Virtual School Visit with Mikey Please

Schools are invited to join us (free of charge) online for a very special virtual event with BAFTA-winning and OSCAR-nominated writer, director, animator, and illustrator, Mikey Please as he joins us to present his new picture book, The Cave Downwind of the Café – the gloriously gruesome follow-up to Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2025 winning The Café at the Edge of the Woods.

Recommended age: year groups 3-6

As part of this 45-minute interactive schools’ event Mikey will introduce you to his gloriously sweet and funny characters from The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café; including Rene, the chef who is hoping to serve the finest cuisine at her new café at the edge of the woods. We will also meet newfound waiter and ogre, Glumfoot who’s quick-thinking saves the day when the locals who have a most peculiar palette, start requesting all sorts of disgusting things.

Mikey will even share lots of tips & tricks on creating your own stores, and he will lead a live draw-a-long so please have a pencil and some paper at the ready! Schools will also have the chance to put questions to Mikey during this special event.

Mikey Please is a Bristol-based BAFTA-winning and OSCAR-nominated writer, director, animator, and illustrator. An alumnus of the Royal College of Art (MA Animation) his music videos and short films have garnered over 60 international awards. In 2023 he was appointed as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Café at The Edge of the Woods, his critically acclaimed debut picture book was winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year. Right now - 2025 - he’s busy writing books, scripts, developing animation and helping shepherd The Expanded Earth (Corsair), his TIMES bestselling debut novel, out into the world.

Waterstones Virtual Author Visits are the perfect opportunity to encourage reading for pleasure, introducing children to new books as well as fabulous author & illustrators, and to help inspire a love of reading even in the most reluctant readers. Taking part will support children’s literacy, creative writing and encourage a love of reading for pleasure.

Taking place on Zoom, this 45-minture webinar session will include a live presentation from the author, giving children the chance to hear about the authors book, characters and writing processes. There will also be a chance for children to have their questions answered live during the event!

Often pupils are very inspired to read the author’s books after the event, so we have created a special discount on The Café at the Edge of the Woods (paperback) and The Cave Downwind of the Café (hardback), for school account orders. Schools can save 30% on single copy or a class set by contacting accountsalesinfo@waterstones.com. Copies of The Café at the Edge of the Woods can also be purchased at £7 (RRP £7.99 – incl. P&P) and £13 for The Cave Downwind of the Café (RRP £14.99 – inc. P&P) using the link below between now and the event on Friday 19th September.

Once you register with your email address, you’ll be sent a Zoom link to the webinar. Registered schools will also receive an email including a chapter sampler that can be printed for the classroom.

If you have any questions, please contact events@waterstones.com