Mark Dorey

Hi there, my name is Mark and I just love telling stories!

As a father of three children, one in High school, one Home Schooled, and one now grown up, I’ve always loved reading and telling stories! With over 30 years writing experience, I am passionate about engaging our youngsters to not only read more, but also to pick up their pens (or their tablets) and get writing themselves!

Children never get tired of having stories read to them, which is even more brilliant when those telling the stories are the authors themselves! Our storytelling sessions are designed for children of all ages, from Foundation phase (Nursery & Reception), right through Juniors and into Secondary education.

As a full member of the Society of Authors and someone who has performed poetry and Spoken Word at events all over Wales with National Theatre Wales, I know all too well how words can ignite and excite people’s imaginations.

All our storytelling sessions include a Meet & Greet the Author (normally scheduled on another day), where the children get the chance to meet with me for a little chat, and also to buy their own signed and personalised copy of a book!

All our storytelling sessions are interactive, informative, inspiring and fun, with kids asking all kinds of wonderful and sometimes very off-the-wall questions, so  there's never a dull moment!

Here is a summary of what I cover in a typical session (using PowerPoint), although elements of this can be tailored to individual requirements:

Bringing a Book to Life using our best selling book Polly's Magic Bubbles and the Quest for Dizzelwood

• Inspiration is everywhere - how you can capture and develop  your initial ideas!
• Character Development - showing the children how characters are created and developed.
• Illustrating Your Book - explaining why we chose to illustrate our children's books.
• Drafting Your Story - explaining the importance of drafting and showing how to do it!
• Storytelling - where I storytell (with accompanying illustrations and not reading from a book), which really gets the kids excited and involved! Normally, after a few minutes, they are all joining in with their own sound effects and actions!
• Original Book Illustrations - showing some of Liz's original watercolour illustrations on large A2 paper.
• Book Cover Design - showing the importance of book cover design, and how we do it from start to finish.
• 500 Word Storyboard Challenge - can they write their own 500 words masterpiece?
• Question and Answer session about writing and what it's like to be an author.

Our aim is to encourage the children’s love for stories, so that by the time I leave they are already picking up a book to read, or even start writing one themselves!

Based in South Wales, I am fully DBS checked. 

Our Creative Writing and Storytelling sessions are one hour for KS2, a little more for pupils in Secondary school, and a little less for Foundation aged children.

The price for both sessions (Storytelling & Meet the Author Book Signing) is £125 which includes signed school library books.

Sessions can be tailored to individual school requirements. 

These interactive workshops provide a real insight into how we bring our books to life, and how the children too can become aspiring authors themselves! 

We have also developed a number of themed workshops including:

A Health & Wellbeing Storytelling Session using our book Midge - Prince of the Giants focussing on the Importance of Friendship and how children can Become true Giants in becoming better friends!

A Space Storytelling Workshop - Blast Off into Space with our Space Themed Workshop, where children put together their own Space Story Maps & Create their own books!

The Story of the Welsh Flag Workshop (Ideal for St David's Day) - a fun session where children discover the mysteries of why the Welsh Flag has a red dragon on it as well as creating their own books!

In addition, we have a Reading With Your Child session which highlights the importance and advantages of setting aside time to read with your children. There is also an opportunity to sit in on a storytelling session with your children as I take you through two of our picture books: Can We Walk to the Moon? and How High Do Trees Grow?

We also have a number of Christian themed titles explaining the Gospel in simple terms which are ideal as a basis for Religious Education talks.

We have also created our exciting Story Creators Virtual Course for Schools

See our video at the bottom of this page or click here and visit Story Creators on our website for more details

For more information, scroll down the page, or if you would like us to come to your area or simply find out more, please email Mark: tomsercat@gmail.com or call on 07846 994 916.

"You are a great storyteller! You captured the children's attention and imaginations so well. You shared your genuine passion and enthusiasm with honesty. The children and teachers loved it. We wish you all the best! Keep telling and writing stories."

Miss Little, Mrs Kaur & Miss Jones, Kitchener Primary School, Cardiff

“What a fantastic morning we had. Mark was so interactive with the children, they were so engaged and enthusiastic. Both stories were great and the illustrations matched perfectly. Thank you for coming to our school!

Lisa Hearn, Deputy Head, Bryntirion Infant School, Bridgend