Carol Peaker reflects on her recent visits to Wolvercote Primary School

Last July, I found myself at Wolvercote Primary School addressing a group of bright-eyed, articulate 10 year olds. Twenty keen readers had volunteered to read The Marvellous Inventions of Marmaduke Mouse over the summer and report back at the beginning of year six. After reading them a chapter, I said, meaning it: “I need your help. I really don’t know if this book works. I’m not a kid anymore. You’ve got to tell me what’s wrong with it.”

As anyone with experience of kids knows, ten year olds are nothing if not honest. They’re just at that age when they realise that adults don’t know everything. As I handed out copies of Marmaduke, I met the children’s eyes. They were clearly sizing me up. In conversation they seemed smart, opinionated.

“They’re going to tear you apart,” I warned myself. “Just accept it. If you’re lucky, maybe one of them will say something nice.”

A Tuesday in October was judgement day. By the time I sat down with the kids, I had worked myself into a zen-style resignation to an hour of literary bludgeoning.

To my utter astonishment, the kids loved Marmaduke. They understood the characters, they got all the jokes. They had insights into motivations and analysed the plot better than I could.  They even came up with some hilarious new jokes that I’ve since included.

“When are you writing the sequel?” one girl said. “How about a prequel?” chimed another. It turned out they had so many ideas for sequels and prequels, that I’d have to write five more books to include them all. I felt pure joy.

The kids made some excellent suggestions, but they also gave me something even more precious: the gift of confidence. I can now say that The Marvellous Inventions of Marmaduke Mouse has been fully road-tested and achieves its main objective: it makes kids smile.