School Program Story by Tyrion Perkins Ailsa started by reading some of her popular Squishy Taylor series. The author used to be in the circus where she used acrobatics to tell stories and she took her experience of trust and fear and put them into how Squishy feel when out climbing on a wall. She talked about planning, writing and editing. “Did the publisher say it was done?” The year 3/4s were too smart, “No!” But I think they were shocked at the amount of purple notes sent by the editor. Ailsa then had the children close their eyes and listen to some upbeat, jazzy music. “Imagine a character you’ve never seen before.” “Stand up and move like your character.” Children gyrated, and loped and danced, then listed to different music for the setting. She led them in writing a fantastic group story about a shark-headed person on a pirate ship who has to get his hoes from land but he land is toxic and his shoes are 30k away. He comes up with a plan to build an aeroplane but toxic glowing rats are running around... Some of the class said they would continue the story.
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School, Family and Adult Program Story by Tyrion Perkins I still can’t believe there is a musical of Sigi Cohen’s and James Foley’s “My Dead Bunny.” And that’s after seeing it. Just two years ago I was hearing all about the funny/creepy book about a boy’s pet who comes back not quite right after death, and seeing the book trailer. Today I listened to the music and watched children around me tap their feet and even jig to some of the songs performed by That Production Company. It began with a bleak black and white set, the costuming and props matching the colour scheme of the book. The audience entered to the sound of creepy music that built up an atmosphere that lead to screams when lightning and thunder struck and Brad made his first appearance. The owner of Brad and his family sang the tail of how his poor pet met his electro-fried end, and how the boy came to dig him up. Brad was played by a large puppet when alive, and a silent but menacing Gary Farmer-Tricket in a green-tinged rabbit suit. The music was enjoyable. I particularly liked the one where Brad’s owner can’t sleep for the sounds of something “hopping down the hall.” The singers were all good, and the lead boy’s voice outstanding. We saw all the key moments in the book, with a few new events so it went for nearly an hour. The year five and six classes loved it, but I wouldn’t take the younger ones, as it is a bit scarier than the book. This stage version adapted by Cassandra Ramsay and Timothy Wynn with music and lyrics by Lizzie Flynn hits all the right notes. See it – if you dare... http://www.thatproductioncompany.com.au/ Family Program Story by Tyrion Perkins Animal Advocates took over Ipswich Library Mezzanine on Monday night when Samantha Wheeler and Rebecca Johnson arrived with bag loads of fluffy animals and other equipment. Samantha talked about the plight of wombats in South Australia which feature in her latest book, “Wombat Warriors.” She showed photos of the enormous burrows they dig on farms, and discussed what problems that those holes can cause the farmers and their animals. The young audience were horrified to hear the way the burrows are often dealt with and what it means for the wombats inside, and Sam discussed what alternatives there are and what the children could do to change what was happening. Rebecca Johnson, author of the two series, “Juliet Nearly a Vet” and “Vet Cadets,” lead a mini vet convention. Each child took a vet kit and animal and Rebecca showed them how and how to find a heartbeat and to use a stethoscope. She also discussed why a vet might need a notebook, what needles are for, and where is the best place to take an animal’s temperature. The children got to practice all the different things on their animals and it took a bit of working out where the essential organs are of some of the more unusual animals. But that is what a vet has to do! School Program Story by Tyrion Perkins Michael talked about where ideas come from. In his book “Just a Dog” he made the dog part Great Dane, but scared of thunder and the little cat next door. His idea of the dog being scared of a large pink panther toy came from his own nephew being scared of the toy. “I think I’m scared of that too,” said one of the boys. Michael had several dogs growing up and took stories from them such as him fainting at the vets, and one dog hiding under the garage floor and his father having to pull up the floorboards to get the dog out. That dog hid there to have puppies, but it made an interesting story for Mr Mosely. He showed us some of the illustrations and covers from different language versions. His book “Eric Vale” started with a typing mistake. His daughter thought it sounded like a character from one of his books. He also showed us how his son, Joe, illustrated the Eric Vale books, including some caricaturing Michael. Joe had to practice drawing the characters, then send them to the publisher to be approved. It was interesting to see their evolution. |
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