Helen Stephens, best known for How to Hide a Lion has made you a FREE virtual school visit

An illustration by Helen stephens of children doing her virtual school visit. One holds a stick to draw with. One holds a worksheet. A mouse is drawing and there is a cassette player and a lap top.

Virtual School Visits

Hi teachers, I made you a virtual school visit and it’s completely free!

I made this during lockdown so that schools could still enjoy an author visit, even if the children were studying at home. Once schools were open again, I decided to make it available to everyone. Enjoy!

You don’t have to beg your headteacher to dust off the school purse,
or get the PTA to hold a school fete, no, this is totally free to everyone who signs up to my Pencil Pals Newsletter. You don't have to be a paid subscriber, sign up for the free version. It arrives in your welcome e-mail FOR FREE.

Sign up for your free virtual school visit!

There are some fun art activities based on my books How to Hide a Lion and Saving Mr Hoot
There are also brilliant curriculum linked worksheets for EYS, KS1 and KS2.
There are seven films looking at my studio, my books, how I get ideas, what materials I use (no, not just paint and brushes, I am a big fan of drawing with sticks and toilet roll)

Illustrator Helen Stephens stool on a pier with her dog Peggy.

Meet my smelly dog Peggy

(photo of Helen and Peggy by illustrator Marloes De Vries)

The cover of the book How to Hide a Lion. The illustration shows a girl hugging a friendly lion.

Dance, draw or sing along to music and songs composed by Barb Jungr, from Polka Theatre and Oxford Playhouse’s production of ‘How to Hide a Lion’.

Listen!

Want to know more about my virtual school visit?

Check out this short film…

A boy draws in a notebook. He has black skin and a green school uniform.

A photo taken in a class room of a group of small children watching the illustrator Helen Stephens on a large wipe board.

A photo of a book made by a child and the text says How To Hide A Snake in Asdas.

A group of small children in a class room watch a virtual school visit by illustrator Helen stephens.

An assembly hall of children holding up drawings of How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens. Made on a virtual school visit.

A school child in uniform holds up a pencil drawing she did.

People Saying Nice Things…

"I give the videos 11/10, they were brilliant and I especially liked seeing Helen’s daughter and making the pop up lions. The instructions were easy to follow and my pop up lion had sunglasses and my sister’s had heart whiskers.”

Harry, age 9, whose parents downloaded the virtual school visit
"What can I say? Congratulations on such a fantastic virtual school visit. It’s bursting with personality and such wonderfully put together videos. It was nice to see Peggy and Frieda making an appearance, it really makes the videos more real for the children. I really like that they are individual, so that as a teacher, I can use them in different lessons to inspire my children."

Michele Reilly, Glasgow
“From the very youngest reception children to the Year 6s in our school, every child was utterly absorbed by Helen's wonderful virtual visit. There were squeals of excitement at seeing Peggy, raptured silence listening to her read her lovely picture books, and such amazing focus as they learnt how to draw their very own lion. It was such a lovely workshop- thank you!”

Rebecca Bedding, James Wolfe Primary
“The children in both Nursery and Pre Prep were so inspired by Helen’s virtual workshop. Hearing her read How to Hide a Lion at School and watching her illustrate on screen was not just exciting but also memorable. The highlight was being taught how to draw a lion on screen and the boys continued to talk about their drawings all day. It was an inspirational morning for all the children and Helen was both charming, engaging and certainly ignited imaginations.”

Madeline McMurdo, Parkside School
“Her Virtual School Visit package is great. Helen reads 2 of her wonderful books, shows you how to do 2 art/illustration activities and shows an insight into how she works to create picture books as her job. There is lots of variety and lots of opportunities for children to input and join in. With help from her daughter and her dog Peggy, she really brings her books and illustrations to life. I also loved that one of the art activities involved an opportunity for outdoor learning (though you could also do it indoors). I highly recommend a school visit from Helen!"

Dani Crispin, Stannington School
“We have known Helen for a long time here at Tweedmouth West. She has been here as a parent, as a fabulous visitor, and now as a virtual guide! We loved Helen's Virtual school visit - in many ways it gave the children a greater insight into the work of a writer and illustrator, and allowed them time to watch and try out techniques for themselves. We particularly liked the birds-eye-view of Helen working at her desk - it gave the children real inspiration to do their own drawings. Reading a story is obviously a regular feature of school life - so having one read to us by the author is a real treat!”

Anne Robertson, Headteacher, Tweedmouth West School
“Thank you again so much for our sessions with you. Our children absolutely loved their time with you, and you truly sparked their interests and imaginations with your stories, drawings, studio, photos and of course meeting Peggy! Having your resources available during these challenging times helped us to celebrate World Book Day and bring alive the experience even more. The children have been busy writing their own stories about lions, making lion pop-up art and drawing their own owl pictures using your videos to scaffold their ideas.”

Liz Ostle, Feltonfleet Preparatory School