Year 5 and 6 were lucky enough to meet author Laura Noakes recently. She talked about the new book in her historical adventure series, Cosima Unfortunate Foils a Fraud, sharing how she approaches researching characters, concepts and ideas. She also talked about her writing process and the inevitable role of failure, as well as the importance of resilience when writing. Laura also told the children all about her two cats, who like to keep her company as she writes!
Laura talked openly with the children about her disability; she explained that sometimes she needs to use a walking stick or a wheelchair. Laura discussed the importance of representation in children’s books – her schoolgirl protagonist Cosima, uses a walking stick, and one of her other main characters is based on Laura’s younger brother, who is autistic (as is the character in the book).
The children really engaged with Laura’s talk, and asked thoughtful and interesting questions about her thoughts and opinions on books and writing. They also asked a lot of questions about Laura’s cats!
