Pari Thomson - Greenwild (KS2 School Events)

Greenwild follows the adventures of Daisy, who finds a door in Kew Gardens that leads her to a botanical garden where nature is alive with magic - think chocolate trees, wish-granting seeds and giant lily-pad boats. There, Daisy encounters green magic, botanists, and a dangerous presence that threatens nature itself. The story is inspired by botanical gardens around the world - and the various natural settings that Pari lived in and experienced growing up, such as New Delhi. On launch, Greenwild received rave reviews right across the nationals: The Times, for which it was Children's Book of the Week, said: "‘The scene-setting is exquisite and the writing a delight."; The Telegraph, which gave it a 5* review, said: " Thomson is a razor-quick writer, who always keeps the reader tottering near a cliff" and The Observer called it a "richly imagined adventure".
 
Pari's school events are brilliantly interactive - she introduces the magical world of Greenwild to students and how it is accessed via a door in kew Gardens, and then gets students to come up with their own portals to other worlds and then share the ideas altogether. Elsewhere, she does a reading, talks about the book's inspirations, and details her writing life. There is also a Q&A. Students will come away feeling inspired to both pen their own magical worlds and look for the magic in the natural world around them.