A TOURING bestselling author visited a Shirley school on her mission to ‘nurture the artists and creators of tomorrow’.
Liz Pichon is a best selling author and illustrator who wants to reform the national curriculum to focus on creative subjects.
Her 14 book comedy fiction series, Tom Gates, is aimed at young people and documents the mischievous tales of a boy as he goes through school.
She is a powerful spokesperson for reading for pleasure and draws on her own experience of dyslexia to promote the importance of finding books to suit every child.
On publication day of her new book, Tom Gates: Biscuits, Bands and Very Big Plans, Liz toured the country in a giant Tom Gates branded ‘doodle bus’.
Children at Dickens Heath Community Primary School in Three Acres Lane, Shirley had the opportunity to meet Liz, see a live illustration tutorial, and hear music from band, DUDE 3.
Liz also gave books to the school library.
She visited children at local arts venues, libraries, and schools to encourage children to appreciate the value of creativity.
With art funding being cut in schools, Liz is attempting to promote a more artistically driven education system – where arts funding is protected.
She said: “Arts funding and curriculum focus for the creative subjects, like art, music and drama, is vital if we are to inspire and produce the artists, musicians and innovators of tomorrow.
“I was encouraged to indulge my creative passions at school and began my career as a graphic designer before embarking on my journey as an author.
“Anything that lets children use their imaginations, whether that’s reading for pleasure, drawing and doodling or making music is so important and it’s worrying to see the proportion of teenagers studying these subjects at Key Stage four has fallen to its lowest level in a decade.
“I want to raise awareness of how important these subjects are and I hope the fact that today’s special Tom Gates tour day is celebrating creativity will go some way towards that.”
Liz was the official World Book Day illustrator in 2017 and Tom Gates: Best Book Day Ever! (so far) was the bestselling title of World Book Day 2013.
