It was one lively session last week at Baby Book Club. There was a lot of running and laughing as we read Chris Haughton's A Bit Lost. You would even say it was... a hoot. As we read, we looked for clues in the picture to see if we could spot the Owl Mammy; we looked through heaps of teddies in search of a bear, a frog and a rabbit; and we thought the squirrel was very silly indeed!
We then moved on to our artistic activities of the day and did a collage inspired by Chris Haughton's illustrations. Fine motor skills were called upon to manipulate the little glue spreaders and the small papers (not to mention those tricky googly eyes!) and all the toddlers did very well. As promised, some owl and bird songs to listen to as you read A Bit Lost again!
Now that was exciting! Earlier this week we had our first ever meeting of the new Writing Club. A dozen budding writers from 1st and 2nd class gathered for an hour of writing fun and games that even involved drawing, racing, stolen horses, drowning cats, sad rabbits and much more!
We used our own lives for inspiration as well as some intriguing pictures from some great books.
Some things we talked about:
there is no right or wrong when you write your own story: you decide what is working for you, as long as it makes sense!
don't kill your hero in the first page: otherwise it's going to be a very short story! (Unless you're writing a ghost or a zombie story, of course :) )
the more questions you ask, the more answers you make up, the more your story grows;
one picture can spark many different stories;
farts. Yes, we talked about having farts in your stories. Is it ok or not? We decided that we were allowed one per story. So be sure to make it a good one!
With all of this in mind, we were ready for our next adventure...
He's here! In the flesh and paper and ink, my last title of 2016, Disaster David has made its way to Dublin from distant Armenia where Zangak Publishing did a fine job with my words and Julie Grugeaux/de Terssac's stunning illustrations.
This is a story very freely inspired by a traditional Armenian tale about David, a young disaster-prone giant.
It involves sheep, leopards and chamber pots, among other things, and is a light-hearted musing on how one's failings can be turned to an advantage. The book is published in both English and Armenian (two separate editions) and can be purchased in all good bookshops in Armenia as well as online here or there. There will be more widespread distribution eventually, so watch this space for updates!
Have a great 2017, everyone! Have you any new year's resolutions? Any big plans? Anything new you want to try? Give it your best shot and, most importantly, have fun!
