Potion Devotion

This week Goldstone’s Year 3 have brewed the most potent of tonics in Guy’s potion project….

Hm, seems like all this superb sideshow silliness has given me an appetite – and nothing satisfies my hunger like a tasty bowl of challenge soup…

By now, you’re all so immersed in the world of Castle Grotteskew you might as well be mad professors. Or perhaps you already are.

So, your not-quite-but-nearly final challenge is to create your own powerfully potent potion! Here are some things to consider:

 

– Is it a monster-making or creation-curing concoction? Is it something Professor Erasmus might create in his lab or would you more likely find it in Stitch Head’s dungeon?

– What is the potion‘s desired effect?

– What exactly is your potion made from? It should have at least five (but no more than five hundred) incredible ingredients.

– What’s the name of your potion?

 

Don’t forget to include a picture of the bottle, complete with label!

Good luck!

Cheers,

Guy

P.S. Have yourselves a DINGLE DANGLE!

Should author / illustrator not take the fancy of some of Year 3’s we think that a prosperous career in the world of pharmaceuticals or mad professors might just work out…their potion’s are positively perfect!

Pupil’s Josh and Ben shared some designs….

We’ve dingled and we’ve dangled till we’re feeling rather dizzy.

We created and mixed, squashed, squished and splatted until the potions are complete.

We’ve got the epilogue to read so we are really hoping that Stitch Head is remembered. Arabella is hopefully a friend to Stitch Head. We really enjoyed the way she speaks and we often call her Angrybella which makes us laugh. Another name for Angrybella is Arolella.

We have enjoyed the book a lot. I, (Ben) think this is my favourite book yet. The monster is the funniest character in the book (Josh).

See you soon. Have yourself a Dingle Dangle back!

Josh and Ben

We love Arthur’s explosive spray – the hand-grenade bottle is inspired! Top marks to the name Smell and Yell (lol!) and Ewan your potion that turns nice monsters into ferocious monsters – ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING!!!! They are all brilliant and terrifying and gruesome and I hope never to find such a potion in my bathroom cabinet!

Well done Goldstone Year 3 – super work!

Team AAA x

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Roll up, roll up! All the fear of the Carnival!

We left Goldstone last week with the promise of an excellent next task and Year 3 certainly did not disappoint! Shall we see what they have been up to??? Guy set them a creepy carnival challenge…

So, as you know, Fulbert Freakfinder is desperate to recruit Stitch Head as the star of his Carnival of Unnatural Wonders. He goes to great lengths to convince Stitch Head he could be a star, including creating a poster, featuring Stitch Head as the main attraction.

I want you to create your own poster for Fulbert Freakfinder’s Carnival of Unnatural Wonders. It can feature Stitch Head and / or Doctor Contortion, Madame Moustache and the Topsy Turvy Twins OR your very own uniquely freakish attraction / character / star of the show, to pull in hordes of punters! Your job is to make the carnival look as exciting as possible, so that Freakfinder gets loads of visitors and doesn’t go out of business…

Good luck! Can’t wait to see your posters.

Speak soon, and, as if I need to say it, Have yourselves a DiNGLE DANGLE…

Guy

What monstrous, unnatural beings might Year 3 have created? They explored the depths of their imaginations and set about creating some grotesque creatures – the stuff of nightmares!!! Dare we have a look…….

 

Hi Guy,

I’m Emily and I’m very pleased to be writing to you.

I really liked your challenge and I think it was very competitive. I thought about Fulbert and how horrible he was, so I drew him with a duck body. I renamed him Duckbert. Thinking about it makes me laugh.

I have found the story very funny and when we’ve acted it out, I have played the part of the Creature. Mr Lessel’s thought my performance was very funny because of the voice that I used. I was madder than Professor Erasmus.

Hope Chapter 14 is even better.

Emily

DUCKBERT! We love it! That’s seriously funny Emily, we’re in STITCHES!

 

Guy was suitably impressed and a little FREAKED OUT!

Emily … Creations of Year 3 … brave souls of Chuggers Nubbin – Roll up, roll up!

Thanks for your incredible posters – I had a whale of a time inspecting them in all their gruesomely grotesque glory. I loved how much variety there was in terms of composition and content – especially the new characters you threw in there. Some of my freakish favourites were:

THE GYMNASTIC KITTENS!

MR MOHAWK! (He will mess your trousers until they come off)

THE HIDEOUS MR BONE! (He could bite your guts out)

THE SPLITTING SKULL! (It will mess you up for life)

THE TERRIFYING THREE ARMED CREATURE THAT IS THE SIZE OF A BEAR!

And, possibly most nonsensically nightmarish of them all…

FOOT BODY!

(On a side note, Stitch Head began almost-life as an idea called An Arm and a Leg. One of the two main characters, Leg, had a foot for a body! More on that later…)

Sounds to me like the greatest show on Earth! So, “Roll up! Roll up! We’ll make you crack up!” “Come to Brighton for a trouser messing show!” “You’ll never forget your panic!” “Just one penny a peek!”

After all, as Cousin Bob puts it, it’s “Really really really really really really really really really really really really COOL!”

…

Hm, seems like all this superb sideshow silliness has given me an appetite – and nothing satisfies my hunger like a tasty bowl of challenge soup…

By now, you’re all so immersed in the world of Castle Grotteskew you might as well be mad professors. Or perhaps you already are.

So, your not-quite-but-nearly final challenge is to create your own powerfully potent potion! Here are some things to consider:

– Is it a monster-making or creation-curing concoction? Is it something Professor Erasmus might create in his lab or would you more likely find it in Stitch Head’s dungeon?

– What is the potion’s desired effect?

– What exactly is your potion made from? It should have at least five (but no more than five hundred) incredible ingredients.

– What’s the name of your potion?

Don’t forget to include a picture of the bottle, complete with label!

Good luck!

Cheers,

Guy

P.S. Have yourselves a DINGLE DANGLE!

We can’t wait to see what Year 3 concoct! Until next time!

Team AAA x

6L’s Superb Storyboarding

We’ve caught up with the wonderful work that 6L have been producing for their adoptive author Ross Montgomery! A few weeks ago he explained the importance of planning each chapter of your book and asked the class to create some storyboards…

You’ve each designed an alien and started describing it. Eventually you’ll be putting your alien in a short bit of writing – but for now, we’re going to plan it. Planning is essential if you want to be a writer – often it helps you realise that the idea in your head won’t work as you thought! I normally plan my story out by typing out what happens in each chapter, but seeing as you’re all such excellent artists you’re going to be making a storyboard instead.

1. Start by diving your sheet of paper up into 9 boxes – three lines of three. You could always do more/less, but 9 is a good place to start! If Miss Liddle prefers, she could give you a printed sheet with 9 panels on it already.
2. Your story is going to be about a child who finds an alien near where they live. It could be they find it in their house, or on the way home from school, or when they go exploring in a forest. The choice is yours!
3. In the first three panels, set up your story – why is your character doing before they stumble upon their alien? Add bits of dialogue if you want, but this is a storyboard so it doesn’t need much.
4. In the next three panels, your character is going to discover their alien. This will be an important part of your story, so make sure it’s a surprising or magical moment! How would your character react – terrified? Entranced? Delighted? Disgusted? Remember the alien you designed – if they’re scary then your character will probably be petrified!
5. In the last three panels, you’re going to show what happens next – we don’t have to finish the storythough! Does you main character become friends with the alien and try to hide him/her? Does the alien ask your main character for help? Is your story a horror story and the alien chases your main character away? The choice is yours – but remember, this is only the beginning of a longer story. It could always be a single chapter later on!

It’s safe to say 6L created some amazing storyboards, I think there’s a few budding graphic novelists in our midst! We’ve picked a few of our favourites…

Amelia

Caitlin

Ellie

Freya S

Jack

Lauren

William

Dear 6L,

Thank you so much for sending on your storyboards! I loved looking through these – there’s was such a variety of different ideas and story directions. I’m also busy writing at the moment – I’ve been given two books back by my publishers (TWO!) and need to have them completely finished by Wednesday, so I’m working like a maniac. Perhaps I might even be able to read some of them to you when I see you!

• Amelia: I LOVED the Amazon joke in this! Properly made me laugh. Can’t wait to read more of your funny story!
• Caitlin: I can tell you’re a fan of comic books – your drawings are lovely and you’ve chosen to “frame” each scene really well.
• Ellie: …And the same goes for Ellie! This looked exactly like a real comic to me instead of just a storyboard. I’m intrigued by your mysterious alien!
• Freya: This alien is adorable! I love how you set the scene with snow outside as well – this will work really nicely when you write your story.
• Jack: What a story! It’s got a sad beginning and tons of destruction – just my kind of thing! However I DO want to find out more – about how Kia sadly dies, and how Peritron is killed – make sure you leave room for those details!
• Lauren: I’m fascinated by your strange and wonderful alien! I also love how many different languages you know as a class – my girlfriend is currently learning Greek so we have lots of post-it notes with Greek words stuck up all over the flat, so it was lovely to see them used here…
• William: …and then I see a story filled with kanjis too! You may well find this becomes useful for the last chapter of PERIJEE & ME (I’m also intrigued by frame 7 of your story – what’ stopping him going back in the house?!

For your next task, we’re going to combine the two different bits of work you’ve done so far – the descriptions of your aliens and your storyboard.

 

Oooooh we’re intrigued for the next challenge – can’t wait to see them! Until next time Ross & 6L!

Team AAA x

 

Goldstone’s Great Cover Art!

Last week Goldstone’s adopted author Guy Bass received a lovely email from Faiza sharing what she thought of his book Stitch Head and some of their brilliant book covers below!

Hi Guy,

My name is Faiza. We have read up to chapter 8 in your book and the whole of Year 3,including me, LOVE IT! We have all finished drawing and colouring our covers so we are sending a few of them to you to see what you think about them.

My favourite part of the story so far is when Fulbert Freakfinder came back into the story. I like how you get to the point of the story at the right time.

I also find it really funny how the creature talks and his character. I wonder if Professor Erasmus will remember Stitch Head at a point of the story and be best friends with him again…

We hope you have a nice weekend,

From me, Year 3 and

Claire Winter

Year 3 teacher and Year Group Leader

 

 

So many fantastic Stitch Head book covers! Team AAA think there’s a few budding book designers amongst Year 3! Here are Guy’s thoughts…

Hi Faiza (and all the creations of Year 3),

Hope you’re had a cracking weekend, and this week is turning out to be the best ever.

So, I LOVE your covers. They’re fantastic! Lots of variety in composition and colouring, and it was great to see some of the other characters (as well as a few new ones) thrown in there. I love the fact that Creature, Arabella and Fulbert Freakfinder make a few appearances, and all the new monsters are fabulously foul.

One cover in particular impressed me though. After the first Stitch Head book came out, I talked to the publishers about subsequent covers might look, and one idea I had was an extreme close-up of Stitch Head’s face, blending into shadow. Basically it looked exactly like this in my head:

So well done to whoever read my mind….! Nice one.

Oh and to add to the excitement, and the Stitch Head illustrator, Pete Williamson popped over today, so I showed him your work – he was very impressed! He especially loved the blood dripping eyeballs and the hanging spiders, so well done to whoever did those.

Well done everyone!

Team AAA x

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

That quote is by American writer Toni Morrison – great words!

This is a fitting quote for Stanford Juniors’ next task set by their adopted author, Ross Montgomery …

By now you’ve invented an alien, and used similes and evocative language to describe different parts of it. 

 

Read either pp. 29-32 (Perijee turning into a person) or pp. 68-70 (Perijee appearing in front of Caitlin’s parents) – depending on how far you’ve got in the book! In these short extracts, we see Perijee changing and the effect it has on people. Try and spot some examples of similes and descriptive language I’ve used.

 

YOUR next step is to pretend you’ve written a whole book about your alien. You’re going to write the scene where your alien first appears!

 

RULES

 

1. You don’t need to write a whole story – just one short scene. A few paragraphs should be enough. You don’t need to come up with a whole backstory, or an explanation where this alien has come from.

 

2. In the scene, your narrator is going to discover your alien. You can write it in first person – e.g. “I gasped in shock” – or third person if you prefer – e.g “Daisy gasped in shock”. The choice is yours!

 

3. Start by imagining a good place for your alien to be discovered – it should depend on how you want the scene to “feel”. If you want the scene to be scary, a good place would be a barren forest in the middle of the night – perhaps your narrator is trying to find his/her way home through the fog with a flashlight when they stumble across the alien. If you want the scene to be awe-inspiring, maybe the narrator could go exploring an old abandoned cave and find it there. 

The options are endless: it could be in a foul stinking sewer, the narrator’s bedroom, a dusty old shed at the bottom of a garden… think about what works for your alien, and what you would enjoy writing!

 

4. First of all, take a sentence or two to describe the setting. This is a good way to build up a sense of how the reader should feel when they’re reading – scared, amazed, confused…

EXAMPLE 1: I crept through the dark, dismal corridor, my heart pounding with terror in my chest.

EXAMPLE 2: Jeremy walked mesmerised through the sunlit trees, towards the glade where the haunting music was playing…

 

5. When your narrator sees the alien, take a few sentences to describe the alien. This bit should be easy – you’ve already done the hard work! Look at the sentences you came up for your alien and choose the ones you think are most effective. You don’t need all of them – three or four should be enough. 

Make sure you choose a good mix so we get a “picture” in our head – it would be a pity if all three descriptions were about your alien’s feet, for example!

Feel free to alter or improve your descriptions if you think they could be better – you may have come up with some new ideas over the last few weeks!

 

6. Last of all, make it clear how the narrator feels after seeing the alien. Are they terrified? Amazed? Disgusted? Delighted? Does the alien know it’s been seen – do they talk to each other? The choice is yours!

 

I look forward to seeing your ideas! Remember, these passages don’t need to be long – it’s better to write something short and punchy than something long and boring!

 

Have fun and speak soon,

 

Ross

x

Well as we know, Stanford Juniors are a very creative lot and have approached Ross’ idea from a different angle – before they begin writing their first scene, the class have created a storyboard to help them plan their first draft. How organised!

Ross seemed impressed by this initiative and responded:

Hello Year 6s,

I loved your work this week! I wasn’t expecting to see comic strip storyboards, but it really helped show off and structure your ideas (and drawing skills!) When I write, I usually have to plan out every chapter in detail before I get started – it can be really tough but is vital if you want to make sure your writing’s going to be the best it can be. I particularly liked Suzi-Anne’s terrifying alien getting annoyed at being called ugly, and Ruby’s duplicating aliens being shoved in the wardrobe!

Speak soon,

Ross

Where does a fish keep its money? In a riverbank!

Woodingdean have sent off their drawings of animals to Gary and they are pretty wonderful, have a peek below!

Dear Gary

We have all sorts of pets in our class. Some of us have cats, some have dogs. There are also fish, chinchillas, gerbils, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, chickens and tortoises. Finley doesn’t have any pets but he wishes he had a pet koala, Anya would like some chickens, Teddy would like a bear (his name IS Teddy).

We really enjoyed drawing the animals and have learnt a lot about drawing cartoons. Rabbits were particularly popular to draw as its Easter. We have attached some of the best drawings for you to look at.

We can’t wait to meet you!

4PA

Leona

Teddy

Jasmine

Naima

Ivy May

Anya

Mason

Easter is over, tummies are full of chocolate and everyone is rested, so we are back to Julius Zebra! Gary has decided to ramp up these fab illustrations to the next level, read on and find out what the next task is:

Hello everybody!

I hope you had a fun Easter break!

Thank you for your BRILLIANT (as always) drawings! You have crazy pets!!!

This week, I’d like you to draw your pets as GLADIATORS! I’ve attached two sheets to help you. There are helmets, weapons, shin pads, all sorts of things! Also, have a flick through the book to see if there’s any other types of armour or weapons you’d like to dress your pet up in.

Anyway, good luck dressing up your pets and I can’t wait to see the results!

Gary

Gladiators and Interior Designers

Last week, Patcham Juniors took descriptions from their book ‘Hero’ by their adopted author Sarah Lean and designed the main character, Leo’s bedroom! Well, needless to say, Sarah was pretty impressed. She said:

Thank you for showing me some of your work. Yes, Leo would have gladiator posters and glow in the dark stars in his bedroom and you have summed him up really well. Bertie is right that Leo is fairly shy, and as Laura wrote, he doesn’t like football. Leo does like to learn as Lilly mentioned, and he has a BIG imagination which he exercises all the time, which is what Grace so perfectly wrote.

The drawings were lovely, with great details from Dayna and I especially liked Nicole’s gladiator duvet cover. Oliver’s picture had a super 3D sense with the way he drew the furniture – are you a budding artist? I was very interested that Alfie said gladiators were like knights (you will find out why at the end of the book) and also that Herbie mentioned Leo might look like someone at school!

My favourite comment was from Sid – yes, daydreaming is just like writing stories. It’s why I love my job. I can daydream while I’m walking with my dogs and think about stories, and the more I exercise my imagination, the bigger it seems to get!

Well done everyone.

Sarah next task is an interesting one. Its inspired by the idea of peer pressure.

When I’m thinking about a character and their story I also think about who is going to be reading the book and the kinds of things that go on in their lives. So, this week I wondered if you’d like to have a discussion about Peer Pressure… (based around Chapters 5 and 6 of HERO)

To be a gladiator, Leo would have to carry a sword and defeat the gladiator of old. But actually Leo wants to be the kind of person that he thinks a gladiator is. Leo says, “I wanted other people to think I was brave, strong and worthwhile.” (p68)

What kind of person is Leo trying to be?

How could someone become brave, strong and worthwhile?

What kind of person would you like to be? (Calm, patient, loving, bold, courageous…)

As you may have read, Leo thinks he has to impress other people by doing the things that they do.

Warren says to Leo, “Thing is, some of us still aren’t sure you’ve got what it takes to hang out with us. You’re going to have to prove yourself first.” And then Warren tells Leo to push a mobility scooter into the pond. (p66)

Does Leo become a gladiator by pushing the scooter into the pond?

Do you think he is being brave, strong and worthwhile by doing this? If not, what kind of person is he being?

Why do you think Leo sinks the scooter even though it doesn’t feel right?

What would you have said to Warren if he had asked you to sink the scooter?

Maybe you could write a few lines about the kind of person you would like to be or, if you were Leo, what you would say to Warren.

 

Woodingdean are a bunch of comedians!

Remember Gary sent a joke to his class in his first email? Well they responded with some very funny ones…

We love cats and have some good jokes for you:

Q: What do you call a nocturnal cat?

A: A meeowl

(Dana)

Q:What’s the best way to describe a cat?

A: Purrrrfect

(Jasmine O)

Q: What do you call a tall cat?

A: Top cat

(Teddy)

This week, Gary has set the class quite the task. They have to draw their own animal using a similar technique to how the class drew their version of Julius – using shapes first then adding the detail.

I would like you to draw a shape for the head, a shape for the body, draw arms and legs, add a nose, eyes, ears and a tail, then add a pattern or texture. you could draw a cartoon based on your pet, or any animal you like. But if you break it down into these easy stages, you will find it extremely easy. I’ve included some drawings as suggestions for shapes etc.

Next week we’ll dress up your character!

Woodingdean, Stanford Juniors, Patcham Juniors and Carden Primary say a ginormous ‘GOOD DAY’ to you!

Its the first week of the project and each class have received their first emails from their authors!

Woodingdean have said ‘ALOHA!‘ to their author Gary Northfield…

Hello!

I’ve been zipping around the country the last few weeks, telling everybody about Julius Zebra, reading from the book and showing them how I draw Julius. The jokes were brilliant lots of school children from all over the country told their favourite jokes.

Here’s one of the winners:

Knock knock!
Who’s There?
Interrupting cow!
Interrupting co…
MOOOOO!!!!!!!

ANYWAY! Who wants to learn how to draw JULIUS ZEBRA? Good!
When I draw my cartoon characters, I find it much easier to draw them by breaking up the character up into easy, manageable shapes. This way, it doesn’t seem very hard to draw at all. I’ve attached a worksheet which shows you how to draw Julius ready to fight as a gladiator!

aaaaaaand here are class 4PA drawing away and look at the results! Gary might have a team of illustrators on his hands..

 

   

you all in 4PA should be proud of yourselves, Julius has never looked finer!

 

Author Sarah Lean has cried a humongous ‘HIYA!’ to her class at Patcham Juniors…

A CONVERSATION WITH A DOG

When Harry was a puppy, I trained him to sit quietly in a basket on my bike. He also used to jump up on my seat where I had been writing when I went to make a cup of tea. I often pretended that he was talking to me and had something to say.

What do you imagine Harry might be saying in these photographs?

Ross Montgomery,  a tremendous WAVE to his class at Stanford Juniors from little old London…

Hi everyone!

I’m very excited to be sending you the first of my weekly emails. Mr Persaud tells me that you’re going to be working hard to send me some excellent pieces of writing and insightful questions! In return, I’ll do my best to come up with some fun activities to help you with your own writing, and on the way I’ll try not to mispeeell any wodrs.

 

By now, I’m sure you’ll have read some of my new book PERIJEE & ME. It was only published last Thursday, so you lucky lot have had a head-start on the rest of the country! 

 

In order to help the reader visualise Perijee, I used two SIMILES to describe him – can you find them? Why do you think I compared Perijee to these things – what do you think is the point of using similes? 

 

REMEMBER: if your alien is scary, then you should compare it to things that are scary!

 

GOOD EXAMPLE: The alien’s eyes were as red as erupting volcanoes.

BAD EXAMPLE: The alien’s eyes were as red as nice juicy tomatoes.

 

Marcia Williams has shouted a gigantic ‘GREETINGS’! to Carden Primary and have a few questions for Marcia to answer on her return from Dubai (sneak peak below)…

Georgie

Who is your favourite female author and why?

Scarlett

If you could go back in time and meet 5 famous historical characters who would you pick and why?

Maddie

When you go to libraries or book shops are you ever tempted to move your books so everyone can

see them?

Hoorain

Are you a Harry Potter fan?

Emma

Did you like history at school? If not, what inspired you to write/illustrate historical books?

Seleyna

Who is your favourite woman through history and why?

Nahima

What encouraged you to become an author/illustrator and why?

Amy

Who is your least favourite historical character and why?

Eva

If you were stranded on a desert island and only had two historical people for company who would

you choose and why?

 

Summer J

Do you still keep a diary? If so, what do you write about?

Archie’s War – Snappy comments from Mile Oak!

 So Mile Oak have finished their first (of two) books- “Archie’s War” by Marcia Williams. They emailed Marcia before half term to tell her what they thought along with some fantastic illustrated book reviews!

“This book is amazing, it is definitely one of my favourite books.” – Amy

“We love the victory day page. It’s colourful, bright and just amazing!”-  Jess and Sophia

“Georgie is the cutest dog ever and it’s the best book…Can’t wait to meet you.” – Hermione

“I’m sad that the book is over because it was brilliant.” – Jess

“I’m quite sad that the books is over because we won’t be able to write questions about it anymore.” – Josh

“I’m looking forward to the second book because I’ve enjoyed the first one.” – Maggie

“Your book has inspired me to do cartoons in my scrap book.” – Sophia S

“The book was so excellent I wish there were more chapters.” – Owen

“The book was very good and I really enjoyed it” – Moad

“You were very generous to give us permission to read the books and I am so excited to start the new book.” – Antonia

And below are the fantastic book reviews by Owen, Sophia S, Ethan, Antonia and Connor, lets wait and see what they think of the next book after Easter!