Listen: Sam and Duncan chat with Children's author Tim Harris
By Sam RobinsonWednesday 4 Sep 2019Hope BreakfastGuests and ArtistsReading Time: 2 minutes
You might be surprised at the backstory of kids’ author Tim Harris (above, centre), famous for the Mr Bambuckles Remarkables series.
He used to be a school teacher, in fact, for 15 years, and says that he fell into full-time writing “by accident”.
“I wrote a story for one of my classes,” he said in an interview with Hope 103.2’s Sam and Duncan, “and it fell in the hands of one of the parents who happened to know a lot about children’s books.”
The astute parent encouraged Tim to keep writing, and the rest is history. Now an accomplished author rising in popularity, Tim spends most of his time visiting primary schools encouraging kids to get reading and to flex their imaginative muscles.
“I’m a big advocate for creativity, and encouraging kids to think outside the box, and to take joy with their creativity. Once you find the freedom and love for creativity, your work can take off.”
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Tim shot to fame with the four Mr Bambuckles Remarkables books which are read avidly in schoolyards across Australia. Whilst chatting to Sam and Duncan, he offered some great advice to one listener who struggles to get their kids reading: “Modelling reading is very important,” he said.
“Kids who don’t like reading simply haven’t found the right book yet.”
“It could be [you] reading and your children notice you reading. It could be shared reading. My wife is amazing at this, she will read three or four books a day to our kids and they will sit around and enjoy a picture book.
“For those children who are a little reluctant, there’s a bit of a saying around the book world: ‘Kids who don’t like reading simply haven’t found the right book yet’.
“There is a book out there for everyone.”
If you’re a Tim Harris fan, he assures us that there’s plenty more great reading to come, including two more Toffle Towers books in 2020.
Hear more from Tim, including about his grand plans to build Toffle Towers out of LEGO, in the podcast above.
Above: Tim Harris (centre) with Sam Robinson (L) and Duncan Robinson.