EDUCATION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
COMPREHENSIVELY ACCLAIMED
A JOURNEY FROM FATHER / DAUGHTER WRITING DUO TO PUBLISHED EDUCATIONAL AUTHORS BY JESS MARSHALL
“ THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE THE IMAGINATION OF A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD TO GET PAST THE INEVITABLE BLOCKS IN COMPOSING A NARRATIVE . THEY SIMPLY HAVE NO CONCEPTION OF THE TEDIOUS RESTRICTIONS OF ADULT LOGIC , AND CREATING THE STORY IS ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING AND SATISFYING THINGS I ’ VE DONE IN THIRTY YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL WRITER .”
We feature a lot of authors in insideKENT , but never before have we featured a Kentish father / daughter writing team , but that is all about to change . This issue we sat down with Tunbridge Wells-based Andrew and Lana Wallace , authors of Amazon bestselling children ’ s book sensation Imelda & the Horned Owl to find out how their unique adventure started , how Lana feels about being a published author at just 10 years old , how it came to be that educational publisher CGP Books got involved , and how Andrew feels comprehension work at school impacted his future career …
It was a summer ' s day in 2018 when professional writer and author Andrew Wallace ’ s 7-year-old daughter Lana gave him the opportunity to embark on a new and exciting literary adventure with her . After handing him a picture of a girl and a ‘ strange figure with four arms , horns , and a tail ’ walking together down a twisted road , she explained to her dad that the girl was Imelda , her friend was the Horned Owl and they were travelling down the Magic Pathway . Andrew decided these nuggets of imaginative gold could not go to waste and so started jotting down her ideas in a notebook . ‘ As she described the amazing world of Nightshine , I strung them together by thinking about character detail , and how the history and personality of these individuals might inform a plot .’
Fast forward to 2022 and Imelda & the Horned Owl is a bestseller in several categories on Amazon , and has been chosen by educational publisher CGP Books to be featured in their Key Stage 2 Comprehension Book , helping thousands of British children learn the building blocks of writing . When we asked Andrew how this incredible opportunity came about , he explained ; ‘ To begin with I wasn ’ t quite sure what to make of this odd email . However , when I looked up the company I found it was from one of the biggest educational publishers in the UK . CGP explained they were impressed with how the book had been co-written by a child who was the right age for the comprehension book .’
Once the book was given the go-ahead , Andrew asked his publisher how many copies CGP intended to print , ‘ 75,000 over five years ,’ she said . ‘ I needed a sit-down after that !’ After experiencing such success with her debut book , we asked how Lana has reacted to the incredible achievement that is Imelda & the Horned Owl , Andrew replied delightedly ; ‘ She is very modest , but quietly delighted . Sometimes when we sign copies , she writes her name in small writing , as if hoping no one will notice , while also being happy that her name is there .’
Lastly , as Imelda & the Horned Owl will be educating the youth of the nation for a minimum of 5 years , we wanted to understand how Andrew feels that his own comprehension work at school impacted his future as a writer and author . ‘ It helped me appreciate how a piece of writing works – how reading and writing is not just about the words but how they fit together to have a particular effect on the reader .’
Imelda & the Horned Owl is available via Amazon . www . andrewwallace . me AndrewWallaceDR
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