Sarah, our resident display magician, takes inspiration from Alice in Wonderland as she looks to the future.

Wanting to encourage children into reading and writing? Often there is no better inspiration than looking to a local hero, and being based in Cheshire, many of our subscribing schools are not too far from the beautiful village of Daresbury and birthplace of one of the world’s most famous children’s authors, Lewis Carroll.

One Day in Wonderland: A Celebration of Lewis Carroll’s Alice by Kathleen Krull and Júlia Sardà explains how the story of Alice came to be written as well as giving  some interesting insights into the man who created such renowned characters as the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat. This book – which can be found in our biography section – is also interlaced with many of Carroll’s invented words so that no child (or teacher) reading it will be uffish or left feeling tulgey.

Its gorgeous illustrations in an opulent colour palette will also be a welcome addition to one of the first displays we will be creating when lockdown is all locked up and we can climb back out of our own holes and open the doors to ELS once again.  Until then, here is an idea of how it might look with a Mad Hatters hat (crafted from cardboard, black material, sticky tape and recycled ribbon,) an incomplete deck of cards (deliberately kept in a craft box just waiting for an occasion to be used,) a miniature teapot and cup (a Christmas gift but with an aptly timed phrase ‘enjoy a cup of positivity’ and the symbol of the moment on it) and last but not least, a cuddly toy rabbit.

I’m sure once the real display is up in situ there’ll also be cupcake decorations and other frabjous items to marvel at while you take a seat, enjoy a nice warm drink from the coffee machine and smile like a Cheshire Cat knowing all the reading resources you’ll need are under one roof. Until then, why not get thinking about which books you could use as a starting point for your displays and which other authors might inspire your students to create a world where anything wonderful can happen.