Cathy MacPhail Book Week 2012

Everyone in Primary 6 and Primary 7, including the teachers!, were absolutely captivated by Cathy MacPhail on Friday 2nd March. She showed us the winning book trailer made by some S2 pupils for her book Out of the Depths, and read part of the story, a really creepy way to begin the session. It was fascinating to hear how she had come up with the idea to begin with, and then as she thought more about it and started writing, that it was not just a single book but a whole series about her main character Tyler Lawless, heroine to the unlawfully dead.Tyler can see dead people, and makes the mistake of telling people about what she sees until all her friends desert her, and she has to change schools as her crazy stories are causing so much trouble for everyone. The new school seems fine to start with, and then Tyler starts seeing people who aren't there, who cannot be seen by anyone else......

Tyler reappears in Secret of the Shadows.  This time the story is not set at school but during the summer as Tyler and her Great Aunt Bella are clearing out her Gran's house to sell it after her death.  Tyler's bedroom is incredibly cold, and the door keeps closing even when it has been propped open, and there is a feeling of being unwelcome here.  Aunt Bella falls ill, and Tyler is suspected of causing her illness, after all, no one believes a word she says about the evil presence lurking in the house.  This book has only just been published and it was very exciting to get our hands on a book which had not quite reached the shops yet!

Cathy encouraged everyone to come up with their own "what if?" moments.  The ideas for the haunted library and its disappearing pupils were great fun, but I will think twice about getting in a lift again.....

We all had a fantastic time and thank you to Cathy for giving us such a spine tingling author visit - with not a vampire or zombie in sight.

For more information, look  at www.cathymacphail.com

John Fardell Book Week 2012

John Fardell visited P5 and P3 on World Book Day, Thursday 1st March. John talked about how he builds his stories. Sometimes, it's a good idea for an adventure story like the Seven Professors of the Far North series. Sometimes, he builds up a story from pictures and doodles, then adds words to make a picture book story.  He read The Day Louis Got Eaten, and showed how the story developed from the first sketches and ideas.

In both sessions, John and the children created a story from pictures  - with different children drawing pictures, choosing names for characters and working out what could happen next.  There were some scary-looking monsters by the end of the story!

John talked about how he uses models to help get the pictures to look absolutely right. Everyone loved the model of the plane he used to draw the Silver Turtle aeroplane, photographs at different angles made drawing much easier.  Equally fascinating was the model of the rock-climbing machine invented by Louis' sister Sarah - lots of people wanted to know how that worked too.

Everyone enjoyed the day and many people went off with new ideas for story writing - brilliant!

Linda Strachan Book Week 2012

Linda Strachan visited our school on Wednesday 29th February to speak to Primary 1 and Primary 2.

Primary Two met Hamish McHaggis and his friends Rupert the hedgehog, Jeannie the osprey and Angus the pine marten. When Shona the squirrel comes to tell them the news that the young prince of the forest is lost, Hamish and the others set out in the Whirry Bang to help in the search.  All the woodland creatures are helping to look for the lost prince, but you'll never guess who managed to find him, and met someone very special at the same time!

Linda read Hamish McHaggis and the Skye Surprise to Primary One.  In this story, Hamish and his friends go to the island of Skye.  Jeannie the osprey has been on holiday and brought back lots of presents including a very special present for her brother. A surprise birthday party is being organised on the island. Things don't quite work out as Jeannie had planned, and it is up to Hamish and his friends - and the Whirry Bang! - to sort everything out.

We all had a marvellous time listening to stories and learning about how books are published and how many people it takes to get a book onto the shelves in a library or bookshop. Thank you to Linda for two excellent sessions!

Visit Linda's website www.lindastrachan.co.uk to find out more.

Allan Burnett - Book Week 2012

Primary Four children met Allan Burnett on Tuesday and were enthralled by his stories from Scottish history.  Did you know that Columba was responsible for the Loch Ness monster (probably)? Or that Robert the Bruce spoke four languages?

There were loads of fascinating facts to learn, all about the heroes and villains from Scottish history.  Primary four are just beginning to learn about the Scottish Wars of Independence, so they were keen to find out more.  Allan gave us a timeline to show how everything fits together, which always helps when you are trying to keep track of which king or queen was on the throne when!

We had a look at his new book which has stories about the Second World War, from people who lived and worked here in Scotland at the time. He also showed us the book Invented in Scotland - from the first indoor toilet at Skara Brae to computer chips!




Everyone really enjoyed this author visit.  Allan has left us with lots to think about and to research further.....  Thank you!


For more information on Allan's books, check the publisher's website www.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Allan-Burnett-67/  

Scottish Children's Book Awards 2011

The winners of the Scottish Children's Book Awards have been announced!  Children from all over Scotland vote for their favourite among the shortlisted books.  Children in P1, P2 and P3 have all voted this year for the books in the Bookbug category, for ages 0 - 7.  A small group of P5 children have been voting in the Books for Younger Readers category, for ages 8 - 11. To be able to vote, everyone had to read all three of the shortlisted books in their age category. So well done everyone!

Ross Collins has won the Bookbug category with Dear Vampa, a story about a family of vampires who are a bit worried by the strange habits of their new neighbours.  They stay awake all day and even lie outside in the sun!  They make so much noise the Pires can't sleep all day. Is there anything they can do to make things better?






Zac and the Dream Pirates by Ross MacKenzie was the winner in the  Younger Readers category. Zac and his grandmother are drawn into a different world where dreams - and nightmares - can come true. Zac and his new friends have to fight the Dream Pirates and their allies, a horde of werewolves and vampires, who try to turn good dreams to nightmares and use the power to take over the world. Zac could be too scared to go to sleep again - ever!



Nicola Morgan was the winner in the books for older readers category with Wasted, a young adult novel.

Look for more information here www.scottishbooktrust.com

Book Week 2012

Next week is Book Week here in Kingarth Street and everyone is really excited about all the things which will be happening.

We have a spectacular line-up of authors visiting to talk to all the children.
Linda Strachan will be with P1 and P2
John Fardell with P3 and P5
Allan Burnett with P4
Catherine MacPhail with P6 and P7

There are Olympic-themed reading challenges for every year group, paired reading sessions, voting for the Gold Medal laureate, a special World Book Day Assembly and, of course, everyone will receive their World Book Day  £1 book tokens.

Remember your book on Monday for our musical event - don't be late!

Red House Book Awards 2012

The winners of the Red House book awards have been announced!  This award is voted for by children who choose from a shortlist of titles in each category.

The winner in the category for younger readers is Liz Pichon for The Brilliant World of Tom Gates.  This story is really funny and should appeal to everyone who enjoyed the Wimpy Kid diaries. Things are not going particularly well for Tom, and at school the girl he most wants to impress just doesn't seem to notice.  Even his long-suffering teacher Mr Fullerton is getting annoyed.....

The picture book winner is Chris Wormell for Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice. One day a small scruffy bear meets six terrified white mice who are scared of the dark forest and all the  creatures that live there, including an owl, a fox and a slithery snake. Scruffy Bear has all kinds of clever ideas about how to keep them all safe.

The overall winner of the Red House Book Awards this year is Patrick Ness with his novel for older readers A Monster Calls, based on an idea by Siobhan Dowds.

Read more about the awards at www.redhouse.co.uk