Review: J. R. R. Tolkien

By Thomas Clark, aged 8


The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien is my favourite author. I loved reading The Hobbit when I was seven. The Hobbit is about a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins. When a wizard comes he finds himself whisked away on an adventure with 13 dwarves to restore the Lonely Mountain.

Rating: ★★★★★

Mr Bliss and Roverdandom

I liked Mr Bliss. It wasn’t as good as The Hobbit and I read it through in one evening. Mr Bliss is about one man’s crazy day. He’s even got a pet called a girabbit!


My Mum read Roverandom to us at bedtime. Roverandom is a dog who gets turned into a toy dog by a wizard. The book is about him going to the moon and under the sea. Both these books are short stories that Tolkien wrote and illustrated for children.

Rating: ★★★★

The Lord of the Rings

I like The Lord of the Rings but it was hard to read. Hang on a second, why didn’t I think of that before? Oh yeah ... it’s because it’s an adult book. Aragorn, Pippin and Frodo are my favourite characters. And I like the way Legolas and Gimli talk and argue.

Rating: ★★★★★

The Father Christmas Letters

Christmas 2014 was when Mum read to us The Father Christmas Letters, which were funny. They are a collection of letters that J. R. R. Tolkien wrote to his children each year, pretending they were from Father
Christmas.

Rating: ★★★★

Tolkien had four children (three boys and a girl) and their names were John, Michael, Christopher and Priscilla) and some of these stories were written for them. And lots of other children like them too, including me!

Manchester and Trafford Libraries: Pros and Cons

By Jonathan Clark, age 11

I love reading - fantasy, mystery, history, biography, cartoon strip, religion, faith, sport, so as you can guess I use the library a lot. There’s a library just five minutes walk away and if we are in the car, my brother, Mum and I can get to any one of five libraries in 20 minutes. 

I want to talk about what’s great and what’s awful in Manchester and Trafford libraries. First, let’s look at what’s great about our libraries:

1. You can read all you want: In a bookshop it’s dead tempting to just pick a book off the shelf and start reading it there and then. You can do that to a certain extent but you can’t very well take a book, sit down and read the bits that interest you (something I am guilty of) and then put it back. But in a library you can do just that! If you don’t think it’s worth borrowing, you can just look at it there and if you want you can take the book home, which leads us to point two.

2. You can borrow books for free: If you want to take a book home then you can do that. All you need is a library card, which is free of charge, a self-service machine and home you go. In Manchester you can borrow up to eight books on your card, in Trafford more.

3. You’ve got plenty of time (usually): It is three weeks before you have to renew your book in both Manchester and Trafford and you can renew your book several times. Even if you haven’t finished your book by then (say you’ve been on holiday) you can take it to the library and borrow it again. But that is not always the case - your book may be reserved (horror!) That means that you have to return it when your next renewal comes up. This can be particularly annoying if you have only just borrowed the book. However, you can do the same. Let’s look at point 4.

4. You can reserve books from other libraries: Yup, just go on the libraries website and reserve the book you want. You can have it sent to your local library. Many of my library books are ones I have reserved.
5. You can take books back: Books take up space, a lot of space. But with a library book, you can just take it back when you’ve finished with it. And it doesn’t cost you a thing!

6. It’s more than books: It’s DVDs, computers, art and beyond. A library is a centre for the community. A library is a place for education and that’s not just how to do your maths better (I learned how to make a puppet in a library, went to a science demo and did two stopmotion animation workshops). 

So on top of what I’ve already said, there are many reasons libraries are great. In fact, I don’t think we (or at least I) could do without them.

Now let’s look at what’s not so good:

1. It can be frustrating: Manchester libraries have faults. You reserve books and they may take a few months to arrive, sometimes you are told a book has come in and it hasn’t. It’s this sort of thing that really annoys me. To be fair though, you don’t get this sort of thing in Trafford libraries. I also think the library could do something to try and stop books going missing, either they buy a new copy of the book they have lost or they track it down, but it seems that they just leave it and the book still shows up on their catalogue which brings us on to point 2.

2. The catalogue can trick you: If you go on the library website you’ll find if you look carefully that not all the books on there are ones the library actually has. Thus you can reserve a book the library does not have but has lost. The websites need updating badly.

3. Lack of quality: In certain libraries a good sized percentage of the fictional books are fairly trashy while classic children’s books are harder to find. Some, though have a wider range of older and to my mind better books.

4. Space and surroundings: Some libraries have lovely seats, windows and plenty of space to browse. Others? Nope, they can be cramped with nowhere to sit. People would like libraries more if they were in attractive buildings with windows to look outside onto the street, with space to relax.

I believe that libraries are an important part of our society and should be treasured, but I also feel that a lot could be done to improve them.

Joss Abbs Brown shares his thoughts on MCBF 2015

By Joss Abbs Brown

In 2015 Manchester held their yearly celebration of children’s books at Manchester Children's Book Festival (MCBF). Last year in 2014 it was a great two weeks of events but this year they surpassed themselves. It was a brilliant programme of events that I and many other families enjoyed.

There were many inspirational authors such as Alex Wheatle and James Dawson who each rose and battled their own personal obstacles to achieve their dream which shows how we can do or be anything we want to be when we try. Alex Scarrow also had to overcome personal difficulties. At first he had no job or qualifications as he dropped out of school at the age of 16, but finally managed to secure work as a game designer. In a few years he rose and started to preview his own game designs and had to try and persuade his bosses to create his games. However his ideas were all rejected so eventually he gave up his job and began to write. He soon became the great author we now know him as. He used some of his game ideas in his now famous series Time Riders.

There have also been poetry events where poets came to hold open mic events. The floor was open for adults and children to read their favourite poem. I also performed at this reading “I opened a Book” by Julia Donaldson which for me sums up what books and poems are all about, becoming immersed in an imaginary world.

One of the poets, Dominic Berry, believed I did very well which shows how supportive Manchester Children's Book Festival is. I am hoping that next year will be just as brilliant. I really love coming to the varied events and it is very good how it inspires young people to read. I have really enjoyed the Poetry sessions and have written my own poem in which I have tried to sum up some of the great authors I have met and stories and poems I have been introduced to. I would like to thank the organisers, James Draper and Kaye Tew. I hope you like my poem.

A WRITER’S WORLD

(To celebrate the Manchester Children’s Book Festival/MCBF)

A pen, a quill,

A windowsill,

To look upon the world,

A word, a page

A powerful mage,

A new world unfurled.

Travelling through time, travelling through

Wars, opening hidden mysterious doors,

Travelling to a long and distant land.

Saved from hell, saved from death,

Saved from a fatal, chilling breath,

Rescued by a powerful, wizened old hand.



A tear, a laugh,

An uncertain path,

With one desperate choice.

A trapped liccle boy, a monster’s

Toy, with no public voice.



A scared boy, a boy who is gay,

A boy who has something important to say,

A boy who has a deep but forbidden love.

A boy who wants friends, a boy that has hope,

A boy who needs an escape rope,

To fly finally free like the dove.



A Goblin boy, A Goblin Wizard,

Who could conjure up a blizzard,

His powers only work by kindness

To another.

His powers will falter, his powers will fail,

Like a piece of food gone stale,

If he does not show compassion said his Grandmother.



A tale about a strange girl,

Which would make you hurl,

With some strange creatures that lurk,

A figment of imagination, an illusion,

An intrusion, hidden in her mind’s

Darkness and murk.



Poems a song of love, a symphony of words,

A flock of flying, beautiful birds,

Created by a powerful mind.

A land to escape, a place to refresh,

To escape the encumbering mesh,

And to leave worries and problems behind.



Joss Abbs-Brown

Age 11

Young Journalists Blog Multi-cultural Manchester

 

By Taha, Areeba and Atiya from Whalley Range High School
 

Multiculturalism throughout Manchester has been expressed through the form of written art and has been shown in the Manchester children’s book festival on 30^th June. The cultural diversity has been expressed through the city in many different ways and on 30^th June, many activities and events took place.

The audience was filled with excitement and chatter as Mandy Coe first took the stage by sharing her experiences, saying that poetry should be for children than for adults and that poetry for children is running out and not expressed as much. She then introduced Poetry By Heart where young poets read out poems by heart. She then welcomed four young poets on the stage. Personally, I think this was the best part, listening to other people in our age group reading out poetry, which potentially could inspire us in the future.

Next was the first female poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy. She read out inspirational poetry including the poetry that was banned for the use in schools. The poem talks about violence: a teenager killing, however it has nothing negative but we have to interpret in a positive and meaningful kind of way. She read out a poem that involved the audience: Elvis, Shakespeare, Picasso and Virginia Wolf, adding, “Probably one of the highlights of my life as a poet is standing here and watching people scream Virginia Wolf at me.” 

Next up was Imtiaz Dharker. Her poems had a very wide span of unique topics, ranging from pomegranates to being ‘Over the Moon’, which kept the audience hooked to them. Some of the poems she read out were quite amusing, such as the ‘Dabba Dialogue’ or, ‘Tiffin-Box Talks’. This poem in particular was written from the point of view of a tiffin-box. Her choice of words make her poems really interesting and fun to listen to. I personally thought it was a really good experience and a very engaging event. 

After the poetry event we went over to the other event taking place. There we watched a one-woman play about a girl called Gabrielle, who lived on a small island in the Caribbean. It portrayed how Gabrielle’s life was like in the Caribbean’s, and how drastically it changed after she travelled to England, on a boat ride that took 20 days. Her new life in England was already off to a rocky start, being cramped on a ship for 20 days, so you can imagine how it must have been later on. It showed her struggle to find a proper job and home amongst the racial Britons of that time.

All in all, it was a very inspirational day. I learned new things, and I’m very happy that I had the chance to take part in such an event.

Avani Reads Shark in the Dark

Avani Richardson aged 22 months reads one of her favourite books Shark in the Dark by Nick Sharratt.

  

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Letting in the Stars of Children's Poetry at Wellfield Infant and Nursey School Book Club Group

MOONSHINE

The sun lights the moon to make it shine
Moonshine,
Moonshine,
Moonshine shine.

A mouse ate the moon,
It made it fat
Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine shine

Werewolves come out and howl at the night
Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine shine.

Spirits creep through dark midnight
Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine shine.

You go blind if you stare at it
Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine shine.

Moonshine sets and the sun is bright
Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine shine.

By Wellfield Infant and Nursery School Book Club Group


***


THIS IS THE END 
This is the end,
Where horses gallop
And poetry sings,
Where mountains blow
To the rhythm of oceans,
Heartbeats thunder,
Flowers drift
Midnight stops.
This is the end.

By Wellfield Infant and Nursery School Book Club Group

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Fairytales

By Rachel Formby, age 12

Happily ever after. Isn’t this the most common ending in English Literature? Yet what does it do to our younger generation, does it make them believe a fairytale is real life? Fairytales give children a magical place to believe in, a beautiful character to cherish and a perfect ending, but what are fairytales teaching our children about life? That everything in life is going to be easy. That everything ends with a ‘happily ever after’. That everything is safe. Children aged 2 - 6 years old are the most vulnerable category to be targeted for crime, yet they are also the most unaware of the dangers around them.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - We all know the story but have we ever thought what moral message it gives our children? That it is OK to wander off with men you have never met before? You try to protect your children but you are still handing them content that could make them a target. 

Not only are the moral lessons of our fairytales disturbing, the content of fairytales can be quite scary for the young mind and could create nightmares. Little Red Riding Hood is well known to everyone and adults may think it is just a story, but for a young mind it is worrying. It tells children that wolves could eat their grandma’s, then eat them too. What effect could this have on an early child’s learning and to their mental health? 

We might think that this is a silly issue, however when a child’s mind can’t tell what’s real and what’s fantasy, we need to be concerned. Imagination is wonderful yet when it gets mixed with reality it could create mountains of problems for a child in later. We all want our child to succeed in life so when fairytales are holding them back, why do we continue reading them? 

Some may say that if you analyse the themes of most fairytales, you will find that it usually has a good vs evil theme in which good usually triumphs therefore fairytales provide a useful metaphor for children to learn about values. However do you really think that 5 year olds are going to recognize values when they can’t separate fantasy from reality? No. All they see is the scary world of fairytales plus the dangerous moral lessons taught in them. So if you want your child to have the best chance in life, don’t read them fairytales. 25% of parents already don’t, so why not join them by not doing so?

Once upon a time there lived a boy who had never read a fairytale yet he blossomed beautifully. He got married, had a highly paid job and a happy life, full of imagination… 

And so he lived…

Happily Ever After.

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, event and book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Pigs Can't Fly Or Can They?

Pigs Can’t Fly is a exciting new picture book, written by Anand S and illustrated by Izzy Bean. It is a heart warming tale about a a little pig, named Zig. Zig wants to fly more than anything. But Zig is repeatedly told, “Pigs can walk, pigs can run, but pigs can’t fly.” The question is: ‘Will Zig prove the doubters wrong?’

Anand S tells us,

“I am excited about the release of book as it conveys an important message in an entertaining manner. The message is that dreams can come true if you put the effort in. I hope that it will help children see their abilities as something that can be developed through effort. I would like to thank my family, my friends, the writers’ club and the illustrator for helping me to create this book.”

Anand S was born in India, in 1985. He moved to England aged 10. Anand S studied Medicine at the University of Cambridge. While training to be a surgeon, he discovered a passion for writing so he exchanged the scalpel for the pen.

“For me, making the learning experience enjoyable is important. I believe that children are more likely to learn, if they are having fun. This is why, I try to create stories that are funny, humorous and imaginative.”

Pigs Can't Fly is available for purchase from the Amazon bookstore. For more information on the author and/or activities inspired by the book characters visit www.storytime.website.

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Ciara Reads Her Favourite Book

Here's a video of Ciara reading her favourite book The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids - an oldie but a classic!

Ciara is 8 years old and has started to enjoy reading for pleasure. She particularly likes to read to her little brother.

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Joss Reviews the RNCM Musical Family Fun Day

By Joss Abbs-Brown, age 11

On Sunday 28th of June 2015 the RNCM held a great event linked with the Manchester Children's Book Festival, consisting of various different workshops and activities. It was a wonderful day for families of all ages and races. 

My Mum and I enjoyed one of the hilarious high-lights of the day as Nick Sharratt (a famous illustrator for over 50 Jacqueline Wilson books and many Julia Donaldson stories) took to the stage to entertain. 

There were many jokes and laughs as we sang, danced, and drew with him on our special journey. On the way we met honking elephants, cool koalas and animals playing instruments; listened to music performed by a small but talented band of players and sang with Nick Sharratt. We met a rocking caterpillar and some very funny sheep and found some very peculiar pants!

At the end we managed to get some books signed and got some friendly advice about becoming an illustrator. The overall event was interactive and a great start to the Manchester Children's Book Festival; a huge thank you to everyone who organised this event!

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, event and book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Fairy Cloaks

 

By Alicia Wright

Do you read fairy tales? I do. For one thing, they are often quite silly and thus great parody fodder. But another reason is that they are an interesting window into the cultures of the past.

It is particularly fascinating to me when the same tale crops up in different times and different countries. One such tale involves a fairy cloak. The basic version goes like this;

A man is walking in the woods when he comes across some fairy women bathing in a pool. The fairies' cloaks are hung up on a tree nearby. He steals one and hides it. He's a jerk like that.

The fairies get out and get dressed, but one is left behind, searching for her missing cloak. The man approaches her and asks her to marry him. She has little choice but to accept.

(Most versions do not tell you this but if you take a fairy's cloak they have to do as you say. This was probably such a basic fact to the original storytellers that they did not include it, as one would not bother saying why a vampire would be stopped by a barrier of garlic today.)

Years later, the fairy woman figures out where her cloak is hidden from the songs of her children. She takes it and flies back home.

This legend exists in many forms all over the world. In Britain we have tales of selkies and swan maidens who have cloaks made of seal skin and swan feathers respectively. In Scandinavia there are valkyries with cloaks made of raven feathers. In Japan, there is the tennyo or 'heavenly maiden' and her hagoromo or 'feather mantle'. In African tales, it is an elephant skin cloak.

As fairy tales and folklore are the basis for much of my work I have several cloak-using characters. One of them is Erlina, a fairy princess from my book Miss Prince. I have made a replica of her cloak as a raffle prize for the Manchester Children's Book Festival Family Fun Day this Saturday! Come along to my stall to buy tickets, Miss Prince and other goodies.

Alicia L. Wright is the author of YA comic fantasies Eggs, Butter, Sugar and Disaster, published in 2011 and Miss Prince, published in 2014. You can download free samples of both books from her publisher's website. In her spare time Alicia also draws a webcomic based on Miss Prince and its sequels called Vampires Don't Belong in Fairytales. You can find her on: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, deviantART and Tumblr.

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Meet Astro Fred!

This is the story
of Astronaut Fred,
who travels the stars
in his spaceship bed.

Meet Astro Fred, a daring young adventurer who travels through space meeting mysterious monsters and exploring exciting new worlds. Join his first escapade as he reaches the moon – but who does he meet and what dangers will they face?

Designed to be read at nighttime and educate during the day, Astro Fred is an innovate story that has been created to spark the imagination and inspire young minds. Furthermore, with literacy rates consistently lower for boys, it is hoped that Astro Fred can help to address the balance and get more boys interested in reading.

Author Paul Tildesley says that the key inspiration for writing Astro Fred was his children: “My kids are always running around with these wonderful ideas and creating imaginative games. I wanted to make something to feed this imagination and give back some of the fun they’ve given to me.”

With the act of reading aloud to his children being a key part of Paul’s day, he wanted Astro Fred to be a book that the whole family can enjoy. With illustrations inspired by 1980s graphics and retro toys adorning the pages, the book will appeal to parents as much as their children.

Paul has also created Fred to be a good role model that children can relate and aspire to. Given how much the behaviour of young children is influenced by the world around them, watching Fred help others in need and his good deeds will show children the importance of kindness. 

Astro Fred is running on Kickstarter throughout June 2015. To buy your copy and discover the fun pledge rewards, visit the page here. Astro Fred is also on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Book of Acts by Tashi

Six year old Tashi van Ommen shares a short picture book that talks about the Book of Acts. 

Tashi's dad tells us, "He enjoys making picture story books based on the Bible. He loves the stories in the Bible very much."

If you have a story you would like to share please get in touch!

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

Hello I Am Yeshi

Yeshi and Tashi enjoying the sunshine.

Yeshi, four, shares a video of him telling his big brother Tashi a story about Pocoyo. This video was taken on our their way home in Manila. They are traveling on a rickshaw known as a 'pedicab.'

Yeshi and Tashi's dad tells us, "In Manila it actually more common to have the motorized ones - they are called tricycles. In Tashi and Yeshi's neighborhood motorized tricycles are not allowed as they are noisy and are good sources of pollution - so it's rather unique we have these pedicabs in our area."

Yeshi and Tashi on the footbridge near their home.

If you have a story you would like to share please get in touch!

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.

D is for Dahl

By Chelsea Klaassen

One of my favourite children’s authors is Roald Dahl because of his absurd and creative stories about brave and extraordinary children. When I was an English teaching assistant in a Dutch primary school I created a lesson series about Roald Dahl, which I would like to share with you. This lesson series is great for an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class, but can also be used in any class.

What you will need:

• D is for Dahl workbook  
• A computer, a projector and access to YouTube
• Pens, pencils and colouring pencils
• Space to perform
  

Lesson 1

The aim of Lesson 1 is to introduce Roald Dahl the author. This is especially important when the children you are teaching are not British, because they might not know that much about Dahl and his work.

For Activity A, I have made a PowerPoint about Roald Dahl’s life. You can find a lot of information about the man online. You can use my questions or make up your own. The answers for my questions are: F(alse), F, F, T(rue), F, T, T, T, F, F, T, T, T, F, F.
 
Activity B, C and E can easily be done by the children without a lot of help. You can allow them to work in pairs if you like.

For activity D you can use a YouTube video in which the poem is read out loud:

Lesson 2

The aim of the second lesson is to learn more about the characters and to learn about adjectives.

Activity C can be done without any extra help. Exercise B is an exercise about adjectives and in my workbook I have used Dutch adjectives because I was teaching Dutch children. You can change this into an exercise in the language of your choice or maybe and exercise about synonyms.

For activity A you need two descriptions of characters. You can write these yourself or you can use mine:

The Witches

A witch is always a woman. When you meet a witch she is always wearing gloves.  A witch doesn’t have finger-nails. She has got claws instead. They also don’t have toes. 
Another weird thing about them is that they don’t have hair. She is as bald as a boiled egg.  
Also, a witch has very big nose-holes. And I am not ready yet. A witch also has eyes that change colour and her spit is blue. Scary, isn’t it?

BFG

The BFG, also known as the big friendly giant is very big. He is much bigger than a normal person. He is wearing a long coat and holding a suitcase and a trumpet. His face looks funny and wrinkly. His nose is as sharp as a knife and his ears are very big. His eyes are also big but they look friendly. The BFG is not mean.

Lesson 3

For the first activity you can use this YouTube video of the Oompa Loompa song: 

For the second part of lesson 3 you will need this video in which the poem 'Little Red Riding Hood' is read out loud:

Important: In order not to give away the ending (which is important for the rest of the lesson series!) you need to stop the video at 2.33 minutes.

Lesson 4 and 5

For these two lessons you just need the poem up to ‘I am going to eat you anyway’, which can be found in the workbook.

The children will use lesson 4 to learn the sentences and to practice their individual endings. Each child (there are groups of three) will be one of the characters from the poem. Make sure to tell them that all of them need to be and say something in the play.

The first 10-15 minutes of lesson 5 (depending on how many groups you have) can be the final practice time before the rest of the lesson is used to perform the play. If you really want to make something special out of it you can encourage the children to bring or make their own costumes and props.

Download Chelsea's 'D is for Dahl' Workbook here

I hope you will have fun teaching about Roald Dahl and his wonderful worlds!

After her teacher training Chelsea Klaassen studied Children's Literature at Reading University to learn more about the wonderful worlds of children's books. After her degree she decided to start a blog on which she posts creative reading and writing ideas and exercises for teachers, parents and carers to use. You can find her blog here. Follow Chelsea on Twitter at @Chelseamorag1.

The MCBF2015 team are looking for your blogs, stories, book reviews, photos, poems - simply anything and everything to do with your favourite children’s books! Email mcbf@mmu.ac.uk to get involved.