Mandy Hartley

This has to be one of my favourite gadgets for my stories. A train which you draw the track in pen and it will follow the track where ever you want it to go! Brilliant for my Nutcracker story, to take Clara and the Nutcracker Prince to the land of sweets!

This week I was at a nursery, performing my "Gingerbread Man" story. Its one of my favourites. Lots of singing involved. The children help add all the ingredients to make the Little Gingerbread Man. Then we pop him in the oven to bake.

I love how AI can bring my books alive! "The DNA Detectives - The Smuggler's Daughter" starts with the discovery of a locket made of gold and decorated with sapphires in a rock pool! Inside the locket is a picture of a beautiful young girl and a lock of hair.

A busy week this week! Baking gingerbread men, for my story at a nursery. Also, preparing props and potions for two Christmas stories this week - "The Story of the Little Christmas Tree" and "The Nutcracker".

Just preparing some kits, ready for my DNA Detectives workshop on Thursday. I will be extracting DNA from bananas with two classes at a Primary school in Ipswich. I can't wait!

@Janet14Norwich Thank you! xx

@LittlestoryCo You're a star!!

This is the bit people often don't see! Last week I was busy building pulleys for my home ed group session. It took a long time!

A quick tour of my "pulleys" workshop and story session for my Home Ed group in Marlpit. It was a lovely session, can't wait to repeat it all with my group at Watlington! Do message me if you are interested in any of my sessions.

I felt very honoured to be invited to give a talk about my "DNA Detective" books at the AGM for ASE Scotland. Thank you so much for inviting me ASE Scotland. I loved speaking with you all and best wishes to Susie Burr on her retirement. xxx

I had a fantastic session with my home ed group. We visited the Galapagos Islands and observed populations of finches to learn about mutations, natural selection, adaptation and evolution.

A big thank you to all the families who came along to my "Halloween Special". It was so much fun!

Come along to my "Halloween" craft, story and science special, on Thursday, 30th October at 10.30am - 11.30am at New Buckenham Village Hall. Suitable for 4 - 9 years. £10 tickets. Email - TLSTC@outlook.com to book

I had a wonderful visit to Tibenham WI group last week. I gave them a talk about the exciting world of Forensic Ecology - using plants, pollen and soil to solve crimes! A big thank you to the ladies for looking after me and making me feel so welcome xx

A fabulous session with my Home Ed groups last week. We were learning about the science behind looking after our teeth. I hope that if children understand why its important to clean their teeth and the science behind it, they are more likely to brush their teeth.

What a wonderful evening with the ladies at Old Buckenham WI. I was introducing them to the fascinating world of Forensic Ecology, using pollen, plant fragments and soil to solve crimes. We had so much fun!

A fabulous event at the Baseline Centre in Norwich on behalf of The Forum, Norwich. Bringing science to our communities. Children had the opportunity to be real life soil scientists, based on the PhD work carried out by scientists working at Morley/UEA.

What a weekend! I was very lucky to be invited to the Framlingham show. We were giving families the opportunity to extract DNA from bananas just like a real scientist. The location was amazing, set in the ground of Framlingham College, with the castle and lake in the background.

I was asked to come up with some "nature inspired" activities for the Police at the "Bugs & Beasts" event at Henderson Park, organised by the The Forum, Norwich this week. The children loved having a go at being Forensic Soil Scientists and nature detectives!

One of the things I love is when I am approached with a request for a specialised workshop. In this case Dragon Hall wanted a way of show casing the incredible history of the building in an exciting way to engage children.

I was thrilled to run my new, "DNA Detectives - Crime Writers workshop" for a group of 11 - 13 year olds at the National Writers Centre, in Norwich. If you have a group of children/pupils who you think would be interested in this workshop, let me know. TLSTC@outlook.com.