Community read aloud
In April 2026 my old pre-school ran its Book Week, and asked me back as the guest author. The read-aloud was one of the highlights of the programme. The last time I was at the school, I was one of the children on the floor.
A homecoming to inspire young readers
Book Week is the week the school gives over to stories. Costumes, characters, a hall decorated end to end, and a programme of sessions built around reading. I was invited to run the guest author slot, bringing Miles in the Park to life across read-aloud sessions for children aged 4 to 6.
It was a homecoming of sorts. This school is where my own story began, long before the writing, research and published pages. What began as my own story about finding the courage to speak up had come full circle, back to the school where it started.
The children's questions were often the most direct and honest ones. That is why stories like this matter. Fifteen years after I started there, I was the one reading aloud at the front.
Marhama Zulkifli, who spoke about the day, had me in her K1 class in 2013.
The session
Guest author session at Book Week 2026. Reading Miles in the Park to four to six year olds.
What the morning counted
The figures count who was in the room across the sessions. They do not measure what any child took away.
What the principal said
Selena David, Principal, Julia Gabriel Pre-School, Keppel Bay.
Posted on her own Instagram