SOME KIDS I TAUGHT AND WHAT THEY TAUGHT ME by Kate Clanchy. Review by Penny Dolan

 

Dear Reader, 

I chose this title before the news that poetry could be dropped form the 2021 GCSE syllabus, and before the announcement of the current A level exam grades in Scotland and England. The book seems even more of a necessary read to me right now.

I found this title - "Some kids I taught and what they taught me" - on my local bookshop's non-fiction tables. I opened the pages and could not resist Kate Clanchy's sensible warm voice, nor the content.

It was immediately clear that "Some kids I taught and what they taught me" was not a cosy classroom memoir but a readable book with a kind, strong heart and a passion for education for all pupils. 

(It also won the 2020 Orwell Prize.)

While the current exam fiasco rumbles around like the thunder-storms, this felt the right book to be reading and recommending right now, whether as an ex-teacher, an author who occasionally teaches creative writing, or, simply, as an ordinary, everyday human being.

Clanchy, who taught English within the state system for many years, writes about the children, classes and schools she has known. Over fifteen chapters - some longer than others - Clanchy offers vivid examples and opinions on the teaching of English Literature, education and life in schools today, emphasised through the personalities and the words of the students themselves

Her varied topics cover issues such as sex education with a group of excluded pupils; English studies for migrant and refugee children; working with classes of third, fourth or fifth language learners; the importance of the right papers and unvarying answers: the value of prizes and of valuing the children's own work; the ranking of schools and church schools within an area; the progress of pupils inside a fourth-choice secondary school,  and many more contemporary issues and controversies.

Clanchy's love of poetry and teaching runs through the pages. An established poet, creative writing tutor and journalist herself, she emphasises the practice of poetry writing and reading in schools, and the use of "model "poems as a way of guiding and inspiring the children's responses, and building their knowledge of forms of poetry, including non-English forms, both written and spoken.

Additionally, while teaching within a multi-racial school community, Clanchy noted that the Faber Young Poets Competition favoured traditional poetic subjects and language for their prize entries, and that no state schools were among the winners. Determined that a wider range of voices should be heard,  Clanchy wrote to the organisers and educational press.  She also, as writer-in-residence, set up lunchtime workshops for girls who rarely spoke in class, creating the Very Quiet Foreign Pupils poetry group. Within the pages , the reader meets some of these students, their words and their spirit of co-operation, and how eventually a book of their poems was published.

In conclusion, Clanchy also - pointedly and angrily - laments an English Curriculum based more and more on learned critical study, and rarely on the young readers response to the writing, or to encouraging students to develop their own written voices or find words - when they want to - for their own experiences.

This is a serious book, yet the stories within and the mood of hope and resilience, made reading it a pleasure and an inspiration.

Penny Dolan

@pennydolan!

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Poetry or prose? reviewed by Emma Perry

The beauty of novels written in verse first fell in front of my eyes not long after I had set up My Book Corner, and was still enjoying the beautiful sunshine in Melbourne, Australia.

I distinctly remember trying to cook the kids' tea, and read the book at the same time because, whilst I hate to use a cliche, I really - really - didn't want to put it down. Plus. Cooking has never been my strong point anyway!

I was struck by the beautiful illustrated chapter book from Sally Murphy and Heather Potter - Pearl Versus The World, and it was the first time I could remember reading a children's novel written in verse. Sally Murphy is a talented writer, and her ability to convey the emotions of the character in so few words, and pull me into the story of Pearl as she copes with the passing of her Grandmother blew me away. Cleverly, Murphy also had her character battling her teacher at school regarding their stoic definition of poetry. It doesn't have to rhyme. 

The next verse novel to pull me up to attention was The Weight of Water from Sarah Crossan back in 2012. A neat, small book with blue ink and a wonderful cover from Oliver Jeffers. Kasienka and her mother head arrive in England with just one suitcase and a bag, Crossan uses the verse medium brilliantly to convey Kasienka and her mother's emotions as they negotiate their new life, as Kasienka navigates a new school and friendships.

Cover Illustration: Oliver Jeffers

After that I was hooked.

I've managed to devour many (but not all... yet) of Sarah Crossan's novel ever since. The heartbreaking One, Apple and Rain and most recently Moonrise - which sees Joe trying to re-establish a relationship with his brother Ed, after being apart for ten years. Because Ed is on Death Row, and his execution date has been set. It's gripping, intelligent and the power of verse to pull you into a wonderfully flowing narrative is more than evident.

Cover Illustration: Peter Strain

My recent love... the verse writing of Kwame Alexander. I think I might be late to the party here in this discovery. Booked had this (me!) very un-sporty reader, hooked on a story featuring football. It has energy and pace - the verse flowed effortlessly from page to page. It's the follow-up to The Crossover, so I may or may not have read them out of sync (oops!), but it didn't impact on the journey it took me on.

Cover Design: Lisa Vega
Cover Photo: Steve Gardner

So have I convinced you? At the hands of these skilled writers poetry has such immense power to hook and absorb the reader, and pull them in to the narrative. The medium of verse seems to help the narrative really flow, seemingly effortlessly (I know!) pulling us into the hearts, minds and dramas surround the protagonist.

So, I now leave this in the words of Kwame Alexander's character, Nick Hall, from Booked...

"The best ones were
like bombs,
and when all the right words
came together
it was like an explosion.
So good, I
didn't want it to end."

I need more - where do I go next? Would love to hear your recommendations of novels written in verse.

Emma Perry is a picture book writer represented by Bell Lomax Moreton. 
She is the founder of the childrens book review site MyBookCorner and organiser of International Book Giving Day. 

Twitter: @_EmmaPerry @MyBookCorner

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Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, reviewed by Emma Perry

I have no shame in admitting that it was with reluctance that I initially picked up Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.

I really wasn’t sure.

Nevertheless. Something pulled me to it, convinced me to open the cover, delve in – and I didn’t look back.

The overriding tone of Gilbert’s narrative is enthusiastic inspiration, as she delves into the creative process and how she believes it works. Reading Big Magic is like coming away from a REALLY inspirational workshop. You know the sort – the ones that leave you buzzing with ideas and energy. The sort that resets the creative batteries and reminds you exactly why you started writing in the first place – that intoxicating mix of energy and total absorption. There’s nothing quite like it, yet Gilbert manages to package it up into 273 pages.

What Big Magic does is open your mind, imagination and heart up to creative energies – everywhere. I hope this doesn’t sound too vague… but she opens up the pathways to allow your subconscious to be open to inspiration. As writers we do know it is all around us, but sometimes, often times – a little reminder, a nudge is really needed.

Mixing personal anecdotes with experience and knowledge, Gilbert's writing is both relatable and realistic as she acknowledges failure ('it sucks'), the need for courage, and the need for persistence no matter what form your creative journey takes. Big Magic isn't solely aimed at writers.

'never delude yourself into believing that you require someone else's blessing in order to make your own creative work.'

There’s something quite comforting about Gilbert’s voice, she manages that balance between conversational and intriguing, without falling into tedium.

If you're lacking enthusiasm, need a bit of a kick, or  an injection of inspiration then Big Magic might be just the ticket.

'Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege.'

Emma Perry is a picture book writer represented by Bell Lomax Moreton. 
She is the founder of the childrens book review site MyBookCorner and organiser of International Book Giving Day. 

Twitter: @_EmmaPerry

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Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul, reviewed by Emma Perry

The shelves of many a book store are choc-o-block with tomes about writing. Bursting at the seams, jostling for position – the array is mind boggling.

I confess to owning a sizeable selection. Some are finished, some are not. Plenty have been flicked through – all with great, grand intentions. But the one that reached out to me, that held my attention and grabbed hold of my imagination, was Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books.

My copy of Writing Picture Books is always within reach. It’s filled with brightly coloured sticky notes and is often referred to – both as a source of inspiration and for more practical tips.

The style and tone is both informative and personal as Ann begins with her own tale of countless rejection letters from editors whom she assumed simply must be wrong. Haven’t we all assumed that?! But, as most writers finally discover…

‘Completing a draft of your story is not the end of the writing process. It is only the beginning.’

And so Writing Picture Books takes the would-be picture book writer by the hand and guides them through this process. It encourages careful, timely revision helping writers to build a more objective approach to the polishing of their craft.

Writing Picture Books is divided in to helpful, logical sections which guide you through the process of honing your own picture book writing skills. The first, and one of the most important, is looking at picture books from a different perspective – from that of a writer. Look at the how, and why, behind what seems to work so effortlessly. Consider the child’s perspective. Always. Respect your young audience. Know children – what they like, how they see the world.

From here Ann guides us through point of view, followed by an entire chapter dedicated to the all important voice. Crucial.

A large comprehensive section is dedicated to structure – how to develop your character, how to handle varied action, then build to the crucial ending.

For me a stand-out features of Writing Picture Books was the wide range of activities and prompts, the constant reminder to read, READ, read picture books, and finally the guidance on what to do next. I wouldn't be without my copy.

Emma Perry is a picture book writer represented by Bell Lomax Moreton. She is the founder of MyBookCorner and organiser of International Book Giving Day. 
Twitter: @_EmmaPerry



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WRITING IN THE HOUSE OF DREAMS by JENNY ALEXANDER. Review by Penny Dolan

Writing books seem to divide into two categories.. Both kinds, at different times, are valuable. There are books that look outward, offering advice about how to do it – create the characters, build a plot, write a breakthrough novel, get your work published and so on – and the kind of book that looks inwards, into the writer and the imagination and the creative act of writing.

Jenny Alexander’s book, Writing in the House of Dreams: Creative Adventures For Dreamers & Writers, is very much about the workings of that inner writer. Jenny carefully weaves the threads of her own life in Shetland and in Cornwall with her knowledge of psychology, anthropology myths and therapy, and builds a fascinating book for dreamers and for writers.

She traces her own growth in understanding and experience, from early struggles and difficult dreams through to her work now as a writer, anti-bullying expert, writing tutor and as a leader of dream-work courses and workshops. 

Each chapter starts with a brief introduction to a new stage in the dreamer’s journey, a section of Jenny’s personal memoir and an activity.

Jenny’s book moves away from “analysing dreams through universal symbols” style. Instead, she believes in the personal meaning of each “dream story” for that individual. What I found most valuable was that, throughout the pages, Jenny sees the similarity between the dreamer dreaming stories and the writer in their “trance”, dreaming up stories. She describes how “the coming and going between the worlds has a transformative effect.”

Although Writing in the House of Dreams explains the practice of daily dream journaling and the control of worrying dreams, there are many simpler practical exercises too.

Having attended a couple of Jenny’s collage workshops, I know these activities can free up the mind, even if you, too, are not a frequent dreamer.

Independently published through Five Lanes Press – that story is within these pages too - this book speaks in a calm and reassuring voice. Writing in the House of Dreams is clearly a work of love and deep thought and, as Jenny herself would say, “a book of the heart”.

Jenny also runs a “Writing in the House of Dreams” blog and her companion volume, “When a Writer Isn’t Writing: How to Beat Your Blocks and Find Your Flow”, is published in 2015.

Penny Dolan

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