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Buy this book! Image copyright by the owners. ARTiculate Bulletin wc.14.3.16 Bambert's Book of Missing Stories This story is not just a book of writing. It is a book about writing. Bambert lives a lonely, detached life with only Mr Bloom the greengrocer and the characters in his stories – The Book of Wishes - for company. Not convinced he knows enough of the world to make his writing believable, he sets his stories free on paper lanterns to find the characters and settings they deserve. In brief: Have you tried?  Ideas for talking and thinking : How do writers write? That is the question and this book gives you the starting point for a discussion about where ideas come from. Ideas for writing : Collaborate as a class or with another school on creative story writing. Ideas for art : Give your stories wings by building paper lanterns.       If you try any of the ideas I'd love to see the work your children produce! ...

This week's bulletin features creative ideas for In The Attic by Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura. It is a real gem and the perfect basis for a whole class literacy and art project. If you try any of the ideas I'd love to see the work your children produce. To request this in pdf format, please join the mailing list by clicking here and sending me your details. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In The Attic by Hiawyn Oram & Satoshi Kitamura -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The boy has a million toys and is bored. So, he takes himself off up the ladder to the attic and finds a hidden universe that is full of unexpected creatures, doors to new worlds and a wealth of imaginative possibility. Funnily enough, his house does not have an attic. But maybe you just haven't found the ladder yet. ---------------------------------------------------------...

This workshop was an excellent introduction to empathy in children's literature and a great way for children to explore the skills and processes used by real author-illustrators.   What a great way to end the week! Spending some creative time with some Year 4 children at their school in Leeds today! Today, we got our teeth into the curious tale of Little Beauty  by Anthony Browne. Not all is as it seems at this 'special' zoo - home to one lonely but talented primate. With a comfortable arm chair, flat screen TV and with tea and burgers on-demand, this gorilla might seem to have it all. But the one thing he is missing is a true friend. Enchanting! A brilliant charcoal drawing of gorilla with a very effective painted background! Comparing the lifestyle, diet and habitat of this special gorilla with the REAL mountain gorillas of Central Africa, the children produced some excellent writing. They even turned their hand to some mixed media artwork to give our gorilla...