P1 love Chae Strathie!

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.