Dan Freedman visits for World Book Week

Author Dan Freedman, kicked off our World Book Day celebrations by talking to Years 4, 5 and 6.  A lifelong Spurs fan, Dan has always loved football, but until he was in his teens he claimed to have been ‘rubbish’ at English.  It was only when he realised that he would not make the grade as a professional footballer that it occurred to him that, if he became a football journalist, he would get paid for watching football matches.  During his time as a football journalist, he met everyone from Messi to Beckham.  It was only when he realised that there were no good football novels for children that he decided to write a football novel himself.

Writing his first Jamie Johnson book took a whole year, and it was rejected by every publisher and every agent.  Refusing to be put off, Dan didn’t give up, but kept writing and rewriting.  After 3 years, his first novel was accepted, and Jamie Johnson will be coming to our television screens in the summer.

Dan talked about football and writing, but mostly he talked about working really hard for a really long time to do the thing that you love.