Brandon Robshaw's Guest Post

The author Brandon Robshaw, who has recently has his book The Big Wish published by Chicken House, writes here for us about his experiences of Writing for Children.  Before you read his piece however a few words about his charming book.  The book features Sam, a young boy who is given what many children may consider the best gift ever, unending wishes.  The trouble is he soon learns that you really do have to be careful what you wish for and that perhaps this gift that keeps on giving is not really what he wanted...

WRITING FOR CHILDREN

Children hate being bored. Everybody hates being bored, of course, but when we are young there is something peculiarly painful and intolerable about it. I can remember as a child being ready to scream with boredom on long car journeys, or in afternoon lessons where time seemed to have stopped. And I didn't put up with boring books. If a book was boring I threw it aside and found something else to do. On the other hand, if the book was interesting it could put me into a trance. I would lose myself in it completely.

If you want to write for children, it's important not to forget this. An adult reader might put up with a few boring pages, and be prepared to wait for the good bits. But a child reader, justifiably enough, wants it all to be good bits, starting from page one. This is even truer today than it once was, for now there are far more rival attractions than there used to be. Kids can spend their time playing Minecraft, or surfing the net, or going on social media instead of reading books. So reading has to be fun, if it's going to compete.

What makes reading fun, then? I'd say there are four important things:

1)    The book has to be written from the heart. If a writer thinks, ‘I know, I'll write a book about superheroes because that's really popular with kids’, it's unlikely that the book will be very interesting. But if the writer thinks, ‘I wonder what it would be like to really have superpowers, that would be amazing!’, then the book will come from the heart, and that will carry across to the reader.

2)    The language. It has to be fresh and clear and bright. No waffling. Descriptions should be vivid but short. Dialogue should be quick and punchy – no long speeches – and it should sound natural. This doesn't mean the vocabulary has to be simplistic. Children like learning new words, and they like silly, quirky, made-up words, too.

3)    The pace. It should be swift. Something happening on every page. Enough said.

4)    The story. Children have a strong sense of wonder, and they like stories with wonderful, crazy, unlikely or impossible events – as long as the author can make those events feel real. ‘What if’ is one of the most powerful engines to get a story going. What if my best friend turned out to be a spy? What if I could go invisible? What if there was buried treasure under my house and a gang of criminals found out about it? What if my dreams came true? Whether the story is a realistic one or a fantasy, whether it's serious or funny, children want to be able to satisfy that sense of wonder.

But the secret of writing a book that children want to read isn't to tick off these four things one by one. It's to get them all working together at the same time!

Picture Book Joy

I really can't believe it has been so long since I last posted I actually thought it had only been a week or two so my sincere apologies, in all that time I have not stopped reading but once again I am posting this on a Friday evening after a more hectic than ever week so once again I am indulging in my favourite past time of picture books and what a delight they have been. 

If you ever need to bring a smile to your face these books can really help, they are quite honestly disarmingly wonderful, simple yet complicated, intricate in their images yet just stunning to admire and books that make you want to shout out loud from the rooftops just how wonderful they and their creators are.  I could not get through my week without some gorgeous picture books to read and share and I defy anyone not to love at least one of what is to follow.

In no particular order what follows is a few of my thoughts on my small(!) pile of reading!

Ace Dragon Ltd is a collaboration between Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake a classic story published by Walker Books and a dream team collaboration of words and pictures that will have you laughing out loud.  This is an adventure in the sky, a story of a little boy and quite a big dragon.  It is a story about learning to believe that if you want to do something you need to try it, nothing is impossible (in the imagination at least) and you just never know where you might go, who you might become and why a bale of hay may be just the thing you need!

Little Bell and the Moon by Giles Paley-Philips and Iris Deppe is a gentle, warm and delightful bedtime story.  From its front cover  - a big round smiley moon holding hands with a little girl, you just know that this is going to be a very special adventure that will produce the sweetest of dreams and demand regular nightly reads. Its soft and muted pallet is the perfect relaxant and its simple but evocative words will lull the reader into a place of warmth and security in time for sleep.  Its subject - growing old - is rare and it is dealt with in a very sensitive way, charming, unusual and a delight, thank you Fat Fox for publishing this one.

Now for a splash of colour and perhaps even a splosh in the ocean join Mouse in a glorious rhyming sea adventure.  The Mouse Who Sailed the Seas by Amy Sparkes and Nick East (Egmont) is funny and silly a great book for sharing and for using to delight children with the idea of rhyme and great adventure going hand in hand.  Remember to look closely at the artwork too and see what Mouse really gets up to and discovers on his adventures - hours of fun!

Out of this world adventures are always fun to read and Space Walkies is one such book with a difference, here we have a dog in space!  Suspend disbelief for who knows, this could really happen ... however when Bailey the dog finds himself in space he may meet alien life but what he really thinks he would like is to have a walkie with his very own Orson again.  This title, by Robert Dunn, along with Fins Fluff and other Stuff by Bruno Merz and Dreda Blow are both in the QED Storytime series and offer a wonderful rhyming introduction to stories and their sharing.

This next one came in a noisy box - a clever marketing tool that really did get me looking at the book to see what all the noise was about. What did I find?  Nina Goes Barking Mad by Anita Pouroulis and Agata Krawczyk (Digital Leaf) is the mystery picture book story investigating the reason that Nina just won't stop barking but will Jules get to the bottom of all the noise before everyone is driven completely mad?  A silly, funny and lively story about one of the joys of having a pet!

Perhaps what Jules needed was Dinosaur Police by Sarah McIntyre (Scholastic) maybe they could have solved the problem but of course they are busy trying to save the day and the town from a very greedy T-Rex, exuberant fun!

Finally three delightful books from Andersen Press.  Go to Sleep Monty! by Kim Geyer is another lovely bedtime story but not in the way that you might expect.  The naughty culprit who won't go to bed in this one is actually a new puppy and we soon learn that whilst they may look cute they are not always the easiest of pets so just wait and see who it is that ends up going to bed!

Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni is a simple and muted yet lively book about learning how important it is to accept and be just who you are.  This story follows a little tadpole who becomes a frog and finds a new world opening up before his eyes.  But can a frog become a fish and should he?  A clever and insightful story told with great sensitivity.

The Little Bookshop and the Origami Army by Michael Foreman is perhaps a little bit of a favourite, being about bookshops which are of course akin to libraries!  Will the closing down of a bookshop in favour of a supermarket really be allowed to go ahead?  Can Hoey and Origami Girl come to the rescue with their army of characters?  Find out in this exuberant and important story all about the power of reading...

Stories to Enjoy

World Book Day has once again happened and whilst I am now looking forward to World Book night there is still time to celebrate books and stories and there are of course still the special £1 world book day books that we can all enjoy with our World Book Day vouchers, these of course could also be used as £1 off a book of choice and I have two books of choice for younger readers (and their parents) to share to begin with …

The Astonishing Case of the Stolen Stories by Anca Sandu (Random House) is a detective story with a difference.  In this story fox, cat and bear are the detectives.  They each know the theory of being a good detective but can they put the theory into practice when a call comes from the prince at the palace?  The prince’s bedtime stories have been stolen and he has called on the detectives to help him get them back.  Only it seems the prince is not alone in being the victim of this theft, all the books in the kingdom have been stolen, but who would do such a thing?  Join the three heroes on their quest for the stolen books, their discovery of a mystery hero and a new quest, to tell a new story as well as restore all the old ones.  This is the ultimate crime told with a delightful wit and some gorgeous, bright and funny illustrations.

The Story Machine by Tom McLaughlin (Bloomsbury) is another celebration of the art of storytelling but also about the power of drawing for we all know that most famous of phrases – ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’.  When Elliot finds a machine that he accidentally makes work - this machine has no on/off button, no flashing lights, nothing that Elliot is used to seeing – he is certainly surprised when it starts to make letters.   He soon discovers that letters make words that in turn make pictures and so he sets to work, creating stories.  What a clever machine this is that Elliot has found!  It is a story machine – or is it?  This delightful book is a charming and simple story, beautifully and fully illustrated, using a clever typewritten font and lots of imagination.  It will inspire its readers and help them to understand the delight not only of stories but of simplicity in a world of technology.

Then, if you have enjoyed these books there are of course many more to choose from, a great website that might help point you in the right direction (with the exception of Armadillo Magazine of course) is http://www.childrensbooksequels.co.uk/ a site that will help you to choose what to read next.

The next edition of Armadillo Magazine is in progress and will be live very soon, here you will find some great reviews of new books, inspiring reports and interviews too.  If you have not yet begun your 2014 reading journey then start it this week with a celebration of books and make sure to continue it from now on!

Reflections on Worlds of Books

World Book Day meant a busy week for me!  I know that sounds very odd but it is quite amazing how long it is possible to continue the celebrations for and this is also quite a wonderful thing for it means there can be a build up to the celebration and then a cementing of all the good it does as a result.

For me World Book Day was a visit to one of my school’s pre-preps and a morning spent with nursery children watching them parade in their costumes – their favourite book characters – reading stories, playing with finger puppets to bring the stories to life, and making character masks.  It was all great fun!

It was also a 'Big Book Swap'; children all donated one book in order to swap for another and to see the pleasure on their faces when they realised not only would they have freedom of choice but that the book they chose was then theirs to keep, was just priceless.

So World Book Day, thank you, for helping to create another buzz about reading and a renewed enthusiasm for the children, one that I hope will stay with them for the year to come.

I work hard to make sure there is a constant enthusiasm for books and reading the books that arrive in parcels for me each day of the week certainly help for the children are constantly curious about what lies within.  Being able to share with them, and with you through this Blog, the magazine and other social media outlets means that I can cover books from the mainstream publishers as well as those who are independent.  Hence today I bring you some short reviews of books from Blue Apple press.  These are charming, well produced and well-written books, one is a storybook the others are activity books, I recommend them all highly, each for a different reason, becoming clear as you read.

The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Travis Foster

For children who insist that things must be just so this is the perfect antidote!  Rosebud likes things to be just so and she is incredibly fussy – on the beach sand in her bathing suit means a change of clothes, snow in the snow boots? A change of shoes and so the story goes on.  When one night going to bed becomes a trial a fairy tale is called for... What will Rosebud learn as a result and will it make a difference?  A funny story with a strong message and a lovely version of a traditional fairy-tale too!

Doodle tom.  A Space Doodle Odyssey, illustrated by Elsie Gravel

Packed with more than 100 intergalactic drawing games, fun facts and even space stickers this is a book for the activity loving curious child.

Doodle Tom and Astrocat are on a mission; a space mission.  You can go too, with a pencil being all you need.  Start with the spaceship which you can trace, learn about how to boost in into space, and colour it in before you then turn over to find out some fascinating facts about flight and balloons the space race and even space exploration. 

Fly out to the planets, learn some amazing facts – did you know for example that Mercury was the closest planet to the moon or that the Earth moves at 66,700 miles per hour?

So much to learn and so many things to do ... I for one was captivated and sad that I had to leave the book for the children to enjoy!

Kokeshi Dolls, illustrated by Jessica Secheret

Ever heard of Kokeshi Dolls?  No nor had I until today ... Originating in Japan 200 years ago they are lucky charm dolls and nine of them are waiting in this book to be decorated by you!  Each doll has three pages of associated colouring scenes and there are four pages of stickers to use too!

Red Cat, Blue Cat by Jenni Desmond

Red Cat Blue Cat, two cats, jealous cats.  Helping children to recoginze the pitfalls of jealousy and the importance of being yourself this is a funny, clever story book for readers to share with parents or friends and family members.  Cat-lovers will love it, fans of humour will love it, I loved it, I think you will love it too!

These books are just a few examples of some of the many I receive but I wanted to share them with you as part of my consideration of world book day.  Remember to come back regularly for more thoughts on more new books and above all else remember to continue to be inspired by World Book Day, making each and every day a Book day!