Bad Panda at Wokingham Children’s Book Festival

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

I was flying solo without my partner-in-books, Sheena Dempsey, at Wokingham Children’s Book Festival today.

Despite a couple of Powerpoint hitches, I had a fantastic time, ably assisted by Gemma and Sally from Wokingham Town Council. I talked about the inspiration behind Bad Panda and shared some tricks and tips for planning stories. We heard about pandas in orchards, pandas playing football, pandas travelling to Brazil and even pandas who time-travel!

Thank you so much to everyone who came along and got involved – I can’t wait to hear all your panda stories.

Bad Panda at the International School of Paris

Swapna HaddowThe Bad Panda Club

Today, I dropped in an author Zoom to see Grade 2 at the International School of Paris in France.

We spoke about Bad Panda and I gave them my top tips on planning a story using objects in the classroom. The pupils had heaps of questions for me and I told them all about where ideas come from and how to make a book.

Thank you so much to the brilliant staff and pupils at ISP for such a bearilliant event.

University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence

Swapna HaddowChildren's Writer in Residence

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be the University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence 2022. I’m so honoured (and a little bit daunted) to follow in the footsteps of previous fellows – all of whom are my writing heroes.

I’ll be blogging about my experience so stay tuned next year to hear what I get up to.

All About Diwali arrives!

Swapna HaddowScrapbook

Happy Publication Day to All About Diwali by me and Aditi Kakade Beaufrand!

This book is stunning!

Illustrated throughtout by the immensely talented Aditi, the book is packed full of facts, recipes and activities to get you in the mood for Diwali later this year.