Scottish Friendly Book Tour - Report with pics!

A fortnight ago Lorenzo and I joined forces with Scottish Friendly and The Scottish Book Trust to bring our brand of creativity and abject silliness to the classrooms of North and South Lanarkshire. In five days we met, entertained, inspired and giggled with thousands of young artists and writers. 

The tour was fantastic from start to finish and our chaperones, Chris and Beth, made sure we were ready for action and well armed with good food, drink and cheer. It was a magical week in their company, which ended with them presenting us with two x amazing artistic creations, each depicting a stage of our Scottish travels in miniature form. Look at the wonder on our faces!

During the week, I kept a blog running over on the Scottish Book Trust facebook page which you can read in full HERE without even having to login. Just scroll down their page for lots and lots more detail from the road including a rather infamous injury incurred on a miniature golf course. Let’s just say this for now – Lorenzo should probably stick to drawing…

But what does an Etherington tour look like? Well, we start by finding a hotel that has a unique character, for instance, one that is attached to a theme park (this was the view from my window)...

Then we add a little of this...

A ton of this...

A wonderful amount of this and this...

If we're very lucky the children add things like this (just seen in left foreground, handmade versions of the case from Baggage, the snowglobe from Baggage - including castle! - and even, hidden behind me, a replica diorama of the BonkersBall stadium from Baggage!!!!)...

Eventually, after ten great shows, we usually end up looking like this...

Aside from Chris and Beth and all the students and teachers we met over the week, a final special thanks must go to Scottish Friendly for facilitating such an incredible experience, not just for us, but for every author or illustrator lucky enough to join the tour. We'll never forget our adventure!