INVERKEITHING Primary School pupils were given a masterclass in story writing and drawing from an award-winning illustrator.

Korky Paul, known for his ‘Winnie the Witch’ series of books written by Valerie Thomas, treated P4 kids to the secrets of creating the colourful characters that helped him sell more than six million books worldwide.

Teacher Jacque Barber said, “The kids loved it and they were very excited to meet him when they knew he drew the books.

"He asked them a few questions about the books and spoke to them about illustration before sitting with them and going through the whole process of how to take an idea and turn it into an illustration and character.

“My class then wrote their own stories based on his Winnie the Witch and Solar Eclipse books and it was some of the best writing to come out of them – they normally prefer maths!

"But it was one of the best visits I’ve had from an author because he was very interactive with the kids which was nice to see.” Having grown up in Zimbabwe, Korky – real name Hamish Vigne Christie Paul – spent his childhood exploring the wild wonders of the African Bushveldt and went on to develop a love of drawing from an early age.

He has gone on to illustrate an array of picture and chapter books that are popular with schoolchildren and his visit to Inverkeithing, part of a tour of eight primary schools in Fife and Clackmannanshire organised by the Scottish Book Trust, gave pupils the chance to enjoy some of his stories, receive ‘dinosaur portraits’ of themselves drawn by Korky and the chance to do some drawing of their own.