Discover Children's Authors' Secrets
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A workshop delivered by Cathy Lewis, Perth, WA October 2008 Part of the Heritage Council WA & Museums Australia WA Masterclass series
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Discover Children's Authors' Secrets
- 1. Cathy Lewis Email: cathy@froghopper-design.co.uk www.froghopper-design.co.uk
- 3. A dream come true…
- 8. Maybe it won’t be dull and boring. Maybe it will be… FUN!
- 13. ‘ Screen and paper literacies have formed a symbiotic relationship. Popular books are made into block-buster movies, and as a result, more books are bought and read. Children’s stories have been transformed into films, television series, computer games and intricate websites. All these exciting, cutting-edge texts have one thing in common: they started out as books.’ Prue Goodwin, Reading in the Middle Years (9-11), Books for Keeps, September 2007
- 20. It should not be…
- 21. 1) A Mrs Trunchball Teaching Tirade
- 23. 2) A Twits’ Trail
- 24. The six rules for splendiferous interpretation: 1) Choose the right writer 2) Know children 3) Target the age range 4) Hook them! 5) Create characters 6) Lose the parents!
- 29. In the world of interpretation, the compromise is to produce one piece of children’s interpretation, but ‘layer’ it: 4-7s: Will ‘read’ the stories told in the illustrations. Parents and older children can then read the text to them and explain as necessary 5-8s: Will read illustrations, headings, subheadings and captions. 9-12s: Will do all the above plus read the body text. Write your text for them.
- 31. Pull ugly faces…
- 32. Crawl on their knees…
- 33. Take a different perspective…
- 37. A mysterious phantom haunted our school. No one ever saw him. No one knew where he lived. But he haunted our school for more than seventy years… ( Goosebumps by R L Stine) It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears’ house. Its eyes were closed… ( The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon) What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays… ( The Twits by Roald Dahl)
- 38. Case study: Winchester Cathedral children’s trail All this does is confirm a child’s suspicion that cathedrals are boring!
- 44. 6) Lose the parents! A top principle of any children’s story is to lose the parents! In fiction, children can’t have a ‘proper’ adventure if a parent or guardian is present. How many children’s stories can you think of (other than picture books for the youngest readers) where the child goes through the adventure together with an adult?
- 45. For example: JK Rowling’s Harry Potter (orphan) Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracey Beaker stories (orphans) Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy (one orphan, and one child with a single mum who happens to be ill) Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Secret Seven books (parents are always away, so the kids are left in the care of weird or doddery relatives) Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach (parents eaten by an enormous angry rhinoceros!)
- 53. Is he cracking the WW1 toilet joke?
- 57. Summing up… Children’s text, whether fact or fiction, is not a dumbed-down version of adult text. Learning is like vegetable puree… The right words always have, still do, and always will, ignite children’s imagination.
- 59. And finally, two messages…
- 60. A MESSAGE to children Who Have Read This Book When you grow up and have children of your own do please remember something important a stodgy parent is no fun at all What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY (From Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl)
- 61. A MESSAGE to Interpreters Who Have Attended This Seminar When you provide interpretation for children do please remember something important stodgy interpretation is no fun at all What a child wants and deserves is interpretation which is SPARKY (Cathy Lewis with a little help from Roald Dahl)
- 62. Cathy Lewis Email: cathy@froghopper-design.co.uk www.froghopper-design.co.uk
Editor's Notes
- Wanted to emigrate to Australia back in my 20s. Rejected on the points system. Kept this poster on my bedsit wall. Moved house and the poster went into a box of special things. Moved house again and the box of special things got put in the loft. There it stayed getting dusty and covered in cobwebs – just like my dream. I’d given up on it. Then I did my first seminar at an AHI conference two years ago. Jane James approached me…the rest is history. Why did I start like this? Because I want you to like me – to think this seminar might be interesting. To engage – maybe it made you think of a long lost dream? Anyone got one to share? But why…
- MA course in fiction for children. Realised the similarities between writing fiction for children and writing non-fiction.
- Have to start by dispelling some myths about children…
- Books were selling by word of mouth long before the publicists got hold of it. Three books were out before the first film appeared. How amazing that she made it cool again for children to read books.
- Give a child a ball – they’ll kick it, play catch with it, bounce it. Watch children at playtime at school. Youngsters use of the word ‘pretend’. Older kids chasing, tag, etc Example of Penny jumping into pond on walk
- Children do love technology, but they can play without it. Example of visitors to our house…
- Activity in new Winchester Cathedral guide. The children are told about the gargoyles and how the medieval folk believe dthat if you were ugly on the inside it would show in your face. So we ask them who can pull the ugliest face.
- To approach the holiest part of the cathedral in the same way that the pilgrims did – believing that by suffering they would get closer to God.
- One of the chapels has an amazing ornately-decorated ceiling. But it is so high that it strains your neck to look up at it. So we invite visitors to lie down and look up. Fantastic new perspective and enjoyed by young and old!
- Get into groups of five. Hand out dip strips. Come up with a really inspiring activity that relates to that property which would apply to all age ranges – even granny! Anyone mentioning an educational link will be given a horrible forfeit - selected from Horrible Histories…
- Swap around the dip slips. Come up with a front cover idea for a children’s trail, including title of the trail, irresistible strapline and suggested illustration. Draw layout for cover if you want although no marks will be added for illustrative ability! 15 mins for discussion 5 mins each presentation
- Give me a few more examples…
- In groups of about five, discuss the children’s books you read before the course. Not so much the story but the genre, age targeting, hooks, imagination-grabbing elements, use of language, etc. Then we’ll each report back on what we found is hot in today’s children’s books. Whether there is anything that’s changed since we were kids. And most importantly, if we can use any of our findings to inform interpretation projects… 10-15 mins discussion Each group has five minutes to report back
- Tricky project as the sculptures on the trail were very modern and ‘arty’. Rather than tell the kids what each was, we invited them to say whether they liked each piece and how it made the feel. What they thought it was all about – and to interview others in their group to see what they felt. No one allowed to just say ‘it’s rubbish’. If that’s what they thought they had to say why. Trail trip to Tate Modern with my kids. Comments board at end so they could all have their say.
- Mysterious green slime in the stables Ghostly figures around the gallows bridge… Deathly whispers in the dungeons The trail doesn’t just state the sightings, it invites the kids to investigate – and grade each area as to whether its: From seriously spooky to a ghost free zone
- Lots of ‘Did you know’ and ‘Life in a tank’ snippets for children. Did you know: Carrier pigeons were the only method of communication in WW1 tanks? The metal of a tank can get so cold in the winter that your hands would stick if you touched it. The metal can get so hot in the summer, you can fry and egg on it. On operations, the men have to live inside the tank – cook, eat and sleep. But the best is the toilet humour… Name of first ever working prototype…Little Willie. Name of second prototype…Big Willie How does a tank man go to the toilet? Empty shell cases, bottles, plastic bags. Special hatches at bottom of modern tanks for throwing out toilet waste!
- Beetle-mania – time he had beatle sin all his pockets and found another rare one so put it in his mouth. Ejected a foul tasting liquid… Girlfriend Fanny Owen left him because he liked bugs better than her. Loss of his 10 year old daughter to scarlet fever changed his views of god forever