Schoolkids were treated to a visit from a children’s author after winning a national award.

Last year’s P2 class at Newmains Primary, in Renfrew, won the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) John Downing Award for their work on Richard Byrne’s This Book Just Ate My Dog.

The pupils, who were taught by Audrey Simpson, wrote their own version of the book, called This Book Ate My Class.

And on Friday, Mr Byrne himself visited the school to congratulate the now P3 pupils.

He worked with them to improve their story-writing, drawing and character development.

Headteacher Carol Cooke said: “Richard had the kids drawing pictures and reading his new book and they all really enjoyed themselves.

“It’s all part of Renfrewshire Council’s initiative to try to get kids reading as much as possible and it’s a big part of what we do at the school.

“Richard said the kids responded great to the session and he was also nice enough to do an assembly with the other pupils as well.

“He talked about how he got to where he is and that’s really important for our children and their ambitions for the future.”

Mr Byrne is an up-and-coming picture book creator and his first two books were nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal back in 2012.

The following year, he won the Oxfordshire Book Award for The Really, Really Big Dinosaur.

The UKLA panel last year said they enjoyed the way Mrs Simpson had enthused the class with Mr Byrne’s book, culminating in their decision to write their own version.

Their entry included a video showing the class retelling and acting out the story.

The John Downing Award encourages teachers across the country to read and explore books shortlisted for the previous year’s UKLA Book Award and to immerse children into a world of possibilities.

Ms Cooke added: “We were delighted to welcome Richard to Newmains. It was a fantastic experience and we can’t thank him enough.”