School Program Story by Danielle Freeland On Monday, Shamini Flint had us wide eyed at the Old Courthouse in Ipswich yesterday. She regaled us with tales of school in Malysia in the 1970’s where you would get hit on the knuckles if you made a mistake and made to run around the oval in your underwear if you forgot your sports uniform. Despite, or because, of these challenges and conflict with her parents, she grew up in a tumultuous environment. To escape the drama, she used to get up in the middle of the night and watch soccer on TV by herself on a black and white TV. This was the beginning of a love affair with sport. Shamini learned everything there was to know about soccer even though she never even had a ball to practice with. After a while, she decided she was going to be the greatest soccer player in the world. The fly in the ointment was she didn’t have a ball. She asked her parents, but they said girls don’t play soccer. She asked her Grandma for a ball but she said she couldn’t believe Shamini was her granddaughter. She was then told to do the things the other girls did which was to learn cooking and sewing. Unlike most authors, Shamini prefers to write mainly from experience – even if it is a little exaggerated at times. She says it is a great therapy to relive some of the tortured moments of her childhood and to exact revenge on those that tormented her. In fact, she’s written 48 books in 13 years. Her love of sports drove her to write many of these with sports themes. She did eventually buy a soccer ball and she insisted her two kids play sports. Her book, Ten, is about her desire to be a soccer player and starting a girls’ soccer team.
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School Program Story by Danielle Freeland At Ipswich’s Old Courthouse today, Richard Newsome met with Bethany Lutheran 6A and Ipswich Junior Grammar 6A and 6B classes. The group held their breath as he showed us a photo of himself at the age 10. He then explained that this was the age he first developed his love of writing. It all started when his teacher gave him a notebook and said he wanted him to fill it with a story. He said he still prefers to write on paper because he likes the way the graphite pencil feels sliding across the page. We were lucky enough to find out a couple of his trade secrets. He told us he never rubs anything out, but prefers to cross out what he doesn’t want or stick on a post-it-note. Sometimes, he goes back to those crossed out sections and uses them later. He also told us about how he writes a novel. First, he fills a notebook. Then, when it’s full, he types it up. The job’s still not done, however, he reviews it page by page before giving it to an editor. When he’s happy with it, he hands it to an editor who makes even more changes. He said of the 1798 pages he’s written only two haven’t had any editorial marks on them. Richard also let us in on another secret. He said if you follow these three steps it will solve all your NAPLAN story writing problems. He said to have a great story every time you need to make sure your characters do these three simple things:
He also talked about ideas and said they can come from anywhere – so look out for them. Richard Newsome has written many books since his first debut - The Billionaire’s Curse which are being read around the world. His favourite colour is Green. His favourite food is Cheese. You can find out more interesting facts like these on his blog at http://www.richardnewsome.com/ School Program Story by Danielle Freeland At Ipswich RSL today, David Lowe gave a dynamic presentation to 3L from West Moreton Anglican College and Amberley District State School 4/5 DE classes. He dazzled us with his dad jokes, a rhyming quiz and a Treasure hunt. Humour was the order of the day mingled with facts. I learned how to tell how old a whale is. I don’t need to go to a whale-weigh station. I just need to look in his ear to see how much wax is in the whale’s ear. I also learned Dave is a completely brilliant story teller whose books have been translated into Hungarian, French, Brazilian, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek and German. When Dave was young he really, really wanted a pet. He ended up with . . . a little brother. Then, he had two kids to bug his parents for a pet. His parents gave in and they had two pets, Janey and Paddy. Unfortunately, late one night, his Dad left the cage door open and they went on a long holiday. He begged his parents for a pet once again, but all he got was . . . another baby brother. Eventually, after more pleading, his parents gave in and he was given a hamster called Flavour. This little guy was really only good at four things: sleeping, running on the wheel, nibbling on food and poohing. Flavour inspired Dave to write his inspiration for his series Stinky and Jinks featuring Stinky - a genius hamster, who likes carrots. There are six books in the series including: My Hamster’s got Talent, and My Hamster’s a Spy. He has a great website where you can find out more about Stinky and Jinks and his other books such as The Incredible Dadventure. Look out for fun printable activities on his home page at www.davelowebooks.com/ School Program Story by Danielle Freeland Hattonvale Sate School 5B and 6A had a real treat yesterday when they met with Coral Tulloch at the Old Court House at Ipswich. Coral, who was born in Melbourne, but now lives in Hobart, Tasmania studied fine art in Sydney, Prague and Italy. Her books are a visual feast. She also loves experimenting with art and has been known to let a tomato rot on a piece of paper just to see what shapes the juices makes as it decays. Coral showed us some of her gorgeous illustrations. Phasmid, about the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect thought to be extinct, depicts a wash of tranquil images including the wind depicted as a face blowing air onto the page. In One Small Island, she helps us discover a remote and precious World Heritage Site in the Sub Antarctic. In The Journey, she showed us a diagram of what people thought the world looked like when it was flat, games and maps. The detail of the maps in this book are exquisite. After this, Coral handed out paper and boards for the kids to draw. To start, she encouraged them to draw one line. Ever so gently, she asked them to turn that line into a river. Then a boat, a cook, a captain, and the picture began to grow. She exhorted the kids to use their imaginations and have great fun with it. Before they knew it, they had created a wonderful scene of adventure on the water. Kids flocked around her at the end to show her their drawings. Her encouraging words flowed like honey. The kids beamed at her praises. |
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