A group of Garston schoolchildren have helped a local author bring her novel to life.
Caroline Boxall was working as a catch-up teacher at Cherry Tree Primary School in Garston, supporting children who had fallen behind during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the school’s headteacher, Cheska Tyler, asked if Caroline would like to run a book club, she jumped at the idea.
Caroline shared with pupils that she was writing a book of her own, and invited them to contribute to the creative process. The children took to the task with gusto and became collaborators in writing Caroline’s book.
She said: “It’s every writer’s dream come true – to have your audience there analysing the book as you write it. The children made lots of suggestions and were so helpful.”
Some of the characters are even named after the pupils themselves – although, Caroline hastens to add, the characters are not actually based on the children.
The end product is The Secret Children of Mumbai, which Caroline self-published on March 1. It is a sequel to her book, The Runaway Children of Chennai, and was inspired by Caroline’s meeting with the founder of Railway Children, a charity which works with young homeless people. Caroline’s books are based on real stories collected from staff at the charity.
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