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Earlier this week I had the great honour of penning the
first chapter of The Kent Story - a really innovative idea to
involve 260 schools in reading, writing and illustrating books -
and reading it out to a group of very patient pupils aged from five
to 11 from Oak Trees Community School.
The chapter is the first in 12 books, one for each district,
which will travel from school to school with pupils writing and
illustrating their own contribution to continue the tale.
I've started the story with a chapter about the arrival of twins
Matt and Lily Reagan, born after the First World War to a newly-wed
couple working on a farm on the outskirts of Maidstone.
I was interested to hear what the pupils thought about the story
and whether they had any grandparents who would be able to tell
them about life in the 1920s and 30s.
We talked about transport and how it has changed; how school
would have been different; what it would be like to live through a
war; and how, in 19 years, Matt would be a solider in WWII.
I'm really interested to see how the story develops, and I can't
wait to read the results. You can follow the progress of the books
on our
Kent Story website. If you want to see how I fared with my
audience at Oak Trees, you will be able to watch for yourself on
Kent
TV (link opens in a new window).
The initiative marks the National Year of Reading, and the
finished books will be displayed at County Hall, Maidstone, and
then in libraries across the county.
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