Storytelling at Sandal Castle

So what were you doing this Halloween? I was busy telling the story of the Battle of Wakfield to witches and ghouls (and a cyberman?!!!?!) up at Sandal Castle. In the dark. Outside. In front of the ruins (the block at the back of the photo above). And it was great. A brilliant puppet workshop started events off, led by Maya Harrison, Learning and Access Officer for Wakefield Council's Cultural Services Department (try telling someone THAT job title without spitting!), followed by me leading 50 people up to a rather cold but spectacularly beautiful Sandal Castle. The views over Wakefield were breathtaking, and, walking up to the Bothy, the silence was remarkable. Who'd have thought that so close to Wakefield city centre on a Friday night you could find somewhere so quiet?

Needless to say the silence stopped the moment I opened my mouth! I had to shout most of it as the acoustics weren't suited for a quiet story! But everyone seemed to enjoy it and I've had good feedback. I'm excited to see what else I'll be doing with the Access and Culture folk in the future. Hopefully next time won't be quite so cold...

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy

I'm not quite sure how these books have not come onto my radar sooner, but, thanks to Lily Grace Chapman, they're on it now! And how brilliant are they?!!!! This is the first and only one that I have read, and then whilst trying to change Alice at the same time, but it was enough for me to see that it had a magic within its pages.

It's almost impossible to have a bad book with a dog in it called Bottomley Potts (with lots of spots!). What a name! What a sound! Well done, Lynley Dodds. Alice is going to love Hairy Maclary, and so is her dad!!! The plot, the rhyme, the rhythm...fab, absolutely fab.

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

I was recently at Manchester Museum attending a Charlie and Lola exhibition - ostensibly for my 2 year old daughter, but in reality because I think that Charlie and Lola is fantastically brilliant. Whilst there, I saw a young boy sitting on a sofa reading THE BRAND NEW ARTEMIS FOWL book. I hadn't even realised that it was out. Well, it didn't take me long to locate it (thanks for the vouchers, Sara!) and hey presto, it's finished.

My mother in law says she tried the first Artemis book but found that she couldn't care less about the central character i.e. Artemis. Well, isn't life's rich tapestry great?!!! Because I love all the Fowl books, and this one is no exception.

Artemis has had a real change of heart leading up to this book, turning away from the moody, nasty criminal we first met all those years ago. So how intriguing was it to find that he was going back in time to meet himself YOUNGER THAN WE'D EVER SEEN HIM BEFORE?!

The plot was brilliant - I kept reading late into the nights (despite knowing that Alice would be waking at 530 wanting to go downstairs and play) cos I was gripped. The contrast between the two Artemis's was extremely clever and the constant twists and turns were never laboured.

When I read a book like this I wonder how on earth Eoin Colfer plots them out. There were times when I felt as confused as Holly Short. And watch out for a return of one particularly nasty pixie. Dunno where she went to at the end - no doubt we'll be meeting her later.

These books are great for all readers, but if you've got a son / nephew / grandson who is a reluctant reader, he is sure to fall for the gripping excitement contained within the pages. Try him on the graphic novel first - it's out now I think.

Stick Man

This is another fantastic book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. WOW! A while ago my mum bought Alice (my 2 year old) 'The Gruffalo' and since then we've never looked back. When I came home with 'Stick Man' Alice sat on her bed and listened to the WHOLE story without one word. She didn't turn the pages quickly / comment on the pictures / ask for a biscuit - nothing. She just wanted to hear the story and soak in the beautiful illustrations.

I don't quite know why Julia Donaldson's books work so well with Alice. Perhaps it's the rhythm and rhyme, perhaps the illustrations, perhaps the combination of both and perhaps the wonderful story lines. But this has overnight become a firm favourite.

And, if your child starts talking about a tiger in the book (there isn't one), have a look at the cat near the end. As Alice says: 'thought was a cat. Wasn't. Was a TIGER.'

You can't read this and then look at a dog chasing a stick in the same way ever again. I'm very grateful to this partnership - long may they bring out such brilliant books.

The Fish in Room 11

I found this book totally by accident when I was searching publishers to write to with my own story. A brief glance at the outline, and I thought it would be worth having a look. And I'm glad I did! Compared by some to Roald Dahl, I would say that Heather Dyer's book is not quite at the whackiness of Dahl, but it's pretty good.

Toby, an orpan from birth, lives in a seaside hotel and is bossed around by the 'orrible hotel owner. One day, a trip down to the beach brings him into contact with Eliza Flot, a mermaid. Several problems lead Eliza and her parents to take up residence in Room 11 of the Hotel. Needless to say, the officious owner is less than happy.

The way Heather deals with him reminds me of Dahl's brilliance in setting up an atrocious character and then knocking them down with a big punch. This is a great book for someone who is unlikely to read much without a push. It's exciting, fun, and not the kind of story you'd want to stop at half way through.

Like Roald Dahl? Then you'll like this too. I'm definitely going to find Heather's other books.

Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 1

I read this a month or two back, and it was probably my favourite underpants story so far - it definitely had the most amusing (and annoying) character in Melvin Sneedley. I've just been reading on Dav Pilkey's website that Melvin was based on a real kid in his class - it makes for a funny story - go have a look at www.pilkey.com and go to his books. Underneath the 'What's it About' for this book you'll find the story about the real kid Melvin is based on.

My favourite part is when the head teacher comes in and wonders why everyone is dressed in waterproofs and has umbrellas up. A sneeze from Melvin and all is revealed.

I cannot imagine that there is an 8 year old boy in the world who would not enjoy these books. I would have. Heck, I do!

Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants

I have no idea at all where Dav Pilkey gets it all from. This is the fourth book in the series, but the second one that I have read. And it was really lots of fun.
Professor Pooypypants wants to unveil his new inventions to the whole world, but cannot get any scientists to listen seriously to his pitch. Having seen an advertisement for a job at George and Harold's school, he becomes the science teacher there. However, after a week where the kids have done nothing but laugh at his name he flips and shrinks the enitre school. Watch out for the name changing plan - extremely amusing and you start working out what your new 'silly' name would be.

I enjoyed Wedgie Woman more, but this was still fun. And from the reviews that I've read, it seems that Captain Underpants is a total phenomenon. I can very much see why. I cannot imagine which child this book would not appeal to!

Dads 'n' Lads

I'm going to do a 'Dads 'n' Lads' writing morning on Thursday. I hope my brother doesn't get to hear about it. Please don't tell him!

The Silver Chair

As I've been re re re reading the Narnia Books (how many times have I read these?!) I have been wondering which my favourite one is. And just as I was about to start 'The Silver Chair' I thought that this might be it. The last time I read it I was sure it was. Now, having finished it again, I'm not so sure.

The story follows Eustace's return to Narnia with a school mate called Jill Pole. They are given a specific task by Aslan - to find Prince Rilian, Caspian's long lost son. To do this they have to battle Giants, go miles underground, and defeat the evil Lady in the Green Kirtle (is she the White Witch from 'The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe?' Who knows).

I think what makes this book brill is the rather thorny relationship between Eustace and Jill (they only refer to each other by using their first names right at the end of the book), and the character of Puddleglum, the Marshwiggle. He is my favourite character in the Narnia books - so desperately glum yet in fact a real hero. The section where he drinks slightly too much in the Giants' house is hilarious. His speech goes all doolally and it makes me laugh out loud.

But whether it was to do with my mood when reading it, or whether it was because the tone of the book was darker, I don't think this is my favourite Narnia book. I'm now thinking that 'The Lion...' or 'The Magician's Nephew' might be. Oh, who knows!

Incidentally, the first time that I came across this book was 30000 feet in the air as my dad read it to me on the way to America (I think it was America), and I was not at all bothered to hear the end. For years I thought that it was 'the boring one'. How wrong I was!

George's Beard

Just finished writing a story called 'George's Beard.' It's a short story about a boy called George who is desperate to have a real, grown up beard. He reckons with a proper beard he can be a pirate, a Viking, Father Christmas or anyone who is known to wear beards. After successfully wishing up one (though it doesn't work immediately!) he begins to wonder if having a beard is really worth it at all. My favourite part is when his family see him for the first time. Of course, none of them believe that it's real and all tell him to get rid of it. The family's continuing reluctance to even suppose that it might be real is funny. Not that it bothers George - all he wants to do is get to school and show his beard to Ben, his best mate.

I really enjoyed writing this one. It came to me as I was dropping off to sleep. In the past, I've jotted ideas down or just let them wander off, but this time I had my laptop by my side and so off I went. And I'm glad - it meant that the bulk of the story was down before I'd forgotten it. As I tell children all the time - when you have an idea, get it down before it jumps out of your ear and runs away down the street.

Rita and the Fwobble

I'm writing a short story at the moment called 'Rita and the Fwobble.' Rita is struggling at school - whenever there's a test her brain turns to mush. That is, at least, until she meets the Fwobble in her garden shed. A small, cow like animal with pink spots on his back, he eats her school pen and burps it back up, leaving it with more than a hint of magic. Rita uses the pen and finds that she knows the answer to any question. It doesn't take her long to forget who is really to thank, and an argument with her best friend leads to her snapping the pen in half to prove that it's her brains that are the reason for her change in fortunes. Oh dear. The loud bang and puff of smoke at the bottom of the garden suggest that that was not a particularly wise thing to do. Especially considering the school quiz is coming up tomorrow. I'm looking forward to finishing this one - I've been enjoying writing it. Shouldn't be too long before I can start redrafting.

Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman

I've never read any of this series before, until a few days ago when my brilliantly wacky niece passed this on. She thought I'd like it and you know what? I DO! So thanks Rosie. One down, five or so more to go. It's one of those kids books that is for adults too (I have to say that - I'm an adult and I liked it) - lots of tongue in cheek stuff and slightly 'left field' humour. Chapters such as Reverse Reverse Psychology and The Placenta Effect are great.

So what's it all about? Well, in a nutshell it follows two school boys, George and Harold, as they try to stay out of trouble (sort of) in a school where imagination is a swear word. And imagination is something that they have lots of. Enough to conjure up a comic book character called Captain Underpants. The only problem is, Mr Krupp, the head teacher, believes that he actually is Captain Underpants. And when Miss Ribble (Miserable. Geddit?! - the names in this book are ace) is hypnotised, she decides she has to catch the aforementioned Underpants. Cue pandemonium, lots of trouble for George and Harold, and more than one Wicked Wedgie.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series. This is actually the fourth book but I found it no problem starting in the middle of the series. There's a lot to this book. And I've also just discovered the Dav Pilkey website - take a look on www.pilkey.com - it's cool. Lots of fun things to do, and loads of facts and interesting stuff about the books.

Once again, thanks Rosie! I'll be getting into the others soon.

Prince Caspian

I just finished reading this today - the day that the film is released in the UK. I'd read 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' a few weeks ago, and wanted to read the book that preceded it. And my conclusion...'Prince Caspian' isn't quite as good. I was thinking about it this afternoon - what is it that makes it less exciting than some of the other Lewis books? And I reckon it's to do with magic; not that there isn't any magic in this book - there is magic in them all - but the whole feel of the book isn't as magical as the others. It's more like a historical picture of what happened to Narnia following the children's exit through the Wardrobe in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' with a bit of an adventure to finish the book off. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, just not as much as 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader.' I read an interview with the director of the film 'Caspian' and he referred to the book not being quite the same quality as the others, and I know what he means. So on this occasion, I think that I will be glad if the filmmakers have added bits that aren't in the book. I'm dead interested to see what the film's like. It's so great that Narnia films are being made. More exciting for me than Harry Potter films.

Dinosaurs Love Underpants

I came across this book the other day in WHSmith, and it is VERY BRILLIANT! A 12 verse poem about why the dinosaurs really bit the dust...and, as the title suggests, it has everything to do with underpants (and a bit to do with cavemen).

Books like this make me want to dance about and tell everyone how great books are. It's the sort of stuff that I like to write and the sort of stuff that I connect with. What a wonderful idea for a book! I promise, if you read this, for weeks afterwards you'll pull on your pants in the morning and thank the cavemen for saving our lives!

Plots

In case you were wondering, I don't often write much about the plots of books when I review them. Why not? Well, because I don't really enjoy reading reviews that are all about the plot - I like to know what a book made a reviewer feel like, what parts really stood out in his memory; what effect the story had on him. If you want to find out about the plot of the book, I reckon the best way to do that is to read it. So if you're looking for a synopsis of all the books I review, then you might be slightly disappointed! If you want to know what effect books have had on me, then read on!

Kensuke's Kingdom

This is a real desert island adventure - a Robinson Crusoe tale that is much more readable and much more exciting. Things get slightly confusing at first as the hero of the story is called Michael (as is the author of the book), but once you realise that he's fictional, the confusion disappears. Having said that, the postcript at the end of the book reawakens the head scratching for a while. Did Kensuke's son REALLY contact Micheal Morpurgo? Is the Michael he wrote to the Michael in the book? I discussed this briefly with one of my Year 6 classes and they weren't sure. I'm fairly confident that Morpurgo has not really met Kensuke and that he was not really contacted by Kensuke's son. But I'm open to alternative interpretations! The book itself is wonderful. The relationship between Michael and Kensuke is delightful. It is intriguing that on page one you discover that Michael thinks that Kensuke is an amazing man, yet the first half of the book suggests he's anything but. That constant memory that in the future Michael has grown to love Kensuke made me want to discover what happened to create such love between the two. There is also a 'Wilson' moment (for all of you that have not seen Tom Hanks' film 'Castaway' you might be wondering what that is?!) which made me ponder which came first - Morpurgo's book or Hanks' film. From the reviews it seems that this is one of people's favourite Morpurgo books, though I reckon 'The Butterfly Lion' is his best (of the ones I've read). I don't know how Morpurgo keeps coming up with his ideas - he's written over 100 books and is still going strong. It's interesting to know that he didn't do that well at school, and that he had a job as a caretaker in a school before he became a teacher. His teachers might not have had much faith in him, but his fans do - me included.

The Suitcase Kid

I actually think that Jacqueline Wilson is a genius. Reading her books is like reading real life. I don't think I've ever read one of hers and thought 'no, that wouldn't happen, that's silly'. This one is no exception. She always has great characters, with lots of little quirks and memorable traits. And, as always, there are sections that make me feel that despite whatever life throws at her characters, they'll come through the other side ok. This is definitely true for Andy (Andrea), the main character. Following her parents' divorce, she is forced to live one week with dad, one week with mum, and it all becomes a bit much. She does manage to overcome her feelings of not fitting in anywhere, thanks in large part to her new step brother Graham (their relationship is brill) and two of the nicest old people I've met in any Jacqueline Wilson novel. And, of course, thanks to her pet Sylvanian rabbit Radish. Which was particularly endearing for me as my mum has recently gone bonkers over Sylvanian toys - she's discovered ebay and has been buying them daily for Alice, our eldest daughter and mum's first granddaughter. She's onto her 11th Sylvanian family and Alice loves them! And if Andy can have so much fun with one Sylvanian rabbit, just think how much fun is in store for Alice over the next few years with a whole city's worth of Sylvanian animals! This is not my favourite Jacqueline Wilson book ('The Illustrated Mum' has yet to be eclipsed of all the J.W. books I've read), but was nevertheless really enjoyable. I'm going to be using it to do a workshop with the Year 6 pupils at St. Peter's (Birstall) this week. Interesting that both the boys and the girls are enjoying reading it. Who said J.W. was only for girls?!

Dads 'n' Lads

I'm going to do a 'dads 'n' lads' creative writing morning at Brownhill school next month and am rather excited. It's going to be fun to get the dads involved with their kids. For some reason it's generally the boys who struggle most with creative writing in school and so I'm looking forward to giving them a really fun morning. I just hope my annoying twin brother doesn't turn up and disrupt everything!

My Twin Brother

For all of you who are not aware, I have a twin brother. He is 9 minutes younger than me and is obsessed with his pet spider called Freddy. Whenever he hears that I am going to a school to do a Rainforest Writing Workshop, he tries to get there first, convinced that Freddy will be somewhere to be found. He's even been known to scupper my attempts at Egyptian Writing Workshops, looking for his 'mummy'.

The only results from his antics are frustration (mine), chaos (in the classroom), and a renewed resolve (mine again) to stop him disrupting my work. So far I have been unable to succeed, but I remain positive. He took this picture of himself with MY camera - he thinks he's clever because he can use the timer function - and left it on the dining room table to tease me. Of course he was gone by the time I got home.

Please, if you see him, give him a cup of tea, take him to a teacher and CALL ME! Frustrating he most certainly is, but he's still my brother.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I come back to C.S. Lewis time after time after time. There is something wonderfully comforting about his Narnia books; something that makes me think the world is a wonderful place.

This book sees the return of Lucy and Edmund (remember him from 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' - I still won't eat Turkish Delight!) to Narnia, where they embark on a voyage with their friend, Prince Caspian. Unfortunately for them, they are accompanied by their awful cousin Eustace. Islands where everything turns to gold; pitch black holes in the sea where your worst dreams take on physical form; and a mouse with an attitude are just some of the things you will discover.

So much about this book is fantastic, but surely the best part is when Eustace turns into a dragon? Chapters 6 and 7 that describe his adventure as it unfolds are two of the most gripping chapters I have ever read. Not to mention the section later in the book when Lucy begins to leaf her way through a Magician's book and ends up wishing that she hadn't. I have no idea how Lewis came up with his ideas, but when this film arrives on the big screen (2010 I think) I will be at the front of the queue.

Why I love books

On Wednesday night I was baby sitting for friends of mine. As I am prone to do when in other people's homes, I went noseying around their bookshelves and found, to my delight, 'The Castle of Adventure' by Enid Blyton. As I child I loved her books, and especially the Adventure series. I picked it up and read a handful of sentences. And almost immediately, like a spell rising from its pages, I felt the old magic that I knew as a boy. I lifted the book to my chest and held it there, reliving that childhood joy of pure pleasure that a book can bring.

WOAH!

So...that was great! Now I know what a post looks like. It's time to see if I can put in a photo. Here goes...

...and it worked! Hello Shrek!

The Blog Has Begun!

Hello to all you happy bloggers. This is my first ever post on my new blog, and it's all very exciting. In fact, I'm so excited I'm going to stop right here and see what it looks like when it's all freshly posted.