An entourage of princesses and draglins welcomed well-known children's author Vivian French to San Anton School's library. Some of the Grade 5 students were dressed in their best royal or dragon-like garb as a tribute to Ms French's extremely popular series of books, The Tiara Club and Draglins.

The author was also welcomed to the library and introduced to the children by the School Librarian of the Year, Noel Tanti, suitably dressed as Prince Regent. In the run-up to Ms French's visit, Mr Tanti held library sessions for the students where he explained the process of book-writing and publishing in detail, with a focus on Ms French's works and achievement, though the author needed no introduction with the students of course.

The children's anticipation was further heightened as in preparation, the children and Mr Tanti made Tiara Club Crafts and peformed related activities made available by Merlin Library who invited the author over to Malta.

Ms French's previous experience as an actress and storyteller certainly shone through, as the children and their teachers were immediately absorbed in the vivid descriptions of her childhood days, how she goes about writing a story, where she gets her characters from, and some of the similarities between her life and the stories in her books.

Ms French proceeded to read excerpts from some of her books. During a particularly engaging moment, she explained to the children that they themselves are a veritable treasury of stories. They go through various experiences and they have imagination - what they lack are the necessary skills to transform these two very important things into a story. And here once again, Ms French stressed the importance of reading. After an hour or so, during which all the children (and the adults) sat enthralled, Ms French signed their books. It was a fitting conclusion to a memorable event.