School for Bandits Events

I had a fab Saturday in Gloucestershire /Wiltshire with some keen young bandits... err readers! The morning was spent at the wonderful Yellow-Lighted Bookshop in Nailsworth- see the great window display pics. The shop looked like a glitter bomb had gone off after the mask and loot sack decorating workshop! Much fun was had by all.

In the afternoon I was in Malmesbury at the town hall, giving a talk and presenting certificates to those clever folk who had completed the library Summer Reading Challenge. Despite my rather poor attempt at drawing Ralph Racoon (Why is sketching on flip-charts so hard!?) I managed to sign lots of books and give out tonnes of chocolate coins. Thanks to librarian Carolyn Kennedy and her helpers for organising such a great event.

Bath Book Blog CHAPTER FIVE on September 16th

This is a post that is also available to view on my website here

If you need to catch up, you can always go back and see what has happened so far:
You’ll find Chapter 1 HERE, Chapter 2 HERE, Chapter 3 HERE and Chapter 4 HERE.

CHAPTER FIVE

Poor Scribble was propelled backwards by the vile stink with such force that he fell into a pile of rotten seaweed festering in the corner. Not wishing to annoy Moby Doris any further, he quickly grabbed his (now rather slimy) notebook and drew a diagram which looked a bit like this:

He tore out the page and whilst trying not to get too close, nervously presented it to Doris. “What is this!?” she spat, squinting at what Scribble had drawn. Scribble held his breath.

“NEPTUNE’S BEASTLY BOTTOM! I don’t believe it!” Moby Doris yelled, screwing up Scribble’s diagram and lobbing it at Mr Catch’s head. “The milky-way has a lot to answer for! That blasted sun of ours did the very same thing, fell right out of the sky, the sea turned hotter than a microwaved pasty! It happened ever such a long time ago when I was a young, beautiful mer-girl…” Her face softened as a wistful smile replaced her angry scowl “Oh yes, I was very beautiful you know, all the sailors loved me, many a man would drown trying to woo me…”

“Ah hem” coughed Mr Catch turning prawn-pink once more. Doris fixed Mr Catch with a beady glare that could have wilted a sea cabbage “Don’t you start…” she growled. … Err… Ms Moby… Scribble interjected, writing frantically You said the sun fell out the sky and into the sea, how on earth did they manage to get it out? “THAT is a VERY good question” exclaimed Doris, scratching her barnacles. “Let me dredge my memory, as you can imagine it’s rather watery” She fell silent and in the minutes that followed Scribble could hear an erie creaking sound echoing around the town. It was like a rusty ship’s hulk slowly sinking but he knew it wasn’t a ship at all, it was the moon.

“AH HA! I’ve got it!” Doris leapt out of her chair, her shells, hooks and weights clattering. Throwing off her old blanket, she waddled over to a cupboard and pulled out a small dusty wooden chest. Then Scribble and Mr Catch watched in horror as Doris took out her teeth, reached inside her mouth and after some rooting around… produced a shining silver key.

Doris shoved the chest and key into Scribble’s arms and pushed him and Mr Catch outside.“You’ll find the answer in that chest! Now LEAVE me alone!” she muttered before slamming the door and leaving distinct waft of raw sewage and fish guts in her wake.

——-

Oooh Errr… the next installment will be found HERE on 18 September by Carly Bennett of Writing From the Tub

Monsters!

I've recently been drawing some funny monsters for a very special monster project organised by the Ministry of Stories. More news to follow on this soon but in the meantime- have a peek at this!

Bath Festival Big Blog Story

Watch out for my contribution next week... here is the press release:

The Bath Festival of Children’s Literature is launching a unique collaborative storytelling event on Thursday 8 September featuring well known authors and bloggers. There are 20 collaborators in the project including authors Marcus Sedgewick, John Boyne and Annabel Pitcher who will be appearing in the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature Festival, 23 September- 2 October. The story will be written in real-time with readers following the trail as it moves from blog to blog, with an addition to the story being posted at each stop.

The story will run from 8 September – 16 October with the first installment being posted on the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature blog http://bathkidslitfest.wordpress.com/ where readers can click through to the next installment. Every other day a new piece of the story will be posted and as it is being written in real-time it has the potential to touch on any genre imaginable.

Big Blog Story Schedule

8 September Bath Festival of Children’s Literature

10 September Robin Etherington

12 September Annabel Pitcher

14 September Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

16 September Hannah Shaw

18 September Writing From the Tub

20 September Lauren Kate

22 September Marcus Sedgewick

24 September Alan Gibbons

26 September John Boyne

28 September Catherine Bruton

30 September Achuka

2 October Samantha Mackintosh

4 October An Awfully Big Blog Adventure

6 October Kate Maryon                                     

8 October Barry Hutchinson

10 October My Favourite Books

12 October Joanna Nadin

14 October LA Weatherly

16 October Bath Festival of Children’s Literature

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop - NEW kids event, Nailsworth

Why not bring your kids along for a great fun packed SCHOOL for BANDITS morning. There will be all sorts of crafty activities!
For more details contact: The Yellow-Lighted Nailsworth direct on 01453 832555