We were delighted to welcome children’s author and illustrator Jonny Lambert to St Christopher’s today to celebrate World Book Day.

The whole day was inspired by Jonny’s much-loved picture book As the World Goes By, and children and staff embraced the theme with wonderful enthusiasm. Children fluttered, ran, waddled, flew and prowled into school dressed as the animals featured in the story – butterflies, cats, dogs, birds and ducks. Staff joined the fun too, arriving as a beautiful kaleidoscope of butterflies, creating a colourful start to a day dedicated to storytelling and imagination.

The celebrations began with our annual World Book Day costume parade on the playground. The children proudly showed off their fantastic costumes, creating a vibrant menagerie of animals inspired by the book. Johnny had the difficult task of judging the competition and selecting one winner from each class. Congratulations to our winners:

• Nursery: Rory and Sophia A
• Pre-Reception: Theo and Rupert
• Reception: Alecsi and Leo
• Year 1: Irina and Ashwin
• Year 2: J-T and Daniel

Throughout the day, children took part in exciting workshops led by Jonny himself, where he shared insights into his life as an author and illustrator. He explained that he originally began his career as an illustrator before going on to write and illustrate his own books, bringing his characters and stories to life through both words and pictures.

In Reception, the children decorated their own butterflies inspired by As the World Goes By. The story follows a dog called Buttons, who spots a beautiful butterfly and wants everyone to stop and notice it. When they finally do, they all share in the beauty of the butterfly’s wings together. Jonny shared that Buttons is based on his own working cocker spaniel, also called Buttons. The children then enjoyed listening to the story read by Johnny himself, along with other favourites including Can You Share, Little Whale? and Look Out! It’s a Dragon!.

Year 2 enjoyed a creative writing workshop where Jonny explained that inspiration for stories can come from anywhere – a pet, a family member, or even something you see during the day. He told the children that his book Waiting for the Stars was inspired by reading bedtime stories to his daughter, while Can You Share, Little Whale? was inspired by his youngest nephews and nieces. His book Look Out! It’s a Dragon! was written with his little brother in mind.

Jonny also shared how he plans his stories. Most of his books contain around 500 words, and he begins by drawing pictures first. He encouraged the children to do the same. To plan his stories, he starts by drawing a curved line representing the journey of the story, with exciting events happening along the way from beginning to end.

He showed the children his own sketchbooks filled with character drawings, including early sketches of the whale from Can You Share, Little Whale?. His next step is creating storyboards, where he arranges drawings in order to shape the story. Inspired by Johnny’s process, the children drew their own squiggly story lines to plan imaginative stories of their own. It was wonderful to see their creativity and imagination on full display.

Meanwhile, the children in Nursery gathered for a special story time session, where Jonny brought his characters to life by reading some of his favourite stories aloud. The children were captivated hearing the stories from the author himself.

Year 1 also enjoyed an imaginative session with Jonny, creating their own butterflies inspired by As the World Goes By. They then took part in a lively question and answer session, asking some wonderful questions. When asked about his favourite book, Johnny shared that it is Home Is Where the Heart Is, a story inspired by his father-in-law, who was a father figure to him and through whom he met his wife when he was just sixteen. In the story, Johnny represents the bear and his father-in-law is the hare, with the story exploring friendship and the challenges that can come with it.

The children were also curious about how he deals with mistakes. Johnny explained that he keeps them, as they help him learn and improve. He also shared that he carries a sketchbook everywhere he goes, so that he can write down or sketch ideas whenever inspiration strikes. At the end of the session, Jonny kindly gifted each child a notebook, encouraging them to capture their own ideas and stories in the same way.

To wrap up the day, Jonny signed every child’s book with a personal message – a special keepsake that the children will no doubt treasure for years to come. A big thank you to Jonny for inspiring everyone at St Christopher’s today. The children were left bursting with ideas, imagination and enthusiasm for storytelling – and perhaps some future authors and illustrators in the making! One day, they may even share stories with their own children or grandchildren about the day they met Jonny Lambert and were inspired by his wonderful books!