A SELF-confessed “daft” children’s author spent an afternoon with pupils from Great Bentley Primary School, who had a colourful lesson in the mind behind the fiction.

Jeremy Strong, the brainchild of Casper the Cartoon Kid and The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour-Dog among other comedic titles, entertained 216 pupils with his funny life stories and writing process.

Afterwards he took part in a meet-and-greet when the children had their books signed.

Great Bentley was the last leg on his school tour before flying abroad for a working holiday to write more books.

Dave Hitchin, Year 6 teacher and reading coordinator, said: “They were absolutely amazed and and found him hilariously funny. The children really liked his anecdotes, especially about his early life as a child.

“Lots of his books use his life as inspiration, but he obviously embellishes things so he spoke about some stories and how they directly informed what he wrote.

“He mentioned his cats and his writing shed, so for the pupils it was nice to know about him as a person.”

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Jeremy had his first book - Smith’s Tail - published in 1978. The former primary school teacher left the profession in 1991 to focus on writing, but to also visit schools, libraries and book festivals across the country.

Mr Hitchin added: “We’re always looking to inspire the children in their reading and writing, and to bring in that wow factor so they realise there’s a bigger world out there.”