Category: News

I am thrilled to be announcing a major new attraction in Cat World – My Mother Goose!

She is a fully costumed character who celebrates the magic of traditional fairy tales and nursery rhymes and I can’t wait to take her to schools and summer festivals. My first booking is next week – three days with Sandwell Libraries. My little goose Mabel is excited already 🙂

Mother Goose is more well-known in the US than here. They even have a Mother Goose Day – 1st May. I am on a mission to change this state of affairs. Mother Goose is so important. Without her, we wouldn’t have many of the most famous fairy tales, like Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots. And the story of who she was (or was not) is fascinating, taking us from the dark forests of medieval Europe to the courts of 18th century France, into the backstreets of London and across to America with the Pilgrim Fathers. It’s a story I long to share.

I’ll mostly be aiming this at Under 7s (I love working with little ones!) but I have sessions for older children and even a talk for adults.

Full details here: mymothergoose.co.uk

I have enjoyed a Halloween half-term residency at the magnificent Blenheim Palace for more than fifteen years. It really is one of the highlights of my calendar. Some of the children have grown up with me. I am as much a part of their Halloween as pumpkins and cobwebs! I love connections like that. It’s one of the best things about my job as a storyteller.

As ever, I was in the fine company of Thomas Trilby. His circus/magic shows are always hugely popular, and we run the day as a kind of high-energy tag team: one in, one out of the Big Top! He’s truly a star performer. You’ll find him here: https://thomastrilby.co.uk/

HUGE thanks to Authors Abroad for organising my latest schools tour. Five weeks, three countries, eight massive international schools, thousands of happy students, millions of words spoken and written …. it was EPIC!

I began in Bangkok with St Andrews International School, flew down to Phuket for the British School Phuket, then it was back up to Bangkok for King’s College International School and Singapore International School. Week 3 was free, so I flew to Laos and had a fantastic time (despite being hit by a motorbike, but that is another story!) Then it was back to Bangkok for a flight to Vietnam. European International School HCMC, British International School HCMC and Australian International School Saigon in the south (Ho Chi Minh City) then it was another flight to the north and the United Nations International School Hanoi.

The weather was brutally hot. 38 degrees sounds great when you’re flying out of a cold, wet UK, but it soon becomes exhausting. The accident left me with an enormous black eye and so much bruising on my leg, I was more purple than pink (the kids were so impressed!) But still, it was a FANTASTIC trip. One I will remember for a long time to come. It was the kind of trip I thought – back in the dark days of COVID, when the world was completely shut down – I might never do again. So that made it extra-special. And even when it’s tiring, work like this is always, always joyous.

Well, that was fun!

Last week I led a creative writing workshop for adults at the Stratford Literary Festival called Is This a Dagger? It gave local writers an opportunity to be inspired by theatrical props, which were supplied by the Royal Shakespeare Company from their prop store in Stratford Upon Avon.

I loved choosing the pieces from the store. I selected armour, flags from Henry VI, a fedora and shoes from a 1990s staging of A Comedy of Errors (the shoes proved very popular) a donkey head from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1989) a gorgeous elephant headdress from A Mouse and His Child (2012) and a very dusty blackbird in a cage, which proved the most inspirational prop of all. My contact as the RSC didn’t know which production it was from. She reckoned it had probably been used in several shows.

But the most exciting prop was the puppet (see top photo) I loved it as soon as I saw it; it felt like it had many tales to tell. It was only when I started Googling its provenance that I found out how special it was. It came from the famous 2007 Trevor Nunn directed production of King Lear which starred Ian McKellen. No wonder it was so battered – it had been taken on tour across America and Australia and back. McKellen actually held it at one point in the show, though it belonged to his Fool, Sylvester McCoy.

This is why I love working with the RSC. Everything is saturated in theatrical magic. You can feel it.

The workshop participants loved being able to handle the props and produced some great writing.

Big Blue Shark is an action rhyme I have been teaching for several years now. Little ones love it – especially the snapping jaws of the titular shark! I have always thought it would be wonderful to have book to accompany the rhyme, and now that dream has come true. This brand new book features a host of vibrant illustrations from illustrator Maria Silva, who lives in Mexico.

The book design was by Matthew Lloyd at matthewlloyd.design

The teaching video to accompany the rhyme is here: youtu.be/tsdnmbDzpTk?si=N_jc4aEq5-gxlOOH

There’s a new book trailer for my zombie book Zac and the Zombeards.

You’ll find more about the book here: http://www.catweatherillauthor.com/zac-and-the-zombeards.html

It’s always thrilling to see one of my poems in print, and this new anthology from Nosy Crow – A WHALE OF A TIME – is an absolute stunner of a book. It’s a whopper too! A glorious, full-colour, large-size hardback book that’s as heavy as a Labrador puppy. There’s a funny poem for every day of the year; my The Unknown Jelly Baby poem is 11th December.