Karen Inglis's Blog, page 4
October 30, 2016
Werewolves, Book Widgets, YouTube & more – Autumn Update :)
I hope you and your children have had an enjoyable half term and are now ready to embrace the darker evenings – what perfect timing for Halloween tonight with the UK clock changes!
In fact, this post isn’t about witches – or werewolves 
June 1, 2016
Second to none – the 2016 Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
It’s almost three weeks since the second Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, after which I dashed off to Verona. Now that I’m back I wanted to share a few photos (of the festival – not Verona!) and a weekend date for your next year’s diary – Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May 2017 when the third festival will take place. Sign up here to be added to their mailing list (scroll down once you land on the page).
A children’s festival with big ambitions
On the evening that marked the end of last year’s inaugural one-day festival I marvelled at the energy of local mum, book publicist and festival organiser, Amanda Brettargh, as she enthused about making the following year’s event twice the size and spread over two days instead of one. Anyone else in her shoes at that time would have been sinking back in a chair with a well-deserved gin and tonic and worrying about next year another time…!
Amanda certainly doesn’t do things by halves and this year those ambitions were well and truly fulfilled. With over 50 author events held across nine venues over the two-day period, and over 5,000 tickets and £15,000 of children’s / YA books sold, the festival is now firmly on the literary map and not to be missed if you live within reach.
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival website
Not only are you guaranteed a mix of bestselling authors across all age ranges (this year included Judith Kerr, Alex Scheffler, Michael Morpurgo, Lauren Child, Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Reeve, Cornelia Funke and Frances Hardinge – to name but a very few), but children can also enjoy free storytelling and other creative workshops around the pond throughout the weekend. What better excuse do you need to spend time with your children in one of the prettiest villages in southwest London?
I couldn’t be everywhere by any means. Below I let I’ll let the pictures and captions tell the story that I saw…
Friday afternoon – on its way up – the wonderful ‘Booktop Marquee’ which hosted Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Reeve, Morris Gleitzman, Cathy Cassidy, Frances Hardinge, Lauren Child and David Mackintosh over the two days. Just one of nine festival venues dotted around the village – but by far one of the most striking…
Saturday afternoon – a packed Booktop Marquee with Carnegie Medal Winner Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines) reading from his new book Rail Head – along with a great audio visual soundtrack[image error]
Around the pond – the bookshop tent with red flags in the foreground (also hosted free author readings on the hour). Behind it, the free arts & crafts wigwam and then the ‘Booktop’ Marquee beyond… There was a fabulous all-day BBQ at the Old Sorting Office arts centre, seen at the end of the path where the white umbrella is visible. As the day went on, the whole green became a picnic area for children and families – some even set up a badminton game…
St Mary’s Church filling up to hear bestselling fantasy author Cornelia Funke. Of her schooldays she said “I wrote essays, but not what the teachers wanted!” Of her characters she says she feels they are always travelling with her. Funke Facts: The planning stage for her books can last years – she puts together extensive notebooks with pasted-in research images and her own illustrations and handwritten notes – they looked beautiful! These help the story grow. She has 14 notebooks for The Griffin’s Yarn… On writer’s block she said: “There’s no such thing – you just run into a hedge and wonder how your characters have tricked you and what will happen next…” Funke only started writing at age 27 – before that she was a social worker and then an illustrator for children’s books. It was when illustrating children’s books that she realised she could write better stories. It was 17 years before she came up with the sequel to Dragon Rider. Until then she couldn’t think how to make the follow-on story original…
The phone box outside Olympic Cinema was turned into a free Children’s Bookswap for the weekend[image error]
Little ones waiting for the start of Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep reading – part of the free author events programme on Sunday afternoon … Ferdinand Fox himself was a big hit. By this time he had been passed around by all the children and was losing his jacket[image error]
The bookshop tent buzzed all weekend long! Also the venue for free author readings…
In the space of an hour we had two sittings for the Ferdinand Fox reading on Sunday afternoon – this was the first. Top right you can see one of the 90 (yes, 90!) volunteers who came from Barnes local community organisations, local primary schools, friends and family and Roehampton University .
A signed copy of Rail Head from Philip Reeve – he can draw too :-) With thanks to my husband for the surprise present! I’m a big fan of the Mortal Engines books….
Along with the authors, Barnes’ resident swans with their new signets drew lots of attention…! A pity that the sun had briefly gone in for this shot…
Saturday morning calm before the storm[image error] Bookseller extraordinaire, Isla Dawes (right), owner of The Barnes Bookshop, and a bookseller friend and volunteer Venetia Vyvyan (left) – little did they know that £15,000 of books would be sold over the weekend! (I love the aprons!)
The swans and signets now across the pond….they do get around… we even have a road sign in the village to stop the traffic when they cross[image error]
As part of my launch of Walter Brown and the Magican’s Hat at the festival I took along props for my reading and a young audience member enacted the scene where Walter opens the battered box and finds the hat left to him by his Great-grandpa. (Sadly I didn’t manage to get a photo of this!)
I also had a free prize draw that children entered over the weekend. Top left shows the top hat the moment before the draw on Sunday night. The lucky winner was nine-year-old Ben Nicholson from Putney whose mother kindly sent me the photo below!
A moment of magic for Ben Nicholson[image error]
A few shots of Barnes village – not a bad place to spend the weekend!
Screen Your Story event – still to come
In July there will be a screening at the Barnes Olympic Cinema of the winner of the children’s Screen Your Story Competition Find out more about Screen Your Story here
Below is an earlier tweet showing the cinema. You can follow me @kareninglis btw
A few great links
My life in books: an interview with Judith Kerr at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Jacqueline Wilson in the Bigtop Marquee at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Lauren Child and David Mackintosh – in conversation at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival in the Booktop Marquee
My in-depth interview with Cornelia Funke ahead of the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival – on creativity and her decision to self-publish her latest book (opens in a new tab on my writers’ blog)
With Cornelia Funke after her talk at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival – read my in-depth interview with her above
That’s it…
This is just my story – and doesn’t do justice to all the venues and many readings and talks that went on – nor to the wonderful atmosphere of the weekend. Still, I hope it has inspired you to make a note in your diaries to come along next year. Remember – you can sign up for news about next year’s Barnes Children’s Literature Festival here.
Wild flowers around Barnes Pond…
Oh, ok – since you insist, here’s one shot from Verona[image error]
View to Verona from the hill before lunch…that sunshine is a distant memory!
Hmm – I see below that my last blog post was a year ago! I really must find a bit more time to post in between my writing and school visits! However, remember you can also find me on twitter and facebook
Filed under: Children's Books, Literature Festivals, Uncategorized
April 15, 2015
The story behind the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Following on from last week’s blog post about the inaugural Barnes Children’s Literature Festival ��� which takes place on Saturday 25 April ��� I’ve finally managed to catch up with its organiser, the delightful Amanda Brettargh.�� It’s all systems go at Festival HQ so I’m grateful to Amanda for finding time in her hectic schedule to talk to me.
Amanda Brettargh
Click to see what’s on and book tickets!
“ I believe that Barnes will become both a destination and an inspiration for book lovers everywhere.”
Karen:
We’re all hugely excited about the upcoming kidslitfest in Barnes!�� I’m sure that my readers����� children, parents, teachers and librarians, not to mention children’s authors ��� would love to know the story behind the festival, so here are a few questions.
What gave you the idea for the Barnes Children���s Literature Festival?
Amanda:
“In my day to day life I am a freelance book publicist and I have a media consultancy that specialises in publishing. All of my clients are small to medium sized independent publishers and part of my job is to organise the appearance of their authors and illustrators at festivals everywhere. From this I have had first hand experience of the importance of these events on book sales. So when I used to push my buggy around beautiful Barnes Pond every day, every day I would think: they should have a literature festival here! Of course, we also have one of London’s best independent bookshops in Barnes (The Barnes Bookshop) and I believe that any community that supports its own bookshop deserves to have its own festival.”
Here’s Barnes Pond, just in case you didn’t see the last blog post :-)
Barnes Pond
This is a ticketed event�� – ��5 per performance –�� in aid of local children’s charities. Have you chosen which will be benefiting?
“The Barnes Children’s Literature Festival is a community event and thanks to Barnes Bookshop a percentage of all books sold on the day, together with the profit from ticket sales will be donated to Barnes children’s charities, which include local primary school libraries, Barnes Brownies and Guides and St Mary Barnes Cubs and Scouts.”
You���ve managed to pull together an amazing line up of authors and illustrators – how easy was that to do? You seem to have some excellent connections!
“It’s true that through my own work I already had some contacts among the agents and in the various publishing houses and, in general, I think they were very positive when I approached them. The head of publicity for one of the largest children’s presses even said to me: ‘Barnes! The perfect place for it!'”
What are your hopes for the festival in the future? Can we expect this to be an annual event?
“I am planning for this to be an annual event in the same way that Bath has its children’s literature festival every year. With our magnificent location, our strong literary heritage and sense of community we are going to strive to present a literary experience like no other.
“I have said that when you come to Barnes you will find some of children’s literature’s best known names as well as a few special treats that you will be unlikely to see at festivals anywhere else.
Barnes Kidslitfest will host the UK premiere of the stage production this award-winning picture book
“This year we are opening our festival with the UK premiere of the stage production of Chris Haughton’s beautiful picture book, ‘A Bit Lost’ by the Boulevard Theatre from Stockholm .
“I believe that Barnes will become both a destination and an inspiration for book lovers everywhere.”
Do you have your own children? Did they have in say in helping you decide who to include in the line-up?
“I have ten year old twin girls who are at Barnes Primary School. This Festival has been a real family affair and we’ve had plenty of sorting and stuffing and stickering and folding and leafletting ��� you name it! They also had great pleasure in putting together a list of authors that they would love to see come to Barnes. At the top of it was Jeff Kinney, closely followed by David Walliams, and I’ve said to them: ‘Next year!'”
What do you do when you���re not organising children���s literature festivals?
“I very much regret that the demands of my media consultancy, as well as becoming a launching festival organiser����� not to mention my ten year old twins������� leave me little time for my favourite occupations, reading and sleeping!”
Finally, I can’t help noticing your warm southern hemisphere accent – are you from Australia by any chance?�� (If so, how do you cope with the weather over here?!)
“Yes, I’m Australian. We have been here for twelve years and my children were born here. When I walk around Richmond Park, even when it’s tipping it down, I think, ‘I could never leave!'”
My thanks to Amanda for sharing her story with us. And how wonderful that someone from so far afield has helped bring the first ever Children’s Literature Festival to Barnes!
Click here to see what’s on and buy tickets
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival – click to check what’s on
Filed under: Children's Books, Literature Festivals Tagged: book fairs, Children's Books, kidlit, Kidslitfest 
April 9, 2015
See you at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival!
I���m thrilled to announce my inclusion in the inaugural Barnes Children���s Literature Festival, which takes place on Saturday 25 April in southwest London. If you have children and live in London or within reach of Barnes don’t miss what promises to be a fantastic event����� read on to find out more!
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival – click to visit the website
As you may be able to see from above, the Barnes Children’s Literature festival����� organised by book publicist and local mum of two girls, Amanda Brettargh ��� includes a fantastic line-up of award-winning authors for children of all ages.
Barnes village lies a mile or so south of Hammersmith Bridge. It���s a lovely place to spend the day ��� we have our very own duck pond and village green, plenty of cafes, delis, family-friendly pubs and restaurants, the river Thames at the top of the high street and one of the coolest cinemas in London – on which more below!
Barnes Pond – Barnes village is a five-minute bus ride south of Hammersmith Bridge
��So who will be there …?
Well, here are just a few tasters… (you’ll find a link to the full programme below)
Multi-award-winning picture-book author, Chris Haughton ��� not only will he be bringing his fabulous picture books to life at his own session, there’s also the UK�� premiere of the stage production of his award-winning picture book�� ‘A Bit Lost’
Picture book illustrator Alex Scheffler ��� of Gruffalo fame ��� say no more!
Abbie Longstaff ��� author of The Fairytale Hairdresser series
Sally Gardner ���award winning author of ‘Maggot Moon’ ��� at the festival she���ll be talking about what makes a good detective and her fairy detective series ‘Wings & Co’
Author-illustrator David Mackintosh ��� who���ll be drawing as well as reading from his latest book ���Lucky���
Marcia Williams ��� author of the acclaimed�� ���Archie���s War�������� a child’s scrapbook of the First World War
Jim Smith ��� author of ���I am not a loser��� series
Piers Torday – introducing his new novel ‘The Wild Beyond’ ��� the final in his trilogy
Horrible Histories�� illustrator Martin Brown
Britain���s favourite poet and local resident Roger McGough who has even penned a poem for the festival!
There will also be book-to-film cinema events curated by Guardian film critic, Danny Leigh, at the ultra cool Olympic Studios. And Julia Eccleshare, children’s books editor of The Guardian, will be interviewing teenage author Helena Coggan.
For my own part, I’ll be introducing 7-10 year-olds to my popular graphic novel Eeek! The Runaway Alien – you can find out more about my session here
The above really is just a sample ��� see the full programme and book tickets here. (All ticket sale proceeds go to charity.)
Voted favourite book club read three years in a row by boys & girls locally!
Charlie opens his door to an alien
With thanks to my local bookshops and schools
Needless to say I’m both proud and honoured to be part of the festival. Those of you who follow my writers’ blog will know that I regularly take my books into schools in southwest London and have hosted many signing events in local bookshops and Waterstones ��� all of whom have been incredibly receptive and have stocked my books from the outset, often placing them face-out with shelf-talkers that I supply.
So I’d like to say thank you to the Barnes Children���s Literature Festival����� and to southwest London yet again����� for giving me this next opportunity to raise my profile. And thank you to my local bookshops, notably The Barnes Bookshop (through which my festival sales will pass), Sheen Books, Wimbledon Books and seven branches of Waterstones in southwest London. Also thanks to so many local schools for having me in and to the local press for so often sharing my stories. But most of all, thank you to my young readers, both near and far for buying and enjoying my stories!
The Barnes Bookshop – with Eeek! poster in the window during the World Cup :-)
More inaugural book festivals during April
Can’t get enough of books? Here are two more new literature festivals for your diary if you live or work around London or in Gloucestershire!
On Friday 17 April 4.30-7.30 pm�� Foyles Bookshop is hosting the 2015 Indie Author Book Fair at their flagship store in Charing Cross����� the first of its kind as part of London Book and Screen Week��and gives you the chance to meet and chat with over 50 top top selling independently published authors across a range of genres. The event is free and you’ll find information about an exciting free competition using the link above!
The unstoppable author, speaker and PR consultant Debbie Young is hosting the inaugural Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival on World Book Night 23 April����� don’t miss this wonderful village event which has an impressive roll-call of authors and speakers and will centre around the village pub! If you live in or around the Gloucestershire area it promises to be extremely special!
This year in particular certainly seems to have sprung a new breed of literature festival – so here’s to bookshops, litfest organisers and authors themselves for helping reshape the future of book selling in this fast-changing world. I’m sure we all agree that these changes are for everyone’s benefit ��� author, reader and bookseller alike.
Getting to Barnes
If you���re on public transport it���s a five-minute bus ride or 20-minute walk from Hammersmith Tube, or a five-minute walk from Barnes or Barnes Bridge over-ground stations. If you���re driving you���ll find parking in the streets a few minutes walk away from the immediate central village area.
Click here to view the full programme and book tickets to the
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Filed under: Uncategorized
June 23, 2014
Henry Haynes and the Great Escape gets off to a flying start!
It’s just eight weeks since I released Henry Haynes and the Great Escape – my fast-paced chapter book for ages 6-8 about a boy who falls inside his library book after complaining that it’s boring. And I’m thrilled to report that I’m already well into my second box! This means that over 100 children have now either read or are currently reading or due to read Henry’s story.
As with all of my books, what really heartens me about this is knowing that the imaginary world I created is being enjoyed and shared by so many children, just as I had hoped and dreamed that it would be. For a writer, there’s nothing to beat that feeling!
Henry’s early journey to meet his first readers follows three school visits and two book signing events since publication. One book signing was held in Waterstones, Putney on 14 June and another at the delightful Wimbledon Books this Saturday, 21 June. This last event co-coincided with Wimbledon Village Fair. There was a great buzz all around the village and on the common – especially with Wimbledon tennis starting this week too. One little boy who bought Henry Haynes had already had his photo taken in another shop with one of the tennis stars!
The delightful Wimbledon Books in Wimbledon Village – just off Wimbledon Common
At Wimbledon Books – it was one of the hottest days of the year so I was glad to be by the open door!
Henry escapes up to Leamington Spa!
Prior to the signings I took Henry Haynes into three schools. One of these visits took me up to Milverton Primary in Leamington Spa – a delightful primary school attended by a friend’s daughter, Martha, who very kindly acted as my first beta (‘test’) reader back in December.
The visit to Milverton Primary couldn’t have gone more smoothly and the children were an absolute delight. Here’s a picture of Sasha, one of Henry’s fans from Year 4 at Milverton.
Sasha – from Yr 4 at Milverton enjoying Henry Haynes and the Great Escape
Thank you to Sasha and his parents for allowing me to use this photo!
Early feedback and pre-publication nerves….
Asking for early feedback on your book while it’s still in manuscript form is always nerve-wracking, as any writer will tell you. And what makes it worse is the waiting, which is often when doubts start to bubble up. But people are busy and rarely able to read your work right away, so the waiting is something you just have to learn to live with.
So when I emailed the manuscript of Henry Haynes and the Great Escape to Martha’s mother, I honestly didn’t expect to hear back for a few weeks, especially as it was in the lead-up to Christmas. In fact I didn’t even suggest an ideal turnaround time. Imagine, then, my delight, to receive an email back that very same evening to say Martha had refused to turn out the light until she had finished the story – and had loved it! She then insisted on reading it to her grandmother the following weekend!
Pre-publication nerves are very common – and I’ve experienced them with each of my books. (I was so nervous about The Secret Lake before its first library reading that I almost cancelled the event! Almost 6,000 sales later, and with rafts of great reviews both here and in the USA, I now know that I needn’t have worried!)
I should add that Martha was able to provide some really useful feedback to do with some of the characters’ names – and to point out where I’d made a mistake with who said and thought what :-) Thank you Martha!
And it seems Martha hasn’t been the only one to want to race through Henry’s story! Here’s a screenshot of a tweet message I received from a parent on the evening of my Putney Waterstones signing on 14 June:
Feedback received about Henry Haynes via Twitter
Tweet received following my Putney Waterstones signing
I’m looking forward to sharing Henry Haynes with more school children in coming weeks and months. Please do get in touch if you’d like me to visit your school – you can read more about my school visits here: I have four books which cover from Reception up to Year 4.
And if you’re looking for a summer read for your 6-8 year-old you can order your copy of Henry Haynes and the Great Escape online or from your local bookshop who should be able to get it in for you within a few days :-) In southwest London it’s stocked by Waterstones in Putney, Wimbledon Books, The Barnes Bookshop and Sheen Books. RRP is £4.99.
Happy reading!
Karen
Filed under: Ages 6-8, chapter books, Children's Books
May 27, 2014
The Secret Lake revisits Notting Hill
I’ve done quite a few school visits in recent weeks – but one in particular had special significance for me. This was a day spent at Norland Place School in Notting Hill – the area in London that first inspired the story of my time travel adventure, The Secret Lake.
Norland Place School – Notting Hill
If you’re not familiar with Notting Hill, much of this part of west London is made up of tall and elegant terraced Victorian houses that back onto vast communal gardens for the owners’ shared use. (If you’ve seen the film ‘Notting Hill’ with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant you’ll know what I’m talking about – I think the pair hop over a communal garden fence at one stage to steal time in one of the gardens!)
Notting Hill houses – most are now apartments
Most of the Notting Hill communal garden houses have now been converted into apartments. Those on the ground floor have direct access to the gardens from their own patio gardens – other residents have a key for access via a separate gate.
Ground floor apartments have patio gardens
Inspiration for The Secret Lake
The Secret Lake came about after some friends moved to one of these Notting Hill apartments many years ago when our children were around age five and seven. The moment we walked out into the gardens I was struck by their magical atmosphere. The sound of twigs cracking underfoot echoed all around as children raced across the woodland lawns playing chase, or hide and seek, while others (often younger) huddled inside bushes, making secret dens.
Exploring the gardens and seeing these children lost in their imaginary worlds brought back memories of my own childhood and the freedom I had growing up in the Hertfordshire countryside. In those days we’d often go off for hours at a time into the woods to play, without so much as a ‘goodbye’ to our parents!
The communal gardens offer plenty of places to explore and hide!
As I watched the children playing and surveyed the grand houses all around I found myself wondering – wouldn’t it be wonderful if the children from today could meet the boys and girls who had lived in their homes and played in these same gardens 100 years earlier?
I didn’t realise it at the time, but the idea for The Secret Lake had just been born. I wrote the three lines below as I slowly started to formulate the story – and they now sit before the opening chapter.
Come and play in the garden of imagination.
Let the seeds of your dreams grow and blossom
In distant lands, or time forgotten.
When I later came to write the story, the layout of my friends’ apartment, which spanned the lower ground and ground floors of the original house, provided the backdrop for the scene in which Tom and Stella break into their own home at night in past time to get food.
My friends’ children – Jessica and Tom – provided much of the inspiration for the main characters in the story, Stella and Tom. The real Tom in particular had boundless energy and was always getting into trouble (of the typical boyish type), while his quieter and older sister, Jessica, was both protective of and exasperated by him! Oh, and she had blonde wavy hair similar in style to Stella’s, seen on the front cover of the book.
It was an adventure in itself checking and recreating how the rooms in their modern-day apartment had been used and furnished back in late Edwardian times – and highly amusing trying to imagine Tom’s reaction when he walks into what he thinks is going to be ‘his’ bedroom, only to find a grand dining room with the Gladstone family portraits staring down at him!
But Tom, with his tummy satisfied, had other ideas. ‘I’m not going until I see my room!’ he murmured solemnly.
Stella fixed her torch beam and a nasty glare on him. ‘Tom!’ she whispered crossly, ‘Do you want us to get caught?’
‘I don’t care!’ he muttered through clenched teeth.
Seeing his arms folded, an unblinking gaze and both feet planted squarely on the ground, Stella knew they were onto a lost cause. ‘Jack, can we show him?’ she pleaded in a whisper. ‘He won’t leave if we don’t.’
Jack shook his head and smiled. ‘Your littlun’s got nerve. I likes that! Let’s go then, but be quiet!’
Jack led the way through a door that Tom and Stella didn’t recognise from their own home, but soon they found themselves climbing a familiar staircase towards the front door. The walls of the main hallway were adorned with large heavily framed paintings whose subject matter Stella couldn’t make out. Jack was now heading for another set of stairs she didn’t recognise. Stella darted forward and tugged at his sleeve, then pointed at the door beside her. ‘This ain’t a bedroom!’ he whispered. Stella nodded vigorously then pointed at Tom. Jack gave a puzzled frown. The door was ajar and creaked so loudly when they pushed it open that they all froze. Nothing stirred, except the hollow tick of a clock somewhere in the hallway above.
Quietly they stepped inside and Stella switched on her torch. As the beam lit up the room, Tom’s mouth fell open. His bedroom was in fact a dining room – and one fit for kings and queens at that! In the centre of the room, which spanned the width of both his and Stella’s bedrooms, was a vast mahogany dining table complete with three sets of silver candelabras, spaced evenly in a line down the middle. The table was surrounded by about twenty crimson velvet high backed chairs, and above it hung an enormous chandelier which shimmered silently in the moonlight filtering in through the shutters. A vast and elaborate gilt-framed mirror hung over what was, of course, his fireplace, which stood at one end of the table. Either side of the fireplace, and on all the other walls, huge portraits of the Gladstone family looked down on them.
The Edwardian characters in the book – Sophie, Emma, Jack and Lucy – just popped up as the story unfolded. (I didn’t plot the book in advance – though in hindsight it would have helped me finish it sooner had I done so!) I remember being especially startled when Lucy appeared in the garden from nowhere soon after the break-in. But there she was, hands on hips, demanding to join the adventure. I had no choice but to let her in! My friends had also told me about a grumpy gardener – and he made his way into the story in the form of the snarling Charlie Green.
Here’s where Lucy comes in:
The garden had been quiet for a good half an hour. Finally the children got up and crossed to the line of trees that looked towards the houses. The moon had faded leaving the lawn dull and lifeless. The trees and bushes now stood wrapped in the grey cloak of dawn and as the children peered across, they could see that the house was in darkness, apart from the faintest glimmer of light from a small window high up.
Slowly they crept across the lawn and into the courtyard. ‘I bet that’s Emma’s window up there!’ whispered Stella.
‘Maybe she’s waiting for us. Maybe it’s a sign!’ whispered Tom.
‘I hope she hasn’t fallen asleep!’ murmured Stella, twirling the bracelet on her wrist.
The kitchen was in darkness as they peered on tip-toe through the window. Suddenly the silence and the emptiness were too much for Tom. ‘It’s too late, Stell!’ he whispered desperately. ‘He’s gone! They’ve taken Jack to the prison!’
‘Oh no they haven’t!’ said an excited voice behind them. ‘They’ve tied him all up and locked him in the cellar!’
Tom and Stella swung round in terror to find a young girl standing triumphantly behind them with her hands on her hips and her feet wide apart. She was wearing a long dark coat over ankle length boots.
‘Hello,’ she said, her eyes doubling in size. ‘I’m Lucy Cuthbertson. Who on earth are you?’
[NB The book formatting appears correctly in print and on Kindle - not as shown above!]
School visits, The Secret Lake, freedom and adventure
Back to Norland Place! At school visits – and Norland Place was no exception – children often ask me which of my stories was my favourite to write. I always tell them that while I love all of my books, The Secret Lake is closest to my heart. This isn’t just because it was the first book I wrote. It’s also because it echoes the freedom and adventure I experienced in my own childhood – and which I enjoyed in books that I read as a child, such as The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden.
We all need escape and adventure when growing up. This isn’t always easy – especially if you live in the city – but if it can’t be had in the real world then at the very least it can be had in the imaginary worlds of books. The feedback I get from children at school readings and signing events, and through their reviews, leaves me in no doubt that modern children still love a traditional adventure story just as we grown-ups did at their age. This really heartens me – especially since at one stage The Secret Lake sat in a box for over 10 years after being turned down by several publishers for being too traditional!
The Secret Lake sat in this box (& on my hard drive) for 10 years!
As I write, over 6,000 children have enjoyed The Secret Lake – around 3500 on Kindle and the rest in print. The Amazon and Goodreads reviews speak for themselves – both in number and quality. And I’ve never offered the Kindle book for free (I just think it’s too special!) so can be pretty sure it’s actually been read by close to the sales number.
36 Reviews on Amazon UK – 14 on Amazon.com – and counting…
Stories waiting to be told…
I have a feeling that the best stories really won’t let you leave them alone – because they just know that they need to be read. So if you have a special story inside of you that you truly believe in, my advice is don’t ever give up on it!
A quick note on the lake…
I probably shouldn’t leave without a brief note on the lake in The Secret Lake – after all there is no lake in Notting Hill!
Still Pond in Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park
A few weeks after our visit to our friends we were in Isabella Plantation in London’s Richmond Park. We’d been several times before with our sons as it offers a safe and magical place for children to run around in and let off steam, much in the same way as offered by the Notting Hill communal gardens.
On that occasion we happened to run into a neighbour who pointed us in the direction of ‘The Secret Pond’ (this was her nickname for ‘Still Pond’ – seen in the photo above). We’d somehow missed this on our previous visits – there are two other ponds in Isabella Plantation. So we followed her directions, and the moment we came across it, I knew that the book’s front cover and title were settled – and that I just had to write the story!
Isabella Plantation will be in full bloom as I write – if you live in southwest London and haven’t been, don’t miss it! If you search for it on Google you’ll find some incredible images.
Thank you Norland Place School!
My thanks to Norland Place School for inviting me in for the day – and for possibly the best school lunch I’ve ever had! The children were a delight – and Reception through to Year 6 enjoyed readings from all of four of my books and went home with signed copies at the end of the day :-) I leave you with a photo from the school’s website, which shows young children who attended the school around the time my cast of characters would have been playing in the communal gardens!
Norland Place School – Edwardian period (I assume) pupils (from the school’s website)
Filed under: Children's Books Tagged: historical fiction, Notting Hill, The Secret Lake, time travel
May 17, 2014
Children vote for ‘Eeek!’ in World Cup run-up!
With the World Cup just 25 days away I’m thrilled to share the news that my graphic novel, Eeek! The Runaway Alien – about an alien who runs away to Earth for the World Cup – has been voted favourite Book Club read by Year 3 boys and girls at a local primary school not once, not twice, but three times!
Fun and fast-paced – for 7-10 yrs
St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School in Richmond, Surrey, ordered 22 copies of Eeek! for their book club soon after it came out. It has evidently been working its magic on the children ever since – including with the most reluctant readers.
Eeek – the alien who ran away to Earth for the World Cup
I was invited to spend the day at St Elizabeth’s as part of their World Book Day celebrations in March. The school had themed its World Book Day celebrations around aliens – making my visit all the more apt!
Interview with Hannah Parker – librarian at St Elizabeth’s Primary
It was a hectic day at St Elizabeth’s, but I was grateful to Hannah Parker, St Elizabeth’s librarian, for finding a few minutes in the staffroom at lunchtime to conduct a mini-interview about the school book club – and Eeek!
St Elizabeth’s school book club sounds like a great idea. Can you tell me a bit about its aims, who attends and how often it takes place?
At the moment I run five book clubs across the Juniors, with between 10 and 15 children in each group. Membership is entirely voluntary, and we meet during one lunchtime each month to discuss that month’s book. The club’s aim is to support literacy and encourage a love of reading by allowing children to choose a book and read it as a group – partly in school and partly at home – and then discuss it in a relaxed and informal setting. The children share their thoughts and ideas and then choose the book they wish to read for the subsequent month.
Eeek! by Freddie – a Book Club fan :-)
I’m thrilled to hear that Eeek! has proven so popular with the children – clearly all that hard work has paid off! Can you tell me more about their feedback?
This is the third year of using Eeek! in our Year 3 book club (we ordered 22 copies soon after it was published in 2012) and of course this year is especially fun as we have the World Cup coming up in June! Each year, without exception, Eeek! has been voted Year 3’s favourite book club book. Significantly, it’s just as popular with the girls as it is with the boys.
What is it that the children particularly enjoy about it?
Quite a lot really! They love the humour – and the relationship between Charlie and Eeek! They also love how Charlie and his best friend, Jake manage to pass Eeek! off as Charlie’s actor cousin when they take him out – and how the family all think little Rory is making up stories about an alien. And the ending is a huge hit with everyone (I’ll say no more!) They also love the illustrations. Having them scattered throughout the story helps keep the more reluctant readers engaged – though they really don’t need much encouragement!
How fantastic that the girls love it too – I was sure they would but was worried the football focus might put them off…
Admittedly some of the girls are a bit skeptical when the see the front cover – because it looks so obviously focused on football – but once they get reading they very quickly get drawn into the story. As I said earlier, Eeek! wins the all-round vote from both boys and girls for popularity.
Anything else you’d like to add about how Eeek! works as a class reader?
The pace of story is fast moving which I am sure helps – as do the short chapters which allow the children a sense of progress early on. I also think that the typesetting plays a part – the font is a reasonable size and there is good spacing between the lines. I am sure that all of these little things play an important part in encouraging some of the more reluctant readers to keep reading when otherwise they might struggle. I also think that the first person voice of the story really helps the children engage with Charlie’s experience – keeping them drawn into the story from start to finish. And that’s exactly what reading is all about!
Eeek! An overview…
Voted favourite Book Club read :-)
Charlie Spruit can hardly believe his luck when he opens his door to an alien one morning. Charlie soon discovers this alien is mad about football and has run away from space to Earth to be with him because the World Cup is on!
Charlie hides Eeek! in his bedroom where is sleeps on the ceiling, and the only person he shares his alien secret with is his best friend, Jake. Together they smuggle Eeek! out in disguise to watch football club practice and to posh Sophie Marr’s fancy dress party. All is going surprisingly well until Sci-fi mad Sid Spiker spots Eeek! through his telescope and realises this is a real alien…
I had a lovely day at St Elizabeth’s. As well as reading extracts of Eeek! to Years 2-6 I also introduced them to The Secret Lake, my time-slip mystery in which Stella (11) and Tom (8), when trying to find their elderly neighbour’s missing dog, discover a tunnel and lake that take to their home and the children living there 100 years in the past. The lake in the story – shown on the book’s front cover was inspired by Still Pond in Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park, where many of the children who attend St Elizabeth’s have been with their parents.
Talking to the older children about being an author
I also introduced Reception and Year 1 to my rhyming picture book, Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep – and read advance extracts from my latest book Henry Haynes and The Great Escape. The children were also thrilled when I showed the Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep interactive iPad app!
All in all a very rewarding visit! My special thanks to the school’s literacy co-ordinator, Michelle Jackson, for organising the day.
Where to buy Eeek!
You can buy Eeek! in print or on Kindle from Amazon and in print from most other online bookstores. You can also order it from any bookshop – and you’ll find it stocked in selected branches of Waterstones in south west London. And if you’d like to offer your 7-10-year-old (or older!) something extra special in the run-up to the World Cup, you can also order a personalised signed copy in the post (UK only).
Eeek! is also part of Amazon’s Matchbook Program in the USA.
I shall leave you with a few images from the children sent to me after my visit…
Karen :-)
Folders filled with thank you notes :-)
Thank you notes!
Eeek! waiting at a level crossing!
Filed under: Children's Books Tagged: Children's Books, Graphic novel, Reluctant readers, World Cup
May 5, 2014
New children’s book: Henry Haynes and The Great Escape
I’m delighted to announce that my latest children’s book Henry Haynes and The Great Escape – a graphic novel for ages 6-8 is finally out. This fun, fast-paced page-turner with short chapters is aimed at early readers from age 6 as well as slighter older ones looking for a quick and entertaining read. It also includes the first two chapters of Eeek! The Runaway Alien – my popular graphic novel for age 7-10 years in which an alien runs away to Earth for the World Cup!
Click to buy on Amazon
Here’s the all-important back cover blurb :-)
Fun and fast-paced for ages 6-8
Read an in-depth review of Henry Haynes on Debbie Young’s blog
I popped a review copy of Henry Haynes in the post to journalist and book reviewer, Debbie Young, on Friday. I was bowled over to find a blog post from her on Sunday morning. Debbie is an avid reader and, amongst her many roles, has worked with a leading children’s reading charity Readathon. You can read Debbie’s review here.
Where to buy Henry Haynes and The Great Escape
You can order Henry Haynes from most online bookstores – and from most UK/US and Australian bricks and mortar bookshops. The links below offer just a few examples of where to find it online. I’ve not included Waterstones in the UK as they are showing the wrong price for it at £5.99 when it should be £4.99! I shall, however, be signing copies at Waterstones in Putney on Saturday 14th June :-)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Foyles
The Book Depository
Goodreads Giveway
If you’re in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore I’m offering three copies of Henry Haynes and The Great Escape in a Goodreads Giveway. Follow the link to find out more – and good luck! (For info, the giveaway started today, May 5th and not May 2nd as shown…)
Filed under: Uncategorized
March 9, 2014
Ferdinand Fox goes to Spain!
When I published my rhyming story picture book, Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep, last year I had no idea that within 12 months he would have found his way into a Spanish school! But that’s exactly what’s happened. Here I interview Amy Sandiford-Watts – the student behind this foxy tale!
Amy Sandiford-Watts ready to introduce Ferdinand Fox to Spanish pupils
Hi Amy
Thanks for contacting me to tell me you used Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep for one of your English teaching classes in Spain! I’m thrilled that he is now an international star :-) Many thanks for agreeing to a mini interview.
Firstly, where in Spain is the school – and how long are you there for?
It’s in a small town called La Ràpita – just over an hour from Barcelona. I arrived in September and I’m here for one academic year as part of the British Council language assistant scheme. I study French and Spanish at Durham university and a year abroad is part of my course. I work three days a week and help the English teacher with cultural activities and conversation practice.
You mentioned that you’d used the book in several classes – what age are the children you introduced Ferdinand Fox to and how did it come about?
I read the story to mixed age groups of about 22 pupils from age three up to 11 years old. The activity was part of the school’s carnival celebrations when pupils spent a morning off-timetable celebrating ‘English Day’. The reading was one of 10 different 15-minute long sessions which gave them a chance to practise their English and learn something about England. Other activities included making a crazy hat for Royal Ascot and learning spells from Harry Potter!
How did the lesson go?
The children really enjoyed the story! The older ones understood almost every word, and the youngest could follow with the help of the pictures. Students of all ages liked shouting out which food Ferdinand dreamt about and talking about their favourite food. They also practised telling the time by shouting out the time when they saw the clock.
Spanish children practising telling the time with Ferdinand Fox‘s rhyming story
Did they enjoy the rhyme?
Children here first start learning English through songs and chants, so I think the rhyme was really useful and kept children interested even if they didn’t understand one or two words. I think being able to enjoy the story as a whole is more important than understanding every word, and it was a lot more fun than the stories they get in their English text books!
The English teacher here has just done a storytelling course and praised Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep as being really good for this sort of activity, level and age group.
How did you get hold of the book? Did you take a copy with you?
No – I ordered it from Amazon and it came in under a week!
I can see from the photos and video you sent that you had the images up on a large screen. How did you organise that?
It was very easy to put the images on a big screen – I just took photos of the book and put them in a PowerPoint. I also used screenshots from the drag and drop matching game on Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep Book App to practise vocabulary after the story.
(Check out the matching game in action below. It uses vocab and images from the story.)
You mentioned that there were regional visitors to the school that day who filmed the session – can you say a bit more about that?
The school’s English Day was being filmed by Catalonia’s education department as an example of English teaching in the region, so the camera crew came along to film Ferdinand Fox too. The district’s foreign languages coordinator, who is in charge of English teaching in all the district’s schools, watched the session, and said thought it went really well.
I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Amy for making Ferdinand Fox an international star! And for sharing her photos with me. I used to teach English as a foreign language many years ago and can clearly see how rhyming stories can add fun to language learning.
Karen
If you have 2-5 year-olds, or are a parent or teacher of a child who is learning English, follow the links to look inside or read reviews of Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep. The print book can be ordered from all Amazon stores globally and you can find the App by searching for Ferdinand Fox in the App Store! Enjoy :-)
Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep full colour picture book
Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleeping Colouring Book
Ferdinand Fox’s Interactive Book App (for iPad)
Filed under: Picture Books Tagged: picture books, rhyming stories, Spain, teaching English, TEFL
