Details
About The Author
Richard Monte is author of The Mermaid of Warsaw (Frances Lincoln, 2011) and The Dragon of Krakow (Frances Lincoln, 2008), collections of folk tales inspired by his frequent travels around Poland with his Polish wife and two children. He has been to the three major cities, Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, as well as staying on the Baltic Coast and in the Tatra Mountains.
His other book for children is The Flood Tales (Pavilion, 2000) an environmental interpretation of the Noah's Ark Story.
Richard is a regular reviewer of books for Carousel Magazine and has published articles and reviews in History Today, the BBC History Magazine and Scholastic Education Plus (www.education.scholastic.co.uk/content/9800)
An interview with Richard can be found at: www.authorhotline.com/richardmonte
Author Visits
Map-making, quizzes and lively Q&A sessions about his writing and experiences in Poland, have proved to be popular with children aged 7-12. Richard's books get children thinking about other cultures. His folk tales have been used successfully in the classroom, to encourage children to explore the history and geography of another country:
'I bought The Dragon of Krakow and other Polish stories to help me create some literacy work/international coverage for my year 4 class.
The stories are fantastic. They captured my classes' imaginations.
The blurb has also been very useful in the Geography elements. It plots the cities where many of the stories come from. We used this for some map work. The children and I have all enjoyed the international week, which was made all the more interesting through using this book'. - D Norman, teacher
The tales are also perfect for reading out loud:
'Start with the story of the Dragon of Krakow in which the threatening dragon is tricked by a shoemaker, and your class will call out for more.' - Scholastic Best Books of 2008
Booking A Visit
Richard is based in St Albans, Hertfordshire and mainly visits schools in the Home Counties and London. To arrange a booking or to enquire about fees and other locations, please make a Booking Enquiry above.
Festivals Attended
Linton Children's Book Festival, Linton, Cambridgeshire
Schools Visited
Walmer Science College, Deal
Our Lady of the Visitation, RC Primary, Greenford
Mount Carmel, Northfields, Ealing
St Mark's RC Primary, Hounslow
Warden Hill Junior School, Luton
'The children and staff I have spoken to enjoyed your day with us very much.' Mark Welch, Headteacher
William Ransom School, Hitchin
Thomas Coram Church of England School, Berkhamsted
Hillingdon Schools' Picture Book of the Year Award 2014
Millbrook Junior School, Kettering
Hamilton Academy, High Wycombe
St Polycarp's RC Primary School, Farnham
Morley Memorial Primary School, Cambridge
Holtsmere End Junior School, Hemel Hempstead
'On Thursday 5th March,Richard Monte came to school as it was World Book Day. He told us all about his books and different things about himself. He gave us great tips on how to write stories. He read us a tale from the “The dragon of Krakow”. The tale was called “The king who was eaten by mice”. The tale was about a wicked king and queen. The king ate all the villagers food. The villagers got fed up so they had a meeting. They all had ideas but they listened to a mouse’s idea. The mice scampered to the palace and chased the king and queen to a tower on an island and killed them. Then the author asked us questions. After this, we asked him questions about being an author. We had a good time with Richard Monte!' By Molly & Ruth Y4
Roundwood Primary School, Harpenden
Garden City Academy, Letchworth
Priory Academy, Dunstable
