Andy Seed

Awards

• Blue Peter Book Award - winner 2015
• Blue Peter Book Award - shortlisted 2016
• North Somerset Teachers' Book Award 2016 - shortlisted

Organisations

• Scattered Authors Society.
• Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
• National Association of Writers in Education
• Society of Authors

Details

Andy Seed: about me
I am an established children’s author of non-fiction, fiction and humorous poetry for ages 7-11, specialising in exciting school visits which promote reading for pleasure.

My books include the following:

• Comic poems, featuring wordplay, rhymes, and a huge range of subjects – my poems feature in over 15 anthologies for children as well as my own exciting collection Razzle Dazzle
• Interactive poetry: poems specially written for primary school children to join in with – these are lively, great fun and tailored to different age groups from 4-11
• Humorous non-fiction including the acclaimed Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff  (winner of the 2015 Blue Peter Book Award, Best Book with Facts)
• Fun novels for KS2 Including Prankenstein
• Various fact/information books
• 3 volumes of humorous memoirs for adults including the best-selling All Teachers Great and Small
• TV comedy sketches, radio sketches, funny greetings cards and short plays.

Teaching experience

I was a primary school teacher for 17 years and a have been an advisory teacher and a lecturer on a various teacher training courses. I now give talks to teachers and trainees about strategies to get children reading for pleasure.

School visits
I offer tailored, inspirational school visits which are all about inspiring children to read and write. Most school visits fall into 3 categories:

1. Interactive poetry: these are lively, fun sessions for ages 4-11 which the children join in with. I usually intersperse the poems with brief talks about writing poems, writing books and life as an author. 30-60 mins is ideal for these sessions, with a maximum of 4 sessions in a day (any size group)

2. Lively mixed sessions to encourage children to read and to inspire them to write. A combination of stories, insights into how writers work, showing books and getting children excited about them, interesting facts, Q&A and lots of ideas for writing - a very popular workshop of 40-90 mins (max 4 a day with large or small groups for ages 5-11).

3. KS3 sessions giving insights into how authors work and why reading is important. Full of fun challenges, jokes, facts, recommended books and more, based on my award-winning non-fiction titles.

Testimonials from schools etc

'All the children from Year 2 to Year 6 were absolutely mesmerised by Andy's interactive, funny and creative workshops. Andy truly inspired the children to want to read for pleasure as well as helping them to see the importance of reading and how they too could become engaging writers themselves. A brilliant day - thank you!' Amanda Savage, English Co-ordinator, St Wilfrid's Primary School

'I wanted to say thank you for a wonderful day last week. The children and staff had such an amazing day and many children (& staff) were left feeling inspired to read & write. The workshops received fantastic feedback and the day was a huge success. Thank you.' Claire Wesley, St Mary's Primary, Richmond

'The boys who came back from the workshops were buzzing!' Lindsay Miller, North Yorkshire English Adviser

'Brilliant start to the celebrations in school for World Book Day ... Andy was just as good with all the classes and managed to keep it interactive even when he worked with 2 classes at a time!' English co-ordinator, Scholes J&I School

Experience of other events

I’ve appeared on TV a number of times, including an interview on the Alan Titchmarsh show on ITV and a live appearance on Blue Peter and BBC Newsround, and have been on both national and local radio talking about books, poetry and humour. 
I carry out talks for a wide range of audiences including adults and children. These include:

• Fun family sessions at festivals
• After dinner speaking
• Talks for writers' groups and other interest groups
• Fun anecdote & poetry evenings for mature audiences
• Talks for teachers about promoting reading for pleasure

Testimonials for adult speaking events:

'Very entertaining, very professional, very funny'

'Really good show - a very enjoyable night out.'

'I just wanted you to know how much we enjoyed last night. First class all night, I thought. Excellent.'

Travelling, money and other details
I am based in Gloucestershire and normally travel anywhere in the UK. I also carry out visits abroad.
Basic cost of a full day £400.

Keywords