Out of my Comfort Zone -- and Having Fun by Sheena Wilkinson

My helpers 

I don't really 'do' small children. Never having had any children of my own, or any nieces or nephews, I've had little to do with them. When I do primary school visits, I insist that the minimum age I'll work with is nine. Which makes sense -- I've written books for middle grade, teen, young adult and adult, but nothing for smaller kids. 

But this post comes to you after a full day of reading to Very Small Children Indeed, including babies in prams. Reader, I am shattered! But what fun it was, and I've decided to tell you about it, partly because those of you who are writers might also find you're asked to do something you didn't think you could, and end up rather enjoying. And in the current financial and intellectual climate, we could all do with maximising our chance to earn money. 

One of my main roles over the last ten years has been as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. The RLF is the world's oldest literary charity, founded in 1790 with a remit to support writers. Their ethos is simple: writers matter because writing matters. And they put their money where their mouth is in various ways: giving grants to writers in need, but also giving writers work in a wide range of educational and community settings. I like to see them as a matchmaker: matching up the writers' skills with people who would benefit from them. I started off in 2015 as a Writing Fellow in a university, helping students with their essays, and since then have delivered various kinds of workshops in universities, schools, workplaces, mental healthcare settings and more. 

What has this to do with reading 'Piglet Meets a Heffalump' to Very Small Children Indeed?

Well, the RLF derives most of its income from authors' estates (mine won't be worth much, but I'm going to make sure I give them something) and one of their most high-profile donors was A.A. Milne, most famous, of course, as the writer of Winnie-the-Pooh. Next year is the centenary of the publication of the first WTP book, and  there will be celebrations in lots of places, starting off in my very own Northern Ireland. 

Disney, Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Literary Fund have got together to transform part of the grounds of Hillsborough Castle in County Down into a storybook wonderland: Winnie-the-Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Every Saturday a different RLF author will bring the world of Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood to life. My remit -- being local I was the first of the authors to give it a go -- was to read from WTP as well as from my own work. 

I was well looked after by everyone -- by the RLF (as always!) and by representatives of Disney and the staff at Hillsborough, but the biggest thanks must go to my own old toys, pictured at the top. I wasn't sure who would turn up to Owl's Storytelling Corner, but I was pretty sure they would be Too Young for my own books. And so it proved. The children ranged from eleven-ish down to nought-ish, with the average being about four. They had never heard of me or my books; they just wanted a story. Luckily I had chosen 'Piglet Meets a Heffalump' which is a Very Satisfying Story Indeed. 

I had brought Betjeman Bear, Blue and Scottish Toby along simply to look cute, along with a 'hunny' jar but very soon I pressed them into service to act it all out. After all, long before Disney, the original Pooh characters were based on real toys owned by Milne's son Christopher, so perhaps it was fitting that my scruffy old toys* played their part. Betjeman made a dignified Christopher Robin; Blue, who has sat on my bed for 56 years, did not deserve to have his head jammed into a hunny pot for the entertainment of small children, but he has survived worse over the years, and Scottish Toby made a surprisingly convincing Piglet. 

I learned a lot today. I learned that if you let one child hold one bear, you have to let her tiny sister hold the other one, even if the latter's nose is dripping snot which she is cheerfully rubbing with the same hands she is holding out for the bear. I learned that small children love being asked to give 'a loud roar of sadness and despair' in Heffalumpish style, even if they do not know what all the words mean. And I learned that sometimes, doing something outside your comfort zone can be Jolly Good Fun.

*Betjeman Bear requests that I point out that he is neither old nor scruffy, but is in fact a beautiful handmade bear sewn by my friend Elizabeth and is no more than twenty years old and therefore Very Young Indeed.