We are excited to be at the Mary Rose Museum on 1st April to launch the latest Vlad book. The whole of the Easter holidays are filled with flea-fun to celebrate this, with a chance to create your own version of Vlad flea and see a real flea from a comb which was on the wreck.

Sam will be demonstrating how to draw Vlad and members of his rat crew and Kate will be telling the story with Vlad himself.

I was happily surprised to get an email from the TES team to say one of our resources had been chosen to go in a blog of best Easter resources. It is ideal for an holiday homework as the purpose is to encourage children to discover/use their local library and to read and reflect on their reading.

This is the link to the TES blog.

If you want a copy, but are not a member of TES (a free website where teachers share resources) then you can download the sheet here Easter Homework final

What a fabulous way to finish a month of history festivals.

We will be taking part in the closing event of the Festival of Archaeology in Greenwich Park.

Kate will be helping Vlad Flea tell the story of the Great Fire of London (with lots of audience participation). Followed by a bucket chain to put the fire out.

In the Reading Riddle gazebo there will be a couple of sessions finding out how to create a story out of a historical artefact. We want to create a wall of pictures and words bringing history to life.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Despite the Roman festival being postponed, Kemps have very kindly arranged for us to be in their store on Wednesday 26th July from 11:00am. We have some amazing copies of the books with mini individual illustrations by Sam – all unique and available to buy.

Come along and find out more about all the hidden details and all the things that can be learnt from a Vlad Flea book.

There was rain, there was sun, but the weather couldn’t dampen the mood.

It was great fun to be in York for the 2023 Eboracum and it was an opportunity to meet lots of lovely authors, and experts. There are more pictures, and links to blogs on the Reading Riddle Facebook page.

Unfortunately the Malton Festival which was due to happen on 23rd July was postponed until September. The persistent rain had waterlogged the grounds above the Roman fort where it was due to take place, and it was decided that the risk of damage to the remains and the participants was too great. As it happened it rained heavily all day and it would have been hard to carry out many of the activities. We’ll keep you posted on the plans for the rearranged event, and hope to be back then.

It is now here!

The second edition of our bestselling title is out and it looks amazing. The story is the same with our heroes Vlad flea and Boxton the rat, but it is brought to life by beautiful new illustrations. There are so many details on every page, based on artefacts and accounts from the time.

See how the Londoners fought the fire, look at what they loaded onto carts and boats and follow them to the fields around the city as they make their escape.

You can buy this new edition from the website, or ask your regular bookshop to order a copy.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed bringing this new edition together.

We are very excited that we will be taking part in two Roman Festivals in Yorkshire in July:

Eboracum Roman Festival  8-9 July 2023

This will be in the York Museum Gardens and entry is free. There will be lots of fantastic activities and, of course an opportunity to buy the Vlad Roman book and meet Kate. For all the details check the York Museum website here.

Malton Museum Roman Festival  23rd July 2023

This is being organised by Malton Museum and again there will be incredible displays and creative activities for all the family. Sam and Kate will be there on the day with the Vlad story. Information and tickets are available through the Malton Museum website here.

Come along and say hello and find colouring freebies on the our stalls at both these great events.

We will be back at the Summer market on Sunday 2nd July and Sunday 3rd September.

The atmosphere at is great at this market – come and find lots of wonderful products made by people who are passionate about their craft.

That includes me and Sam selling the Reading Riddle titles. There are special discounts, and an opportunity to get a personalised gift signed by us both.

Come along to say hello.

You can find the Between the Bridges site between Jubilee Gardens and Hungerford Bridge (SE1 7PG) – Just a stone’s throw from the London Eye. Entry to Between the Bridges is free, but please note food and drink are not permitted onsite. There will be a quick bag search upon entry. The market will be based under the pier structure towards the back of the site.

Find details about the event, other dates and what is available on the SoLo website here.

We are very excited that Kate will be running two sessions as part of the Wandsworth Heritage Festival, this year.

Monday 27th May 4:00pm at Battersea Library

Friday 2nd June 2:00pm at Tooting Library

She will be introducing the brand new 2nd Edition of Vlad and the Great Fire of London. Sam has been working hard to produce 32 new pages of detailed illustrations to bring the events to life and Kate will be reading the story, showing some artefacts and talking about the history.

Find out about all the events scheduled for the Festival in the programme which you can download here.

Kate and Vlad look forward to seeing you there!

On Sunday 7th May we will have a stall at the Between the Bridges Market on the Southbank.

Come and say hello – we will be there from 12-5 pm between Jubilee Gardens and Hungerford Bridge, and appropriately, in sight of The Monument across the Thames.

We will have all the Vlad books, cards of the illustrations and prints on sale.

Hopefully it will be bright and sunny, but if not it is all under cover.