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.