  • Tracey Hawkins

Launching Leaping Lola in London, UK

Updated: Aug 5, 2019

Day 1 London May 2019

What a thrilling moment for me as an author seeing my new book Leaping Lola and the new print release of Max Meets a Monster in a delightful English bookstore in London, UK. (As you can imagine I was beyond excited to see the books, as I hadn't even seen them until this very moment)


And yes, I did a happy dance or two :) That was a great way to get over jet lag.



The staff at Nomads were so excited to see me in the store prior to the event, they took lots of photos, and sent off tweets and instagram updates.


Day 2 London


The next morning I was headed out for the first of my book launching events of the day. It was a big day ahead.

I love the adventure of getting around London on the Underground.




When I found myself in front of the big wrought iron gates of St James Prep School, London I was very excited. I was also lucky to have my daughter visiting with me (she lives in Scotland) and Henry, the Marketing Manager from New Frontier Publishing.



After registering and passing security we were led to the junior section of the school.

My morning started with a visit with the very sweet and tiny four-years-old Reception children .

The children loved the book readings and boy oh boy what hilarious fun we had making cow statues while dancing. That was a disruptive moment in their day but filled with lots of laughter.


I was delighted by the amazing group hug I received at the end of the session.




My next session was with a large gathering of Year One classes.




The year one's were so much older at 6 years of age and most inquisitive. I was asked lots of questions about Australia. Such as, how did I get to London? They couldn't believe how far away Australia actually is when I told them the length of time it takes to fly there.

I also described my home town. The country aspect of Canberra, the bush capital, and how it differed from London.

The kids were fascinated with descriptions of screeching cockatoos that I see everyday and the kangaroos (large herds) that live in the grasslands and reserves nearby.


I then explained how I find ideas for my books and the story behind Max & Lola's creation. Many of the children knew what a cow was, but had never seen a dairy farm and certainly they didn't get to see cows grazing in fields in the city of London. I shared some amazing facts on cows which made them giggle.


Did you know Holstein cows( that's the black & white cows) can weigh more than a grizzly bear?





It was wonderful to read my books and the children loved the stories.




I was thrilled to sign copies of both books for some very excited children and then it was time for lunch with my publisher.

I caught a big red London bus across the city.


After lunch look what I found on the way to the book launch at Nomad Books :) Her name was Daisy.


Nomad Books

Finally the big event had arrived.

It was time to launch Leaping Lola .


It's always so exciting launching a new book.

I got to speak with the guests and then I read both books. We also danced and pirouetted like Lola did at the ball.


What a sensational time we had. There was of course lots of laughter. Lots of twirling and whirling. Leaping was essential of course. While I signed books, the children enjoyed colouring in.


Nomad Books is a magical bookshop with a huge area devoted to Children's books. I hope to return there for another launch one day.

You can visit their website here. https://nomadbooks.co.uk

Introducing Lola and Max to my audience.


Showing the children some dance moves.


Colouring in is always fun.

More book signing :)



Day 4 London

My last author event was at the Maida Vale Library.








Yes more London bus travel.





Sadly, after five days, my time in London had come to an end. It had been a wonderful experience introducing Leaping Lola to children on the other side of the world.


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