Who loves Jumblebum?
We love Jumblebum! Chae Strathie,
award-winning author, visited P1 on Monday to tell them all about how he writes
his lovely books. Before the visit, Chae
sent the children a letter telling them he would be arriving in his jellycopter
and wearing his fantastic invisible boots!
He also asked if they could practise some songs so they could sing with
him on the day.
Well, Chae turned up with his suitcase, guitar and magic
story hat and entertained P1 for over an hour.
He was funny, informative and all the children were totally engaged and
just loved singing the songs! Chae had a
great visual presentation that helped P1 understand things like illustrators,
publishers and distribution. Everyone
had the best of times and we would LOVE Chae to come back again.
As you would expect from Book Club, we managed to sneak an
interview with him – thanks, Chae, we hope the record of your interview does
justice to the amazing work you do in schools.
Q) The reason you came here today was because
Emmeline in P1B won the Bookbug prize in the Scottish Book Awards review
competition. What impact do you think
this type of competition has on young readers and writers?
A) I think that it is fantastic because it is
voted on by children instead of older people. It’s good because we can see what our target
audience, children, think of my books. It’s good for the children because they have
more of a connection with the books and it brings the books to life. Writing the reviews is very good because
children get to think more about the books.
Q) Your background is in journalism. Do you think this has been a support in your
book writing or do you have to work harder at writing because journalism
demands a different style?
A) Both sides of that is true. In journalism you are taught to only write the
words that count and get straight to the point. You have to be economical with the words. There’s a tendency in children’s books to have
to keep it short and journalism helped me. I wrote children’s pages in the newspapers so
that helped me a lot. The bad side of it though is that I spend all day on the
computer at work working with words then I go home and spend my time on the
computer working with words. It would be
a bit easier if I had a job where I didn’t work with words. Writing books is good though because you can
write anywhere and all you need is a laptop or notebook and pen.
Q) You won the Bookbug prize this year in the
Scottish Book Awards with Jumblebum.
What impact did winning this award have on your writing career?
A) It was a big boost to me because it meant that
my book was in more shops and more people were reading it. It also meant that it was in more schools and
the schools wanted me to come and do author visits. It definitely had a big impact on my writing.
Q) This is your third visit to Flora Stevenson
Primary School. What is it you enjoy
about this school and visits in general?
A) I love how enthusiastic all of the teachers
are and especially Miss Broadley. The
children really pick up on how enthusiastic the teachers are. The whole school seems very switched onto
books and I feel welcome in Flora’s. I
have visited different classes in the school and all age groups are great.
Q) You write mainly picture books for younger
children. Do you think you might write
novels for our age group and young adults?
A) I’m currently working on some new projects. I’ve written some new books that are one step
up from picture books, around P2-P3. I’m
also working on some books for around 8-12 year olds. I’m also working on some plots for young
adults. There is a book called “Scaredy
Cat” that is about a girl who is scared of everything. Then there is a big disaster and a terrifying
thing happens and she has to be a hero and confront her fears. I’m also writing a new book called “The only
girl in Curio City”. There is a girl called Lily Venus and she is the only
human in Curio city and everyone else are monsters and ghosts.
Q) We’ve had a lot of fun this year reading to
our P1 buddies and scribing for them in writing their reviews. What advice could you give us in making the
sharing of books exciting and challenging for our buddies and for ourselves?
A) I’d say that you need to read the book to
yourself before reading to someone else so that you know what is coming up next
and can think about the book. Think of
voices to make the characters funny and seem more alive. I know it can be
embarrassing to start with and I felt like that at first but it can be quite
good fun. Also think about the pace of
the book and at dramatic parts speed up and get louder then slow down and get quieter
for the calmer parts. You just need to
vary things to keep them interested. Don’t be afraid to move around and use your
hands to bring the story to life.
We had great fun interviewing Chae and we hope that he had
as much fun as we did. Now here is Emmeline’s award winning book review that
brought us this amazing experience. And
a huge congratulations to Emmeline.
The Paper Dolls is my favourite book
because I liked the part when the little girl grows up to be a mummy. The book made me feel happy. I liked the part when they went to a magical
land. I liked the house in it. It made me feel excited. When the boy came and cut up the paper dolls
it made me feel sad but I was happy again when they came back together. I thought the names of the dolls were quite
funny. I also liked the bit when the
girl helps her own child to make paper dolls. I give the book five stars.
We hope you have enjoyed that fantastic review. Please continue
to read our blog and look out for more outstanding reviews and interviews.