Patron of Reading
FEBRUARY 2026
Dear Friends,
I hope you’ve had a wonderful start to 2026! Last year, I spent lots of time sharing my last book, The Secret of Stinky Toad, with readers. You can read more about it on the publisher’s website [The Secret of Stinky Toad | Troubador Publishing]
I loved talking about my books, and hearing what young readers thought about the stories — that’s one of the very best parts of being an author. Also, The Secret of Stinky Toad reached the final of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, which is an annual UK-based book prize for independently published books. My book didn’t win in the end, but that’s okay — I still had lots of fun! The best thing about the Wishing Shelf Book Awards is that children in schools help choose and review the books, which makes it really exciting. After all, it’s your opinions that matter most!
I have also been trying to finish writing my latest book, but even now it remains half finished. That used to make me worry, but now I know something important - good stories can’t be rushed. Sometimes being an author means writing lots and lots of words… and sometimes it means just waiting quietly for the right ideas to pop into your head. There are days when my brain has thousands of ideas that could turn into stories, and other days when my brain would rather have me do anything except writing!
One thing I did over the holidays was read a lot. I always have lots of unfinished books around the house, and I was given even more as presents! I read children’s stories, science fiction, fantasy adventures, and even history books. Even though I read a lot of different types of books, I am sure they will get me thinking and somehow help me with my own writing. Some ideas will work their way into my stories… and others will stay behind, hopefully waiting for another day. Being patient is the most important lesson I’ve learned about writing books. If you rush, you often end up with stories that sound like they’re in a hurry too!
Happy reading and writing - I am looking forward to seeing you soon.
Faiz
JANUARY 2025
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope 2025 has started wonderfully for you and that you have lots of fun things to look forward to. I’ve got some exciting news to share with you about what I’ve been working on!
At the end of last year, I finished my latest book, The Secret of Stinky Toad. Isn’t that a crazy name? You can read more about it on the publisher’s website [The Secret of Stinky Toad | Troubador Publishing]. Even though the title is silly, the story is all about characters who love music. I got the idea because I play the guitar in my spare time, and it’s so much fun! Music is even better when you play it with other people, so the book is about how the characters become best friends through their music adventures.
Guess what? There’s also a colouring book that goes with the story! The amazing illustrator and I worked on it together. Maybe you’ve already seen some copies at school? I’m also making a digital version of the colouring book, and soon it will be free to download from my website.
I’m also really looking forward to World Book Day this year. There will be so many great book activities during the week, and I hope I can visit your school to join in the fun and see all of you again.
Oh, and I’ve started working on a brand-new book! I’ve written the first draft, which is like the rough version of the story. Now I need to make it better by editing it—and that part always takes me a lot of time! Everyone writes in a different way, but I always like to finish the whole story first before improving it so I don’t get stuck.
Happy reading, and I hope to see you soon!
Faiz
NOVEMBER 2021
Dear Friends
I'm very excited to share a little video reading project I've been working on with a library in Switzerland that will go live on YouTube this week:
English Story Time GGG Basel West Library March 11 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQWVBJh7ufg
The library staff asked me if I could do a reading of my book "The Frog Who Was Blue" which is about a young frog who starts at a new school but gets a big surprise when he gets there. I originally wrote the story to support the the World Medical Fund (WMF), which is a children's medical charity I support that works in Malawi in Africa so they also asked me to speak about that.
As well as helping WMF, other charities have been using the book in different countries and we have had lots of great feedback from children (please see the attached photos). So far, the book has been translated into 5 languages and we hope to have more translations in the future so that it can be read and enjoyed by school children in different countries. We also have a free board game that can be downloaded from my website: https://www.childrensfunnybooks.co.uk/free-stuff/
I have my fingers crossed that in the future I can meet you in person and hear what you have been up to over the past year, especially what you have been reading and writing!
See you soon!
Faiz
INTRODUCTION FROM FAIZ KERMANI
Dear Friends
I was very excited to be invited to become a patron of reading at your school. I was lucky enough to have a chance to visit your school earlier this year and meet a few of the teachers. I hope it won't be too long before I can also meet all of you.
At the moment, my scientific day job is probably busier than ever before, but I am also finding time for my children's book projects too. This year I want to publish a new book of mine called "The Toad from Outer Space". I'm working with an illustrator in the USA to come up with ideas that will suit the funny story. He has worked with me on some of my other books, so he will know exactly what is needed to bring the characters to life.
I also support a children's medical charity called the World Medical Fund (WMF) that works in Malawi in Africa. As well as helping them with medical projects, a children's book I wrote to raise money for them has recently been translated into Spanish. We also developed a free game to go with the book and have sent it to a few schools to try.
I have been finding that this has been a great time to catch up with my own reading, so I hope you are reading a lot of books too. It would be great to hear about your favourites.
See you soon (or "à bientôt" as they say here in France)
Faiz
Wednesday 24th November 2021
On Wednesday, 24th of November 2021, the year 4 children had the pleasure of meeting the author Faiz Kermani. This was an excellent opportunity for the students to receive some essential tips on writing (and reading!) from an experienced author and he certainly did not disappoint! Faiz explained where his ideas stem from, how long it takes him to write his books and, very importantly, how he uses the criticism his work gets to improve and edit his writing.
Below are some comments from the children that attended his assembly and in-class workshop:
"I had no idea that you can be both a scientist and a writer! I want to do the same!"
"I learnt that in order to become a good writer you need to do a lot of reading first."
"Some of his ideas came from simple things, so a good writer can be inspired by anything around him."
"I can't believe that we had a real author in the class!"
This was definitely an inspiring event and the children are looking forward for more opportunities to meet their role models in the future!