• There was a lot of artwork on the walls of the Sir James Henderson School in Milan this week, But the self-prtraits as nobles of the middle ages really grabbed me. Having photos for the faces really made them look real. This looks like a great project to do. Maybe it helps that the faces kind of resemble the faces that you find in renaissance paintings. Maybe the thing to do would be to find the right time and place in history to take a portrait from that will fit your face. The first thing that comes to my mind is how Wayne Rooney would look good as King Henry VIII, so I did a mashup photo. See what you think?

  • I’m having a wonderful day at Longlevens Infant School today. The children are completely hyper and they have been doing masses of work on my books. I was met in the hall by giant book covers and a wonderful paper mâché model of Viking Vik! These have been made by an artist who visited last week, whose name I didn’t get, But I will when I go back for more fun tomorrow.

    Everyone did fabulous drawings and many had done drawings and paintings for a competition. The four winners had their pictures turned into framed posters, which they were very pleased to receive.

    It’s so wonderful to have a school so prepared and ready for a visit. I was once begged to visit a school on a certain day for their bookweek. When I got there they said they hadn’t told the children I was coming to keep it a surprise! When you see the fantastic reaction today, it’s so obvious that preparing for anyone’s visit pays vast dividends.

    Longlevens is a big, 4 class entry infant’s school, so I only saw half the school today. Really looking forward to seeing everyone else tomorrow!

  • I’m home from Milan – very tired. I met my wife in Nottingham as she was going there to a funeral, so I’ve had a day out in Nottingham on the way home.

    I’m now getting ready to go to Longlevens Infants in Gloucester tomorrow and Friday. See you there! I’ll catch up on Milan later. Now I need to go to bed.