The Bear in our Backyard - Storytelling and Puppetry Performance

Ages 4 - 8 years

Emma brings story to life in this fabulously fun and theatrical presentation. Set to a portable backdrop, and specially composed music, children engage with the huge mummy bear puppet (and her friends) through song, dance, rhythm and rhyme. Depending on the age of the children and the length of the session, Emma also discusses storytelling through illustration, enabling students to become story detectives and discover clues in the visual narrative of her stories.

The Lion in our Living Room - Storytelling and Puppetry Performance

Ages 4 - 8 years

Based on the lion character from The Lion in our Living Room, Emma engages and entertains students with a theatrical incursion of story, rhyme, rhythm and sing-along fun. Set to a portable backdrop and specially composed music, the lion puppet (and his friends) engage students as the elements of story are brought to life. Depending on the age of the children and the length of the session, Emma also discusses storytelling through illustration, enabling students to become story detectives and discover the clues in the visual narrative of her stories.

Character Building with Words and Pictures

(Adapted for grades 3 - 6)

Emma shares insights, tips and techniques to create engaging characters with words and illustration using examples from her recent books. Students will have the opportunity to bring their own character to life using the five senses in a creative writing exercise and a guided drawing session.

Patience, Persistence and Learning from Others

Grades 2-6 

An inspiring power point presentation based around Emma's journey as a children’s author and illustrator. This talk inspires students to have patience, persistence and an open mind to learning; encouraging students to follow their own dreams. Emma adapts this talk for the different age groups with a drawing exercise for the younger grades and an oral language exercise for the older students.

Bringing Language to Life

Grades 2-4 

In this talk Emma shares the many ways authors bring stories to life with the use of interesting language, sensory description, figurative speech, made-up words and visual narrative. We compare the same story written in a nondescript fashion as opposed to the original story that features alluring language. We analyse and name some of the language devices used in the texts. Students will have the opportunity to explore alliteration, make up their own new word and transform a plain sentence into a more exciting sentence to share with the class if they wish. This workshop is an opportunity to have fun and play with words.