The highlight of May was, for me, a week of school visits in Malta, supported by the incredible Merlin Library, a bookstore and publisher which has been in the Gruppetta family for generations . Initially my trip was planned to coincide with the Children’s Book Festival, but the Icelandic Volcano put paid to that. Fortunately, Merlin and my publishers, Orion, were able to reschedule all ten school visits and I flew out in mid-May.

To be honest, I’d never previously considered visiting Malta. I would have had difficulty finding it on a map. But after a week at the Le Meridian St Julians I was head over heels in love with it. Everything about the island is wonderful. The food, the people, the turquoise bays. Did I mention the fabulous food? It turned out that Merlin’s Chris and Jo (who in her spare time is a gifted stage and television actress), who uncomplainingly drove me the length and breadth of the island and listened to ten re-tellings of my Samantha the python story, were experts on every hidden gem restaurant in Malta. Over the course of the week, I ate two or three times my own bodyweight in sensationally good food. I can state without fear of contradiction that Vecchia Napoli serves the best pizza I’ve ever eaten, that the Barracuda seafood restaurant’s linguini special matches the view for excellence, and that the Fontanella cafe serves the best chocolate cake on earth.

But back to the real reason I was there. The schools and children of Malta embraced my Animals are Not Rubbish competition with a fervour and enthusiasm I found deeply touching. Fifty schools entered and the winning model, a superb panda, is a work of art. The school won books and a year’s sponsorship of three Born Free Foundation leopards.  A single school I visited had submitted 30 models. There were adorable snow leopards, an exquisite turtle, an extraordinary range of elephants and a Siberian tiger too cute for words.

The best thing about Malta, though, were the surprises. On my first morning there, I visited a beautiful old Catholic school. After I’d finished talking and signing books, I was told that the head sister, Sr Cecilia Casolani, wanted to see me. My heart sank. I was convinced that I had in some way offended someone. My talk is full of irreverent jokes about how I spent my school days staring out of the window, and snake stories. Knees quaking, I followed Chris and Jo up to her office. There I met a nun with the kind of serene, lovely face you imagine exists only in the movies. We sat drinking coffee in front of pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and she told me about a dog she’d loved in her youth, and a sparrow with a broken wing which she’d saved and kept for seven years. It was, she said, one of the cleverest creatures she ever knew. It was one of those special moments that you know, even as you’re experiencing it, will never leave you.

To cut a long story short, if you fancy an amazing holiday with a side trip to a uniquely wonderful bookstore, visit Malta and the Merlin Library.

Jo, Rachel & Chris, the stars of Merlin Library

Lauren and Malta librarian, Noel, a gifted artist and inspiration to his students

feeding stray cats in Malta

Tags: animals are not rubbish, Malta

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