All children can and should read! Barrington Stoke, Anthony McGowan and an evening spent cracking reading

Last Thursday we spent a wonderful day in the company of Mairi Kidd, MD of publisher Barrington Stoke, and Anthony McGowan, award-winning author of many books including 'Brock' and 'Pike'.
Anthony spoke to students from Larkmead School and Thameside School in the afternoon - and in the evening we welcomed teachers and parents to the Larkmead LRC to discover how they can help their children to 'crack' reading.

It was an inspirational evening, one brought alive by Mairi's passion, enthusiasm and courage in the face of the mass of traditionally published children's books which often let down swathes of children by erecting unnecessary barriers to the way words get into a child's brain.

Mairi started off explaining how children read, and then used examples of both the good and the bad in children's books. 

Ultimately it was a plea for diversity in publishing, and to give all children the chance to discover books which allow them enter the world of storytelling off the page - something that has proven benefits in everything from improved maths skills, to reducing stress and improving wellbeing.

Anthony spoke about his route to becoming a writer, reading the opening extract of his novel 'Pike' and talking about the nature of inclusive stories, and the importance of stories to convey 'truth' not necessarily fact.

We made notes on the top issues that would open the door to more children reading for pleasure. This list wasn't exclusive:

1. Books themselves can be the problem. The publishing industry in general does not always think about being inclusive and how making even small changes to how books are presented would actually expanding the pool of readers.

2. Around 7-10% of people are dyslexic and will have physical, neurological reasons why they find reading books difficult.  Small changes, mostly to the way text is traditionally presented on the page would actually remove most of these barriers and make these people able to read books more easily, eg using a font where you can tell the difference between letters (eg a capital I and the letter l looks identical in some fonts).

3. The way children learn to read is often driven by getting them to recognise particular words, or phonics sounds, repeating the same sounds without there being any sense to the sentence, any story worth reading or any point or enjoyment to what is being read. Children can quickly not see the point of reading, particularly children who don’t have books at home or have role models of adults who see reading as enjoyable.

4. Having picture content is viewed as being for young children, yet the internet is full of adults sharing images. If adults find images such good ways of communicating, why do so few books use images?

5. Books are often written in a particular literary style which does not reflect the way people speak. It is more difficult for children to decode meaning. It can take a while to work out what a sentence means. When we speak, we tend to use subject, object and verb in a logical order, but this isn’t always reflected in books.

6. Reading for pleasure should be about magazines, comics, even audio books – anything that opens a door to taking pleasure in the written word or in stories.

7. There seems to be a perception that as teenagers get older, they want longer books. But the teenage years are often where there is most study pressure and competition from other areas of life and many stop reading altogether. Shorter books can help.

8. There is a prejudice against short books – very few ever make it onto prize lists. Yet research has shown that teenage boys would most like to read books of 100 pages or less. So this is the norm, yet almost no books this short are published.

9. We have a thriving publishing sector for young adult fiction, but figures show that 80% of YA of this is bought by adults. So why do we congratulate ourselves on publishing marvellous fiction for teenagers?

10. Everyone can feel daunted by the challenge of reading. One of the barriers to reading for pleasure is fear of failure. It’s a bit like if an adult wants to be recommended a good book to read and is presented with ‘War and Peace’. People’s perceptions of the value of a good book are very different. It is also easy to ‘dumb down’ to reluctant readers and think they will only read books about football or simple topics.

On the Barrington Stoke website, you can read 'Mairi's 10 Laws' which include a suggestion that we think is absolutely fantastic - a National Reading Day. A day to go to work and school as normal, but one where everyone puts their feet up and reads for the whole day. We know several teachers who would love to do this at their schools - so I reckon we should try to make it happen.

Mairi suggests calling it 'Terry Pratchett Day' and we wouldn't disagree with that either...

We have always been very proud of our association with Barrington Stoke, so if you have any concerns about your children reading - whatever their age and ability - please come in and ask our advice.

We always say 'one mountain, many paths' (which we may have cribbed from someone else!) as far as reading goes, and this isn't a one-shot deal to 'solve' your child's reading issues. It's definitely a journey, there may be a few false starts, but we know that there are books out there that can really open the door to reading - and Barrington Stoke titles (written as they are by many of our most well-known children's authors) is a great place to start.

Thanks to Linda Stone at the Larkmead LRC for doing such a fabulous job of hosting the event, and also to Sally Poyton who helped with the author event in the afternoon - and ran the bookstall for us in the evening.

Having an author to ourselves for most of the day was also a bit of a luxury, so we managed to ask Mr McGowan a few questions about his writing life, and any tips he might have had...

Five questions with . . . Anthony McGowan's writing life

1.    What are you working on at the moment?

I'm working on a teenage horror/Sci-fi mash-up called "The Wrath" (working title!) set in the future. It centres on a school in a desolate, barely-functioning town, and specifically in an exclusion unit within the school. When a train accident involving a battlefield chemical agent spills into the schools, it turns out the kids in the unit - by way of a medication they have been taking - are unaffected. I like to think it's horror in the way that Stephen King writes horror, aside from the idea and setting, what drives the story forward is following the individual characters that you invest in. I'm also hoping there will be a 'Battle Royale' feel to it (the Japanese novel some cite as an influence on The Hunger Games).

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

I wasn't really given any writing tips as such starting out - I just started writing and made loads of mistakes along the way. But the one thing I did do is read a lot, so I guess I passively absorbed a lot of great writing. After that it's just trial and error as you find your own writing style.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

When you are writing for teens, you are writing for readers who are at the most intense phase of their life - their friends represent the strongest friendships they will ever have, they have enemies that want to do them actual harm. But above all they are incredibly open to ideas, which means they will go with you on whatever direction you want with the story. They are open to challenging - and sometimes upsetting - subject matter in a way that isn't the case once you get into your 20s. I've talked to students who have walked out because of the subject matter in my books, but teens would never do that.

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing or snack essential before you can start work?

I have a study - the smallest, ugliest room in the house with a window you can't really see out of. And that's where I write, because it's the room with the least distractions. But sometimes I want a place which is a bit more 'active' and I head to the British Library. It's only a half hour bike ride away, but it feels like I'm definitely heading out to work like a proper job (rather than sitting at my desk in my pyjamas!)

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

That's a really interesting question (*think hard*). I did a PhD, and that required me to write 100,000 words, and actually *finish* something, so I knew I was capable of writing a physical book. I then found myself working in a pretty dull job, and one day I had an idea for a story, and I started writing it down, and the words just flowed out. So I knew I could *write* (getting the words out and down) but I think - creatively - the breakthrough was when I realised that what I was writing was funny, and then I showed it to someone, and they thought it was funny. If you can use humour, you know you can engage the reader. That book went on to be 'Hellbent' my first novel.

(Much more about Anthony McGowan on his website here)

Just Read! Help your child become a keener reader with Barrington Stoke

We know that reading opens doors, engages the imagination, builds confidence and stimulates curiosity. But that doesn't mean the path to reading success is a smooth one.

Parents want to help their children develop the skills of reading, yet many are unsure of how best to support their child, and help them overcome barriers to reading.

We've got together with Larkmead School and would love to invite you to an evening with a specialist publisher for more reluctant readers, Barrington Stoke. They will reveal tips, simple strategies and target books that are proven to help support your child and give them the opportunities to become more successful readers.

Mairi Kidd

Barrington Stoke specialises in publishing super-readable children’s books that break down the barriers that can stop kids getting into reading.

Barrington Stoke MD Mairi Kidd will be joined by bestselling author Anthony McGowan to discuss ways of removing barriers to reading, and helping parents to take confident steps to turn reluctant readers into keener readers.

Anthony McGowan

There will be a chance to ask questions, and browse books from Barrington Stoke from some of their most famous authors, including Michael Morpurgo, Tom Palmer, Chris Bradford, Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Julia Donaldson, Alexander McCall Smith and Chris Riddell.

The event takes place at 6.45pm on Thursday, May 5 in the LRC at Larkmead School. The event is free and there will be refreshments available. We really hope you can come – particularly if you’re looking for ideas to encourage reading.

If you would like to come along, please email us as soon as possible to let us know you will be attending.

All children can develop their reading skills, and read to succeed. We hope you can join us!

Chris Bradford's 'Bodyguard: Hostage': rejection karma and the art of the open box formation

Nearly five years ago, one of the first big school events we ever did was at Larkmead School in Abingdon. A young author thrilled kids with martial arts moves and samurai sword-wielding mayhem as he brought to life his action-packed debut 'The Way of the Warrior'. His name was Chris Bradford, it was the start of the Young Samurai series - and we were all hooked.

Two years later, and with the Young Samurai series garnering huge critical and commercial success, we put on a huge event for World Book Day: one of the highlights of our bookselling lives.

Chris Bradford is now one of the biggest children's authors there is - not just in the UK, but around the world. So how excited were we when we had the opportunity to take part in the launch of the first book in a hit new series from Chris - "Bodyguard: Hostage"?   

The action centres on fourteen year-old Connor Reeves, part of an elite teenage bodyguard team. Assigned to protect the daughter of the US President, what follows is a high-octane, action-packed tale that we have loved reading in the shop.

And the action gets as close to real life as you would wish. For the Young Samurai books, Chris trained in swordsmanship, karate and gained a black belt in Zen Kyu Shin Taijutsu. For 'Bodyguard' Chris trained to become a fully qualified professional bodyguard.

So what could be better in a school event than to impart crack bodyguard techniques to assembled school children? 

First stop was Henry Box School in Witney. Dressed in black, with essential wraparound shades, the event began explosively with Chris shielding the librarian against a potential hostile threat. With the help of volunteers, he went through some of the techniques of threat assessment, surveillance, anti-ambush exercises and unarmed combat.

Then it was back to Larkmead for a triumphant return to the venue of that first event five years previously. First, Chris met some visiting year 6 pupils from Marcham Primary School...

Then it was onstage at Larkmead for an explosive event - and more training...first the venue threat assessment...

 ...then some intel about the book itself...

Before some actual exercises involving the open-box formation that didn't exactly go to plan. Here fictional celebrity 'Justin Beaver' is left worryingly exposed...

The final test is the 'bullet-catcher'. Volunteers showed incredible bravery in the face of a real Nerf Gun...

Finally, Chris signed books and posters for children. Myself and librarian Ms Stott felt suitably prepared to adopt the bodyguard pose: 

Naturally we wanted to find out a bit about how Chris ticks as a writer. Taking advantage of a 'safe zone', and relaxing into a yellow 'combat awareness state' we asked Chris a few questions...

Five questions with...Chris Bradford's Writing Life

1.    What are you working on at the moment?

I'm currently working on the second in the series 'Bodyguard: Ransom', but I'm also busy plotting the story-arc for the entire six books that are planned. There's an unfolding conspiracy - hinted at in the first book - but I don't want to go too much into that. I'm also editing the final book in the 'Ninja' trilogy for Barrington Stoke (the second book, Ninja: Death Touch, comes out in August).

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

Read Stephen King's 'On Writing'. If you are writing fiction, it's a must-read. Aside from that, write the book you'd want to read!

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best is when you talk to the parent of a child who has never read a book before, but loved your book. You've been involved in giving that child the gift of the love of reading - and that is the BEST. The worst is the actual, physical writing of the words. Ideas, research, plotting - that's all fun. But the sitting down, the writing (and rewriting) you have to do every single day. Writing is like a marathon.

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, e.g. a place, thing or snack essential before you can start work?I'm not as lucky as other writers who can write anywhere, anytime. I have an office (well shed) in the garden. I need complete silence to write. I need to get my focus. I compare my style as trying to get a butterfly to land on your hand; you need to wait an hour and not move a muscle to get it to land. One distraction, and it flutters off and you need to start again. That's what it's like for me.

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

The breakthrough was the response I got to the initial manuscript. My agent had warned me that it might take weeks or months to get a response. It duly got sent off, and Puffin got in touch the next day. I think my agent's exact words were 'Chris, this is unusual'...

One of my theories is 'rejection karma'. Before I became a children's author I had 13 years as a musician, and believe me that was 13 years of taking many, many rejections. So it was like I had built up all this rejection karma, and when I submitted that manuscript... BANG. It all happened.

Reports of 'Unrest' at local schools: Michelle Harrison in Abingdon

Michelle Harrison always starts off school talks 'fessing up about the fact that she writes fairy books. This may or may illicit a chuckle or two from some of the boys in the audience, but, after explaining that her fairies are not of the 'pink' variety, but of an altogether darker hue, she goes on to talk about the dark side of myths and legends, and our need to be frightened. From then on, things get a lot scarier and there isn't much chuckling at all...

On Friday we welcomed Michelle to Abingdon to talk about her new young adult novel Unrest (which we reviewed here)

Over lunch, Michelle spoke to pupils from Larkmead and St Helen and St Katharine. The first extract she read involves the protagonist, Elliot, and a seriously scary episode of 'sleep paralysis', something that is truly terrifying if it happens to you, and for which Michelle got the idea from the experiences of her sister.

(honestly, sleep paralysis sounds horrible, and if you want to put yourself in the mood for what Elliot goes through in the book, take a look at this Guardian article here - I also found it very interesting that great works of art have resulted from the experience).

Michelle explained that she never always wanted to be a writer, and instead studied as an illustrator. But after starting with short stories in her teens - and with her love of the supernatural and horror - the writing slowly took over.

It took her four years to get an agent, and a further year to get a publisher to take her first book, so she certainly served her apprenticeship in her route to being published. In fact, talking of horror, she did make the process of editing (and in particular, copy editing) sound particularly awful - but the result is definitely been worth it.

In the afternoon we zoomed round the corner to John Mason School.

Here - after talking to students and giving another reading from the book - Michelle took questions about film rights, whether she would ever write a sequel, and a very involved question about 'The Exorcist'...

Thanks very much to Michelle, particularly as it was the final day of a gruelling tour around the UK.

 

Unrest deserves to do very well, and come Monday, Michelle has perhaps the most terrifying experience that any author can face, that of the blank sheet of paper - as she begins her next book. We attempted to find out a little bit more...

Five Question With...Michelle Harrison's Writing Life

1.    What are you working on at the moment? 

I'm about to start another teen novel (no title yet!) but this time telling a story from the girl's point of view. It's going to be a contemporary, very creepy tale in the same sort genre as Unrest.

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given? 

Get it written, get it right. Can't remember who said that, but what it means is: get it down on paper first and then get it 'right' afterwards.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best thing about being a children's writer is that you get to make things up all day long. The worst thing is anything to do with paperwork (e.g. accounts) - boring!

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing of snack essential before you can start work? 

Millions of cups of tea! No, I can pretty much write anywhere, but prefer to write on my laptop - so basically as long as I have my laptop to write on, that's fine. However, cutting off the Internet is pretty much essential!

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

Getting an agent without a doubt. Once I got an agent, everything started to happen.

Unrest by Michelle Harrison - unsettling, unnerving...and coming to Abingdon

When I was a teenager I loved ghost stories, and the scarier the better. As well as lots of 'true life' ghost books (Reader's Digest Book of the Unknown is one that springs to mind) I devoured every collection of ghost stories I could get my hands on, and this rich diet of the undead brought me to the attention of my English teacher, who - after a harmless walk around the school ended up with me describing trees as 'twisted victims of Satan' - wrote 'See Me' in big red pen, and at that point we both decided to 'widen' my range of reading...

Anyway - a chilling, well-written ghost story for teens is always welcome at Mostly Books, and Unrest by Michelle Harrison is simply superb. We know Michelle very well for her '13 Treasures' series of books, which are written for slightly younger readers. There are plenty of scares and shocks in these 'dark fairy' books which served as a kind of reboot of the fairy genre - but in Unrest, Michelle has gone off into much darker territory, entirely appropriate for an older audience - one that would have grown up on Michelle's twisted fairies...

Unrest is the story of Elliot, a seventeen-year-old who feels and sees strange things when he falls asleep. His doctor tells him it is sleep paralysis and hallucinations as a result of an accident but Elliot thinks he is leaving his body when he sleeps - and also seeing a ghost. In pursuit of the truth, Elliot gets a job at the (supposedly) haunted museum, where he meets not only the enigmatic Ophelia, but also someone (or something) far more sinister. Elliot begins to suspect it is the ghost of a boy who died 100 years before, and as events take an increasing horrifying turn, there is a race to discover the truth.

Julia at Mostly Books read this as soon as the proof came in, in a single sitting. She said "this is a genuinely chilling and totally gripping ghost story, and - with Elliot's nightitime experiences and visions - it shares elements of, say, The Sixth Sense in terms of the atmosphere it creates. There's a particularly scary night-time sleepwalking scene that is *definitely* not for the faint-hearted, the book grips (and shocks) from the start, and doesn't really let you you go to the gruesome (and very unexpected) twist at the end. I loved it".

So - how chuffed are we that we are welcoming Michelle to Abingdon next Friday (May 4) and taking her into two Abingdon schools? First up is a joint event with Larkmead School and St Helen & St Katharine at midday, then onto John Mason School in the afternoon.

Having been a editorial assistant in children's publishing, and even a bookseller (how cool is that?) Michelle now writes full time and lives in Oxfordshire.

If you are lucky enough to hear her talk, you'll be able to get copies of her book - and get them signed - on the day. But if not, we will have signed copies, and you can pre-order them from us at the shop...

And if you would still like to know more about Michelle and the book, take a look at the trailer...

Read this book! Carnegie Tea 2012

Shadowing the Carnegie shortlist is a big deal amongst the schools of Abingdon, and this year is no exception. Traditionally, it all kicks of with the Carnegie 'tea', with shadowing groups from lots of different schools learning a little about the shortlisted books, and generally preparing for the reading fest ahead (doughnuts are involved as well).

For the last couple of years, I've given a little talk about 'how to do a book review'. Delivered in my usual, understated way (i.e. excitedly over-caffeinated and with arms flailing) I basically talk about how we do the book reviews you see at the shop and on the blog, oh - and on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.


Different mediums - sometimes stripped down to 140 characters - but all trying to do the same thing:

• Make it personal. Tthis is your review, no-one else. Who cares if everyone else likes a book and you hated it. Your opinion is important, and in a world of hype where each new book is pushed as the next 'big thing' there are still plenty of people who look for more balanced reviews...
• Don't just describe the plot. Beginner's mistake - just describing the book. I can get this from the blurb on the back. Sure, in a longer book review, a brief description that sets the book in context is appropriate, but don't describe the whole thing.
• Use all the senses. Close your eyes, did the book conjure up sights and smells, textures to touch. These kinds of descriptions make the book become real in the eyes of the review reader.
• Book reviews are a kind of selling. Whether you like a book or not. If you thought the book was 'so-so' then fair enough. But so many books are published, so many great authors fail to make it, that if you truly loved a book it might be your review that makes the difference. Successful selling is all about the transfer of emotion - so put your passion and enthusiasm into the review, and let the reader be in no doubt that you loved a book - or didn't!

Obviously there may be things you have to include in a book review (that your teachers say you have to) - but hopefully this'll give you some more ideas too.


The book I talked about as an example was "All Fall Down" by Sally Nicholls. It's very good.

Oh, and I threatened to publish these too...

  

The Awesome Andy Briggs

Andy Briggs uses the word "awesome" a lot. This is very appropriate. Andy hangs out a lot in Hollywood. He sometimes overtakes Beyoncé and walks past Steven Spielberg and on his way to work. He writes books, but he also writes for TV, films and scripts comic books. Stan Lee once phoned him up and offered him a job.

Andy Briggs IS awesome, and any one of the 300 hundred or so children at Larkmead and John Mason schools who spent an hour in his company yesterday during a series of incredible events would definitely agree. As one boy said on his way out at John Mason: "you sir are the most awesome author I have ever heard". 'Nuff said.

Andy was in town ostensibly to talk about his latest book "Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy". I was already bowled over by this book - but Andy's talk was so much more than what Tarzan is about and how it came to be written.

Andy talks with more passion that I have ever heared about writing. He asks the kids "who here likes films?", "who here watches movies?", "who listens to songs?". All written by people like him: writers. And why stop there: let's include soap operas, sports commentary, video games and the sides of cereal boxes. Advertising, most of the Internet...and, yes, books. No writers = nothing to read, watch or be entertained by.

And then he makes the link between where his audience is now, and where he was at their age: broke, bored, but with an idea in his head which eventually spilled out as writing. It was compelling stuff. Even I wanted to get out a pen and start writing...

Then we were onto Tarzan. Andy approached the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs with an idea to change Tarzan and bring him up-to-date. One trip to Burrough's preserved house (Tarzana, near Los Angeles) later, and Andy was the first person in 100 years to be given permission to change the origins of Tarzan.

As well as a précis of the story, he talked about preserving endangered species (via his work with EAZA's Great Ape campaign), gave a fantastic geography lesson on the sheer size of Africa (see how China and the US fit neatly in there, and look out for GB overlaying Madagascar)...

...before finishing up with an awesome jungle quiz to see how many people would survive - or more likely perish horribly - if forced to survive in the rainforest.

All that in under an hour, three times in a row, and signing books after as well. As I say...awesome.

(The only thing not quite so awesome was my lamentably bad photography, but hopefully you get the general idea).

Signed copies of Tarzan are now in Mostly Books, and I urge you to take a look. Written in a tradition of Rice Burroughs, Willard Price, Spiderman...and with a sprinkle of Hollywood glamour thrown in there as well, this is unashamed rip-roaring entertainment, and one written in the service of making a real difference to endangered species. As Andy says, soberingly, "there are 900 children in this school, but there are only 650 mountain gorillas left anywhere in the world. This is their last chance".

Me Bookseller, You Jane: the return of Tarzan...in Abingdon

In the days before running a bookshop, I spent a bit of time at the other end of the ‘paper supply chain’ – timber production. And not just any old timber, but tropical hardwood. I helped develop a system (still going strong) which tracked timber from the forest, proving (amongst other things) that the patio set you just bought from your local garden centre did indeed start life as a legally felled log – and definitely not from a shady illegal operation.

So when (ahead of two school events with him tomorrow) I started reading Andy Briggs’ Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy I was - quickly, brutally, and in an utterly compelling way - plunged back into the world of illegal timber in the rainforests of Congo. Boy oh boy, is it an exciting read...here's a picture of Andy at the recent launch of the book at Scotia Books.

We have been involved in one or two franchise ‘reboots’ this year, and it seems to be an increasingly attractive thing for publishers to do: this year there has been Deaver’s Bond, Lustbader's Bourne and forthcoming attractions include Cottrell-Boyce’s “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and Anthony Horrowitz’s Sherlock Holmes novel “House of Silk”. But rebooting Tarzan? It wasn't clear to me that that bringing Edgar Bice Burrough's creation back to life would work.

2012 is the one hundredth anniversary of the original Tarzan, and – like many people my age – I grew up with the tail end of the black and white Tarzan on Saturday morning telly, with Cheetah and Jane. However, I would be hard-pressed to tell you much about the characters and the stories, aside from swinging through the trees, thumping his chest and uttering that well-known roar.

But Tarzan on TV bore little resemblance to the original book, and Andy Briggs has sensibly gone back to Rice Burrough’s original tale, a book of surprising emotional depth (it's a great love story), and one which sits well with other science fiction writing around that time. Instead of (say) War of the Worlds, which extrapolated modern developments in warfare, Tarzan worked with ideas of identity, race and civilisation that are still very much relevant today.

Briggs stays very close to Burrough's original premise: of a boy adopted by a gorilla, who grows up to become a 'white ape' and Lord of the Jungle. Taught about the outside world by the mysterious D'Arnot, we first meet Tarzan dispatching (in a suitably savage way) three very nasty poachers, against an all-to-realistic backdrop of civil war and environmental destruction.

The main action though begins in an illegal logging camp. Jane Porter is the daughter of one of the loggers, a man who has fled America after losing almost everything of value to him - and when the camp is attacked and Jane disappears, it seems as though he will lost his daughter too. Jane has already been removed from her previous life, cut off from the outside world, sending emails from her iPhone destinated never to arrive by dint of the utter remoteness of her situation in the camp. And when she disappears, a young boy in the camp, Robbie, sets off in hotheaded pursuit.

Thus begins a tense yet thrilling pursuit through the forest on the one hand, whilst on the other hand the relationship between Tarzan and Jane - and the slowly unfolding truth about who Tarzan is - begins to emerge. I particularly liked the nuanced portrayal of everyone - ape or human, father and daughter. No-one is entirely good or bad (Tarzan is certainly no angel) and the nice moral ambiguities work well within the the exciting plot (rip-roaring is an understatement).

Anyway - Andy has pulled off a remarkable book, I hugely enjoyed it, and everyone should take the opportunity to reaquaint themselves with Tarzan (but for fans of the films, a warning: there's no Cheetah!)

We have previously done an event with Andy during the Amazing Books for Boys event with Trapped By Monsters, but I am very much looking forward to taking him to Larkmead School and John Mason School in Abingdon tomorrow. If you are coming along to those events, we'l see you there...

Buried Thunder: The Very Dangerous Tim Bowler

Tim Bowler gives the impression of being a very dangerous individual. His books - often masterful psychological thrillers aimed squarely at teenagers - are frequently dark, menacing and subversive, the opposite of a safe read. Multi-layered with troubled characters, wild and remote settings, he plays with words like a poet to inject plenty of raw emotions, and hints of darker forces floating just below the surface.

So I was expecting someone a bit more menacing when we welcomed Tim to Abingdon for two school events today, but he was quite the opposite. Friendly, generous and utterly passionate about writing - I defy anyone to spend five minutes in his company and not come away wanting to start to write.

But Tim is in no way 'safe'; he is definitely a very dangerous and frightening individual. That much passion and energy, barely contained, frequently seems to charge up and fly off like an electrical spark, challenging you to throw caution to the wind and write. He was throwing plenty of advice (and even the off Ernest Hemingway quote) about, and - at the first event of the day at Abingdon School - had 13 year olds reading their creative endeavours out in front of their mates. Casting my mind back to school days, that's the kind of activity which would have scared most of us witless:



The workshop he ran - short, intense and very effective - elicited some cracking prose from the boys, and Tim used the start of his new book, Buried Thunder, as a starting point for the exercise.



Having finished the book last weekend, I found Buried Thunder a simply brilliant and utterly compelling book. It opens with a very unsettling (and gruesome) start and then - a few pages in - there's a genuinely scary supernatural twist that makes the hairs on your arm stand up - and there you are, hooked right through to the race-against-time climax. In terms of the unsettling mood created, I was reminded of Alan Garner's The Owl Service (a book I read when I was about 14, and one that I remember vividly at the time in terms of the way it made me feel)



After signing some copies for the boys, we were able to have a relaxing lunch (at the wonderful Wells Stores) - although the subject matter stayed scary (eBooks and the future of the High Street). We then headed over to Larkmead School, for a daunting talk in front of about 90 year eights...


Cue a range of questions, ranging from 'why are your book titles often oxymorons', to 'do you feel for trees that are cut down to make your books'...



And then more signing, and some impromptu advice for students looking to get started on their own stories:



All in all, a busy but thoroughly enjoyable day spent in the company of a true great of English children's writing (learn more on Tim's website). As time goes on, I increasingly feel that the best children's writing is subversive, and after today I may add 'dangerous' to that as well...