Truro High pupil gets a surprise from the Children’s Laureate

Prep 6 Molly Adams wrote to her favourite author, Chris Riddell, creator of characters such as Goth Girl and Ottoline, as part of a class project to contact well known writers. She also asked the author some questions about his writing but never imagined the response that she would get.

Paul Crump, Molly’s English teacher explained: “Molly used my email address to contact Chris Riddell and I could hardly believe my eyes when, a few days later, up popped a reply. Not only that, but when I opened the email, the contents were better than anything we could ever have hoped for.”

Indeed the Children’s Laureate had really gone to town, illustrating each of Molly’s four questions, along with his answers, in a series of hand drawn cartoons.

Mr Crump said: “Chris Riddell has taken such trouble to communicate with Molly and it is something she and her classmates will never forget. I showed his email to my colleagues in the staff room and there was barely a dry eye in the house. We are all very touched and would love him to come and visit us if ever he is in Cornwall.”

Molly has been a firm fan of Chris Riddell’s books for some time, proudly pointing out that she was the first in her class to buy each of his two latest books.