I've just come from an exciting meeting to do with the Tour de France.
The Tour starts in Leeds this year, creating a great opportunity to engage children with libraries and reading through sport. I met with Leeds Libraries, Leeds Schools Library Service and Leeds Inspired, a charity that supports Leeds-based artistic and educational activity.
This is what we are going to do.
In the last week of June and the first week of July 2014 (running up to the Grand Depart, as we call it) I will visit all 40 of Leeds' public Libraries. Four a day. At each library I will speak to a school class of year three and year four children for half an hour. I will:
1. Read them a specially commissioned story about a girl who goes to her library on her bike, borrows a book and has an adventure inspired by the book she chose on the way home. Sort of Mr Ben for today's kids - and on two wheels.
2. Tell the children how Leeds Libraries took me on an adventure and made me a reader, a writer and a happy person. All very true.
3. Invite the children to enter a writing competition to choose a library book and write the adventure it would inspire for them. Guess what the prize for the winner is?
A bike.
I will travel between all the libraries by bike too. Ten days. Ten to forty miles a day. About 400 miles in all, roughly, if you include getting to Leeds station and back every day.
Leeds will be buzzing with the Tour de France in June and July. I hope this tour will help get children to the library and reading for pleasure. That's the plan.
I also think that meeting an author from Leeds and seeing that using my local libraries had such an impact on me will work too. I hope so.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Friday, 10 January 2014
Rugby literacy resources
With the England RBS Six Nations squad just announced and the tournament beginning three weeks today, here is a reminder of all the rugby literacy resources available on the National Literacy Trust and my websites.
If you have a school or library full of rugby fans, these could be useful:
Love Rugby: Love Reading: toolkit of ideas for rugby related reading activities, events and displays that you can use in classrooms and libraries.
Rugby literacy pack. Exercises, word searches and writing challenges for rugby fans.
Reviews of rugby books, magazines and websites suitable for children, drawn from my blog. (At the foot of the page.)
List of rugby fiction for children.
If I can do anything to enhance displays you're doing based on these resources, please let me know. I could add a personal message or offer a signed copy of my book Scrum! if you are having a competition...
... in fact, I'll offer six signed copies for schools or libraries that get in touch, if you can use it in conjunction with the above. I'll stop after six, so it'll be first come first served.
By the way, I am writing a rugby union trilogy for children at the moment. It will be published by Barrington Stoke in September 2014, February 2015 and September 2015. In time for the Rugby World Cup, taking place in England, autumn 2015.
Happy rugbying!
If you have a school or library full of rugby fans, these could be useful:
Love Rugby: Love Reading: toolkit of ideas for rugby related reading activities, events and displays that you can use in classrooms and libraries.
Rugby literacy pack. Exercises, word searches and writing challenges for rugby fans.
Reviews of rugby books, magazines and websites suitable for children, drawn from my blog. (At the foot of the page.)
List of rugby fiction for children.
If I can do anything to enhance displays you're doing based on these resources, please let me know. I could add a personal message or offer a signed copy of my book Scrum! if you are having a competition...
... in fact, I'll offer six signed copies for schools or libraries that get in touch, if you can use it in conjunction with the above. I'll stop after six, so it'll be first come first served.
By the way, I am writing a rugby union trilogy for children at the moment. It will be published by Barrington Stoke in September 2014, February 2015 and September 2015. In time for the Rugby World Cup, taking place in England, autumn 2015.
Happy rugbying!
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Introducing the Guernsey Sports Reading Acacemy
I am in the Channel Islands this week, working on a project called the Guernsey Sports Reading Academy.
Research is a very important part of what I am doing, so today I am travelling round the island looking for settings. Harbours. Running tracks. Outdoor swimming pools.
But far more important than the research is my co-authors. Fifty year sevens here in Guernsey.
The idea of the Guernsey Sports Reading Academy is that - in 2014 - I will work with year seven children in three high schools in Guernsey to create twelve stories based on their favourite sports. Sports they take part in, rather than just watch on TV.
Guernsey is a very sporty place. Most of the kids do some sort of sport regularly. A drive round the island shows you why so many great sportspeople come from Guernsey: the facilities are superb for such a small population.
The children are helping me with the stories at every stage of writing:
First, I met them and asked them about the favourite sports. We thought about a few ideas for stories that could be written based on their experience and imaginations.
Second, I worked up nine short synopses and the children chose six stories they wanted me to write from those, to cover the first six months of 2014.
Third, I will write the first drafts and then the children will read them and comment on them, as well as helping me to add local detail and cut out anything that isn't Guernsey-like.
But there is more.
Each sport story will be written in a certain genre. As things stand there will be a sea-fishing story that includes fishing families spying on each others' best fishing ground. Another story is about coasteering - children climbing the rocks around the coast. That will include a meeting with a ghost of a German soldier from the WW2 occupation.
As the children help me with each story, the schools and libraries will feed them books from whatever genre we are working on. Hoping to make them engage with reading for pleasure.
I come back to Guernsey in May to do more research and to talk through the stories we have written. I am still trying to persuade a boy whose family do a lot of bass fishing to ask his dad to let me come with them to their secret bass fishing place, blindfolded until we get there.
I hope he lets me.
As I said, research is important.
Research is a very important part of what I am doing, so today I am travelling round the island looking for settings. Harbours. Running tracks. Outdoor swimming pools.
But far more important than the research is my co-authors. Fifty year sevens here in Guernsey.
The idea of the Guernsey Sports Reading Academy is that - in 2014 - I will work with year seven children in three high schools in Guernsey to create twelve stories based on their favourite sports. Sports they take part in, rather than just watch on TV.
Guernsey is a very sporty place. Most of the kids do some sort of sport regularly. A drive round the island shows you why so many great sportspeople come from Guernsey: the facilities are superb for such a small population.
The children are helping me with the stories at every stage of writing:
First, I met them and asked them about the favourite sports. We thought about a few ideas for stories that could be written based on their experience and imaginations.
Second, I worked up nine short synopses and the children chose six stories they wanted me to write from those, to cover the first six months of 2014.
Third, I will write the first drafts and then the children will read them and comment on them, as well as helping me to add local detail and cut out anything that isn't Guernsey-like.
But there is more.
Each sport story will be written in a certain genre. As things stand there will be a sea-fishing story that includes fishing families spying on each others' best fishing ground. Another story is about coasteering - children climbing the rocks around the coast. That will include a meeting with a ghost of a German soldier from the WW2 occupation.
As the children help me with each story, the schools and libraries will feed them books from whatever genre we are working on. Hoping to make them engage with reading for pleasure.
I come back to Guernsey in May to do more research and to talk through the stories we have written. I am still trying to persuade a boy whose family do a lot of bass fishing to ask his dad to let me come with them to their secret bass fishing place, blindfolded until we get there.
I hope he lets me.
As I said, research is important.
Monday, 6 January 2014
Sports Reader Review # 1
I plan to review any sports book, magazine or website I read this year. In brief.
The Rugby Paper
I've been trying to learn more about rugby union. The Rugby Paper has taught me more than any newspaper, other magazine or book. It offers up-to-date news on the big issues in the game, great columnists, match reports on the week's games and challenging debate.
With the RBS Six Nations four weeks away, The Rugby Paper is gearing up for all the action with news, previews and speculation. I've been reading it for a few weeks and am already hooked into anxiety about who is going to play wing for England, the turmoil in the European club tournament and the Welsh rugby's on-going problems... off the field.
I'm getting to know things and to form opinions that I could never have had otherwise. And I need that, seeing as I am writing a rugby union trilogy for kids.
That and watching the game. A lot.
I'm new to rugby union, really being more of a football and rugby league fan. But The Rugby Paper is at a good level for me. Some of its content goes over my head, but I can choose to try and understand those bits or just scan them. The newspaper format helps with that. Headlines and photographs draw your attention - or not.
That is why I think this would be a good magazine to have in a library or classroom where you have young rugby union fans. I'll be using it as part of my Rugby Reading Game in schools across the UK during the RBS Six Nations. I wonder if schools and libraries could be offered a special deal? Like First News, which finds its way to over 1,000,000 children every week.
The Rugby Paper comes out every Sunday. It costs £1.50. It is 40+ tabloid-sized pages about rugby union. You can get it in most newsagents, WHSmith, supermarkets and by subscription.
Sport and Literacy, 2014
2014 is a big year for sport, as you can see from this BBC preview to the sporting year.
But, then, every year is a sporting year. This year is really nothing that special. The key thing for me is that we can use sport to get children reading. Every year.
If you read the last three posts on this blog, you'll see what I am planning to do this year to achieve that.
To add to that, here are five highlights from my website. Free sport and literacy resources for schools, libraries and parents that could be useful.
ONE
A set of free posters for a sports reading display in your school or library.
TWO
A schools' resource pack where you can make your pupils or users the stars of a sports' reading campaign.
THREE
A free National Literacy Trust ideas pack that you can use during the forthcoming rugby union RBS Six Nations tournament in February.
FOUR
A free British Council story - audio or print - that I wrote, featuring the FA Cup, currently breaking and lifting hearts around the country.
FIVE
A free personalised card written by me to any child you think could do with a reading boost. Just email me via my website. Very happy to do this.
Look out for a lot more of this material during 2014, tying in with the BBC link above. Particularly with the football World Cup, rugby internationals and the Tour de France cycling.
But, then, every year is a sporting year. This year is really nothing that special. The key thing for me is that we can use sport to get children reading. Every year.
If you read the last three posts on this blog, you'll see what I am planning to do this year to achieve that.
To add to that, here are five highlights from my website. Free sport and literacy resources for schools, libraries and parents that could be useful.
ONE
A set of free posters for a sports reading display in your school or library.
TWO
A schools' resource pack where you can make your pupils or users the stars of a sports' reading campaign.
THREE
A free National Literacy Trust ideas pack that you can use during the forthcoming rugby union RBS Six Nations tournament in February.
FOUR
A free British Council story - audio or print - that I wrote, featuring the FA Cup, currently breaking and lifting hearts around the country.
FIVE
A free personalised card written by me to any child you think could do with a reading boost. Just email me via my website. Very happy to do this.
Look out for a lot more of this material during 2014, tying in with the BBC link above. Particularly with the football World Cup, rugby internationals and the Tour de France cycling.
Thursday, 2 January 2014
Why it is easier to make up rugby characters than football characters
I'm writing a trilogy of rugby union stories for children.
There are five main characters who play in the team, giving me the usual challenge of defining a group of children as different from each other and three-dimensional.
When I wrote the Football Academy series I had to make up eleven believable characters for an under-eleven football team. It was not easy. I struggled to not make them all seem two-dimensional types. I solved that problem - after a lot of struggling - by basing all the players on people I knew. That worked.
With my rugby series I have found it easier. It's to do with the nature of the game of rugby. Each of my five players needs a position on the rugby field. And in rugby the positions players play in are much more defined than in football. (In my opinion.)
There are specific roles that certain physical attributes lend themselves to in rugby. Also, certain positions demand psychological strengths as opposed to others. So, while I was choosing what my characters would be like, I started with the position they played in.
One would be a centre. Strong. Fast. Creative. So he can get through a defence.
Another would be a scrum half. Alert. Tactically aware. Always thinking.
A third would be a fly half. Focussed. Obsessive. Good at communicating.
Once I knew their positions, I knew what they looked like. And I had some ideas about what they might be like as players. Their strengths. Their weakness. It helped a lot. It worked.
I think.
There are five main characters who play in the team, giving me the usual challenge of defining a group of children as different from each other and three-dimensional.
When I wrote the Football Academy series I had to make up eleven believable characters for an under-eleven football team. It was not easy. I struggled to not make them all seem two-dimensional types. I solved that problem - after a lot of struggling - by basing all the players on people I knew. That worked.
With my rugby series I have found it easier. It's to do with the nature of the game of rugby. Each of my five players needs a position on the rugby field. And in rugby the positions players play in are much more defined than in football. (In my opinion.)
There are specific roles that certain physical attributes lend themselves to in rugby. Also, certain positions demand psychological strengths as opposed to others. So, while I was choosing what my characters would be like, I started with the position they played in.
One would be a centre. Strong. Fast. Creative. So he can get through a defence.
Another would be a scrum half. Alert. Tactically aware. Always thinking.
A third would be a fly half. Focussed. Obsessive. Good at communicating.
Once I knew their positions, I knew what they looked like. And I had some ideas about what they might be like as players. Their strengths. Their weakness. It helped a lot. It worked.
I think.
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
What I am writing in 2014
My 2014 writing is going to be determined almost entirely by forthcoming major sporting competitions. That suits me fine. It will also be determined by my desire to use major sporting events to promote reading for pleasure.
And it starts now.
This week I am writing a story about a girl called Lily, who cycles to her local library. She takes out a book about the Amazon rainforest. She chose the book because she had just seen something on the TV about England playing their first World Cup match in the Brazilian rainforest.
But the story is not for the World Cup. It's for the Tour de France. The Tour de France starts in Leeds, where I'll be reading this story to over 2000 children in all of Leeds' 40 libraries. The idea is to get children already excited about cycling to get excited about stories and libraries too.
I hope Lily's adventures on a bike and in the Amazon will help do that.
I am writing something specifically for the football World Cup too. The World Cup takes place in June and July. I am going to be writing a 750-word chapter every day of the tournament. It will be read in schools. Somewhere between 2,000 and 20,000 schools, working with the National Literacy Trust. The idea is to write the story every day so that it responds to the events of the tournament. It will be a crime thriller, featuring Danny and Charlotte from my Foul Play books. It will begin in the Amazon rainforest. And it will challenge my writing abilities - a lot.
You can find out more about the World Cup story here.
During the rest of the year I will be writing a rugby union trilogy for Barrington Stoke. Three books about a rugby playing school taking part in the UK, European, then World Schools rugby union championships. It means arduous research trips to the South of France and New Zealand. But I'll cope.
My characters are three boys, based loosely on the childhoods of three celebrated rugby union people. They're called Chris, Jonny and Woody.
The three rugby union books will all be out in time for next year's Rugby Union World Cup, hosted in the UK. The first is out in October, later this year.
One other writing project in 2014.
Every month I will be working with Y6 and Y7 children in Guernsey, writing a story about each of their twelve favourite sports. This will be hugely challenging, taking me away from my usual grass pitch sports of football and rugby and into the worlds of sea fishing, coasteering and marathon running.
But I like a challenge. It makes writing a bit like taking part in sport. And that suits me too.
Happy 2014.
And it starts now.
This week I am writing a story about a girl called Lily, who cycles to her local library. She takes out a book about the Amazon rainforest. She chose the book because she had just seen something on the TV about England playing their first World Cup match in the Brazilian rainforest.
But the story is not for the World Cup. It's for the Tour de France. The Tour de France starts in Leeds, where I'll be reading this story to over 2000 children in all of Leeds' 40 libraries. The idea is to get children already excited about cycling to get excited about stories and libraries too.
I hope Lily's adventures on a bike and in the Amazon will help do that.
I am writing something specifically for the football World Cup too. The World Cup takes place in June and July. I am going to be writing a 750-word chapter every day of the tournament. It will be read in schools. Somewhere between 2,000 and 20,000 schools, working with the National Literacy Trust. The idea is to write the story every day so that it responds to the events of the tournament. It will be a crime thriller, featuring Danny and Charlotte from my Foul Play books. It will begin in the Amazon rainforest. And it will challenge my writing abilities - a lot.
You can find out more about the World Cup story here.
During the rest of the year I will be writing a rugby union trilogy for Barrington Stoke. Three books about a rugby playing school taking part in the UK, European, then World Schools rugby union championships. It means arduous research trips to the South of France and New Zealand. But I'll cope.
My characters are three boys, based loosely on the childhoods of three celebrated rugby union people. They're called Chris, Jonny and Woody.
The three rugby union books will all be out in time for next year's Rugby Union World Cup, hosted in the UK. The first is out in October, later this year.
One other writing project in 2014.
Every month I will be working with Y6 and Y7 children in Guernsey, writing a story about each of their twelve favourite sports. This will be hugely challenging, taking me away from my usual grass pitch sports of football and rugby and into the worlds of sea fishing, coasteering and marathon running.
But I like a challenge. It makes writing a bit like taking part in sport. And that suits me too.
Happy 2014.
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