Andy Seed: about me
I am an established children’s author of non-fiction, fiction and humorous poetry for ages 6-11, specialising in exciting school visits which promote reading for pleasure.
My books include the following:
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:
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.
Andy was incredible at raising the profile of reading and writing for pleasure. From the beginning he was friendly, had a really good relationship with the children and had us all laughing. I had really good feedback from staff about the workshops he ran right from reception to year 6, which is very impressive. He helped to achieve our aim of encouraging reading for pleasure and all the children wanted to do was read his books! Thank you Andy for a great day and an experience the children will never forget.