In this post I am going to tell you about the author visit at my school that happened on Wednesday this week. Abi Elphinstone came to my primary school and talked about her adventures that she went on to be as good an author as she is today. So, let's get into this post!
She arrived at school at lunchtime, and began setting up ready for her afternoon talk. Everyone in Year 6 (it was a Year 6 exclusive) was excitedly talking about it on the playground as they ate their lunch, as this was our first ever author visit that our year have experienced.
We had been reading The Dream Snatcher, a book by Abi, as our class book, and everyone was enjoying it, but in the end we didn't finish it, and only got about halfway through. We knew the main bits though. The book is about Moll, and about how she has to find three amulets (found over the series) to save her family and friends from a dark force called the Shadowmasks.
First Abi talked about a book that is coming out next January. We got a special insight of the characters in the story; it was very interesting and inspiring. The story idea started from a picture of a 13-year-old Mongolian eagle huntress called Aisholpan. Abi immediately travelled to Mongolia to meet Aisholpan, finding out that she was the only girl eagle huntress in her tribe. She flew there via Russian airline Aeroflot, and at first arrived at the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, and spent the day visiting a Gandan monastery which had been destroyed by communists in 1938. After that, she flew to the far western capital, Ulgii, and set off to the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park.
Abi was staying with a Mongolian family (in their ger, meaning felt house) in the mountains, and ate the Five Fingers Meal, which in Mongolian is Beshbarmak, that you eat with your hands.
She then wore fourteen layers to bed as it was so cold, and the next morning one member of the family she and her husband were staying with took them out fox hunting. Mongolian families hunt for foxes for the winter to keep warm, as it gets very cold there.
The next day Abi met a wolf, which was partly tamed, but you could only touch it for about five seconds before it ran off. She also travelled to the Eagle Hunter Festival just outside of Ulgii.
Next she talked about her inspiration for The Dream Snatcher series, showing us stunning pictures of beautiful views and underground caves from her travels.
She revealed some strange items to us which she collected from Mongolia and other countries, and then explained what they were and how they helped her think of the ideas for her exciting adventure stories. At the end, she did a Q&A, and some children in my year asked questions about the books and her ideas. After that, we retrieved our money and bought a book to be signed. I got The Night Spinner, the last book in the series, and got it signed. I also got two signed stickers so that when I buy the others I can put them in and it will be signed.
Overall it was an amazing experience to meet a real-life author, and to see what makes her brain tick and ideas arrive. Thank you for reading this post, and see you next time on my blog! 😊📚
Aisholpan
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