Live author session with Hannah Gold and Levi Pinfold

This morning, we took part in the live school launch of Turtle Moon: the latest book from the amazing author, Hannah Gold.

The illustrator spent some time talking about just how long it takes him to craft the illustrations once he has received the manuscript. He can spend up to 8 hours just deciding on the composition of the images needed, before adding in the detail. He also told us how he got to know the anatomy of the turtles to help with how to get the shapes and sizes correct - he actually found it most useful to look at the skeletons!

The author, Hannah, then told us that she loves animals and the world and that is her inspiration for the books. They are all based on real places and real animals. She talked a little about her previous books before beginning to tell us about Turtle Moon.

She told us about the threats that the turtles in Costa Rica are up against, in particular the eggs which is the focus of this story.

Hannah told us that she always wanted to be a writer and she wrote in secret! She was extremely shy and didn’t think she could do it, but after a while, she had the courage to go for it and write The Last Bear! Her dreams came true! Perseverance is the key!

Finally, we joined in with a short quiz; it was fascinating to see all of the languages that her books have been translated into and find out some incredible facts about turtles. We also learned how to be a sea turtle superhero! What a fabulous, inspirational session!