Sue Palmer Author Visit

Sue Palmer visited year 4,5 and 6 and did a talk about her book (The Shell Secret). First, she spoke about some of the inspiration that she used for her book. The book has a few events that are happening during the time that the book is set. World War II is an event that the story is based on. Her story was set on the coast in Cornwall, as that is where Sue Palmer grew up. She also showed us some of the shells that she had collected over the years. Some of them were absolutely beautiful and quite big. She said that her favourite shells were the little orange ones that were from snails.

Sue Palmer had brought along some tickets that she had made at home and handed them out when someone got the answer to a question correct; she said that the class who had the most tickets by the end of her visit would get prizes. Year 6 won with 12 tickets, year 4 and 5 tied with 9 tickets each. The tickets each had a picture to do with the beach on them, for example: hats, buckets and spades and deck-chairs.

Sue Palmer also spoke about some of the inspiration for her book, like where it was set and the characters. She spoke a little about some animals that you would find at the beach, like: crabs, limpets and starfish. She told us that limpets would climb onto crabs, inject veins into the crab (which would stop the crab from having babies) and then put their babies into the crab. Sue Palmer told us about the different tide zones and the animals that make their homes there. She also showed us a real starfish that a librarian had given to her. Sue Palmer read the first few pages of her book and it seems very good. Overall, Sue Palmer’s visit was very fun and interesting. 

By Annie (year 5)