Hundreds of bookworms got to meet their favourite author at a school in Barkingside.

Michelle Paver, who wrote the bestselling fantasy series the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, met young fans at Ilford County High School, in Fremantle Road, on Thursday.

The books are set in pre-agricultural Stone Age Europe and won the Guardian Children’s Fiction in 2010.

Paula Saffer, who organised the visit, said Michelle told pupils about how she researches her novels by travelling around the world.

She added: “She explained that she likes to get into the mind of the animals she describes and so she has gone swimming with dolphins and sharks and visited a lion sanctuary.

“Michelle brought artefacts from the Bronze Age which is the period in which her books are set.”

More than 400 pupils from eight schools visited to meet the author, who spent two hours signing hundreds of books.