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#HistFicThursdays - A Significant Day For A Significant Age

I don't write many older characters. I suppose age - as with most things - is relative in fiction. When I began writing The Watcher's Heir  (my will-be-finished-one-day high fantasy epic), I was still at school and my hero began the story aged 25, an age I could not imagine ever reaching but an age I thought would still be considered young by many. If I ever manage to finish and edit that story, I'll be extending his - and a few others' - age! Having grown older, I've realised the advantages and the benefits of age. Of course, it's a bit of a disappointment that I'm never asked for ID in the shop anymore, or that people assume I'm my younger sisters' mother(!). But, on the whole, the pros have far outweighed the cons. The biggest con in terms of writing, is that it's difficult not to put an old head on young shoulders. Looking through books - both my own and those written by other people - it is clear just how easy it is to slip into the "ol...

Happy World Book Day - Class Novel 2

As promised, here is my 2nd class novel suggestion for a primary school classroom. It has been tried and tested in my own classroom and the children loved it.

"Children of Green Knowe" by Lucy Boston is a really great story to read in the lead-up to Christmas.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

""Tolly" Toseland 7 is rowed up to great-gran Linnet Oldknow by servant Boggis - there has always been a Boggis at Green Knowe. The real "castle" is over 900 years old. Gran tells old family stories, and songs. Over the generations there have been many who can see, hear, and feel the ghosts, evoked by white-on-black illustrations. Toby 14, Alexander, and Linnet 6 linger after the Plague, as does the cursed topiary Green Noah."

While it is my policy to use the blurbs from Goodreads on my blog, quite frankly, I don't think this blurb does the book justice. It seems to have been written by someone who is trying to bring the book up to date. And, yes, the story is quite old fashioned but what is wrong with that? Sometimes we need a bit old-fashioned.

The children in my class really enjoyed this book, complete with animals, ghosts and a rather scary tree. There are some lessons to be drawn from this book and I will post the lesson plans tomorrow (Friday).

Happy World Book Day!

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