The magic of books and art was celebrated at five East Dunbartonshire primary schools recently as around 200 pupils enjoyed a visit from talented Deaf illustrator Lucy Rogers during her Inclusive Stories Tour, in partnership with the Scottish Book Trust.
She introduced pupils in Baldernock, Baljaffray, Harestanes, Holy Family and Wester Cleddens Primary Schools to her illustrations and talked about her experiences growing up attending mainstream schools and how that shaped her understanding of the importance of positive disability representation in literature.
Pupils enjoyed a lively British Sign Language (BSL) storytime with readings from ‘Jazz and Pop’s Adventure’ by Tarnelia Matthews and ‘The Night the Moon Went Out’ by Samantha Baines both of which were illustrated by Lucy.
They then took part in a fun draw-along session, where Lucy helped them bring characters to life followed by a Q&A session and chat about Lucy’s work.
Councillor Lynda Williamson, Convener of the Council’s Education Committee, said, “This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see books brought to life by someone directly involved in their creation.
Lucy was able to bring a unique perspective and sharing her experiences with the children definitely had an impact. Her visits were a huge hit and I am sure Lucy’s inspirational stories will have ignited the spark of creativity in many of the pupils involved.
Some of the pupils who took part, gave this glowing feedback:
- "I liked watching the lady doing sign language when we listened to the story"
- "It was amazing to see books with disabled characters in them"
- "I loved getting my own illustration signed by Lucy"
- “I enjoyed learning about Lucy’s life and her inspiration to become an illustrator”
- “I enjoyed learning some new BSL signs. She showed us that’s it ok to be different“
- “It was nice to see someone representing BSL which we use in our class.”
