The Reading is Magic Festival is a fantastic on-line event running 2nd – 6th October 2023. World-class writers, illustrators and poets celebrate reading and books with a wonderful variety of video sessions which can be streamed free at school or home.
Find the full list of events here: https://www.readingismagicfestival.com/events
Themes taken from Cressida Cowell’s Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate Charter are woven throughout the festival week. Each of the events will address one or more of the five point charter, declaring that ‘every child has the right to…
- … be creative for at least 15 minutes a week
- … have a planet to read on
- … see themselves reflected in a book
- …have some choice in what they read
- … read for the joy of it
I’m thrilled to be a Reading Is Magic Festival Ambassador championing an incredibly exciting event – Cursed Crown by Katherine Webber and Catherine Doyle! Plan to join in Tuesday 3rd October 10:30 – 11:00 AM.
Age Guideline: 13+
About the Event
Join the bestselling authors and real-life sisters-in-law Katherine Webber and Catherine Doyle, who have joined forces to create a YA fantasy that is bursting with high-stakes adventure, romance and humour. Cursed Crowns is the perfect read for fans of Alice Oseman, Sarah J Maas and Stephanie Garber.
About the Authors
Catherine Doyle is originally from the West Coast of Ireland, in Galway, which is where she now lives with her husband Jack (Katherine’s brother!) and their dog Cali. In addition to writing Twin Crowns and Cursed Crowns, Cat also writes YA on her own and is the author of the bestselling and award-winning Storm Keepers Island trilogy, as well as the standalone Christmas Carol retelling Miracle on Ebenezer Street and The Lost Girl King.
Katherine Webber is from Southern California and spent much of her childhood in the Palm Springs desert. Her debut YA novel was the critically acclaimed Wing Jones. She also cowrites the Sam Wu is Not Afraid and Sunday Times bestselling Dragon Mountain series with her husband, Kevin Tsang. She has two young daughters. Before writing full time she worked at the reading charity BookTrust.
Twitter: @kwebberwrites & @doyle_cat
Preparing for the event:
- Share the Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate Charter. If students were to write a reading charter, what would they include? Why are these statements so important for readers of all ages?
- Introduce your students to the authors. Share a selection of Katherine Webber and Catherine Doyle‘s books. Has anyone read any of these? What do these books suggest about their writing style and favourite genres?
- Introduce your students to the Twin Crowns series. Has anyone read the first book? Share the blurb, book reviews and watch video trailers for Twin Crowns.
- Discuss the genre of Young Adult Fantasy Romance. What features would you expect to find? The Twin Crowns series is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Sarah J Maas and Stephanie Garber. Is anyone familiar with these authors?
- The setting for the Twin Crowns series was inspired by the ruggedness of Western Ireland. Look at photographs of imposing castles, rocky cliffs, stormy seas and green fields.
After the Event:
- Set up a book club for students who would like to read and discuss the Twin Crowns series.
- The authors talk about world building and creating a mood board. Challenge students to find images, colours and words that inspire them and put them together into a mood board for a story.
- The Twin Crowns series is the story of twin sisters – a witch and a princess – seperated at birth who come back together. Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber wrote this story collaboratively. Challenge students to write a dual-narrative story with a friend using tips from these authors.
Follow these links to find out more or purchase on-line:
Bookshop.org:
Amazon:
Books by Kate Heap:
Scope for Imagination 