tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23690410848139487312024-03-29T07:39:57.883+00:00Space On The BookshelfCelebrating children's literature with reviews, views and more...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger320125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-54644732517037598692020-06-22T15:20:00.002+01:002020-06-22T15:29:31.437+01:00Space on the Bookshelf –first talking event – Civic Square – The Front Room - Saturday Session<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GQVQ7VV1Kqeti2Sw4sc8Dwp4sSPCSelFf7eWzpPzAffddUJpKs2JRxSDxeA5oBwPOTuPmbEfgOzORwte7BbImX6qpoLphDrJWW5Cn6OSfkDBtVOEMrhE7G2A1Gae-qYzbaiNTH3c5bE/s1600/Civic+square+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GQVQ7VV1Kqeti2Sw4sc8Dwp4sSPCSelFf7eWzpPzAffddUJpKs2JRxSDxeA5oBwPOTuPmbEfgOzORwte7BbImX6qpoLphDrJWW5Cn6OSfkDBtVOEMrhE7G2A1Gae-qYzbaiNTH3c5bE/s400/Civic+square+2.jpg" width="343" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image @_TheFrontRoom Twitter</td></tr>
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So after blogging and creating story sacks for seven years here on SOTB, on Saturday 13th June we did our first talk. The amazing team at Civic Square Birmingham invited us to join them for their ‘Saturday Session’ virtual talk via Zoom. <br />
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Being passionate about Story Sacks, and how they are such a great versatile way to encourage children to engage, share and foster a love of reading, I was delighted to accept the offer. However my lack of skills and general inept-ness with new technology had me panicking as to whether I could actually work Zoom well enough to do a half decent presentation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Images via @ThatNikkiBi & @ImmyKaur Twitter</td></tr>
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Thankfully, I have family who are more tech savvy than me, so I had on hand tech support. Also any nerves were eased by the amazing Civic Square team, Imandeep Kaur (and her helpers) and Nikki B. <br />
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So I presented talk that I had put together introducing the concept of story sacks, going through their uses, and variations, (to be utilised and adapted for middle grade, young adults and even adults), plus tips and hints on how to compile them especially on a budget. Plus navigating around difficulties in getting the components especially for books featuring diverse characters. <br />
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With having a now large back-list (as it were) of story sacks, I managed to find either actual sacks of photographs to illustrate all my points. I also made some SOTB sheets on ‘Hints and Tip for making Story Sacks’, and ‘Tips on Using Story Sacks in Schools and Nurseries’. Please e-mail <a href="mailto:spoyton@art-sally.net">spoyton@art-sally.net</a> if you’d like me to send you the PDFs.<br />
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Everyone at Civic Square The Front Room, Saturday Session were all lovely and welcoming, plus enthusiastic, asking lots of interested and varied questions, and most importantly still awake at the end –phew! Our discussions have also inspired me to make some story sacks on particular themes – thank you Rob and Ivor! </div>
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After seven years making story sacks, it was really affirming to know that people are interested in the posts, and talking about them really made me think of how to best articulate all my years of experience in making them in a way that was (hopefully) logical and helpful and interesting. <br />
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I’d live to say a BIG THANK YOU to Civic Square for inviting me, and urge everyone to visit their website to learn all about the amazing work they are doing: <a href="https://civicsquare.cc/" target="_blank">press here.</a> or follow them on Twitter @CIVIC_SQUARE and @__TheFrontRoom</div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-4655434391644531812020-05-26T12:25:00.002+01:002020-05-26T12:25:50.804+01:00Story Sack: ‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his Business’ 30th Anniversary! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br /><br /><br />So a certain mole turns 30 this month, along with his farmyard friends - not forgetting Basil the dog – so here at SOTB we thought we do a Story Sack (or two) to celebrate. <br /><br />In case you are not aware of this classic picture book from the genius minds of Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch, it’s about a mole, who sticks his head out of his hole, only to have something unmentionable land on it. The Mole then goes on a mission to find out who the business belongs to, asking all the farmyard animals, who prove their innocence by demonstration, covering the poor mole in further excrement. It is not until Mole meets some helpful flies, that he finds out the identity of the culprit and can exact revenge. <br /><br />It may sound like silly book – which it is – but as funny as it is , it is also educational. I had a friend who was a naturalist professor at The Oxford University, who told me they use the book to teach students how to identify and track animals, using their poo. <br /><br />So before we begin, here’s a reminder about what a story sack contains… <div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist… </span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally soft toys for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. </span></li>
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<br />So, as I said we have not one but two ‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his Business’ story sacks, one for younger children and one for older readers. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Story Sack One – Younger Readers </span></h3>
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We have paired ‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his Business’, with the beautiful picture book ‘Life-Sized Animal Poo’ by John Townsend, which is a beautifully</div>
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illustrated non-fiction book, that does exactly what it does on the tin, explains about animals poo, in actual size pictures. It is fun and not too wordy. </div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Toys </span></h4>
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For both story sacks, we have manged to source a 25th Anniversary edition Little Mole plush, and we have added various soft toys of a similar size, for each of his friends that he encounters. For the flies, we have found a small pack of plastic figures. <br /><h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br />Games </span></h4>
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<br />Because it’s fun, and educational and will be of interest to all young buddying naturalists, we have ‘Who Did This Poo? A Matching & Memory Game’, by Magma for Laurence king, featuring beautiful illustrations by Charlotte Coulais. We have also found a more physical game which ties into Little Mole’s story, ‘Poo Head’ where you try and catch poo’s on your head. <br /><br /><h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Activities </span></h4>
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Usually I have to get up thinking cap on and get crafty for this element of the Story Sacks, but as it is the 30th Anniversary publishers Pavilion have produced downloadable activity sheets which you can find <a href="https://www.pavilionbooks.com/2019/07/31/happy-30th-anniversary-little-mole/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /><br /> <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Story Sack Two – For Older Readers </span></h3>
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<br />For this story sack for older children you will see we are using many of the same elements as the first storys sack with the exception of… <br /><br /><h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Non-Fiction Book </span></h4>
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<br />For the older children, we have paired ‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his Business’ with ‘Animal Science Poo, A Natural History of the Unmentionable’ by Nicola Davis and illustrated by Neal Layton. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLtWBpmsHaVcoAbfwcD5n6ofkxhDdZIcMG0KdeBE4e0riJUJEDU0IzGK_8w39h_CZsHHH87TTSaWxuZjIHEGFPg_GsV0yCcrPQtmXvjdsN4RPhgkkGgprmfRSvaG-aelvRt0s70TPgLA/s1600/IMG_3250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLtWBpmsHaVcoAbfwcD5n6ofkxhDdZIcMG0KdeBE4e0riJUJEDU0IzGK_8w39h_CZsHHH87TTSaWxuZjIHEGFPg_GsV0yCcrPQtmXvjdsN4RPhgkkGgprmfRSvaG-aelvRt0s70TPgLA/s400/IMG_3250.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />This non-fiction picture book, is just a humorous and educational as Life-Sized Animal Poo’ but it has more fact and text, which is more appropriate for older readers. <br /><br /><h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Game </span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWZ4svV3pp-xqt7QiE7nl_n8drEx3YALZ4ekGIVPuWmYELF02dSDWqlPashKNkrMNnbCPyYOyXx8aOtfpQUCKtDm5XqlqJUclFTaGuNEhy5zWXIC7SV3YOUL-smPqNbMUpaCWRnFU480/s1600/IMG_3252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWZ4svV3pp-xqt7QiE7nl_n8drEx3YALZ4ekGIVPuWmYELF02dSDWqlPashKNkrMNnbCPyYOyXx8aOtfpQUCKtDm5XqlqJUclFTaGuNEhy5zWXIC7SV3YOUL-smPqNbMUpaCWRnFU480/s400/IMG_3252.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />For the older children we have swapped the memory game for ‘Plop Trumps, a poo-centric Top-Trumps card game, which has more factual content. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaExUIxRh-TfcXEW_jiBsDzj-QlDZMjb2RAijZ6jLqNxn-v0xUIe4-RIYVkCiGoyutlCNgajmuT_mA09B31YO93Ke9adI6NZ1f7_i7OuBTTi787oJt0j3wBTMoiHEjbOchP3a9KFeNPyg/s1600/Happy+Birthday+mole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1353" data-original-width="1600" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaExUIxRh-TfcXEW_jiBsDzj-QlDZMjb2RAijZ6jLqNxn-v0xUIe4-RIYVkCiGoyutlCNgajmuT_mA09B31YO93Ke9adI6NZ1f7_i7OuBTTi787oJt0j3wBTMoiHEjbOchP3a9KFeNPyg/s400/Happy+Birthday+mole.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Anyway, this is Space on the Bookshelf signing off and wishing Little Mole, and all his friends a happy 30th Birthday!</div>
Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-67284233816509837842020-05-13T13:28:00.001+01:002020-05-13T13:28:05.577+01:00Picture Book Review: Emma Lazell’s That Dog!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXk-2Bz5NdEQX4qCwGf6StgGBk7eX0htU0ummxmO7x57tM0NSv6Q7IgCauNayON-35zyAz1XiL025DJ5927opevyWe8QBlUoRhPjP2VKmS5JWYLt-JSDMyJHq0c_42X5HcyytPd2_XqW4/s1600/IMG_3055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXk-2Bz5NdEQX4qCwGf6StgGBk7eX0htU0ummxmO7x57tM0NSv6Q7IgCauNayON-35zyAz1XiL025DJ5927opevyWe8QBlUoRhPjP2VKmS5JWYLt-JSDMyJHq0c_42X5HcyytPd2_XqW4/s320/IMG_3055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />That Dog! Is the tale of one very clever dog, who outwits the town's cunning yet inept dog-nappers, rescuing all the stolen pets and bring the culprits to justice. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMTSP23kea9Fkdy91EsY0YRCzPblGlhvkEBuBUWXrLmC9ZD2j3pODBoHz2BTvlN80Ufyp73Se7zTFqBFdYPCv5FyCiiPRBkzFKvyftrL0rvvdgBAZsv-A71mzLPCdt9H8wD9Fvqjb2Jo/s1600/IMG_3056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMTSP23kea9Fkdy91EsY0YRCzPblGlhvkEBuBUWXrLmC9ZD2j3pODBoHz2BTvlN80Ufyp73Se7zTFqBFdYPCv5FyCiiPRBkzFKvyftrL0rvvdgBAZsv-A71mzLPCdt9H8wD9Fvqjb2Jo/s320/IMG_3056.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Emma’s vibrant and fun illustrations really bring the story to life, as you follow the story which is unusually told from the villain’s point of view as they pursue their latest target –the spotty dog, with long floppy ears and a even longer tail. <div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigS4BjBJGxSPT1SmzEVeyixXFNlFNjrhETkcAzbGpRw6gsK3HtyzUTKIaOtigO7l3INmSGIos530zfUWdD5MGcDjUW_SOF-691t1mH3Q07b29taxtBAHcqL7k0gsCFM6aefaj4tsUosp0/s1600/IMG_3057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigS4BjBJGxSPT1SmzEVeyixXFNlFNjrhETkcAzbGpRw6gsK3HtyzUTKIaOtigO7l3INmSGIos530zfUWdD5MGcDjUW_SOF-691t1mH3Q07b29taxtBAHcqL7k0gsCFM6aefaj4tsUosp0/s320/IMG_3057.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />That Dog, is mischievous and humorous read accompanied by exquisite illustrations.</div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-32720607115000026062020-04-28T15:51:00.001+01:002020-04-28T16:10:42.870+01:00Ways into Stories - Helping Children Become Storytellers. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLBM7ztLyhAcdBjtAGs_wC8G474V0bIHZDH0B8MPb3EZY-zoSQhaeRBWzGO17i2gZFX5vHPFv1LKnYg-35-KRGs7IS7il9JJD0IoIaO3vRD75B1ulovuJM_kJ-eGRH5epHyfBnBHQnuI/s1600/ways+into+storeis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="1241" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLBM7ztLyhAcdBjtAGs_wC8G474V0bIHZDH0B8MPb3EZY-zoSQhaeRBWzGO17i2gZFX5vHPFv1LKnYg-35-KRGs7IS7il9JJD0IoIaO3vRD75B1ulovuJM_kJ-eGRH5epHyfBnBHQnuI/s400/ways+into+storeis.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once a long while ago when my children were small a very wise and experienced teacher friend gave me some advice she said: <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">‘Children cannot learn to read or write until they can tell a story.’ </span></blockquote>
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I believe that she is correct. Reading and writing are quite abstract concepts, and it is a lot easier to get your head around them if you understand the concept of stories and storytelling. <br />
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Indeed many anthropologists, state that we are a species are storytellers, and that it is at the core of why we’ve been so successful, (that and having thumbs!) <br />
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However some children find storytelling difficult, even intimidating, so this is a post all about finding ways into stores to help children learn to tell stories, and therefore foster a love of them, and hopefully reading and writing too. <br />
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As a writer myself, I can tell you there are few things more daunting than a bright white blank piece of paper. I like many writers, don’t start with the writing straight away, but begin with brainstorming ideas, doing character profiles, and even looking for pictures of characters and places in magazines and making mood boards. So why would we thinking asking a child to imagine and tell a story without any kind of preparation of stimulus would be easy? So here a few ways that can help children into their stories… <br />
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Prompts are great! <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Story Cubes </span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheibmCULioCeKPf6fyOAFs7ioJYfrw4d4abBZfUzfHwrAOvfUTEckVighIpL1WMWIYMALDSbhLmOGea4XuGaiVPLlIEaEB6tXImXBX7maGBUkpNwlSKJ3PrB_BOv9GF6NV13pU7d3SLqE/s1600/Story+Cubes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheibmCULioCeKPf6fyOAFs7ioJYfrw4d4abBZfUzfHwrAOvfUTEckVighIpL1WMWIYMALDSbhLmOGea4XuGaiVPLlIEaEB6tXImXBX7maGBUkpNwlSKJ3PrB_BOv9GF6NV13pU7d3SLqE/s400/Story+Cubes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One of the easiest prompts you can have for story telling are Story Cubes. These are dice with pictures on each side. You throw them and make up a story based on the images that land face up. <br />
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Story dice can be used as a fun family game, or as a prompt for inspiring story telling. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to carry around in a handbag or changing bag, to be used when kids get bored whilst out and about. They also come in different sets, like a horror, fairy tale and science fiction, so you can story tell in other genres. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Story Wheels </span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-Brjb7eJNyhUiyLhyphenhyphenxDhsI7xMOLHOOeuW4JnzTGb6mnZG3H1gmNvT2FMMYYhchlqHLxyMqMFnvUarB4X6xduBtYmHutq9L_j2_9lbVVGRxc_QWiepgX02OY4oHdWQWSOvl2KloipMeU/s1600/IMG_2766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-Brjb7eJNyhUiyLhyphenhyphenxDhsI7xMOLHOOeuW4JnzTGb6mnZG3H1gmNvT2FMMYYhchlqHLxyMqMFnvUarB4X6xduBtYmHutq9L_j2_9lbVVGRxc_QWiepgX02OY4oHdWQWSOvl2KloipMeU/s400/IMG_2766.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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For younger children, Story Wheels are great tools to prompt story telling. These have full colour illustrations or characters, animals, settings and props. You spin the arrow, and see where it stops, and use these as starters for storytelling. <br />
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A good few years ago, I utilised these while doing a remote author project with a pre-school. With small groups of the older children (aged 3-5), we spun the wheels to pick the character and settings. The children were very young, and were initially very wary about telling stories, but when they had characters and places picked for them at random by the Story Wheels, they become engaged and excited and their creativity shined through. The children then made up the beginning of the stories, which I wrote down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmq2axtzc7Druky6a5deza2clcpVoK7AMYYkJGNFbI95yZF6YvSBEItxTxiEW3skXdQDRVvdtfLPE4K-NnOefXn-gHkja-TgsVbG9vgNgVJj5Ax4OtK6BWkXApHcft-883ZDdDqcOBUUU/s1600/Pippins+project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1175" data-original-width="1473" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmq2axtzc7Druky6a5deza2clcpVoK7AMYYkJGNFbI95yZF6YvSBEItxTxiEW3skXdQDRVvdtfLPE4K-NnOefXn-gHkja-TgsVbG9vgNgVJj5Ax4OtK6BWkXApHcft-883ZDdDqcOBUUU/s400/Pippins+project.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I then send these story beginnings to authors Chitra Soundar and Rita Borg who wrote the ending of the stories. <br />
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I use the same children’s paintings, to illustrate the complete stories, and we printed them into a book. <br />
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The children love reading the endings of the stories, and seeing them illustrated with their own art-works. <br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Story Puzzles & Games</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGb7qBlOkpbaAeNWOzxjSiWsbNO-zs6kpb1C0dkkBLvNg_oZ8z7vajE6BKO3AXq9nqK2FdaWDoSem3kwVi4Tg1eE2bBpv-OEzbLEAfdngaKAU_kNoqJBVZRAitY6MDx5pzR4PD8Iu7Od0/s1600/IMG_2770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGb7qBlOkpbaAeNWOzxjSiWsbNO-zs6kpb1C0dkkBLvNg_oZ8z7vajE6BKO3AXq9nqK2FdaWDoSem3kwVi4Tg1eE2bBpv-OEzbLEAfdngaKAU_kNoqJBVZRAitY6MDx5pzR4PD8Iu7Od0/s400/IMG_2770.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a whole array of storytelling card games and puzzles, which can be used to inspire storytelling. From the puzzles games for younger children, where you put together a liner story with piece depicting scenes that you used to tell a story, to card that do a similar thing but that can also be used as family games. <br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Animation </span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJ0eyjn7YkgX7g26cs_XcBxGvOPxUcY7OtPm6_Du_WaLPVrHKmPpDFq_bUOw74osUUVB78Ndg6ZqMCSEcNlRbTIsoFfBS3lbv2M65Z925DSZuWkjBTwAAProfwVpd6ecBBaDobl-PS0Y/s1600/023-Duplicate00001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJ0eyjn7YkgX7g26cs_XcBxGvOPxUcY7OtPm6_Du_WaLPVrHKmPpDFq_bUOw74osUUVB78Ndg6ZqMCSEcNlRbTIsoFfBS3lbv2M65Z925DSZuWkjBTwAAProfwVpd6ecBBaDobl-PS0Y/s400/023-Duplicate00001.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An animation set up and ready from filming circa 2012</td></tr>
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In this day and age many children have access to devises which you can download animation aps to. Unlike when I was child trying to do stop-motion animation on a Super Eight movie camera, these aps make creating your own stop-motion. Children can use them to make animations, and in doing so they are also telling stories. This is a great way to encourage children who are reluctant storytellers, to begin making up their own tales. <br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Drawing Stories </span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKI4ntm-Bs4k50Z39_kZbl6UMl1-sU9rYU-tlVDBi0HjDccjJjVYmvdUcatu5Tks_p7nksNWUrkze9U22DGNctA3hmF5PNbIM6wltuKqh15mJcj6ZMgLgZ36kYK8-wgfXiLIbVXuJl1eY/s1600/drwaing+red+ted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1135" data-original-width="1318" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKI4ntm-Bs4k50Z39_kZbl6UMl1-sU9rYU-tlVDBi0HjDccjJjVYmvdUcatu5Tks_p7nksNWUrkze9U22DGNctA3hmF5PNbIM6wltuKqh15mJcj6ZMgLgZ36kYK8-wgfXiLIbVXuJl1eY/s400/drwaing+red+ted.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Many years ago I took my son to meet Old Bear and owner and author/ illustrator of the Old Bear books Jane Hissy. In her talk, she told the children that she set up all the toys to create the scenes form the books, and sets about drawing them. These drawing are the illustrations for her books. <br />
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When we got home, my son (a reluctant story teller but keen artist) went about setting up scenes with his favourite teddies, and drawing them. He then made the drawing into a story, that we got printed into a book. <br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Story Starter Boxes</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajOmibtx1tflQxjS-K-VMw-kTFmAnxLToDXNq9mqO0DntZBPYD5Zr6nHFnkCRt2GKq7VKSnidscWKf1OYBoslcmjeSJVfWgosRD5HRtQgjt-bEVHxMFbFytJc4e4xg_7gvhbRwXgzIX0/s1600/IMG_2772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajOmibtx1tflQxjS-K-VMw-kTFmAnxLToDXNq9mqO0DntZBPYD5Zr6nHFnkCRt2GKq7VKSnidscWKf1OYBoslcmjeSJVfWgosRD5HRtQgjt-bEVHxMFbFytJc4e4xg_7gvhbRwXgzIX0/s640/IMG_2772.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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For older children, a good way into stories is via a Story Starter Box. In fact recently in the news, there has been a story about a Sorcerers Box, that has been found in Pompeii –which immediately has all my writer friends on social media saying what a great inspiration for a story. The same goes for the Victorian Vampire hunter set that was found a few years ago, or even any time capsules that are found, they just get your creative mind going. <br />
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So to make you own, Story Starter Box, just find a box, anything will do an old shoe box, a matchbox, and old biscuit tin. Fill it with things that may be interesting or a bit quirky, here’s my list of suggested contents… <br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Photographs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Pictures or articles from magazine/ newspapers </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Small toys, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Jewellery, fossils, stones, leaves. Dried flowers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Maps/ drawing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Anything small and interesting.</span></li>
</ul>
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Give this box to your child, and ask them to write a character profile, or short stories about the contents of the box. <br />
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Thanks for stopping by, please comment if you wish, and good luck to you with any endeavours you may have getting into stories!<br />
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-33400658400357866932020-04-24T17:21:00.002+01:002020-04-24T17:21:32.194+01:00Lockdown Special: Creating Story Sacks for home – with a little help from the internet! BUG Belly Babysitting Trouble by Paul Morton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />In this our second lockdown stock sack special, we are going to show you how you can compile story sacks, by shopping online, opposed to purchasing the components from bookshops, charity shops and toys shops on the high street. <br /><br />So for you all out there here’s a reminder of what a story sack consists of…. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist</span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally soft toys for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The book I’ve chosen to construct the stock sack around is Bug Belly written and illustrated by Paul Morton. It’s an early reader chapter book, about Bug Belly the greediest Frog who has to save all his nephews and nieces he’s babysitting when their pond begins to drain. Using an ingenious plan Bug Belly outwits Heron, Pike and Snake, who are all ready to goggle up him and the tadpoles, on their journey form Top Pond, through Middle Pond to Bottom Pond. This funny and vibrant book is an excellent read for the time of year, as it’s tadpole season, plus it supports the Key Stage One Curriculum. It’s perfect for home educating! <div>
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<br /><br />I’ve paired Bug Belly with Scholastic’s From Tadpole to Frog early reader by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, which is an early reader photographic non-fiction book about the life cycle of a frog. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Toys </span></h3>
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<br />For soft toys I found a Wild Republic frog, which was relatively inexpensive. Of course you can get other frogs, from finger puppets (Ikea do a cheap one) to larger toys, to suit every budget. <br /><br />Unfortunately I couldn’t find ANY plush tadpoles, so I got my so to sow some from felt and buttons. These were easy and inexpensive. </div>
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Snake toys you can fairly cheaply and easily on line if you wish. Pikes, are trickier but you can buy a 45cm Pike toy/cushion for £8.99 from Ebay. Heron’s get pricier but it’s worth looking around. </div>
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<br /><br />For budget sake, and to keep my son company as he made the tadpoles, I made this like Pike, (sorry sowing isn’t by strong suit). But making characters with thing you have around the house is a good activity for lockdown! <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Game / Toys </span></h3>
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<br />For the game element I have included an Insect Lore frog life cycle set of figurines, which again is good for home educating. <br /><br />For printable activities, you can also visit the bug belly web-site <a href="https://bugbelly.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Here</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />The whole story sack cost (including postage and packaging) cost less than £20.00 and all arrived in a week. So thereby showing that you can produce story sacks from home. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> </div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-63277897598060771982020-04-20T10:55:00.001+01:002020-04-20T10:55:07.747+01:00Lockdown Special: Story Sack Challenge – can you make a story sack from stuff you find around the house? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />So, at Space on The Bookshelf we do a lot of features about Story Sacks. Story Sacks are a great educational tool, they’re fun, and can use play and stories to help learning and can be used in line with the curriculum. With lockdown extended and people Home Educating, this is exactly the time when Story Sack could really help people to entertain, engage and educate their children. <br /><br />However it is lockdown and therefore shops are closed and people are stuck at home, so compiling story sacks isn’t as easy as it was. So, here is a blog post to show it can be possible to construct a story sack with things around your home. So I devised a challenge for my teens – which severed as both an activity to keep them busy, and to show you it is possible to create story sacks from home especially if you have a bookshelf (or two). <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">The Challenge </span></h3>
<br />I game my children a print out each of what you need in a story sack. I then gave them an afternoon to compile their story sacks. At the end of the day me (an avid story sack creator) and my husband (who works in education) would pick a winner. <div>
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<br />So for you all out there here’s a reminder of what a story sack consists of…. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist<br /> </span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"> A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Meet The Competitors </span></h3>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Team B’s Story Sack … </span></h3>
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So B, went for a classic picture book to construct her story sack around, picking our ancient copy (from when I was a toddler) of ‘the Tiger who Came to Tea’ by Judith Kerr. <br /><br />She paired this with a non-fiction picture book that we had yet to re-home about Big Cats. <br /><br />For toys she raided her teddy collection and found a plush Tiger and cub. For the game element she manged to find a Trivia Pursuit special expansion pack about Wildlife. She also went the extra mile and found some activities, a colouring in sheet and big-cat themed word search on the internet and printed them out. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Team S’s Story Sack … </span></h3>
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<br />So S, an avid keeper of beetles, stick insects, hissing cockroaches, praying mantis and giant African land snails, went for an insect themed story sack. He picked the picture book ‘Moth’ by ‘Isobel Thomas and Daniel Egneus’ which is a beautiful book that is all about moths and their evolution. <br /><br />He then paired this with the equally beautiful ‘Insect Emporium’ by ‘Susie Brooks’ and ‘Dawn Copper’. <br /><br />For toys he put in his much loved TY beetle plush, which is always on his bed. For toys he went with the amazing tile game HIVE which features an array of insects. <br /><br /><h3>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><br />The Verdict </span></h3>
<br />Both story sacks were well thought out and ingeniously constructed with books and games and things from around the house (they were not permitted to use anything form my Story Sack stock). But the overall winner of the challenge, just taking it for going the extra mile and finding worksheets, was Team B’s Tiger story sack! <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgVSdPumG1nfwY5LVLDMIexi5WUo-_TpAfUNxIywmS7VX9r2YI3IeyxBzUjlX9SPjyLEmS5XHV0pwju7H1rZh3CJvDzMfxQd7A2XXGM4q8AluZIExbavqJ7Njw3JMzMrJg3t4XibdMKQ/s1600/Team+B+Story+Sack+WINNER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgVSdPumG1nfwY5LVLDMIexi5WUo-_TpAfUNxIywmS7VX9r2YI3IeyxBzUjlX9SPjyLEmS5XHV0pwju7H1rZh3CJvDzMfxQd7A2XXGM4q8AluZIExbavqJ7Njw3JMzMrJg3t4XibdMKQ/s400/Team+B+Story+Sack+WINNER.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /><br />Thank you stopping by and we hope that this maybe inspires you to see if you can construct a story sack in isolation from bit and pieces you find around your home. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> </div>
Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-38258138668955873172020-04-08T11:26:00.000+01:002020-04-28T16:13:06.935+01:00Budget Story Sack – The Kiss That Missed – David Melling. <br />
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I’m often told by people that they like story sack but they are too expensive to put together so every now and then I like to do a post where I put together a budget story sack. I achieve this by setting a budget and timescale to assemble the story sack in and then go and out and see if I can actually construct a story sack within both the finical and time constraints. So this is my latest Budget story sack feature, but before we being let’s have a reminder of what is in a story sack… <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist </span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></li>
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So my Budget was set at £10.00 and the timescale at a week (obviously this was done pre-lockdown!), and I went out to my local town. So in my first job is to look for a suitable book to construct the story sack around, here’s a quick tip; if you are going to do a budget story sack then stick to popular topics, like, dinosaurs, space or as I have in this one – knight and dragons – as you will find more choice of cheap components in charity shops, toy shops and pound shops etc. <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Books </span></h3>
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So I was lucky enough to find a lovely good quality second hand copy of David Mellings beautiful ‘The Kiss That Missed’ for £1.00. The story is of knight who is on a quest to find and bring back the Kings Kiss for its intended recipient the prince. The knight journey is perilous and funny as he has to bravely tackle magical forest and ferocious dragons.<br />
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In the same shop I found a good condition copy of the book ‘100 Facts – Knights and Castle’ which provides the non-fiction related picture book which is crammed full of interesting knight educational facts, for only 50p. <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Toys </span></h3>
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For the toys I was lucky enough to find a BNWT ‘Puppet Company’ dragon & knight finger puppets for £1.00 each. I also found a BNWT box of ‘Tellatale Cinderella Finger Puppet’ set that provide the royal household for £3.00. I was stuck a little for a toy to be the Knights loyal steed but we happened to be going to Ikea that week and serendipitously they has a white horse finger puppet for £1.49. So we ended up with a whole cast of finger puppet characters which not only keeps the cost down, but also makes the story sack non-bulky and easy to transport. <br />
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For the game I found a complete unused second hand box of ‘Usborne Knights and Castles Snap’ for £1.50. Which can be used to play snap or utilised to play storytelling games - like story dice. As a bonus, I happened to find a foam knights shield for 50p, to encourage make-believe play. <br />
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All in all the Story Sack came in a budget just £9.99. Proving that with a bit on imagination, and a keen eye, you can construct a story sack on a limited budget. <br />
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Also if you would like to hear David Melling reading <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-cfqSZAr4y/" target="_blank">‘The Kiss that Missed’ press here. </a><br />
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-74280593238295186832020-03-06T12:37:00.004+00:002020-03-06T12:50:03.532+00:00Look Up! by Nathan Bryan and Dapo Adeola – Story Sack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since this picture book was published and before it deservedly
became such a hit, I wanted to create a story sack based around it. However due
to issues <a href="https://spaceonthebookshelf.blogspot.com/2019/11/keeping-your-eyes-peeled-hoarding-and.html" target="_blank">(discussed in this blog post)</a> about sourcing games, and plush toys in
diverse ethnicities, I wasn’t confident it would be possible. However I am truly
happy to say that the stars must have been aligned, as I have manged to source everything
relatively easily from standard shops on the high street, which I very much
hope is a sign of things to come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So before we start here is a quick reminder of what a story
sack contains…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Story Sack
Checklist </span></h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #351c75;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #351c75;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #351c75;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #351c75;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #351c75;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></li>
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So for our main picture book, we have the vibrant and brilliant ‘Look Up’ penned by Nathan Bryon and illustrated by Dapo Adeola. This book is everything a picture book should be; fun, heart-warming, thought provoking, educational, and fabulous story where the exquisite illustration that truly enhance the text.<br />
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‘Look Up’ tells the story of Rocket, who like her Hero, Maye C Jemison, wants to be an astronaut. She lives and breathes everything space, and is always looking up, unlike her big brother Jamal who’s always looking down at his phone.<br />
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With a Meteor shower due to be visible that evening, Rocket arranges for the community to come to the park to view the meteors and she even manages to get Jamal to look up from his phone.<br />
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'Look Up!' is a story of sibling love, dreams and dedication that all children should read. <br />
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I’ve chosen not one but two non-fiction books to accompany ‘Look Up!’ First the lovely highly illustrated National Geographic Kids Meteors, which does exactly what it says on the cover, providing lots of interesting educational facts along with beautiful photographs. <br />
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The second book is Mse C. Jemison, picture book biography part of the Woman in Science & technology range by ‘Discovery Library’ by Meeg Pincus and Elena Bia, which gives more insight into the story of Rockets Hero, the first African American woman in space.<br />
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For younger readers, I would recommend the beautiful ‘Little Leaders, Bold Women in Black History,’ picture book by Vasti Harrison.<br />
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So, I was lucky that because I squirrel away plush toys when I find them, I had a doll that I could adapt to look like Rocket, so I went about crafting a spacesuit, glasses, and braiding her hair. Although if you are not crafty or just don’t have the time, to source a doll and adapt I have found a Jelly Cat plush that is available online, and in toy shops, that is in a Space Walk suit and has a medium skin tone, called ‘Jellynaught’, RRP £11.99.<br />
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I also picked up a Jelly Cat, cat to keep Rocket company as sadly I couldn’t find a doll suitable to be used a Jamal. <br />
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So, I found in my local toy shop a ‘PetitCollage’ ‘Shine Bright’ ‘Space Bound’ tin, which has a black female astronaut doll with a host of space outfits to dress her, including a Nasa suit and spacewalking suit. I’ve also included glow in the dark starts to use as the meteors.<br />
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So here we are on ‘Look Up’ Story Sack, that was truly a pleasure to put together. Thank you for stopping by, and do come back for more story sack ideas. <br />
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<br />Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-48830345790934864472020-03-02T11:37:00.000+00:002020-03-02T11:37:03.943+00:00William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines – Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /> <br /><br />William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines, is a fun vibrant educational non-fiction picture book, with a retro feel that will appeal to adults and children alike.<div>
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Full of retro filled illustrations that really have a ‘Rosie’s Walk’ feel to them, the book follows the author/ illustrator titular charter William Bee, as he explores tractors and farm machinery. From small tractors to monstrous ones, he takes the reader on a journey explaining what different types of tractors are used for, as well as bringing in a dose of the history of agricultural machinery.</div>
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This book would have appealed to be when I was child, (I could name the tractor make from a single glance from a moving car three fields away), but also to both my children, who loved learning about all things with engines. </div>
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All in all William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines, is a fun educational read, that has the potential to be a future classic as it focuses on a topic that has a perennial appeal to small children.</div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-414873918985915172019-11-22T09:32:00.001+00:002019-11-22T09:45:02.450+00:00Keeping your Eyes Peeled, Hoarding, and Patience - Creating Story Sacks <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I’ve been creating story sacks for a few years now, and I love it. Compiling a story sack around a particular book is sometimes easy and other times challenging, and over the years through a process of trial and error I’ve found a few things that help. So this is a post full of antidotes tips to help anyone who is interested in putting together their own story sacks. <br />
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So before we start our post, here is a quick note on what a story sack is, and what it includes…<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist </span></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br />TIP 1 - Pick a Common Theme</span> - if you are compiling you first story sack or simply if you want to have an easy time sourcing items for a story sack, base it around a story with a common theme. If you construct a story stack around a book about dinosaurs, pirates, unicorns of space, you’ll find lots of options for games, soft toys and non-fiction books, and many of which will be inexpensive or sourced second hand , keeping the cost down.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Tip 2 –Keep your Eyes Pealed </span>- there are certain things that are the cornerstone of any story sack, plush toys that are based on the main characters and games and nonfiction books that further explore the themes in the main book it’s based around. Sometimes these themes are so popular it easy to find the items you need other times it is difficult because the characters are so unique - in that case you need to get creative, making your own or you’ll need to enlist the help of a crafty friend. Others are a challenge to source even though they shouldn’t be, like BAME plush toys. Therefore if it is good to get in the habit of keeping your eyes peeled and picking up any when you see them. For instance I brought a few plush dolls in varying genders and colours from a museum gift shop, so that I’d have them ready when I need them. It’s also good to keep an eye out for bargains in sales and charity shops for future projects to keep costs down. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Tip 3 Become a Hoarder</span> – When you are creating Story Sacks it can make things easier if you have a stock of items ready. To that end, I hoard things. Anything that I find that may be useful; rag-dolls or plush dolls, (with safety labels), puzzles and games, non-fiction books for common themes – space, animals, castles, and even draw string bags. This way when you find a book you wish to use as the basis for a story sack you may already have some of the items to accompany it. Also if you are in a school environment, you also have spare items if any of the bits in a story sack get broken or misplaced. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">TIP 4 - Have Patience</span> -</span> When I create story sacks for newly published books or and book by a debut writer/illustrators, I like to post the piece to coincide with the publication in order to champion the books. However when I’m creating a story sack around a classic book I find I can take my time. This means I can wait for the right items to come along at the right price rather than source the items new. This of course takes patience, and means you have to keep your eyes peeled and be a hoarder storing things until you have all the items to complete the story sack. </div>
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For instance a few years ago, I found a BNWT astronaut plush in a charity shop for 50p, when I brought it I discovered it was a MR BENN, so I decided to start collecting stuff for a story sack. Over the last few years, I found a second hand copy of the picture book story for £3, a new DVD of the animated series for £1, a still cellophane covered unopened box of the MR BENN GRAB GAME, for £2.50. Whilst looking around I found a non-fiction book about dressing up for 50p and a new box of cardboard origami dress up hats for 50p. All that was needed was a MR Benn toy in his usual suit, which eventually I found in a charity shop last week for £4.00. So eventually my patience paid off! </div>
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So the moral of the story is simple, to make engaging story sacks at a purse friendly price, become a horder, keep your eyes peeled and have patience. Happy Story Sack making!</div>
Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-26363553306743799732019-11-05T13:27:00.001+00:002019-11-05T13:27:58.651+00:00Story Sack – The Dinosaur who lost her Voice by Julie Ballard and Francesca Gambatesa<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYetSYCsoExk8NO8SBLq1KaFQLKXx5GLSjlEVeyZENt5RcqNjeF9c7Kc9gtdfk4APeugdjxfW7op90DA6jtryOpO5VnDlS27RwzSkA-6vFM2Lgpj9_XipozIqKy1T5EtemjUUOEDI6Fk/s1600/IMG_0220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYetSYCsoExk8NO8SBLq1KaFQLKXx5GLSjlEVeyZENt5RcqNjeF9c7Kc9gtdfk4APeugdjxfW7op90DA6jtryOpO5VnDlS27RwzSkA-6vFM2Lgpj9_XipozIqKy1T5EtemjUUOEDI6Fk/s400/IMG_0220.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Today’s story sack has been assembled specifically for one of my nephews who is coming up to his third Birthday and is still finding his voice. So for his Birthday, I’ve assembled a story sack based on the recently published picture book penned by Julie Ballard and illustrated by Francesca Gambatesa ‘The Dinosaur who lost her Voice.’ <br /><br />So before we start our post, here is a quick note on what a story sack is, and what it includes…<br /> <br /> <br /><h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Story Sack Checklist </span></h4>
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<li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"> A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></li>
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Books - Fiction</div>
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<br />The Dinosaur who lost her Voice is a charming positive tale about friendship and overcoming disappointment. The titular dinosaur has a song in her heart and a passion for singing, until one day tragedy strikes and she loses her voice. The dinosaur is sad, and her friends wanting to help her form a choir and sing, creating a cacophony of that is not pleasant to the ears. So the voiceless dinosaur teaches them to sing, until their ensemble is performing harmonious and beautiful songs. Everyone is happy including the dinosaur that lost her voice. <div>
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<br />The book is full of positive messages and themes including friendship, empathy and kindness but also accepting who you are and showing that when adversity derails your dreams you can find other ways to realise them. The Dinosaur who lost her voice is further enchanted by Francesca Gambatesa’s vibrant illustrations both compliment and enrich the heart-warming story. <div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Book – Non-Fiction </span></h4>
<br />To accompany the ‘The Dinosaur who lost her Voice’ I’ve chosen two non-fiction titles. One a dinosaur picture book, full of fun facts which are always popular with young children. <br /><br />The second is a picture book which through its lovely illustration teaches how to use British Sign Language to sign the song ‘5 Little Ducks’ so my nephew can sing in sign. <br /><br /> <br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: center;">
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<br />For the plush toys, I found a beautiful knitted doppelganger for the Dinosaur who Lost her voice, and a few other dino-teddies to be her friends. <br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Activities </span></h4>
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<br />For the toys and activities I’ve included a toy microphone for singing and free-play, and a set of dinosaur puzzles. If you wish to make a story sack based around The Dinosaur who lost her Voice, you can find many puzzles and games that are dinosaur themes for any ability and age range. <br /><br /> </div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-28212407196634683502019-10-17T11:09:00.000+01:002019-10-17T11:09:04.538+01:00Review; The Wonder Girls by J.M.Carr <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxRLSMvAIcT5M1_HV19SoBZ4cr7RC9wn39LinjsUlAXjqTu0W1_rhHx3uQCx0x2eDG-cQib-ywvgdRK9Y3jifHAgpQHHJGJWHet2iGJQZ0z0KH2gnSFf_A2wkO_h3Nkva7b-qHQFcZs8/s1600/Wonder+girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="515" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxRLSMvAIcT5M1_HV19SoBZ4cr7RC9wn39LinjsUlAXjqTu0W1_rhHx3uQCx0x2eDG-cQib-ywvgdRK9Y3jifHAgpQHHJGJWHet2iGJQZ0z0KH2gnSFf_A2wkO_h3Nkva7b-qHQFcZs8/s400/Wonder+girls.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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<br />The Wonder Girls is an exciting adventure yarn following a rag-tag group of girls in pre-war Briton, as they endeavour to outwit the evil Black Shirt’s plans to abduct ‘Aryan’ looking children and, sell them to the Nazi party in Germany. <br /><br />The book starts running and gathers pace as it races from the 1936 march of the British Union of Fascists known as the ‘Black Shirts’ in London to fictional Hampshire town of Nettlefield, as streetwise foundling Baby and her sister Fingers race to save mysterious golden-haired Sophie, who they witness get kidnapped. At Nettlefield the two sisters meet Gin a teenage aspiring actress and Brian a tomboy with Downs Syndrome who live in a disused railway carriage. The four girls quickly become fast friends, together they follow the main suspects and concentrate their search for Sophie on the town Orphanage and the undertakers. Soon they cross paths with 14 year old want-to-be mechanic Ida whose mother has just passed away. <br /><br />Baby tries to warn Ida that her ‘Uncle’ Mr Underwood the undertaker and the Matron of the orphanage Mrs Buller are planning on taking Ida’s, blue eyed blonde haired, sister Bonnie, but Ida resists their help. When Bonnie is forcibly removed from Ida care, she realises that she needs to embrace the eclectic band of girls and work with them to save her sister and stop her and other Aryan children being smuggled out of the country and sold to Hitler. <div>
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<br />As with every good adventure yarn, nothing is that easy and it takes every ounce of their combined ingenuity, skills and help from new friends to outwit the Black Shirts. <br /><br />The Wonder Girls is a delightful adrenaline filled adventure that shines a light on a very dark aspect of British history whist bring a good dose of fun with it eccentric cast, yet not shying away from difficult themes. In The book J.M. Car expertly balances the emotional personal stories of the individual characters and peril whilst maintaining a historical setting that is so real it is almost tangible. </div>
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<br />However the true beauty if this book is while it is exploring historical events it is actually commenting on modern society. From the head on racism of the Black Shirts felt most by Baby whose from Indian decent, to accepting neurodiversity with Brian’s character, who also hints about gender choice. Feminism and equal rights for women is high on the gender too, with Ida wanting to defy society’s expectations and become a mechanic. It also unites people from the whole spectrum of society from Upper Class Vir’Gin’a to middle class Ida right through to the socially less acceptable street urchin’s Baby and Fingers and Brian with her disability. <br /><br />The Wonder Girls under the guise if historical fiction is actually preaching acceptance, togetherness and solidarity, a strong message for today’s society – unity. For the Wonder Girls like society is stronger than the sum of its parts. <br /><br /><br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-27815636297221108592019-04-26T09:41:00.000+01:002019-04-26T09:41:02.526+01:00Story Sack – ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Dewalt & Oliver Jeffers and ‘The Crayon Man’ by Natascha Biebow & Steve Salerno <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br /><br />For a long time I’ve wanted to make a story based on Drew Dewalt ‘s and Oliver Jerrers’s ‘The Day the Crayons Quit,’ but as is often the way I could not find an age appropriate related non-fiction book to compliment the story. It was therefore joy to me, when I heard that SCWBI-BI Regional Director, (who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my time volunteering for SCBWI) Natascha Biebow had written a picture book about the man who invented crayons, as it is the illusive missing piece of the story stack. <br /><br />So before we start our post, here is a quick note on what a story sack is, and what it includes… <br /><br /><h4>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Story Sack Checklist</span></h4>
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<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Fiction Book - ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Dewalt & Oliver Jeffers </span></h4>
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<br /> The Day the Crayons Quit is a celebration of colour and creativity. It’s a humorous read, as the Crayons all write letters to their owner Duncan complaining about how he uses them; pointing out the notions of preconceptions of how things are; pink for girls, blue for water, and so on. It is done in charming way which is reminiscent of the Little Prince’s drawings in the classic Antonie de Saint-Exupery book. Duncan responds by unleashing his creativity to use his colours in a more liberated way, pleasing everyone, including his teacher. The Day the Crayons Quit is an original, unique and funny read with vibrant illustrations which work perfectly with the text. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><br />Non-Fiction Book ‘The Crayon Man’ by Natascha Biebow & Steve Salerno </span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxEwx2Q51fCheSHPnUnWOez0DzKKQKABm9-BEBA2V5xjAIah2YHQS7h_Q90bdXxhfR8r8Dh4MQfBdl65KVklmEhpNvHopBwUf2IDJK_v5njCRTd2YNOtXeaV0SzbICRhKqiKlCaZAxVQ/s1600/crayon+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxEwx2Q51fCheSHPnUnWOez0DzKKQKABm9-BEBA2V5xjAIah2YHQS7h_Q90bdXxhfR8r8Dh4MQfBdl65KVklmEhpNvHopBwUf2IDJK_v5njCRTd2YNOtXeaV0SzbICRhKqiKlCaZAxVQ/s320/crayon+man.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
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‘The Crayon Man’, is much akin to ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ as it is also a celebration of creativity and colour, telling the remarkable true story, of Edwin Binney who invented the Crayola waxed crayons. The book is beautiful, as it explores Edwin’s journey with fun flowing narrative interjected with boxes of facts and beautiful illustrations by Steve Salerno. In addition it has a biography of Edwin Binney and a section explaining the way Crayola Crayons are made today, which makes it a perfect companion book for the story sack – Thanks Natascha and Steve! <div>
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This is maybe the easiest story sack I’ve ever done as far as soft toys are concerned, as there is a wide range of ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ merchandise available online, I opted for the Crayon box full of Crayon finger puppets, which was relatively inexpensive at £6.99 including postage. Plus I’ve included a man finger puppet which can be used as Edwin too. </div>
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There are ready made games available online, like a fabric crayon matching set from Esty, or a Crayola branded card game (if you can find one cheap enough), but to keep cost down, I chose to make my own. So, I used four small draw string bags that I already had and filled them with four packs of chunky crayons (89p each) , which can be used in multiple ways… <br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>Crayon Colour Snap </b></span><br /><br />Up to four players <br /><br /><span style="color: #20124d;">Equipment:</span> Four bags full of identical set of crayons. <br /><br /><span style="color: #20124d;">Rules: </span><br /><br />1. On the count of three, all players pull a random crayon from their bag. <br /><br />2. If any colours match, the first person to shut Snap wins them all, and places them in front of them. Any un-matching coloured crayons go back in the bag they came from. <br /><br />3. When the bags are empty, the player with the most crayons in front of them wins. In the event of a tie, those players play again, until there is an outright winner. </div>
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<br /><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Crayon Colour Quick Fire Draw </span></b><br /><br />Up to four players <br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;">Equipment: </span><br /><br />· Four bags full of identical set of crayons. Colour Dice. Paper. Doodle cards, (or story cube) <br /><br /><span style="color: #20124d;">Rules: </span><br /><br />1. All players have a bag with identical crayons inside (that correspond to the colours on the dice). <br /><br />2. Turn over a doodle card to see what you need to draw, or if using a story cube, throw the cube. <br /><br />3. Throw colour dice - to get a colour. <br /><br />4. Find the colour in your bag, and draw the picture with that colour. First player to shout done, and having drawn the picture correctly in the right colour wins. If using a doodle cards, the player gets the card, and the overall winner is the one with the most cards at the end, if using a story cube, keep tally. <br /><br /><h4>
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<br />For a activity, I’ve included a pack of Crayola crayons, for drawing and colouring, a pack of crayon stickers and a ‘the Day the Crayons Quit’ inspired activity Sheet. </div>
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<br />Thank you for visiting!</div>
Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-80671959706027907472018-11-01T09:43:00.000+00:002018-11-01T09:43:22.550+00:00Review & GIVEAWAY - To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - BY Teen Reviewer <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />Lira is Royal, but unlike the any other Royal family, she is a siren. A killer, who will take a human heart for every birthday, and this year it will be her 18th. Her mother, the unforgiving Sea Queen, who cares little for her daughter as she does for anyone else, is sure Lira will not be worthy of Queen. So much, that when Lira disobeys the oldest rules, she curses Lira into becoming human, and without delivering the sirens most hated enemy; the siren killer’s, heart, she will stay human for eternity… <br /><br />But Elian won’t give up, Prince of Midas, Captain of The Saad, and Leader of Siren killers. His mission is to defeat all sirens and in doing so kill the infamous Prince’s Bane, but when Elian rescues a defenceless woman floating in the water on his journey, he has to try and build trust if he wants her help… <br /><br />This amazing book is full of twists and turns, as well as a brilliant plot. I love the way Christo has written this. The characters are so real, and intriguing that you find yourself rooting for even the most despicable characters. The incredible journey takes you on a whirlwind of adventures, I couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a bit of fantasy, or twisted fairy tale or even pirates! It was one of the best books I have read, and I didn’t want it to stop!<div>
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Review by Bea aged 14<br /><div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: orange; font-size: large;">We are giving away a signed copy of To Kill a Kingdom, just retweet our pinned tweet on Twitter <span class="username u-dir" dir="ltr" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr !important; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 5px; text-decoration-line: none !important; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a class="DashboardProfileCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex u-linkClean js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/BookshelfSpace" rel="noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 5px; text-decoration-line: none !important;">@<span class="u-linkComplex-target">BookshelfSpace</span></a></span>& follow before 1st December 2018. Winner announcer 2nd December. UK only. Good Luck!</span></div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-76565867691474626632018-10-12T13:15:00.004+01:002018-10-12T13:15:58.172+01:00October reading round up<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"><b>Murder at Twilight by Fleur Hitchcock</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Viv, grumpy teenaged daughter of the live-in childminder of posh-boy, Noah, hates her mum being at the beck and call of the Belcombe family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A row that ends with her satisfyingly punching posh Noah on the nose has serious consequences when accusations and suspicions fly when he is kidnapped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Viv is used to wandering the vast acres owned by the Belcombes, after all, they own practically everything around here. But when she accidentally finds herself embroiled in the kidnap plot, the realises she is in far more danger than the fragile, but valuable Noah.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It all leads to a series of thrilling chases as the pair have to flee and try to get to safety. But the landscape is flooded and almost unrecognisable, even to Viv. Is it going to be too easy for the baddies to be one step ahead of them? They are going to have to come up with a better plan, but resourceful Viv proves herself more than a match for any kidnappers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are really nail-biting descriptions of race-against-time daring escapes and chases (that don’t always go so well) to keep you frantically turning the pages. Another unputdownable thriller by Fleur Hitchcock.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit;"><b>Dragon Daughter by Liz Flanagan</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Milla witnesses a murder, the last thing she expects to discover is that the victim has hidden something extraordinary – four incredibly rare dragon eggs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Milla feels instantly protective of the eggs. She has heard stories of course, that once there were dragons here on the island of Arcosi. But as she is only a servant and a lower-class citizen, she knows the risks if she keps the eggs. She has to be very careful as the consequences will be severe if she is discovered keeping things from the Duke.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Milla has no idea how her life will turn upside-down when she starts to learn what the return of the dragons truly means to her island home. At first it only seems to bring trouble. Chaos erupts, sending the divisions between the islanders even deeper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But Milla knows she must protect the dragons at all costs. And she must learn their secrets if she is to find a way to heal all the warring parties and prevent a civil war.</span><br />
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Anyone who speaks up against unfairness is dealt with brutally and there are powerful descriptions of a whole country moving towards the brink of war.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a compelling tale of a society organised by caste and favouritism. But all that looks like it might be turned on its head by the return of the dragons and the forging of a whole new set of friendships and allies with more in common and more to lose than they realise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an epic story with much to say of warring nations and how greed and corruption lead to bitterness and battles, but how finding common bonds reaches across the barriers of origin and caste. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My favourite scenes were those beautifully evoked moments between the riders and their dragons, which is the glorious heart of the novel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A beautiful and thought-provoking read in equal measure. And also with one of my favourite jackets of the year by Angelo Rinaldi.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit;"><b>Warrior Boy by Virginia Clay</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ben doesn’t feel he fits in at his London school, even though it’s the only life he has known. But he worries even more that he won’t fit in when he travels to Kenya with his mother. His father was Kenyan and Ben is worried to meet family he has never met before. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He knows they will be very different and how can he possibly relate to people who wear strange clothes, have such unusual customs and live in huts made of cow dung?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even more than that, one of Ben’s biggest fears is how he will cope when he has a phobia about blood and he learns his father was a brave warrior?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a thoroughly enjoyable fish out of water story where the sights and smells of the Maasai come really to life and plunges the reader, along with outsider Ben, into a culture that he gradually learns to love. The life and landscape seeps through the book in such a delightful way that I challenge any reader not to fall under its spell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With an exciting plot about catching poachers, some great interplays with his new-found cousin and grandfather, Ben’s journey becomes one to see if he can dig deep and discover any warrior roots hidden in this nervous, urban boy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is such a great read about the things we have in common, no matter where we grow up. About finding bonds in family and learning that differences can be a cause for celebration. But it is also an enthralling and uplifting tale about how facing your fears can bring you closer to others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Peril in Paris by Katherine Woodfine</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thirteen-year-old Arnovian princess, Anna, is full of envy of her younger brother, Alex, who will get to go to boarding school and be King one day. Being a princess is a lot less fun. All she seems to do all day is learn the history of her country and how to walk and talk nicely. But maybe life is about to get exciting . . . Anna is getting suspicious that her new governess might be a spy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, in another part of Europe a young woman is investigating the death of a secret agent. Was it really just a burglary that went wrong? With the shadow of the First World War starting to fall across Europe, it is important to get to the truth and spying is a new and dangerous mission as secrets trade for high value.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The twin narratives of this intriguing story set in the early twentieth century is full of glamour and parties, but there are also exciting developments happening in science and aviation. Paris is the scene of the first air race and it forms a great backdrop to the climax of this exciting spy thriller. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius</b></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ship’s engineer, Sally Jones, is an absolute genius at anything mechanical. </span>She is also a gorilla, a fact that characters throughout the story react to in different ways! But<span style="font-family: inherit;"> her abilities and character help her make friends and win allies at every turn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gentle Sally Jones is content to follow Captain Koskela anywhere. She works diligently and news of her talent is widespread. Then they go on a dangerous voyage together that goes terribly wrong. The captain is arrested for murder. Only Sally Jones believes in his innocence and there begins her epic tale to find the evidence that will free him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a great historical adventure that will take Sally Jones to the other side of the world in a thrilling quest involving everything from planes to palaces, as she leaves no stone unturned, but patiently finds the evidence that will free her friend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an unusual book for many reasons. It's a children’s book with no child characters. That the main character is an ape in itself makes this such an astonishing book. But the main character also never says a word throughout the story, yet it is all told from her point of view as she writes her memoirs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sally Jones is both a believable engineering superstar, and someone who is only ever herself. She has a childlike quality of trust and goodness, almost the epitome of humanity, without her being human at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a legendary piece of writing, an enjoyable adventure as Sally Jones never sways from her unswervable belief that she can free her captain, no matter how long it takes. The amazing Sally Jones will remain in your heart.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nate can’t quite understand why Mum has brought him to this freezing cold cottage in the middle of nowhere in the snow. It’s all a bit musty, but he knows she has rowed with Gran and at least they have got away from the hateful Gary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But when Mum goes out for food and then doesn’t return. Nate is really pleased that his old invisible friend, Sam, turns up again to help. And then there’s Kitty from the big house, obsessed with mazes and dolls houses, pestering him to help her solve a treasure hunt – as if he is worried about finding treasure when Mum might have gone back to Gary, and the only food around is what was left in the empty house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Light Jar is a gripping story about facing up to our fears, but it is also a tale of the sometimes strange things we find ourselves doing in order to get through and survive. A brilliant tale of friendship and standing on our own two feet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nicki Thornton</span><br />
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Nicki Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00582329627723104301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-5596945158606657862018-10-05T11:25:00.002+01:002018-10-05T11:25:18.898+01:00October Picture Book Round UP – 100 Dogs – Not Yet a Yeti – The King That Banned the Dark <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">100 Dogs by Michael Whaite </span></h2>
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<br />100 Dogs is fun rhyming book, with vibrant humorous pictures, which is an easy read-aloud book to share. With pages bursting full of dog of every shape, size bread and personality type, it groups them together by way of rhyme that slips of the tongue and poses the question, which dog is like yours? Funny and full of dog traits that all dog owners will find funny, it also poses as a great books for learning your phonics, with so many rhymes. But primarily it is just a funny book great to share at bed time. <br /><br /> <br /><h3>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Not Yet A Yeti by Lou Treleaven and Tony Neal </span></h2>
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<br />George is the youngest of a family of yeti’s and he anxious as to why he is not a yeti yet. So he asks his family members why he’s not yet a yeti,, and they ask him if he can do essential yeti tasks, like leaving big footprints in the snow to scare people, or being capable of luring hikes to their doom. None of these staple yeti activities really appeal to George, and it’s only when his Mum ask him if he really wants to be yeti, that George realises his vocation if very different. George soon realises he can be what he dreams, and with the acceptance of those he loves, he finds his own role within the family, and finally becomes the happies and truest form of himself. Not Yet A Yeti, is fun and colourful tale of self-acceptance and family love. <br /><br /> <br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The King who Banned the Dark by Emily Haworth-Booth </span></span></h2>
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<br />What would happen if a king was scared of the dark? He’d ban it of course! And so begins Emily Haworth-Booth’s lovely yearn, accompanied by muted and exquisite illustrations. Of course the King’s advisors are aware that banning the dark could cause the kingdoms people to revolt, so they cunning spread rumours about the dark so’s to fuel the people desire to ban it. When the people are ready, a huge artificial sun is hung above the palace, and the whole kingdom rejoices, until they become weary and sleep deprived. And so, the people decide action is needed, and their treachery payback as they save the Kings celebrations, and in doing so teaches him a valuable lesson. The King Who Banned the Dark is modern fairy-tale, akin to The Emperor’s New Clothes, told with sophistication and paired with extraordinary beautiful illustrations in monotones, juxtaposed with vibrant yellow. <br /><br /> Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-85914784653873707942018-10-01T18:31:00.002+01:002018-10-01T18:34:14.297+01:00Celebrations & Thanks as Last Chance Hotel - is picked as Waterstones Book of the Month - Nicki Thornton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We have been amazingly proud of Nicki Thornton, who writes for this blog, who had her first middle-grade novel, The Last Chance Hotel published this summer. <br />
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Her murder mystery set in a magical world has enjoyed the support of many independent bookshops with a special limited edition of the first print run and was supported by many Waterstones booksellers, who placed it in their summer promotions. <br />
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We would like to celebrate today that The Last Chance Hotel has been chosen as Waterstones’ Book of the Month for the deliciously spooky month of October by offering a giveaway of two goodie packs of a signed copy and signed bookmarks. <br />
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To win just let Tweet us <a href="https://twitter.com/BookshelfSpace">@BookshelfSpace </a> with tag #TLCHGIVEAWAY and let us know what enchanted sidekick you’d choose if you were investigating a magical murder! The competition closes on Halloween 31st of October at 10am GMT. <br />
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Thanks to everyone at Waterstones – and indeed to booksellers everywhere - for such brilliant support of The Last Chance Hotel. <br />
<br />Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-21787599117590308972018-09-17T17:37:00.000+01:002018-09-17T17:37:03.048+01:00Snail Story Sack - Featuring ‘Are you A Snail?’ by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries – Budget Story Sack <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently my sister who is a Key Stage 1 teacher acquired some Giant African Land Snails as class pets, and as I was instrumental in her decision to have the snails in class, I put together a Snail Story Sack, as an educational resource.<br /><br />we on SOTB do an array of Story Sack features, and from time to time we do a budget sack to show that they don’t have to be expensive to assemble. This Snail inspired Story Sack is indeed a budget sack, and came in at under £14.00. So before we start here is a reminder at what is included in a Story Sack… <br /><br /><ul>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. </span></li>
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<br />So firstly I kept my eyes peeled whilst out and about, and in a charity shop I picked up a good condition hardback copy of ‘Are you a Snail?’ by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries for 50p. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book which is full of facts about snails posed in questions and answers, all accompanied by charming illustrations. <br /><br />Now, there are oodles of other snail books that you could use as the non-fiction element of the story sack, like ‘Snail and the Whale’ By Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, ‘Watch out Snail’ Gay Hay and Margret Tolland, ‘Snail Trail’ by Ruth Brown or ‘Norman, The Snail with the Silly Shell?’ by Sue Henra to name just a few alternatives. <div>
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<br />For the non-fiction element I chose to get a second hand copy of ‘Snail’ by Karen Hartley and Chris Macro, because it is a full colour picture book, which is fact based but the right level for Key Stage One students. This I got from a second hand book dealer on line for £3.50. In addition I have included a copy of the RSPB’s ‘My First Book of Garden Bugs’ which I also found in a charity shop for 50p, so children can use it to help discover snails in the garden. </div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><br />Soft Toys, </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Games & Activities…</span></h4>
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<br />Now soft toys are tricky, as snails are not the most snuggly of animal. However I did find a plush snail finger puppet by The Puppet Company for £3.50 which is charming and fun. <br /><br />For games I managed to pick up a snail puzzle for £1.00 in a budget shop and ‘Little Bug Bingo’ by Orchard Toys for £4.50 from a well-known supermarket. I have paired these with a magnifying glass and plastic bug viewer which I picked up for 25p each from a charity shop. To further ignite interest and curiosity, I found some empty snail shells in the garden, disinfected them and have included them for the children to observe with the use of the aforementioned magnifying glass. </div>
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<br />This story stack should be a fun way to help the children further their understanding about snails, plus also provide a good display to go alongside the class pets. It came in at a modest cost of £14.00. Of course if you have a smaller budget with good buying, you could go for a smaller sack with fewer games, or if you are lucky enough to have a larger budget you could go for the Hansa Plush Snail and possibly the Snail Pace Race Game! Either way there is lots of stuff out there to compile great snail Story Sacks whatever your budget. <br /><br /> </div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Thank you for stopping by, please come back soon!</span></h4>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-85626134425985525182018-09-09T09:49:00.000+01:002018-09-09T09:49:29.368+01:00August reads - Candy Gourlay, Catherine Gilbert Murdoch, Will Mabbit, Valija Zinck<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Bone Talk – Candy Gourlay</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Candy Gourlay delves into her own Filippino heritage to bring us Samkad’s thrilling story of life among hilltribes and takes you on a journey to the other side of the world and back over a hundred years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s her supreme storytelling skills that not only bring this rich tale of a primitive existence so vibrantly to life, but make Samkad’s story seem so immediate and relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Samkad’s life is dominated by the landscape, ruled by superstition, strict lore and community. </span><br />
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To Samkad nothing about his life seems extraordinary, even though v<span style="font-family: inherit;">iolence is commonplace, with tough consequences for anyone not conforming or challenging the ancient ways. A journey to the next village is considered too dangerous to even consider.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then the local tribe are head-hunters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">His worries are about rituals and displeasing the ancestors. His dreams are about his status, particularly with the other young men. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It feels an impeccably researched story of the daily tribulations of a tribal life. Which makes it more shocking when his way of life is so brutally interrupted by the inexorable march of western exploration, with the arrival of Americans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">How utterly alien tribal ways, with their sometimes cruel rituals, must have seemed to those foreigners when they first arrived in the Philippines. The same story could be told of so many colonial explorers who landed on foreign shores feeling dominant, confident in their </span>superior <span style="font-family: inherit;">civilised way of life and ready to impose their views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of Bone Talk’s strengths is that it doesn’t take a romanticised view of a complex, enduring way of life – nor of the strangers who first encountered it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Following individual desires rather than the strict rules and displeasing the elders can be met with a brutal response. Women must know their place. There are no equal chances for success and happiness. But it's a sustainable existence that has changed little, but endured.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a strong twist that the first American Samkad meets plays an important part in the story, befriending the tribespeople and bringing some modern benefits, such as medicine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It all heralds the winds that bring inevitable change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s the superlative storytelling that crosses both time and geography to connect with Samkad’s story. But it’s the plea for tolerance and understanding, rather than fear of what we don’t know and understand, which make this such a brilliant story for our times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I can’t wait to see it on the Carnegie short-list as it so deserves to be, it would make a perfect book for shadowing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Book of Boy - Catherine Gilbert Murdoch</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Known only as Boy, this is the story of a kindly young goatherd, who is taken on as a servant by a strange pilgrim on a long journey to track down the scattered bones of a saint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the fourteenth century where anything connected to a saint is prized and has enormous value. The income of whole towns can depend on the visitors who come to pray to the saint for anything from answering wishes to cures. Rivalries for more authentic relics are rife. But it’s all down to belief, with plenty of openings for fraudsters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The reader is plunged into the sight, smells and politics of the medieval world. Boy has been regularly taunted and called a monster in the manor where he was brought up because he has a humped back. But his disability doesn’t impair his agility at all. He a terrific climber – and he has another brilliant skill used with great comic effect throughout the story – he is able to talk to animals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This means that although the book is mostly about religion, it’s a fun and playful read, at times a rollicking adventure, full of doubt and danger as Boy realises lengths his new master will go to and his mission gets more desperate. The lines between good and evil blur and with an extraordinary blend of history, religion and fantasy, this really is a book like no other. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Embassy of the Dead – Will Mabbit</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Jake accidentally accepts a gift from a ghost his troubles quickly spiral to very dangerous levels, in this quirky comedy story of the spooky underworld. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jake can see ghosts, which is how he got into trouble in the first place, but now only ghosts can save him. He has broken the complicated bureaucratic rules of the Embassy of the Dead and there is no way to call off the grim reaper who is coming after Jake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the help of an odd assortment of the long-dead (including a cute dead pet!) Jake learns quickly about the people who work for the Embassy to solve all sorts of the ghostly problems and mysteries of those departed, but who have not successfully passed to the other side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But most importantly he must work out the mystery of why the creepy relic that has fallen into his possession is so important . . .and see if he can outwit the several baddies on his tale and save himself a horrible fate – all while pretending to his parents that he is spending a few days on a geography field trip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Such a fast-paced, fun story. The ghostly set-up is really imaginative and the mysteries of why ghosts might end up haunting is really well realised (and promises sequels!). This is a page-turning adventure story with a great twist; good ghostly characters and worldbuilding and plenty of shocks and laughs in equal measure along the way. A thoroughly entertaining read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Really hope to see more of Jake and his ghostly goings-on.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit;"><b>A Tangle of Magic - Valija Zinck</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Penelope has always felt herself to be strange and different, and not just the fact that she is ten-years-old and has grey hair.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But when her hair suddenly turns red, Penelope knows it is not the only thing in life that has changed. She feels a totally different person, suddenly full of not just energy. Penelope realises she has powers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But she has no-one around to teach her about magic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Valija Zinck’s ‘A Tangle of Magic’ is such an enjoyable story about someone who discovers they are magic but has to learn all by themselves, with plenty of room for fun and adventure as Penelope experiments and tries to work out what she can and can’t do – and how it is all connected to her hair.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are her powers? How do they work? Has she has inherited powers from her missing father? And are there other magical people in the world?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Penelope is such a great character, adventurous and curious, kindly, popular and independent in spirit. She lives on the edge of the swamp forest with her lovely family, her doting mother, a grandmother who can’t cook and a loyal cat called Coco.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many ways this book is both unexpected and zany – like the fact that the only magic Penelope seems to be able to do is to talk to the road! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Her mother is bitter about Penelope’s father abandoning them suddenly and why he sends them weird post every month. But this gives Penelope the glimmer of an idea and she starts to hatch a complicated plan to deceive her mother and see if she can find out more about her father.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s both a warm and intriguing story where the menace builds quite unexpectedly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the great things is the hints about a much wider magical world that Penelope knows nothing about. Her grandmother is definitely hiding secrets and knows more than she is letting on! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And there are hints about magical people being very menacing and a sinister organisation that trains them, which hopefully means there are many more stories about Penelope to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nicki Thornton @nicki_thornton</span><br />
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Nicki Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00582329627723104301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-50920296855928219392018-09-03T14:40:00.002+01:002018-09-03T14:40:52.894+01:00Firebird – Elizabeth Wein – Barrington Stoke – Review <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />People say that books are doorways into other worlds, but Historical Fiction doesn’t just open up another world, but also shines a light on parts of history that as lesser known, often forgotten entirely. <br /><br />We all know about WWII, for people of my generation (I’m right on the cusp of Generation X and Millennial) we grew up amongst people that lived through it, both my grandparents on one side were in the RAF and had medals, my Gran refused to collect hers, and my granddad (twice shot down over enemy tertiary) refused to talk about it. My other grandparents worked the land and were in the Home Guard and saw action discovering a crashed German bomber. My neighbour was evacuated from London during the blitz to rural Oxfordshire, never to return. <br /><br />Not only were we surrounded by people who survived the war, we were also immersed in literature about it, reading Michael Morpurgo, the Narnia series, and The Diary of Anne Frank, (even watching her father break down in tears on Blue Peter). And watching it, John Boreman’s Hope and Glory, Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, and Goodnight Mister Tom. It’s a part of history we know well, from the troops on the front, the espionage and code breaking, to the way affected civilians in the UK, Europe and the US. Younger generations, may not be surrounded by people that were there, but they are still very well versed on the war experience from the perspective of the allied forces and nations. That is apart from Russia. Russia that fought on our side. <br /><br />Russia and her people’s experiences and trials through the war have been barely mentioned, much like the German and Japanese’s experiences of the war (Grave of the Fireflies excluded). This is probably due to trust issues as a result of the Russian revolution, after all the Csar Nicholas II, the brutal execution of his children, and then the following cold War. So Historical Fiction really can expand our understanding of historical events by exploring these less written and filmed aspects of our past, and this is exactly what Elizabeth Wein has done with Firebird. <br /><br />Firebird is the story of Anastasia Viktorovana , as told by her to a tribunal as she stands trial for treason. The first chapter is difficult reading, she is a true Communist, her parents were there at the beginning, fighting in the Red Army alongside Lenin, and her father drove the wagon transporting the corpses of Czar Nicholas II and his family. Anastasia known of Nastia was brought up fighting for the cause, learning to shoot a gun before she could walk. Nastia’s frank and unremorseful talk of these events are hard to read, but there is something that lies between her words that resonates deeply and demands empathy, the fact she is a loyal young girl, who fights for her beliefs but also is very loving and loyal to her family and friends. <br /><br />Nastia a flight instructor for the Leningrad Youth Aeroclub, and is the only woman except for the Chief instructor. But on the advent of war, Natstia is devastated when she and her fellow instructors go to sign on for active duty, and she is the only one not accepted to fly fighters, despite her greater experience and more flight hours, the men are sent to the war, and she and Chief are left to train a procession of new male pilots. <div>
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<br />The Chief, a formidable woman with short cropped hair, who wears men’s clothes and does her makeup like mask, and (rumour has it) has an taste for expensive French corsets. Is the person who got Nastia her job within the Areoclub, due to her friendship with Nastia’s father. Nastia knows that the chief and her father are close friends, close enough that the Chief to have picked Nastia’s name, but she is an enigma, and Nastia knows nothing about her. All Nastia knows for sure is that her father met Chief around the time of the Csar was overthrown. <br /><br />Under The Chief guidance Nastia along with a selection of other female instructors train other pilots biding their time until it the females are called on to fly fighters. The night before her first mission Nastia receives news that both her parents have died leaving the Chief as the closest thing she has to family. Loyally Nastia goes in to battle as the Chief’s wingman, but when Chief’s plane is damaged and is under fire she is left with an impossible dilemma leave Chief behind or fall back from the fight and face a treason charge. <br /><br />When the fight is over Nastia learns the truth about The Chief’s identity and in doing so reveals more about her father and the notion of loyalty itself. <br /><br />Firebird, really opens a doorway into an aspect of history which is not often discussed, and does so with unflinching directness, whilst empathising and bringing out the universal aspects of the human nature; that most people fight for love and loyalty. But by blurring with the lines between fact and fiction Wein has woven an ending with a twist that is both elegant and poignant that’s akin to the closing scenes of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 Oscar winning epic ‘the Last Emperor’. Firebird is an engaging intelligent read, and well deserves to get on the shortlist for next year’s CLIP Carnegie. </div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-1206505548465262062018-08-02T15:58:00.001+01:002018-08-02T15:58:21.336+01:00‘I Love You Stick Insect’ by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros -Review & Story Sack<br />
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There are some animals that get staring parts in fiction books
over and over again and then there are some that you’d be hard pushed to find
even making a guest appearance let alone a whole book dedicated to them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it is a delight when you do find a book
which shines a light on an under represented creature, and in this case, as you
can tell by the title, it is Stick Insects that get the spotlight! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris Naylor-Ballesteros’s picture book ‘I love You Stick
Insect’ is an endearing read, full of humour and is beautifully illustrated with
equally charming images. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is
one long declaration of love from one stick insect to another, as it proposes a
romance full of adventures and fun, whilst a sceptical butterfly looks on. And
although a romance does not blossom in this particular case, the Stick Insect
is a true romantic and his aspiration remains steadfast as he turns his affection
elsewhere. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Being a mother of a child who has a passion for natural
history and animal husbandry and living in a home with an ever growing menagerie,
I obviously share the house with a colony of Stick Insects, Sunny Stick Insects
to precise, I was delighted to find ‘I love you Stick Insect’ on the shelves of
my favourite independent bookshop. Also, I imminently saw the potential to use
it as the basis of a story sack which could be in turn used as a teaching resource
in classrooms too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here is our ‘I Love You Stick Insect Story
Sack.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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But first let just have recap of what is included in a
typical Story Sack…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d;">A good quality
fiction book, (picture book or novel)</span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d;">A non-fiction book
related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Toys, (ideally a
soft toy for younger children). </span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d;">A game or activity
also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. </span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #38761d;">Optional worksheet
based on the story and themes off the story sack. </span></li>
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<o:p><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">Our 'I Love You Stick Insect' Story Sack...</span></o:p></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqseacvbMu959CRbry4TOnX7VPW4BeEBYuty5POoq1xBAzY8pezFEAlWvdvSehrohzmd7io7yjdIDzUIAnJMO_kconz6Bitlk2VgBIcLZxr6IJ2-KwhsRYK1LD8kOmA89_4CIUTBXtkRg/s1600/IMG_4103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqseacvbMu959CRbry4TOnX7VPW4BeEBYuty5POoq1xBAzY8pezFEAlWvdvSehrohzmd7io7yjdIDzUIAnJMO_kconz6Bitlk2VgBIcLZxr6IJ2-KwhsRYK1LD8kOmA89_4CIUTBXtkRg/s320/IMG_4103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Books…</span></h3>
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For books we have paired ‘I Love you Stick Insect’ with ‘Keeping
Unusual Pets Stick Insects and Mantids’ by June McNicholas, this is a children’s
guide to both the entomology and husbandry of keeping both Stick Insects and
Mantis, full of full colour photos and interesting facts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Toys…</span></h3>
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So, I have found that not only are stick insects sadly unrepresented in books, they are also scarcely available as toys. However there is one exception, you can purchase from either EBay, or the large online retailer who shall not be named, a toy model of an Australian Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (this is a very interesting variety that literally came back from extinction, which is well worth looking up!) The toy is by Science and Nature and is model number 75348.</div>
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As for a game or activity I have two, one is a model stick
insect which can be simply made, by using you’ve guested it a STICK! Plus pipe-cleaners
and with sticker for eyes or googly eyes. If you want to do antennas then you
can also use ‘Twisty Sticks’ which are wax covered string. All items are easily
available at a hobby/craft shops. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
pretty easy and self-explanatory, each stick insect will take (if you aim for a
6-8 inch insect) 1 and half standard pipe-cleaners and half a Twisty Stick.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second activity is well Stick Insect keeping. They are
really easy and inexpensive to keep, as they live on brambles. You can either
purchase a kit, which will come with a pop-up mesh enclosure water bottle and a
voucher to order your stick insects, (available online at aforementioned sites
from £12). Or alternatively if you have an exotic pet shop by you, you could
just buy some stick insect which (species depending) are usually only a couple
of £ each (just check with the shop owner about the suitability of the stick
insect variety for keeping with children). You can keep them in an old fish
tank, just put a netting cover over so they get lots of air flow, mosquito netting,
fruit netting or tutu netting would suffice. You feed them on brambles, which you
can place in a jam-jar, or even better, a children’s no-spill painting water
pot. Then sit and watch them munch, shed, grow, and maybe reproduce! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>Thank you stopping by and reading our little blog. please do leave us a comment.</o:p></div>
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<br />Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-50602711897684159912018-07-25T10:32:00.002+01:002018-07-25T10:32:53.523+01:00The Truth About Lies - Tracy Darnton - review<br />
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<span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Straight away, from the title of this excellent thriller, The Truth About Lies, you know this will be an intriguing voyage into the truth and memory. And it doesn’t disappoint.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess has a condition called hyperthymesia, which means she can remember
every detail of what happened on a any given day, even the unimportant
minutiae, like exactly what she was wearing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess also has a photographic memory. She can bring a document out of her
memory to read later after only a glance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Far too much information is all stored in her overloaded and over-busy
brain and the descriptions of what it is like to be Jess are riveting</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0cm;">.</span></div>
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But in that overworked brain, Jess is also keeping secrets. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">She is in therapy after the death of her room-mate. But the first secret
she is keeping is that she is only going through the motions of pretending to
be upset. The truth is she sees everyone else’s efforts to honour and remember
their friend as being false and pointless – Jess can see a different point of
view – that one of the kind things about most people’s memories is that it they are allowed to forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess wants to live a normal life, but how can she when she has such difficulty doing ordinary things, like making friends. If
you cannot forget you are overly aware of every slight, every regret, every
small unkindness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This story is full of interesting and thought-provoking detail about how our minds work.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess attends a college in a remote part of Devon, taking classes in
memory. She is studying under Ramesh Desai, learning how we store and lay down
memories, why memory is important, how you can improve memory. I was just as
eager to get back to his classes as his students were!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0cm;">Does Jess have a supreme talent? Or is it an illness?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess a fascinating character to travel with. The descriptions of what is
it like to be her, with a memory so cluttered she has to carry everything
around with her all the time build on our
sympathies and help us understand why she is such a brittle, unemotional
character at the start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Truth About Lies deftly treads between the big theme of examining a rare
condition, woven into a page-turning plot and ends up as a very smart
psychological thriller. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jess mostly tries to keep her condition a secret, but opens up when a new
boy joins the college, just at the moment that all the secrets she has been
keeping to try to live a normal life start to close in on her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">She was part of a programme that thought she was extraordinary. It helped
her control her memories, to learn to be able to lock them away and not be
overwhelmed by them. But her remarkable mind was also too irresistible not to
use her as a means to advance scientific knowledge of exactly how the brain
works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the more she learns, even Jess starts to doubt if anyone’s memory is
truly infallible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A terrific, intelligent debut and I can’t wait to read more by Tracy
Darnton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Nicki ThorntonNicki Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00582329627723104301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-48993516056946161312018-07-19T12:12:00.000+01:002018-07-19T13:38:13.584+01:00 3D Review, ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ by Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa – Story Sack <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To round up our week long 3D features celebrating Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa’s beautiful picture book ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ we bring you a story sack constructed around the book.<br />
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Before we start let’s have a quick reminder of what a story sack is. Story Sacks are fun education tools, which can be used to help children immerse in a book and gain greater understanding of the story. They typically include… <br />
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<li><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. </span></li>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">Books… </span></h3>
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Obviously the fiction book is the lovely ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ but we have paired it with Manatees & Dugongs by James Powell, which although may be a bit advanced for very young readers, contains many beautiful colours photographs and illustrations, plus facts to dip in and out of. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">TOYS… </span></h3>
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For the toys we obviously needed a Dugong, this is not the easiest plush to find but we did find a reasonably priced one by Colorata, which is available from Amazon, Ebay and The World Wildlife Fund. Beware though many people advertise Dugong plush toys that are actually manatees, TIP – look at the tail, if it is like a dolphin (or mermaid) it is indeed a dugong, if it more like a club it’s a manatee! <br />
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For Bel and Benji, we had an equally difficult search, as it is very difficult to find plush doll in any other ethnicity but white. However I have found a company that do plush toys in a range of ethnicities and both genders, for a reasonable price. The company is Lanka Kade, and you can buy directly from their website or other toy shops, (I got mine from a museum). To make them even better they are suitable to play with from birth, are handcrafted and are fair trade. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">Games...</span></h3>
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Again, as Dugongs are not the most well-known of animal, there are few games featuring them, there are a few, one where you mix up animals and fight, which isn’t really in keeping with the book and another conservation card/ board game which is quite pricey and advanced (<a href="http://www.komodogame.com/?page_id=377" target="_blank">for more info press here</a>) , so we have made a kind of match the tail to the animal pairs game. This should be easy to do either by drawing or, using clip-art/internet images. So have fun and create!</div>
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<span style="color: #073763;">Thank you for stopping by and reading out 'Is it a Mermaid' Features. Please do pop back again! </span></h3>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-40987296556253400112018-07-18T10:13:00.004+01:002018-07-18T10:17:20.620+01:003D Review, ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ by Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa - Illustrator Interview with Francesca Chessa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Continuing on our 3D review of 'Is it a Mermaid' we are delighted to welcome Francesca Chessa on to the blog to talk about visualising the story through her beautiful illustrations.<br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What was your favourite children’s book as a child? </span></h3>
My favourite book as a child was Tomaso written and illustrated by Vittorio Accornero, first published in 1944. <br />
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Tomaso talks about the life of a dog called Tomaso who was bought by a family of cats as a Christmas toy for the spoilt kitten of the house. <br />
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During the summer holidays, not knowing what to do with Tomaso, the cats leave him in the countryside, where Tomaso will meet a family of rabbits that will treat him as a friend, he will give his life for them.<br />
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I learned to read on this book it remained in my heart.</div>
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<span style="color: #073763;">What is your favourite children’s book as an adult? </span></h3>
There are so many books I was inspired and that still inspire me that it’s quite impossible to me to choose just one. <br />
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The books I like more are amusing, have a good plot, a turning point and surprise me until the end. <br />
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My favourite books are the ones where text and illustration are necessary one to each other and you couldn’t imagine one without the other. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational?</span></h3>
I think that a good picture book needs to be intriguing, mysterious, funny and enveloping. It must be a book that every time you read, you can discover something new that increases your love for it. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">Did you always want to be a children’s book illustrator?</span></h3>
I have always loved drawing and I have always loved reading and looking at the figures in the books. As soon as I realized that I could turn these my passions into a job, I thought I had found how to occupy my time working with passion and joy. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What is it like visualising other people’s characters? </span></h3>
When I work on a text of a writer and on its characters I try to figure out what the author wants to tell. Then I like to add some elements that belong to my world and my interpretation of the story, trying to create images that contains both our worlds. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">Can you please explain a bit about your process of illustration? </span></h3>
For my illustrations I am taking inspiration from what I can read, I can see, I can hear, I can touch, I can taste. I like to think that I use all my five senses to develop an idea. The story concept comes first, then the main character, then all the story develops itself step by step by connections between characters and scenes. <br />
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I usually work together with the art director. Good art directors let you free but at the same time are able to show you a way and to get from you a better result than the one you could have reached just by yourself. <br />
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Francesca Chessa was born on a cold December day in a small north Italian town close to Turin. <br />
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She graduated in Architecture but, after some years of working as an architect, realised that she would rather paint animals and the things that surrounded her. Hence she did a course in Illustration. <br />
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Since 1997 Francesca has illustrated more than forty children's books working with publishers in various parts of the world including Italy, England, the US, France, Canada, Spain and Japan. <br />
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She has received mentions and prizes in a number of international competitions. She now writes her own stories as well as illustrating those by others and likes to feature her family and friends in these. She illustrates for Unicef and Amnesty International. <br />
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Francesca lives in an old house in the centre of Turin with her husband. Her studio is colourful, full of books and looks over a small courtyard garden. She loves reading, watching movies, cycling, swimming and skiing. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">Thank you for stopping by, please pop back tomorrow to see our 'Is it a Mermaid' Story Sack feature! </span></h3>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2369041084813948731.post-66910998765498914252018-07-17T10:09:00.004+01:002018-07-17T10:09:56.892+01:003D Review, ‘Is it a Mermaid?’ by Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa - Author Interview with Candy Gourlay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Following on from yesterday's reviews of Is it a mermaid, today we have an interview with the wordsmith who brought us Benji, Bel and the dreaming Dugong, Candy Gourlay.<br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What was your favourite children’s book as a child? </span></h3>
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This is always a difficult question because I read and loved SO MANY books as a child. Many of the books were school issue readers – I went to a convent school so we were given hardback, colour illustrated books called Cathedral Readers. They were anthologies of stories that ranged across many genres. My dad also liked to buy books from the door to door encyclopaedia salesmen (did you have those in England?) ... and he once bought a collection called the Collier's Junior Classics, which excerpted the best children's book of the time. One story I loved was The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Dubois – about a secret, high tech society living on Krakatoa before it erupted. I loved the illustrations and all the tech invented by the characters, like pneumatic beds that could be pumped up high (through ceilings that slid out of the way) so that children could go to sleep with a view of the night sky. There were many problematic things about the story – such as the absence of Indonesians on an Indonesian island. But as a child, I simply loved the adventure of it! <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What is your favourite children’s book as an adult?</span></h3>
Another tough question! But I have to say I love Frank Cottrell's books, especially Millions, about a boy who finds a holdall stuffed with millions of pounds and then he has to spend it all before the UK joins the Euro (sadly, now the stuff of fantasy as Brexit looms). The characters were so lovable and the writing was clever and engaging. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What do you think makes children’s books so inspirational? </span></h3>
There is always a warm heart beating inside a story written for children, a hopefulness that you might not discover in a book written for adults. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">Why did you start writing for children?</span></h3>
I wanted to become a writer on the day that I fell in love with reading. I actually remember the moment and the feeling when I realised that the characters on a page were telling me a story. Everytime I write I remember the explosion of delight I experienced on the day I read my first book, and I've always wanted to recreate that feeling for other children. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">Do you think about how the pictures will work with the text as you are writing?</span></h3>
Yes I do! When I write picture books, I often begin by drawing comics – I did a comic strip for a weekly magazine a long, long time ago – and I draw until the story begins to emerge. And only then do I begin to fashion words. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;">What is the biggest challenge in crafting a story with such a small word count?</span></h3>
The small word count is an exciting challenge and because I love to draw, I don't mind surrendering punch lines to the illustrator. The biggest challenge, really, is not creating the story but creating a story that fits the needs of a publishing market that is limited by its reach and the expensive risk posed by every picture book because nobody knows what story will capture the imaginations of the most readers. <br />
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"Candy Gourlay gave up writing picture books for novels after years of rejection. She is over the moon to become a picture book author at last with Is It a Mermaid, though her novels have been listed for many prizes including the Waterstones, Blue Peter, the Carnegie and the Guardian Prize. Her third novel, Bone Talk, will be published in August."<br />
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Thank you for stopping by, please come back tomorrow for an interview with Is It a Mermaid's, illustrator Francesca Chessa!</div>
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Sallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12759992873045228788noreply@blogger.com2