Book Review – Bang goes a Troll

Title: Bang Goes a Troll (Awfully Beastly Business)

Written by: The Beastly Boys (David Sinden, Matthew Morgan and Guy MacDonald)

Illustrated by: Jonny Duddle

Published by: Aladdin Paperbacks (Simon & Schuster)

Bang goes a Troll

A gripping adventure that keeps you turning page after page. Beautifully executed, this story transports the reader into a compelling fantasy world where humans are the unrelenting baddies and the goblins, trolls and werewolves are the heroes, trying against all odds to protect themselves.

In the third book in the Beastly Business series, Ulf has to stop the troll’s being smoked out of their homes and used as targets in a beast-hunting range, without being hunted too.

An exciting read that will satisfy lovers of epic battles and narrow escapes.

This book review was previously published on the online Armadillo Children’s Book Review Magazine

An interview with… Joy Court

In November 2017, I interviewed librarian Joy Court, about some of the children’s book awards she was involved with for my Writing 4 Children slot in Writers’ Forum. Joy is a professional librarian and was the Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals – the oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards in the world of children’s literature.

Joy Court photo

The Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal was introduced by the Library Association 80 years ago and is awarded for outstanding writing for children and young people. It is named after Andrew Carnegie, a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve:

‘…if ever wealth came to me it should be used to establish free libraries.’

Andrew Carnegie

He set up more than 2800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in the UK had Carnegie libraries. He must be turning in his grave with the current shocking spate of library closures.

One misconception of the Carnegie Medal is that it has been taken over by teenage and YA publishing. There is only one definition of a children’s book – it is published on a children’s list (technically listed on the Neilsen database). Until the industry differentiates between children and teenage publishing we cannot.

A book can be great for many different reasons. For the purposes of the Carnegie we are looking for a book of outstanding literary quality.

“The whole work should provide pleasure, not merely from the surface enjoyment of a good read, but also the deeper subconscious satisfaction of having gone through a vicarious, but at the time of reading, a real experience that is retained afterwards.”

Past winners include: Tanya Landman with Buffalo Soldier, published by Walker Books; Sarah Crossan with One, published by Bloomsbury and 2017’s winner was Ruta Sepetys with Salt to the Sea, published by Puffin.

The Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was created 60 years ago to award outstanding illustration for children and young people and was named after one of our most iconic British illustrators.

Previous winners include: William Grill with Shackleton’s Journey, published by Flying Eye Books; Chris Riddell with The Sleeper and the Spindle, published by Bloomsbury and 2017’s winner was Lane Smith with There is a Tribe of Kids, published by Two Hoots.

Judging

Both medals are unique as they are judged by librarians and are completely devoid of any commercial influence. Neither publishers, nor authors can submit their books and the judging is not influenced in any way by sales or publicity. She read every single book nominated for them but does not get to vote. Joy’s job was to ensure every book got a fair chance and all the procedures were followed correctly.

In the early days, judging was carried out by men in suits behind closed doors (the Library Association Council). Now the judging process is under the control of children’s librarians from the 12 regions of the UK including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are elected for a two-year-term by their regional Youth Libraries Group committee, thanks to the pioneering work of Eileen Colwell, the first specialist children’s librarian and founder of the Youth Libraries Group. She must also be turning in her grave at the loss of specialist posts.

Gradually the system of nominations, election of judges and the criteria has been honed and improved to keep pace with new developments in the world of children’s publishing. You have to be a member of CILIP to be able to nominate and can then nominate two books for each award. Unlike many other awards we publish our judging criteria on our website.

2017 winners

Impact

These awards have a huge impact on the world of children’s literature because of the enormous shadowing scheme. There are around 5000 groups shadowing the awards each year, with hundreds of thousands of young readers reading and commenting on the shortlisted books. This means a lot of shortlisted books will be sold and figures show an ongoing increase in sales from winning the medal.

The medals have always been international in outlook. Books first published elsewhere in the world can be eligible providing they are published in the UK within 3 calendar months of original publication. In 2014, books in translation (first English translation published in the UK) became eligible. We can genuinely say that the medal awards the best writing in the world.

You only have to look at the list of winners to see they have become classic titles that are always available in bookshops. I believe 80 years of ‘they all want to win the medal’ has led to the development of the UK ‘world-beating’ publishing industry we have today.

UK Literary Association Book Award

Joy is also a Trustee and National Council member of UKLA and helps to manage their book awards. They are nicknamed the ‘Teacher’s Carnegie’ as they are the only awards judged by teachers. The 60 teacher judges involved in the initial shortlisting are selected from around the geographical area where the next UKLA international conference will be held – 2018 is Cardiff.

UKLA invite publisher submissions according to three age categories 3-6, 7-11 and 12-16. A publisher can submit 3 books per imprint. A publisher like Penguin Random House has many imprints: Jonathan Cape, Bodley Head, Corgi, Puffin, Red Fox, etc.

In 2017, the winning book in the 12-16 category was The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen by Susin Nielsen, published by Andersen Press. In the 7-11 category the winner was The Journey written and illustrated by Francesca Sanna and published by Flying Eye Books. The winner for the 3-6 category was There’s a Bear on MY Chair by Ross Collins, published by Nosy Crow.

As the conference moves around, we are gradually infecting the UK with teachers hooked on reading quality books. The impact in their schools and upon the young people they teach has been positively awe inspiring. And of course books recommended by teachers are very popular with schools and parents. I strongly recommend authors to ensure their publishers are aware of the UKLA awards, which may be only 9-years-old but are growing in influence all the time.

Other Awards

There are many awards for children’s books in existence today and the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook is probably the best source of information about them. Many are administered by the Booktrust so it is worth looking at their website and others are linked to children’s book writing festivals. Some awards require a submission fee from the publisher, so it can be very difficult for an individual author to influence this. It can be a marketing budget based decision.

In the feature, Joy recommended researching local awards in your area run by your local library service. Becoming well known in your local area – visiting schools and doing local bookshop signings is a good way to get your books noticed and considered for such awards. Once over the hurdle of submissions / nominations every award will have a different system of judging and / or voting, often by the children readers themselves.

The Coventry Inspiration Book Awards, which she created, has a tense system of Big Brother style voting. The book with the least number of votes is voted off each week until we get a winner. This ensures readers keep voting to keep their favourites in.

Anything which raises the profile of books and reading has to be a good thing. We all know that bookshops can have a bewildering array of titles and something having an award sticker can make a huge difference to sales. The most important thing about children’s book awards is the pursuit of excellence.

Joy Court can be found on Twitter: @Joyisreading

The Art of Plotting

Here are a few pointers about plotting I have come across over my time of writing for children.

climb a mountain

Every scene must serve more than one purpose. This could be developing your characters, giving brief background information, creating atmosphere, world building or clarifying motivation. If it does not move the plot forward then cut it.
Always consider the motivation of your protagonist. Think about their actions and why they are doing them. They should not be doing things just because your plot demands it. if this is the case you need to have a serious rethink.
The protagonist’s motivation should change and deepen over the course of the plot they discover new facts and truths that change the way they view and interact with their world.
By the end of the novel the character should be changed by their experiences. this might be for he better but it can also be for the worse. Make sure it is a realistic emotional journey. The protagonist should learn and grow during the process. This growth usually conveys the theme of the story.
Ensure all the scenes progress logical with no giant leaps. it is amazing how easy it is for logic to become muddled to suit the plot. You can see it in many TV series all the time. It is frustrating to the reader. Always think in terms of what is happening, why has it happened, what are the results of this either directly or indirectly and how will this effect what happens next.

The basic sequence of plot stages is: arrival of conflict, initial success of the main character, reversals, final victory, and outcome. The success-reversal sequence may repeat. I find Michael Hauge’s six stage plot structure useful when writing fiction – this includes novels and picture books.

Michael Hauge's plot structure

The plot is built around a conflict involving the main character—for instance, with another character, or with circumstances, or within themselves. Conflict often takes the form of a problem the main character must resolve. The character should succeed or fail at least in part through their own efforts.

In my opinion a story for children should open with conflict. Aristotle said the most important thing in any story is the sequence of events. Each event has a cause and effect, and each is connected in the plot. According to Aristotle there are six stages of plot development:

The opening
The arrival of conflict
The early achievement
The twist and the change
The denouement
The final outcome

The conflict should result in increasing dramatic tension, which peaks or ‘climaxes’ towards the end, then resolves. A novel may have several conflicts, but a short story or picture book should have only one. Think about the story arc.

Story Arc

In this way, a story can be broken down into six elements:

Balance – all is well at home, nothing interesting is going on
Disharmony – the mood changes for good or bad
Inciting incident – just when things were looking better a change of mood provokes a change to something ‘other’
Problem – there is now an even more serious dilemma that needs solving
Resolution – the story can be brought to a conclusion
Outcome – the purpose of the story unfolds

Move the plot forward with events and action, rather than with internal musings and I know I’ve said it before but show, don’t tell. It may be a rocky climb to the top of your story arc but when you get there the view’s are worth it.

top of mountain

You can see some of my other posts on plot here:

Re-evaluate your plot

Plot

The Art of Story

Book Review – Escape from Shadow Island

Title: Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island

Written by: Paul Adam

Publisher: Corgi Books, Random House

Max Cassidy Escape from Shadow Island

At first it made me smirk when I read the Random House warning in the front of the book telling the readers not to try any of the stunts as home, as escapologists have had years of training before they attempt them… and then I read the first page. The hero Max is handcuffed, chained, put in a sack and lowered into a tank of cold water. He has thirty seconds to escape, or freeze to death. Red lights flashed in my head as I thought of my own sons and I honestly considered writing to Random House to tell them to put the warning in CAPITAL LETTERS.

This is the first Max Cassidy adventure in the trilogy. Max’s Houdini-style stunts have the reader gripped from the start. When Max finds out his father may still be alive, you are carried into one impossible situation after another and you can’t help wondering, ‘How on Earth is Max going to escape from this?’ There are several clever twists and the characters are very believable. This murder-mystery thriller action-adventure will have boys gasping for more.

This book review was previously published on the online Armadillo Children’s Book Review Magazine.

An interview with… Julie Cohen

Julie Cohen writes romantic comedy for Headline’s Little Black Dress imprint and novels for the Mills & Boon’s Modern Heat imprint and is a Richard and Judy bestselling author. I interviewed her for my Research Secrets column in the #92 May 2009 issue Writers’ Forum.

She told me she loves research because it means she gets to do stuff she wouldn’t normally do. She has ridden roller coasters repetitively for a roller-coaster designer hero; gone to famous restaurants for a celebrity chef hero; rode on the back of a BMW motorcycle at 80 mph down the M4 for a motorcycling hero; ran from South Street Arts Centre in Reading to the station in high heels just to see how fast it could be done; visited art deco cinemas, retro diners, art galleries, cities and parks to research settings for her books. But, Julie believes the best resource is to get out there and talk to people.

Her original sources are all people. She explained talking to them is utterly inspirational and helps her get into the heads and lives of my characters. She has also met some really cool people who she has looked up online, in the phone book, or through research books. Usually she emails or pick up the phone and rings. She has found that most people are happy to talk to you about what they know and told me their opinions are just as useful as the facts for developing characters.

She explained it is always important to acknowledge experts who have taken time to help or whose expertise you’ve used extensively. She like to send a thank-you email or note and often sends them a signed copy of the book when it comes out.

It is not until she is about half to two-thirds of the way through a book that she begins to see what information she actually needs. That’s when she starts making lists of questions to ask, and that’s generally when she start calling experts and asking for interviews. Because her books are more focused on the characters and the story than on research details, she does not see the point in getting huge amounts of information she probably won’t need. Instead, she pinpoints what she has to know for the story and only uses (and often only find out in the first place) what’s vital to the story, or what seems to add vital flavour.

“I’m not a plotter when I write, and generally my first forays into research are pretty vague. I use the internet first – and then the local library and bookshop. I’ll just dabble around in a subject finding out some stuff to see if any of it inspires me. My books centre round people and relationships rather than facts.” (Julie Cohen)

Julie told me that quite often, doing her research, she will find a central metaphor that she can use and examine through the whole book. For example when researching comics for Girl from Mars, she was intrigued by the concept of the gutter, which is the name for the blank spaces between panels.

girlfrommarslge

Because comics are static but portray action, the reader actually fills in the action between panels. The blank gutter is extremely important to make this happen. In her story, it became a metaphor for change happening when you’re not looking, for filling in the blanks, which are both key themes to the story.

You can find out more about Julie Cohen and her books on her website: www.julie-cohen.com

To read the complete feature you can purchase a copy of #92 May 2009 Writers’ Forum online from Select Magazines.

Writers’ Holiday

Last weekend I went for my annual weekend away to Wales on the Writers’ Holiday to concentrate on my writing. I took my Work In Progress and (spoiler alert) got absolutely loads done. I’ve been to Writers’ Holiday for several years as the atmosphere is so brilliant and I always manage to come back with a few thousand words written.

If you have not been to Writers’ Holiday you don’t know what you’ve been missing. It was set up in 1986 by Anne Hobbs, is run by writers, for writers and receives no financial assistance from any source whatsoever, wrapped up in a totally informal and relaxed setting. It’s up to you what you choose to do but it’s all there for you just take what you want. You get to choose a wide selection of courses or you can use the time to work on your own WIP, or if you prefer just to chill and relax.

One of the great things about Writers’ Holiday it is not too much money. In fact, you get a lot for your money. The fee includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, all weekend workshops and collection / return to Fishguard and Goodwick train stations.

The venue is The Fishguard Bay Hotel which nestles in rich woodland above Fishguard Harbour and overlooks some of the most beautiful and spectacular coastline in Wales, guests can view the lower town in the distance across the bay.

20200226_172615

This was setting for Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, when stars like Glynis Johns, Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole and many others stayed here. It was also the base for the filming of Moby Dick. In 1979, this former Great Western Railway hotel was designated as a building of historic and architectural interest. Set in a commanding position overlooking Cardigan Bay, the hotel offers an atmosphere second to none with oak panelled walls, high ceilings and an air of Victorian splendour.

I set off in plenty of time, having started my packing a few days before. It was hard as my son was home that week from University but as my husband and boys planned to paint the hallway, stairs and landing walls, it was probably better I was out of it.

The course I choose to do was Get your Non-fiction Book Written and Published with Simon Whaley. I’ve done Simon’s courses before and they are always inspirational and motivational. So I did not research the course as much as I would have done a new course or venue. Even so, I decided to write down a few questions of things I wanted to know about writing non-fiction books to make my life easier. The last thing I wanted was to not ask and get home and wish I did . I’ve learnt the hard way not to be afraid of asking questions.

I also thought about what I really wanted from the course. Was I just looking for a fun weekend away or did i have a goal in mind I had a goal or two, firstly I am on a tight schedule with my latest commission so needed to get a lot of work done and the ideal time was on the train there and back. The other reason is that although I have written some non-fiction books, I have a few more non-fiction book ideas I want to write. My aim was to kick start myself into doing it. It was a small group which is often nicer as you can get more from a course this way.

It wasn’t all work there is also some fantastic meals you get a buffet breakfast and a choice from three starters, main meals and puddings for lunch and dinner.

There is also a book room where both the course leaders and delegates can bring there own published books to sell.

20200223_084850

You’ll be pleased to know, I managed to work on three non-fiction book ideas and developed them and also my latest commission which I had given myself a daily schedule. Now all I have to do is carry on the momentum and make an effort to write the book.

Book Review: Mustafa’s Jumper

Title: Mustafa’s Jumper

Written by: Coral rumble

Illustrated by: Charlotte Cooke

Published by: Wacky Bee

Mustafas Jumper

Mustafa’s Jumper is based on a poem of the same name also by Coral Rumble. The poem won the prestigious Caterpillar Poetry Prize in 2018. Rewritten in prose this story gives a child’s point of view of having a refugee who speaks no English, temporarily in your class at school and how they feel when the child is sent back to the country they were trying to escape from, which is highlighted by the single school uniform jumper that is left behind in the cloakroom.

It is written in Milo’s point of view, a quiet introvert boy whose best friend, Eddie, is the total opposite. Eddie get chosen to look after the new boy but has no idea what to say or do with a boy who can’t speak his language. Milo understands what it is like to feel like an outsider so he does what he can to include him: he plays with him, shows him what to do and where to go, and invites him home to tea. Milo and Mustafa become good friends.

Throughout the book it highlights patience and kindness by showing how Milo helps his new friend. The ‘show not tell’ plot is ideal for demonstrating and developing empathy in young children.

This is a great book for triggering discussion in the classroom about immigration, asylum seekers and refugees. There is a page at the back that talks about reasons why people have to leave countries and how sometimes people leave their homes because of war, a natural disaster or terrorism means it is too dangerous to stay. It also highlights how difficult it can be starting from scratch in a new country and explains some people like Mustafa are sent back. Could be used for discussion in both KS1 and KS2.

An interview with… Holly Rivers

In my Writing 4 children column this month (issue #221 Mar of Writers’ Forum) Holly Rivers, explained what inspired her to write a story about a stubborn young inventor called Demelza.

Holly Rivers2

The idea struck her in 2016 and she put pen to paper immediately and very quickly realised she never wanted to stop writing.

“I could see her clearly from the very beginning: her red hair, her cosy attic room, her quirky inventions, and her thinking hat.” (Holly Rivers)

For the first time in her life she had found something she wanted to do every single day for evermore. Holly believes this realisation massively changed her life for the better, and revealed sitting down to write always makes her heart beat a little faster. She explained that she spent a year writing the (very long and very messy) first draft of Demelza and the Spectre Detectors, before spending a further year honing the manuscript on The Golden Egg Academy’s Foundation Course.

Holly told me the fact she is absolutely fascinated by anything spooky, macabre and ghostly inspired her to explore how a logical, science-minded character such as Demelza would react to finding themselves in a mysterious supernatural environment.

“Having an inquisitive stem-girl protagonist was really important to me, and I think there’s quite a lot of young Holly in Demelza. A few of her inventions were things I actually attempted to make as a child — namely the ‘Magnificent Belly Button Cleaner’” (Holly Rivers)

A lot of her inspiration comes from the sci-fi and fantasy books/films she enjoyed as a child such as: Ghostbusters, E.T, Labyrinth, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the books of Roald Dahl, The Goonies, Pippi Longstocking, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.

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Many of her characters are inspired in part by real people, for example Grandma Maeve’s eccentricity, warmth and humour all stem from her own wonderful grandmothers. Ms Cardinal was also inspired by someone, but she wouldn’t say who. Holly said that so much great material can be mined from keeping your ears and eyes open, and I can often be found jotting down snippets of conversations that I’ve overheard, making notes of an unusual mannerism, or sketching an interesting outfit that somebody is wearing.

Demelza jacket lowres

The children she works with are huge inspirations too and Holly has no doubt that bits of their brilliant (and often mischievous) personalities have found their way into Demelza, Percy and Miranda, and she believes this has made their characters all the richer.

She has also spent a lot of time in Mexico, where Dia de Los Muertos is the annual holiday celebrating the dead and observing the way that different cultures mark death was also a big inspiration for her book.

“Some people can have such a sombre, stiff and austere outlook on death, so I wanted Demelza and the Spectre Detectors to hopefully open up the conversation around death to a young readership in a ‘lighter’ and more accessible way.” (Holly Rivers)

Her writing tip for other children’s fiction writers is to read:

“I try and read or listen to at least one book a week, and I make sure that the titles are diverse and genre-crossing. One week I might be reading a quirky middle grade such as Beetle Boy by M G. Leonard or the latest YA from Frances Hardinge; the next I might be listening to an old Agatha Christie on audio book, and the next I might be dipping back into the Tank Girl comics (for the umpteenth time!) I feel that most of my own development as a writer has come through exploring, savouring and digesting other people’s work.” (Holly Rivers)

To read the complete feature you can purchase a copy of #221 Mar Writers’ Forum from your nearest good newsagents or order online from Select Magazines.

Find out more about Holly and her books on her website: www.hollyrivers.co.uk, Twitter: @hollyrivers_lit and on Instagram: @hollyriversauthor

Electronic Piracy in Publishing

Following on from the pirate theme at John Condon’s book launch and blogging about the launch last week see: John Condon’s book launch, I was reminded of a very informative and fascinating talk I went to a while back at the Society of Authors. It was all about the online piracy of books. This mainly concerns educational books but, I did see some fiction up there too.

At the meeting I found out there are three types of sites that will put up digital copies of books for download. These are peer-to-peer sites, document sharing sites and file hosting sites. At the risk of boring you, I will go into a little more detail.

P2P
This is not a Playstation site. P2P stands for peer-to-peer. The books, pdf’s, etc are not physically on a website but on somebody else’s computer and are distributed via email, or such like. It is difficult to stop this type of piracy. The websites will list files they have available. To find a more detailed explanation of what P2P is, check out wikipedia Peer-to-peer.

It is a very similar system to the music website Spotify, which allows users to share their favourite tunes for free. Some sites which index a lot of torrent educational book files include: http://www.thepiratebay.org/ and http://www.isohunt.com/. You can check if your books are featured on these sites by using the search function.

Nicholas Tims warned us to be careful of false positive hits (sponsored links) on some P2P sites, such as http://www.freshwap.com/ and http://www.torrentpump.com/.

Battle_of_Copyright_symbol

Document-sharing
These again are all legal, law-abiding websites. They also react promptly to requests to have your work removed. Such sites include: http://www.scribd.com/, http://www.issu.com/ and http://www.docstoc.com/.

They describe themselves as having:

“Millions of documents and books at your fingertips! Read, print, download, and send them to your mobile devices instantly. Or upload your PDF, Word, and PowerPoint docs to share them with the world’s largest community of readers.”

These sites are different from P2P websites as, it is possible to view and read the books available on the site.

File hosting
Again, these are legal websites. they normally react quickly to takedown requests. You must provide them with correct and detailed informationa dn they do not engage in correspondence.

Some of the biggest include: http://www.rapidshare.com/ and http://www.mediafire.com/. They are different from the other two in that the files are hosted by the Interent service and are specifically designed to store static content.

What can you do?
To find out if your books appearing on such sites, you can set up a ‘Google Alert’ on your book titles and on your name. I have talked about this before in my post: Can’t find it but, it will appear here when I do!!! Honest!

You can also check if your publishers are a member of the Publisher’s Association where it is possible to check on the copy right infringement portal to see sites which respond well to take down requests and those that don’t.

Pirate_Flag

Social Publishing sites

There are also websites such as Scribd that scan and make textbooks available on the world wide web. Scribd is a social publishing site, where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents. They do not ask the author’s permission to put their books online. For authors who write for royalties from the amount of books they have sold, this means they are losing money. This is not just a concern for Eduational Publishing but for fiction as well.

These sites eventually remove unlicensed content from the web but they have to be petitioned to do so. There is a Copyright Infringement Takedown Notification on the Scribd website and they provide a Takedown Notification Template for authors.

But, surely they should have not put the books available for free download on line in the first place. They should be the ones seeking permissions and paying for licenses not teh authors having to fight for the right to get paid for their hard work.

Advice from the Society of Authors is to be vigiliant and to search for titles online on a regualr basis. If you find anything suspicious it should be reported to the publishers. The Publishers Association has set up a Piracy Portal to share information about copyright infringement. There is also a Copyright Infringement Portal, which targets websites offering infringing copies for free download, and will soon evolve to also target peer-to-peer sharing via torrents.

Book Review – Magnetic First Words

Title: Magnetic First Words – Days Out

Written by: Michelle Trowell

Illustrated by: Barry Green

Published by: Top That! Publishing

Magnetic First Words - Days

This hard-board book contains over 100 magnetic first words around the theme of Days Out. It has been designed to promote literacy skills, help hand-eye coordination and to encourage parent-child interaction. The pages are magnetic so the words and numbers do not easily fall off and the pages can be turned leaving the magnets in place.

Barry Green’s bold, double-page spread illustrations contain a lot of action, ideal for prompting discussion whilst matching the words to the pages. The children can also invent their own sentences linked to the lively pictures which include children playing by the lake, at the fair and on the beach.

The book contains many of the high frequency sight words the children are required to learn from reception upwards. In my opinion the book will make learning fun and will definitely help with sight recognition of these high frequency words (such as: we, she, look, on, can, etc.) as they have to search through all the words provided for the correct word to match.

Suitable for children aged three upwards, I think they would also make an ideal activity for KS1 children in a reading corner. You will need a pretty little pot to keep all the magnets in though once you have taken them out to use.