Rachael Mortimer sitting on a park bench surrounded by children's books and stuffed animals during daytime.

Workshops & Events

We all know a love of language and reading goes way beyond academic achievement. It’s a tool for life. I enjoy running workshops as well as working one to one to nurture curiosity, inspire creativity and to make telling stories fun.

Because the right words, read or spoken at the right time can change everything.

If you would like to hear more or want to invite me to one of your events please reach out to me here.

Get in touch!
  • Three colourful puppet masks with large googly eyes.

    Schools & Nurseries

    I visit all kinds of schools from Nurseries through to Secondary Schools with workshops for all ages and abilities.  I have puppets, props and lots of costumes which I use in a variety of ways to encourage participation and make my workshops engaging and memorable. Fractured fairy tales are a speciality. They work extremely well with the young and fit naturally with many aspects of the curriculum. The children enjoy the humorous twists in the stories and have fun interacting with my characters.

  • Rachael wearing a dark leather jacket sitting at a table, holding an open 'Song for a Princess'.

    Hospitals

    I work with children and their families in Hospital Schools and on the Wards. My Fractured Fairytales and Bird who loves Words Workshops have put smiles on faces at difficult times.

  • Colourful drawing of a jelly bean. The drawing has the words 'Magic Bean' written on it.

    Outreach/Home Schooling

    I also provide workshops for home educated children at community gatherings. I know how important it is to be able to accommodate a range of ages and abilities and adapt my workshops accordingly with a variety of resources and tools

  • Decorative display in a shop window with a green beanstalk prop.

    Bookshops

    Many thanks to Ottie and the Bea who always have a wonderfully curated selection of books.

    Design your own Jellybean Flavour at the launch of Jack and the Jelly Bean Stalk was a huge success!

  • Rachael reading a children's book during a book event, with a presentation slide behind her displaying details about an author workshop with Rachael Mortimer, featuring children's book illustrations.

    Festivals & Speaking Events

    I speak at a variety of events - from children’s festivals to festivals with a children’s area.

Events can be tailored to your needs.

 Postcard Writing, Newspaper Reporting, Press Conference with Roving Microphone, Drama Workshop, Fairy Tale Lost Property and Design your own Jellybean are just some of the activities I offer.

Here’s an extract from the Authors Aloud newsletter

Rachael Mortimer’s newest ‘Bird who loved words’ workshop has proven to be a great success this summer.

This workshop is something a little bit different from the fractured fairytale workshops she is known for, aiming to teach children about the power and beauty of words. It’s based on her book Song for a Princess, a beautiful story about a little bird who collects words on the breeze and takes them like treasures back to his nest.

She has a treasure nest of words that the children can choose from for inspiration about the words that would be in their own treasure box. Children can create and decorate their own treasure box in the session and discuss the special words that they would choose. This has proved successful with a broad range of age groups, with even the very young able to articulate what simple words like sunshine, friend, play and hug might mean to them. This can extend to more abstract concepts, putting things you can’t hold into a box, like a baby’s laugh, a ray of sunshine, a lick from a dog or a cuddle from Mummy. They can say what makes them happy and sad, exploring emotions as well as words, depending on what teachers would like to get out of the session.

Like many of Rachael’s workshops this can be adapted for smaller or larger groups across a broad age range according to your school’s needs.

Please click here to find out more about the Bird Who Loved Words
Bird from Song for a Princess with brown feathers.

What a little bird said.

  • “Rachael spoke at our Literary Festival this summer as part of an author line up with Michael Rosen. She ran some workshops based on her books that both the children and their parents thoroughly enjoyed.”

  • “Pupils loved our final author visit of our Festival of Books celebrations; from Rachael Mortimer, who read her Fractured Fairytales complete with puppets and also her new book Song for a Princess. Pupils created treasure boxes for their own special words and memories.”

  • “Today our children had the wonderful opportunity to meet author Rachael Mortimer who brought her fantastic stories to life in the most engaging way! Her storytelling captivated the children, sparking their imaginations and making the experience truly magical. A huge thank you to Rachael for inspiring our young readers – what a fantastic way to celebrate the joy of books!”

  • “We welcomed Rachael Mortimer into school to visit the Infants. Rachael is the author of several books for younger children such as Snoring Beauty, The Three Billy Goats Fluff and Red Riding Hood and The Sweet Little Wolf so you can see immediately her twist on traditional fairy tales which allows her to run hands on drama sessions based on the characters in the books…

    As you can imagine they were absolutely thrilled to be able to dress up and assume the characters so vividly described in the book. We most definitely have some aspiring thespians in our midst!”

  • “Our students loved listening to the story 'Song for a Princess' and were keen to engage with Rachael. They enjoyed thinking about words that are special to them and then adding them to their very own treasure box. Thank you, Rachael for creative sessions at our Hospital School”