Spotlight on ... Polly Walker
Monday, June 16, 2014
Name: Polly Walker Position: Mediator and author and illustrator of children's book Worm, Slug, Maggot and Leech
Why did you choose to publish a children's book using crowdfunding?
I always saw the book as a resource to stimulate classroom discussion, so I sent it to lots of educational publishers and got lots of lovely feedback but nothing concrete. I instantly loved (crowdfunding publishing platform) Britain's Next Bestseller's idea of proving there was demand for a book by getting pre-orders via social media.
What was the inspiration for the self-esteem focus of the book?
It really came from working with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties through training as a primary school teacher, tutoring pre-school children with autism and then working as a conflict mediator.
Why is the book important for you?
I had always wanted to write and illustrate a book, and to work with and help children, and those two desires kind of merged. It sounds cheesy to say I did it to help people but that was my original dream - to challenge children's negative views of themselves
