February - Artist of the Month – Jenny Valentine
Our February ‘Artist of the Month’ is Author Jenny Valentine.
About Jenny Valentine.
Jenny Valentine is an award-winning writer for children and Young Adults. Her first novel Finding Violet Park won the Guardian prize in 2007 and since then she has written several critically acclaimed books, including Broken Soup, The Ant Colony and the Carnegie shortlisted Fire Colour One, as well as the young fiction series Iggy and Me and the middle grade trilogy A girl called Joy. Her work has been published in 19 countries. In 2017/18 she was the Hay Festival International Fellow, spending the year meeting and learning from young people all over the world. She tries to read slowly, never stops moving and has two daughters.
What a visit from Jenny entails
Jenny Valentine works with all key stages and is happy to be flexible with the format of the day to suit the schools needs.
Example session KS1 and early KS2: 30-45 minutes
Iggy and Me. Whole class storytelling. Talking about families. Art project in groups – snowflakes in winter terms, drawing round and dressing bodies other terms. Literacy project – writing lists. Each art/literacy project correlates to a particular Iggy story. Art projects require scrap paper or rolls of plain wallpaper and pens/paint/collage materials as required.
Example session KS3, KS4 and KS5:
Various creative writing workshops which include focus on beginnings, voice and character, plot structure, empathy, dialogue and editing. Each session offers a chance for both collaborative and individual work. Jenny never really runs the same workshop twice. They don’t adhere to a template, because the students have a huge impact on the work we make.
Jenny is also happy to do whole school talks and assemblies.
As the Hay Festival Fellow 2017/18, Jenny spent a year travelling and listening to teenagers and young people all over the world talk about the issues that mattered to and affected them. She designed and compered a panel event, in which she works with a small group of articulate students who then hold a wider discussion (whole school or year group) with their peers. This has been really fascinating and rewarding. Jenny is happy to tailor this event to suit any particular requirements.
Details on Jenny’s school visits can be found in detail on her author page.
Feedback from Jenny’s previous visits.
'“We all had a fabulous day with Jenny. She was bright, hard-working, fun and had a great energy about her. The students were all still buzzing the following day. I would definitely book Jenny again. I ordered more of her books as they have been ‘going like hotcakes,’ from my shelves.
A big thank you to her and we all look forward to seeing her at some future date”.
Weavers Academy
“Many thanks for organising the visit with Jenny. I have spoken to the staff involved and they were full of praise and staff and pupils had a really inspiring and enjoyable day. We sold all the books”.
“So bubbly and enthusiastic, our Year 2 children thoroughly enjoyed their time with Jenny, it was a lovely afternoon”
“Our Year 6 pupils had a great time, Jenny was warm, open and enthusiastic and really engaged with all our students, a really fun experience for everyone”
St Cedd’s School
Jenny shared her passion for writing and her energy rubbed off on the children! It was a good recommendation and thank you for setting this up...
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Primary School
AIM High / Multiple schools days:
Yesterday was very successful.
The children all said how much they enjoyed the day and I am very impressed with the writing that they produced.
Jenny's gift is to inspire the children and give them the self-confidence and belief to produce their own amazing writing.
I hope we will be able to host her again here at Westfield.
Westfield Primary School
Interview with Jenny Valentine
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
When I was 9, my mum gave me a notebook that looked like a novel on the outside. That was the first time I realised it was possible. I wrote my first book 25 years later, when I was 34. I figured it was time.
How much work and time goes into finishing a book – does it get any easier with practice or is each new project as daunting?
It really varies, and it doesn’t get easier. Each book has its own personality and rhythm. And by the end of every project, I am doing 12 hour days in my pyjamas and forgetting how to cook anything apart from toast.
Which books inspired you growing up?
All books inspired me. I read non-stop. I was frightened of my brother, so books were a great escape. I remember The Magician’s Nephew when I was about 10, the feeling of entering another world entirely. I loved Charlotte’s Web by EB White and The Peppermint Pig by Nina Bawden and Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr. I loved Susan Cooper and Judy Blume and Roald Dahl and SE Hinton and JD Salinger and I always worry about this question because I know I’m forgetting the most important things. I know I’m leaving everything out.
You write for quite a wide age range – are any books easier than others, do you enjoy the variety or approach them in different ways?
The YA books take longer than the middle grade. I think I get more caught up in those. Middle Grade and younger feel like something lighter and more cheerful in between the grittier projects. But whatever I am writing, I try to stay inside the story as much as possible. I forget being me, being the author. That’s the same every time.
Do you prefer writing series such as Joy and Iggy or stand-alone novels?
Each is its own world. The series just feel like the world broken into bite-size chunks. I don’t have a preference.
Your talent has been recognised with quite a few award wins and shortlists – are there any you are particularly proud of?
To win the Guardian Fiction Prize with the first book I ever wrote was the most astonishing and unexpected delight. I remember opening a bottle of something and sitting in the garden and thinking, I will never not be happy again. It was such a surprise.
I was proud of Fire Colour One and the Carnegie shortlist. It was a difficult book to write, for lots of reasons, and I’m glad I managed it.
What do you find most rewarding about school visits?
Children are so generous. There’s always this creative electricity in the room. And we laugh a lot. That’s a rewarding thing.
Do you believe all people have the potential to be writers?
I think everyone can tell a story. Not everyone wants to get into the nuts and bolts of writing it down.
What piece of writing advice do you find most helpful that you would like to share?
Stephen King said in his book On Writing that it’s ok and even beneficial not to know what’s going to happen. If something is a surprise to you then it will definitely surprise your reader. Of course, I know there is structure and organisation in a good story, but it’s not what I think about first. Thanks to Stephen King, I just start and see what happens next.
Some of your books for older readers cover some more sensitive or serious topics. How do you approach these and do you feel fiction books can play an important role in developing empathy and understanding in young people?
I think books play a vital role in developing empathy and understanding. Reading is such an immersive and active experience. It’s unlike anything else.
I approach the more sensitive or serious stuff by being someone in the story who is living through it, not an author preaching a certain lesson from afar.
Do you still need to complete research when crafting works of fiction?
Constantly, in fits and starts. I’m always falling down rabbit holes on the internet.
Although the pandemic is not over, we are slowly returning to normal and you visited a school in Prague in person for us last autumn. How was it returning to visits for International Schools, did you enjoy the experience?
I loved it! Prague is beautiful. The students were so interesting and creative and engaged. The librarian and teachers gave me a wonderful welcome and were brilliantly prepared. A joy from start to finish. Thank You!
You also run AIM High writing days for Authors Abroad. How do these differ from your author visits with us and what do you enjoy about these days?
The AIM High days are so refreshing. I’m not talking about myself and my books, we are just making stories together, sharing ideas and getting lots of work done. I really enjoy teaching creative writing. There is so little space for that kind of freedom in the curriculum, and I feel really proud to be a part of Authors Abroad bringing so much of that into schools.
With school timetables and budgets ever more squeezed and teachers having to make a strong case to host author and poet visitors, what benefits would you argue are brought to the young people if schools host these visits?
You can feel it in the atmosphere. When they meet an author, kids get so excited about their own creative potential. They see what’s possible. They see that people are responsible for stories. I still remember the authors that came to my school, and how it felt to listen to them, telling me secrets. It’s an experience you don’t forget.
What are you working on at the moment?
Literally just about to finish a new YA novel. See above about pyjamas and toast.
What advice would you give to anyone who would like to be a professional writer as a career?
Be patient. Be bold. Be modest. Listen to criticism. And don’t do it for the money.
Quick Fire
Visit space or the deep ocean?
Deep ocean.
Would you prefer to be able to read minds or teleport?
Read minds! 100%.
Board games or computer games?
Both please.
Starter or dessert?
Starter.
What animal would you be most excited to see?
Blue Whale.
If you were Prime Minister for the day, what law would you introduce?
Something about a universal living wage and a higher tax bill for corporations and the silly-rich. I’m sure I’d last 5 minutes.
Arrange for Jenny Valentine to visit your school
To make an enquiry about Jenny, or any of the other authors, poets & illustrators listed on this website, please get in touch. Our office number is +44 (0) 1535 656015,
UK visits
Email: UKbookings@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Or contact Head of UK Visits, Yvonne - 01535 279850
Overseas Visits
Email:Overseasvisits@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Or contact Overseas Manager, Robin - +44(0) 1535 279853