I took my daughter to have lunch with one of her heroines, the author Auriel Blanche. Auriel's book The Magic Sunglasses has been available for some time now and it's one of my daughter’s  favourites. Auriel may not be as famous as JK Rowling or Jacqueline Wilson (yet), but it was still a very big deal for my daughter to meet a real author of a book she very much enjoyed.

According to my daughter, the book is about a girl called Samantha who dreams of being a singer, but her family are not sympathetic to say the least. One day she discovers a special pair of sunglasses and when she puts them on, all kinds of interesting things happen. In the midst of it all Samantha discovers her inner confidence which helps her to realise her dreams. My daughter strongly identified with Samantha (although I hope not because of the horrid family!) and very much enjoyed reading about her adventures.

Building on from the success of the book, Auriel has launched a self esteem workshop for children themed around the Magic Sunglasses concept. My daughter was a tester for the new workshop & very much enjoyed it.

The workshop consists of some craft activity, some group discussion and some singing. The participants are encouraged to think about and to share all the gifts and talents that make then unique and special. The idea is to concentrate on and celebrate all the things that are good and positive whilst completely ignoring the things about ourselves that we are not so fond of.

My daughter really got a lot out of the workshop. She is inclined to belittle herself & to have low self esteem and it did her a power of good to bring out and focus on her good points which she sometimes doesn't see. Like Samantha in the book she is also a budding singer - since she did the workshop she keeps her home made pair of magic sunglasses with her and mimes putting them on when she feels stage fright and she tells me that this has really helped her confidence. However this workshop is not just about talent in the performing arts - it encourages children to find their gifts in all areas.

We did the Magic Sunglasses workshop at home on our own.  I really enjoyed working with my daughter helping her to see the best in herself.  I could probably use something similar myself.  However Auriel is now running a sample group workshop, which she hopes will be the launching point for a franchise business. I think that my daughter would have enjoyed a group session - talking about her talents with other children and learning about theirs - I'm sure it would be a very positive experience for all of them.

The sample workshop will be run at Third Door in Wandsworth on Saturday 19th February 2011.

Auriel is looking for up to 20 participants who will pay £15 each instead of the normal £60. Participants will receive a workbook and a CD copy of the Magic Sunglasses song. Auriel suggests an age range of 8-12 - personally I would say primary school age - years 3-6.

The workshop is stand alone and you do not need to have read the book before you attend it.  That being said, my daughter found that reading the book gave her a much better idea of what the workshop is about, and she very much enjoyed it, although I suspect that boys may not have the same opinion as it is more of a ‘girly’ book - Auriel is working on a boys’ version to be published very soon.

If you are interested in attending the Magic Sunglasses workshop with your child, please contact Auriel Blanche.   You can also see more details of the workshop at www.themagicsunglasses.com

You can buy the book at the Magic Sunglasses website, or on Amazon. It is a great positive book for girls who are reading confidently, aged 6-10.

I’ll leave the final word with my daughter “Doing the workshop has helped me to forget about all the bad things I think about myself and concentrate on the good things. It makes me feel that I am not so bad and I do actually have the confidence to stand up for myself – it’s just buried deep down and I need to find it. I sometimes pretend that I have my sunglasses with me and this gives me confidence.”