Anita Loughrey's blog. This is my journal about my experiences and thoughts on writing. As well as news about me and my books, it includes writing tips, book reviews, author interviews and blog tours.
For more information about me and my books see my website: www.anitaloughrey.com. Follow me on Twitter @amloughrey, Facebook @anitaloughrey.author and on Instagram @anitaloughrey
Today is my turn to spotlight on the Peril on the Atlantic by A. M. Howell on her blog tour.
Peril on the Atlantic is a Mysteries at Sea adventure set in July 1936 just as the Queen Mary sets sail across the Atlantic. The main character Alice can’t wait for the summer of adventure that lies ahead. She’s excited to explore the huge ship, with its shops, animals and even celebrities on board. The cover illustration is by Marco Guadalupi.
When Alice’s sailor father focuses on winning a prestigious race, she witnesses a shocking attack. Alice and her new friend Sonny start to uncover a dark plot to sabotage the race, and as they investigate gold bars, anonymous notes and lost silk gloves, secrets in their own lives come to the surface.
While fog threatens the ship’s journey, and dangerous enemies show themselves, Alice and Sonny are in their own race to solve all the mysteries unfolding. But what they discover might change both their lives forever.
Here is an extract:
A.M. Howell has always been inspired by the stories around her, and how imagination can unlock the secrets of the past.
Her thrilling historical mysteries have garnered great critical acclaim, winning both the Mal Peet Children’s Book Award, and the East Anglian Book of the Year Award, as well as being shortlisted for lots of other prizes. A.M. Howell lives in Suffolk with her husband and two sons.
I am happy to announce today is my stop on the Don’t Disturb the Dragon by Rhiannon Findlay and Siân Roberts blog tour.
Don’t Disturb the Dragon is a brilliantly interactive rhyming read-aloud adventure before bedtime from the bestselling author of the Ten Minutes to Bed series.
Somewhere near, a huge beast lies, with giant claws and great big eyes . . . DO NOT DISTURB THE DRAGON!
Tiptoe over, under, round and through the book, just . . . don’t disturb the DRAGON!
Extract from Don’t Disturb the Dragon by Rhiannon Findlay and Siân Roberts
Fans of Ten Minutes to Bed, Little Unicorn will love helping our heroes on their quest in this immersive, interactive adventure with a wind-down-to-bedtime ending
Rhiannon Findlay lives in Hertfordshire, England. When she’s not writing, she can be found exploring, playing and reading with her young daughter, who provides endless inspiration for her stories.
Under the name Rhiannon Fielding, she wrote the Ten Minutes to Bed series, which has sold over two million copies in 25 languages. Rhiannon has over 13 years’ experience of working in children’s publishing, currently as Associate Publisher for Quarto.
Siân Roberts is a children’s book illustrator based in the South East of England. Before working professionally Siân studied illustration in Bournemouth, gaining a BA Hons degree.
Her debut picture book published in 2021 with Little Tiger Books and she has since worked on numerous projects with multiple publishers and authors, with stories ranging from pirate princesses to sparkling unicorns, dancing dinosaurs to creepy crawlies. She works from her small home studio, surrounded by potted plants and fuelled by many cups of tea!
My stop on the tour will be in the form of a book review.
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Title: Don’t Disturb the Dragon
Written by: Rhiannon Findlay
Illustrated by: Siân Roberts
Published by: Puffin Books
Don’t Disturb the Dragon is a fun rhyming picture book with a message of not jumping to conclusions based on appearances. The heroine of the story is the princess of Wingbeat Island. and she is searching for her baby brother who has just learnt to crawl. At each stop she is determined not to disturb the dragon. She is prepared for any encounters with her rucksack containing her dragon-fighting kit.
I love maps in books and we all know children love exploring maps so I think the addition of the map of Wingbeat Island at the beginning of the book is a brilliant addition. Young children can spend hours discovering where each of the locations she visits to hunt for her brother is on the map and follow her adventures around the island.
It is written in rhyming couplets with the repeated phrase of “Don’t Disturb the Dragon” which the children can eagerly join in with at story time. The illustrations add a sparkle of magic to this glorious story. there are so many things to discover in the pictures.
A great book for reading aloud and for young children to explore during reading sessions.
I have come across illustration by Jo Lindley before in books I have previously reviewed, such as: The Crocodile Curse and The Jackal’s Graveyard by Saviour Pirotta from The Nile Adventures and also Interdimensional Explorers by Lorraine Gregory. I have always found the way she captures the characters’ emotions in her drawings to be perfect. Jo Lindley does not disappoint in this series of picture books, which she has written and illustrated.
Hello Summer is about four friends who play together all year round taking it in turns to wear the weather crown.
It is full of fun activities for children to do during the summer months, such as playing ball, having a picnic and building a sandcastle.
The other books in the series are:
In this series, Jo Lindley has created four very distinct characters which portray their feelings through her text and illustrations. I particularly like the way the four friends take the time to discuss their feelings.
The bold colours add a touch of magic and The illustrations are a joy to browse and children will love exploring the pictures and will be eager to turn the pages to be captivated by the next illustration. Her use of bold seasonal colours add a touch of magic.
This series would be ideal to use in the classroom to initiate a discussion on emotions and what to do when they get out of control. I thought the subtle suggestions and techniques used by the characters to deal with their disappointment, frustration and anger when things did not go the way they hoped and planned, were put across in a sensitive way, young children would understand.
Great books to encourage empathy and self-discipline.
The other books I have reviewed, which were illustrated by Jo Lindley are:
You can buy copies of Hello Summer, Hello Autumn, Hello Winter and Hello Spring by Jo Lindley from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.
I’m thrilled to welcome Helen Peters to my blog today to talk about her latest book Friends and Traitors, which is featured in The Guardian’s Summer Books Roundup.
Helen Peters is an award-winning author whose books have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and named as the Independent Bookshops Children’s Book of the Month and The Times Children’s Book of the Week.
Other books she has written include: Anna at War, Evie’s Ghost, The Secret Hen House Theatre, its sequel The Farm Beneath the Water, and the Jasmine Green Animal Rescue series. Her stories are adventures with themes of bravery, family and friendship.
Friends and Traitors is agripping World War II story about how two girls foil an aristocratic plot to bring down the government and hand the country to the Nazis. When Sidney Dashworth’s school is evacuated to a huge stately home in the countryside, she thinks she’s going to spend the war being very bored. At least her brother must be having fun, flying his Spitfire all over France.
However soon Sidney and a housemaid called Nancy discover that the Earl is up to no good. He has secret night time meetings with mysterious men from the government and seems to be hiding something sinister on his land. They set about stopping the Earl and his evil plotters in this exciting middle grade mystery. At first it’s all terribly thrilling, investigating by creeping about at night and finding secret passageways, but soon everything takes a deadly turn. Sidney’s brother goes missing over France and the war hits home with a terrible reality.
Now let’s find out more about this intriguing historical mystery set during WWII.
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Tell us a little about your inspiration for Friends and Traitors?
After Anna at War was published, my editor asked if I would write another book set in the Second World War. At the time, I was living and working at Roedean, a girls’ boarding school on a clifftop above Brighton, which had been evacuated to a hotel in the Lake District in the summer of 1940, when, with the threat of an imminent Nazi invasion, Brighton was no longer considered safe. I’ve always loved boarding school stories, and I liked the idea of writing about an evacuated boarding school during World War 2.
Then I read an article about how English country houses were used in the Second World War, and discovered that several grand stately homes were used to house evacuated boarding schools. I like to combine different genres in my novels, so I wanted it to be an upstairs/downstairs story as well as a boarding school story. I wanted to have another girl in the house who was the same age as the schoolgirls but who was having to work as a maid because her family couldn’t afford for her to stay at school. My paternal grandmother came from a wealthy family, but my maternal grandmother came from a poor family, so although she was clever and loved learning, she had to leave school at fourteen and go out to work as a housemaid. So I’ve always been very aware of how family money or the lack of it can affect people’s lives and set equally talented children on very different paths.
What research did you have to do to write Friends and Traitors?
So much! I had to research the lives of girls from wealthy families and girls who were working as servants. I had to find out about life in girls’ boarding schools in 1940. I had to find out what was happening in the war and what was being reported in the British press on a daily basis in the spring and summer of 1940. And I also had to learn about British traitors and fifth columnists at the time. I read dozens of history books, letters, diaries and memoirs. I also subscribed to the British Newspaper Archive so that I could read the British newspapers from every day in May and June 1940, when the book is set.
How did you develop your 1940’s characters and their voices so children today could identify with them?
For the characters’ voices, it really helped to read letters, diaries and memoirs, and listen to recorded interviews. Although life for children in the 1940s was very different from today in many ways, a lot of their concerns were the same: friendships, school and family life, and wondering what life would be like for you as an adult, as well as worries about the state of the world. So I hope there is plenty going on in the lives of my characters that children today can identify with.
What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
Writing the first draft is always hard – conjuring up characters and their world, plus trying to create a page-turning plot and making sure the facts are accurate. Doing all of that at once is really difficult, and it takes me several drafts to get everything in place. With each draft it generally gets slightly easier, although there are still sections in later drafts where I get stuck or lose confidence, and when that happens I have to force myself to just keep going, and trust that it will get there in the end.
If you could meet Sidney Dashworth, what would you say to her?
Sidney probably changes more than any other character in the book, so it would depend at what point in the story I met her. If I met her at the beginning, I’d remind her that just because someone isn’t wealthy, that doesn’t make them less intelligent; in fact, often the opposite is true. If I met her at the end, I’d give her a big hug and tell her she’d been amazing.
Is there anything else you would like to tell readers about Friends and Traitors?
Friends and Traitors includes so many of the elements I loved in books when I was a child: a huge old house with rumours of ghosts and secret passages, and brave, ingenious children who solve mysteries, stand up to bullies, and carry out daring and dangerous plans. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Where is the best place for people to buy your book?
If you have a local bookshop, please buy it there! If it’s an independent bookshop, you may well end up with a signed copy, as I signed over a thousand copies exclusively for indie bookshops. If you don’t have a local bookshop, you can buy it online at bookshop.org, which supports independent bookshops. Or if you’d like a signed and personalised copy, you can order through the website of my local indie, The Book Nook in Hove and I will walk down there and write in it for you before they post it to you.
Thank you Helen for being a brilliant and most generous guest. I look forward to reading more of your books in the future.
Please join Shami Stovall on the next stop of her blog tour for her fantasy YA novel, Academy Arcanist.
Gray Lexly, son of a candlemaker, wants to escape his life of old-world technologies and study at the prestigious Astra Academy, a school for arcanists—those who can wield magic. But Gray has a major problem. Every night, as he sleeps, he’s visited by monsters. When they injure Gray in his dreams, he wakes with the same wounds in real life. On the night Gray might finally die in his nightmares, he is saved by the kind and mysterious Professor Helmith, a powerful arcanist. She offers to protect Gray and invites him to attend Astra Academy.
Before that can happen, Gray must bond with a mystical creature, such as a unicorn, pegasus, or kitsune, to become an arcanist himself. Whatever he bonds with will determine his magical abilities, so he must choose wisely. When trouble finds Professor Helmith, Gray must become powerful enough to help her and fend off the terrible nightmares, before it’s too late.
Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction.
Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators.
My stop on tour consists of an author interview.
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Tell us a little about yourself and the inspiration for your book Academy – Arcanist
Hey there! My name is Shami (that’s my full name, it’s not short for anything, and it’s not an alias). I love reading, video games, my two dogs, and my husband! Sci-fi and fantasy have always been my jam, and I’m so lucky to get to write stories for my living.
The inspiration for Academy Arcanist is equal parts Pokémon and Harry Potter. I love monster-catching video games, and I loved the fantastical world of Harry Potter, so obviously I had to merge the two!
Talk us through your writing process.
I typically outline all of my novels into three act structures. After that, I add in minor subplots, and then I get to writing. Once written, I submit the novel to my author’s group, and then some beta readers. Once I’m happy with the story, I get it all professionally edited. It’s a lengthy process, but I think it’s well worth it.
What is your favourite thing about writing fantasy?
My favourite part about writing fantasy is developing the magic system. I love really interesting uses for abilities! I’m especially drawn to shadow and light magic, or the ability to copy or steal magics. Any stories that involve those things are just -chef kiss- good.
What are the underlying themes of your novel, Academy – Arcanist?
The underlying themes are about growth and confronting fears. Gray, the main character, desperately wants to grow out of his small environment, but dangers are lurking around every corner. Or in his case, they’re lurking in his dreams! And he must face them in order to save his professor.
How did you create and keep tabs on your fantasy world in Academy – Arcanist?
I do love outlines. It helps me keep the story on track, and it helps me to develop all the characters and magic at an easy pace.
Do you listen to music whilst you write, if so what do you tend to listen to?
I LOVE listening to video game soundtracks while I write! I prefer no lyrics, and I love to have emotional music tied to the tone of the scene I’m writing. It’s a lot of fun, actually, and I highly recommend to others.
What writing advice would you give to people aspiring to be a fantasy novel writer?
Just write.
That’s always my number one advice. It takes people (on average) 10,000 hours of practice to get good at a skill, so you should start writing RIGHT NOW if you want to become good. And don’t worry if it’s not the best thing ever.
You can’t edit a blank page!
Get your thoughts out there, and you can “fix” everything later.
Is there anything else you would like to tell readers about your books and Academy – Arcanist?
I love interesting characters and dramatic endings. All my books have over-the-top finales. Sorry, not sorry?
Thank you Shami for agreeing to be interviewed on my blog. It has been fun. I have enjoyed finding out about your writing process.
I am excited to announce today, the 20th July 2023, is not only my stop on the Rhino’s Don’t Cry by Mark Grist and Chris Evans blog tour but it is also their Launch Day. Congratulations to both Mark and Chris for the release of this extremely moving picture book, which is planned to be the first in a series highlighting the importance of children expressing their feelings.
Mark Grist is an ex-teacher and now a multi-award-winning poet and international battle rapper with over 40 million views for his poetry & rap videos online. He has been honoured in two categories at the Webby Awards, won two Lovie Awards for his poetry online and toured hundreds of schools around the world. Recently, Mark’s work has appeared on BBC1, ITV, BBC Teach, Channel 4 and BBC 6 music.
As well as writing picture books for Bloomsbury, Mark is working on a second series of his hit podcast Mark Can’t Rap, which is backed by Arts Council England & National Centre for Writing. He lives in Peterborough.
Chris Jevons studied art and design at college, and 3D animation at university. He then worked as a graphic designer, animator and illustrator before moving into children’s book illustration.
Chris has a passion for character design and storytelling, and his books include Goldilocks in Space, My Daddy is Hilarious and 101 Bums. He lives and works in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
My stop on the tour for this emotional and engaging rhyming story, involves a book review.
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Title:Rhinos Don’t Cry
Author: Mark Grist
Illustrator: Chris Jevons
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Milo’s a rhino. He likes to do all sorts of rhino-y things . . . He likes writing and climbing and banister-sliding and mountain bike riding, he paints and he sings.
Milo just loves being a rhino – but there’s one small problem . . . rhinos don’t cry. At least that’s what Spike-O Mcree, his movie-star hero, always says. But when Milo meets Spike-O face to face, he finds out that not only is crying OK, it’s also very brave!
Extract from Rhino’s Don’t Cry by Mark Grist and Chris Jevons
Rhino’s Don’t Cry should come with a warning sticker: This book will make you cry – which is a good thing.
Written in rhyming couplets and illustrated with vibrant, bold colours and a good mix of page layouts from illustrations that bleed to the edges of the page, to vignettes that portray the story comic book style, Rhino’s Don’t Cry, will have young readers enthusiastically turning the pages. Chris Jevons has a talent for characterisation that is evident on every spread.
It contains an important message about how healthy it is to cry whatever the reason and how everyone should release their emotions rather than bottle them up, no matter your age, gender or job – there is no limit. I hope to see more children’s books of this calibre in the future. Although Mark Grist has set the bar quite high for writing an excellent plot, which conveys such an important message that does not feel contrived in any way.
I enjoyed this book and it definitely made me cry. I am going to get my husband to read it. There is adventure, a mystery, romance and a problem young children will be able to relate to. It is the first in the series and I am eager to see what other feelings are going to be covered.
It would be great for use in the classroom and stimulating discussion on emotions. Having spent many years teaching throughout primary schools myself, I would have loved a resource like this to use with the whole age range from pre-school to Year Six. I plan to use it as one of my BookPenPal books in September.
To view more of Chris Jevons’ impressive illustrations take a peek at his Bright House portfolio: here. You can also follow him on Twitter:@Chris_Jev and Instagram: @chrisjevonsillustration
To see the rest of the tour check out the Tour Schedule below.
I would like to thank Kaleidoscopic Tours for inviting me to take part in this tour. Thank you.
I am a bit of science fiction fan. I love Star Trek, Firefly, Legends of Tomorrow and absolutely anything with time travel and the multiverse in it. So when I heard about this exciting new middle-grade adventure, I knew I had to read it. Interdimensional Explorers by Lorraine Gregory successfully incorporates the multi-verse theory into an exhilarating page-turner. I was totally absorbed by the characters and the unique imaginative world of the Interdimensional Lost Property Office (IDLPO).
Danny discovers his grandfather is not only the caretaker of the council estate where he lives but is also the caretaker at the IDLPO. When his grandfather has a heart attack at work he makes Danny promise to look after things and thrusts a pocket watch into his hand before he is driven away by the ambulance. Danny and his best friend Modge accidentally locate the entrance to the IDLPO and become the new caretakers until his grandfather is better.
They soon realise they are out of their depth with understanding all the space technology and so Danny reluctantly persuades his cousin, Inaaya, who wants to be an Astro physicist, to help. Then they uncover a plot that will threaten the whole multi-verse. They have to learn to put aside their grievances and work together to prevent the villains from succeeding in their dastardly scheme.
Did it live up to my expectations? Yes. It certainly did. I absolutely loved Interdimensional Explorers and would recommend it to all middle-grade readers who like me have a passion for science fiction. The interaction between the characters is believable and realistic and it is extremely well-plotted.
I am looking forward to Interdimensional Explorers book two.
You can buy copies of Interdimensional Explorers by Lorraine Gregory from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.
Cosima Unfortunate Steals A Star is a brilliantly diverse book for the middle-grade age range, about a group of girls with a range of physical disabilities who have been hidden away in the Home for Unfortunate Girls, as they do not meet the Victorian Societies idealistic views of what the ‘perfect child’ should be.
Cos is an imaginative and endearing character whose impulsiveness often leads to disastrous events that her friends must rescue her from. She is a determined, spirited and highly independent heroine who continually fights to prove herself and her friends in the Home for Unfortunate Girls are more than their physical disabilities. The author, Laura Noakes, addresses the discrimination towards these girls in a sensitive and positive way. It is clear to young readers that the viewpoint of many at the time are reflective of the era. The sub-plot of Cos investigating who her family is works well and has been well plotted, albeit a little predictable.
I enjoyed this book and the way the girls ingenious teamwork overcomes not only their physical disabilities but also outwits the dastardly owners of the Home for Unfortunate Girls the sinister Stain siblings, Miss Stain and her awful brother Mr Stain. When they discover on one of their many heists that the smarmy Lord Francis Fitzroy wishes to adopt all twenty of the girls in the home, Cos and her friends endeavour to solve the mystery of why he would want, as he described, a bunch of ‘defective children’.
When Miss Noone gate-crashes the Stain siblings social gathering at the home it provides the girls with the opportunity to visit The Empire Exhibition, where Lord Fitzroy is displaying a vast wealth of treasures he has acquired from around the world to find out his motives, only to discover he plans to experiment on them to find a so-called cure. Cos is motivated to plan a new even more daring heist to liberate the jewels Lord Fitroy has stolen from his travels around the world, including the fabulous tiara, containing the Star diamond from India, and send them back to where they belong.
I am always impressed by Flavia Sorrentino’s illustrations and in Cosima Unfortunate Steals A Star her beautiful artwork compliments the text perfectly as she expertly portrays the characters and their disabilities.
This book would be suitable to read to the class during a topic on the Victorians in KS2. the Victorian setting is well described and provides the ideal backdrop for a story with a theme of overcoming discrimination. It would also be a great book to initiate discussions on empathy and equality.
On the whole, it is a fun, well-crafted mystery adventure with some memorable characters. A spectacular Victorian mystery oozing diversity.
You can buy copies of Cosima Unfortunate Steals A Star by Laura Noakes and Flavia Sorrentino from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.
Join me today for my stop on the blog tour for the release of a new dynamic folk fantasy by Alex Woodroe. I am pleased I have been scheduled for the launch day, 11th July 2023.
Alex is a Romanian writer and editor of dark speculative fiction. She’s the author of Whisperwood, as well as several short horror, fantasy, and science-fiction stories published in venues like Dark Matter Magazine, Horror Library, the Nosleep podcast, and more. She lives in the heart of the Transylvanian region of Romania, and lets her country’s culture and unique natural landscapes influence her work.
She’s been a translator, a barmaid, a teacher, a copywriter, and a dog trainer, but ultimately realized she wouldn’t be happy until she terrified people for a living. Alex now runs her own company doing freelance editing, translations, and writing, as well as working as an acquisitions editor for Indie Horror upstart, Tenebrous Press.
Whisperwood is published by Flame Tree Press, which is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
This novel is described as a must-read dark fantasy debut for fans of The Witcher, woodland survival guides, the gruesome original Grimm Brothers stories, and dark folklore from around the world…
A journey into the wild woods with a character who just needs a break—and the terrible things that stare back at her.
When curious nomad Anna hears about Whisperwood, a town that’s not on any maps, that nobody goes to, and nobody comes from, she sees an opportunity to hide from her violent witch-hunting ex.
But not everything is peaceful in the isolated community. A vanishing town, a gruesome funeral rite, an emergency field surgery—these surprises and more test Anna’s resolve.
Prevented from leaving the frontier settlement by folk magic she doesn’t understand, Anna lends helping hands everywhere she can, but quickly finds that investigating the forest too closely could end up being the last thing she does.
My stop involves a book review.
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Title: Whisperwood
Written by: Alex Woodroe
Published by: Flame Tree Press
The thing that I like best about this book was the world of Whisperwood. The setting is vividly described and very eerie. I understood why nobody would really want to go there unless they were desperate and found the dark magic that stopped Anna leaving quite intriguing. I enjoyed discovering how the village was connected to many of the Romanian folktales. The Whispers were mysterious and quite creepy.
I liked the main character Anna who has a gift of being friendly and supportive. She quickly makes a few friends and also a few enemies. I admired her bravery and determination to overcome . I can imagine myself being friends with her. I was rooting for her throughout the story from when she left the abusive partner who turned her whole family against her by claiming she was a witch, right to the very end when she confronts the kidnappers, in the exciting twist ending.
As with many of the books I have read recently, Whisperwood cleverly portrays the dark side of humanity and people’s character. The way Alex showed how people can be easily manipulated to believe someone was a witch reflects history and is reminiscent of the witch trials. Also the way people ignore many of the bad things that are happening in the world around them is a poignant statement of the whole world. Whisperwood is not the only place where the people choose to be blinkered.
On the whole Whisperwood is an exciting, fast-paced mystery suitable for the older YA readership.
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To follow the rest of the tour check out the schedule:
You can buy copies of Whisperwood by Alex Woodroe from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation which supports a wide range of independent bookstores.
Something I particularly enjoy is writing plays. I think it comes quite naturally to me as I am a very visual writer. During my career as a teacher and as a writer I have written a wide variety of plays for primary school. Many of these were for school Christmas productions when I was teaching. I have also had several plays published. I am particularly proud of Quick and Easy Plays for Primary School, which is a teacher resource of twenty-seven plays compiled into a folder.
Title: Quick and Easy Plays for Primary School
Written by: Anita Loughrey
Illustrated by: Catherine Ward
Published by: Hopscotch Educational
This lever arch folder, published by Hopscotch Educational, a division of the Mark Allen Publishing Group, contains twenty-seven differentiated and cross-curricular Quick and Easy Plays for Primary School with teacher notes and suggestions for making props and costumes.
The plays were written to be versatile, so they could be used for guided reading as well as being performed on stage. I have used this resource during school visits to encourage students to create and write their own plays. The handy ring-binder format allows the teacher to add their own notes, which is always useful in a teaching environment.
This folder contains plays themed around the following topics:
Childhood Experiences – friends, school journey, Victorian childhood
Traditional stories – fairy tales, myths and legends, fables
Stories form other cultures – creation stories, Chinese festivals, Christmas
Each topic contains three differentiated plays for the age range. As you can see, there are nine plays in each chapter. The first play in each set of three is the easiest and is suitable for younger or less able children within this age range. The language level and stage directions are much simpler than in the next two. The font size is also larger in the first plays. Here is an example of one of the simpler plays:
The third play in each set of three is the most challenging play with more complex language and more detailed stage directions. The font size is smaller in these plays. Here is an example of one of the more challenging plays:
There are six folders in the series, each written by a different author. Mine is aimed at ages 9-10, which would be Year Five.
To purchase a copy of Quick and Easy Plays for Primary School by Anita Loughrey directly from the publisher Hopscotch Educational, or your local bookshop should be able to order copies.
Much To Do About Writing 