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Virtual Event Slots Available up to Easter
Any schools reading my books in this period can have 30 mins of gibberish from me for just £50. We can talk about the END of chocolate if you like?
Please email: chriscallaghanauthor@gmail.com
But bring your own chocolate!
It’s the 7th July, meaning it is World Chocolate Day – but you knew that already.
So, click here to read a serious (ahem!) piece of investigative journalism I wrote for The Guardian a while back.
You’re welcome.
It is an honour to have been chosen to be one of the Open University’s Author Spotlights.
Every month the OU’s Reading for Pleasure website has an author answering a few questions about reading and books. It was a thrill to be asked in amongst some incredible company who had previously been asked. There is also a downloadable version available for classroom displays – which is very handy!
Please check out my Author Spotlight page here.
My new series of books, ‘Shinoy and the Chaos Crew’, are largely aimed at young people who would not normally choose to pick up and read a book. In an article I wrote for my publisher, I talk about my own experiences of being a ‘reluctant reader’ when I was young. Sometimes people who don’t read much (or at all) are not those who are uninterested in stories, as some people think, but are those that LOVE stories. Reading can be a slow way to access a story, which does put readers like me off. I wrote my new series with this in mind and wanted to bring the story bursting into the readers mind as soon as possible.
You can read the whole article here (don’t worry, it’s very short!).
There are endless children’s authors delightfully gibbering away online at the moment (including myself!), but here’s a fantastic resource providing links to so many. There’s a lot of other fun stuff here too.
Thanks to Books For Topics for compiling this great selection and for including me and my silly book.
Check it out here. Other authors reading parts of their books include Cressida Cowell, Andy Stanton, Andy Shepherd, James Nichol and David Walliams – and many, many more …!
Hoping everyone has a very chocolatey Easter.
In these strange days, we are all staying at home to help our amazing NHS and protect our loved ones from harm. So enjoy some chocolate, maybe read a book and be kind to each other.
You could also join me on Easter Sunday at 6pm BST where I will be summoning up my inner Jackanory (ask the grown-ups!) and reading the first chapter of The Great Chocoplot. Thanks to my lovely publishers, Chicken House, for hosting me.
It goes ‘Live’ here from 6pm. Please excuse my rubbish attempts at ‘acting’!!
It’s wonderful to see reading charity Beanstalk supporting families in these tough times. They are providing links and resources to help homeschooling and to keep the love of reading active.
I’m particularly flattered that they have chosen me and my daughter’s funny faces to front the scheme!
Please find out more here while we all stay at home and make the most of this reading time.
With huge and never ending thanks to all the Key Workers out there doing an amazing job. Stay safe people x
Recently, I had the pleasure of celebrating a new collaboration between Beanstalk (a charity for helping to get kids reading) and McCarthy & Stone (a retirement house builder).
It was an ideal opportunity for me to meet some Beanstalk volunteers, as I have been considering becoming a volunteer myself. They all spoke so positively about their experiences of reading one-to-one with pupils who are struggling with reading. I was one of those kids myself. Reading was extremely hard work when I was young and as a result I didn’t read much at all. I certainly never read at home or for my own pleasure, which is something I wish I had done. I’m busy catching up on all the wonderful children’s books now, but feel like I missed out on so much of the magic of a young reader getting lost in an amazing story.
It was a lovely morning where I also got to meet the wonderful Beanstalk staff and author – and Beanstalk volunteer – Matt Oldfield, who writes fantastic football stories. There was also a chap called Jon Snow – Channel 4 News legend!! He was a real gent. It was brilliant to have such an esteemed reader supporting the event. And his socks were just as jazzy as his tie!!
As for myself – yes, I have started the process to become a volunteer. I’m excited and also nervous. But really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I’ll help young readers, like myself, to discover the pure joy of reading.
