I typically shy away from very well-known books at my book club because I feel that children will come across these books through schools and bookshops anyway. But I've always loved Roald Dahl's work, and what is a book club for if not to spark the joy of reading? We've read Fantastic Mr Fox and Esio Trot. Next month, we'll read The Magic Finger! Anger While all of us might wish we had a magic finger to zap someone who makes us angry, that isn't practical, is it? What do you do when you're angry? What makes you angry? Superpowers Discussing superpowers is a great way to get creative. What superpowers would you like to have? What would you do with those superpowers?Taking this further, what superpowers would you need to solve specific problems that we see around us? Book Review With my book club for ages seven and … [Read more...]
Esio Trot
Who doesn't love Esio Trot? Teg reggib, esio trot, teg reggib!There was a time when I knew the book so well that I could say the whole chant that Mr Hoppy tells Mrs Silver to deliver to little Alfie. Have you come across the tweet about how children's books should not be given star ratings but 'again' ratings based on how many times a child asks to read the book?By that reckoning, Esio Trot is very high up on my list!It's one of those perfect transition books - neither a short story nor a chapter book. Neither a picture book nor a book with just words. That makes it ideal for my reading programme for seven and eight-year-olds! Backward Games A book club is all about having fun with books. It's about celebrating the joy of reading. And that's why one of the things we're going to do is talk backwards, just for a bit. Plan what you want to say and write … [Read more...]
Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox is a classic. And the combination of Roald Dahl and Sir Quentin Blake is magic.I've never yet chosen a Roald Dahl for my reading programme because I reckoned that most children would already have been exposed to his books, and a book club is about discovering books you haven't read before. Yet, as I mulled over what to include this time, I asked myself, again, what the purpose of a reading programme is. Often, I use the tagline 'Celebrate the joy of reading'. If it's about the joy of reading, how can I not include books I've adored and devoured as a child?Rereading Fantastic Mr Fox now, I'm astounded at how much I liked it when I was younger. I was never one to like disgusting humour. I didn't like toilet jokes. I didn't like anything that was yucky. What made Dahl different?I think, possibly, it was the fact that the disgust was not the point of the story. Also, when Mr … [Read more...]
Seven Fictional Teachers I Love
It's Teachers' Day - the day when every teacher goes home with a mountain of cards. As a writer and teacher, how can I not celebrate all the fictional teachers I love?When I started writing this post, I thought, first, of all the teachers I've created in my stories. The Story-Catcher has very few; offhand, I can think of just the nameless coach in "The Nationals".Dragonflies, Jigsaws, and Seashells has three; perhaps because I started teaching a lot more ...? Mr Kaushik Natraj from "Treasure-Hunt", Miss Philips from "A Drawing Lesson" and Miss Kala Ramdev from "A Retired Teacher": I like Mr Kaushik most!Edited to add: My latest book Sisters at New Dawn is a school story, so it's full of teachers. I would love to know who your favourites are!Naturally, I then went on to think about all the fictional teachers I love, particularly in children's fiction. Here … [Read more...]
Little Red Riding Hood
In the first session of a workshop, particularly one with a heavy name like "Language and Literature Workshop", I like to start on a light note. Humour is a great place to begin, and I turn to an all-time favourite - Roald Dahl.This time, I chose five of my favourite poems - "The Crocodile", "The Porcupine", "The Tummy Beast", "The Anteater" and "Little Red Riding Hood". I divided the participants into groups of five, and gave each group a poem to read. I gave them ten minutes to read and understand the poem, and then asked them to perform a little skit based on it.(Spoiler warning: This blog post spoils the punchline of Roald Dahl's "Little Red Riding Hood".)In Dahl's version of "Little Red Riding Hood", after the dutiful comments on Grandma's big ears and big eyes, Little Red Riding Hood says, "... what a lovely great big furry coat you have on." To this, the irate wolf replies, … [Read more...]