An author visited a Hitchin primary school on Tuesday to share his new book with the children.

Richard Mayers, author of the Spikez series, showed his latest hedgehog-themed picture book to kids from Years 1 and 2 at Samuel Lucas JMI – showing the illustrations on an interactive whiteboard and reading the story to them.

Samuel Lucas deputy head Lorraine Painter said the Year 1 group loved listening to the yet-to-be published story and hearing about how illustrations in the book were created from collages of photos and drawings.

The Year 2 children also enjoyed the story, and asked questions such as when Richard first wrote a book.

Richard gave the children tips about writing, telling them to write about what they know and to look, listen and ask questions.

Miss Painter said: “All our pupils are going to be working on their 500-word stories for the Radio 2 competition, so it was really good for the Year 2 children to meet a real author and get some ideas.”