used the name I had chosen so I had to think of something else and I am glad she is now called 'Clover Moon."


Maya asked: "What inspired you to start writing books?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I love telling stories so much."


Megan: asked: "What's the best thing about being an author?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "It's very exciting when a story that you have in your head comes out on the page and nice to meet boys and girls like you who enjoy my books so much."


Kirsty asked: "What is the best book you've read so far in your life?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is probably my favourite. I've read it many times and I still love it. You're all a bit young for it now but remember the name and go for it later."


Fleur asked: Why did you choose Nick Sharratt as your illustrator?
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I thought his drawings were really good."


Poppy asked: "What was the best book you wrote?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: Right now I have to say 'Clover Moon."

Sophie asked: What is your favourite book, it doesn't have to be one of yours?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: My favourite book as a child was probably 'Ballet Shoes' by Noel Streatfeild. It's about three girls at stage school. It may be a little dated now but its really good and I certainly recommend it."


Here are some photos of Egham Library Chatterbooks' afternoon with Jacqueline Wilson - it was truly amazing and everyone went home with a big smile on their face. Thanks to the Reading Agency and everyone else who was involved in organising such a special event.