Children's author Mini Grey makes visit to Saffron Walden

CHILDREN S author Mini Grey brought a lion with her when she visited the Parish Rooms as part of the Life in Words Literature Festival on Saturday. But, in the end, it was only the audience who growled, on cue, as Mini told the Cautionary Tale of Jim,

CHILDREN'S author Mini Grey brought a lion with her when she visited the Parish Rooms as part of the Life in Words Literature Festival on Saturday.

But, in the end, it was only the audience who growled, on cue, as Mini told the Cautionary Tale of Jim, who ran away from his Nurse and was Eaten by a Lion, Hilaire Belloc's classic tale which she has just illustrated.

Speaking to a packed audience she explained why so many of her award-winning books are about good things to eat, like Biscuit Bear, Egg Drop, The Pea and the Princess and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon.

Her talk was inspirational for children and adults alike as she demonstrated the stages her books go through - from scribbles in a sketch book to dummy zig-zag books to the real thing - and she delighted everyone by handing out tiny books for the audience to use for their own little stories.

Julia Carmichael, of the Harts Events team which organises the festival, said: "Students on the children's book illustration course at Anglia Ruskin University had found out about Mini's visit and asked if they could come along.

"We were a bit concerned that this wasn't really a masterclass but the students knew how good Mini was and all had a fabulous time and said they'd learned a huge amount about the craft of writing for children."

All the children present left with their own lions' scary masks.

The Festival continues for the next two weeks. For details of the remaining events visit www.hartsevents.co.uk, call Harts Events on 01799 523456 or visit Harts at Shire Hill or the Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre.