CHILDREN at a York school have welcomed a local author as part of his book launch.

AP Winter spoke to the pupils about his inspiration behind writing, the jobs he has had along the way - including chocolate taster and TV extra - and magic in children’s books.

Mr Winter was launching his new book The Boy Who Went Magic, and read an extract to the children and their families as part of his visit. Kate Frankish from the school said she found Mr Winter’s book “engrossing”. She said: “The year 5/6 class have been thinking about what ‘magic’ means and discussing the difference between black magic and white magic, both of which are featured in the novel. We’re a small school but very friendly and I think he wasn’t expecting the children to be as involved as they were but they had a lot of questions and I think he thought it was a good atmosphere for them.”