I’m now officially a goodreads author. They were brilliant at helping me link together my books and even created a wee page to show the ‘Jack Reusen’ series in its own light. It’s a great wee (OK not so wee) site which helps you track down books that you might like based on what other readers have said about them. I’m looking forward to experimenting myself as it’s always tough for me to figure out what to read next.
I’m a dad, I work full time, and I write books (and blog about them, and do book talks on them) in my ever shrinking spare time. Because of this I don’t get much time to sit and read and when I do I like the book to be something really special that I can get lost in for a half hour or so. I can’t wait to see what kind of suggestions I start to see once I get a few reviews written up.
Speaking of reviews (wink wink) goodreads does have my books listed and they’re sitting there with no reviews attached to them at the moment. If you feel like popping over clicking on the stars and writing a few words that would make me a very happy part-time author.
Even if you’re not in the mood to write a review I do recommend checking out goodreads. It’s genuinely a great resource for readers, plus it allows you to connect with your favourite authors via their author pages (that is, if they man them). Short post tonight, more prep for Crieff’s mini book festival for me. I should also point you towards the arts festival programme, there is literally a heap of stuff on this weekend and you don’t want to miss it (Faerie folk are even taking over one of Crieff’s parks!). Thanks for reading, all the best, John
Just a short one tonight as I’m getting my ideas together for my book talk at ‘Writers Live!’ on Saturday. Basically that’s the main thing on my mind at the moment; will people come to my book talk? The idea of talking to an empty room is far more daunting than the thought of talking in front of a big crowd.
So far responses on the events page seem promising so I’ll try and hold back on the anxiety, also I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the entries for the competition I’m running in conjunction with Fun Junction.
I’ve actually got two different competitions running in conjunction with my book talk for Crieff Arts Festival but only one of them ends this weekend: The ‘Design a Jack Reusen Character’ competition is being run in conjunction with Fun Junction (where entries can be handed in). Simply design a character to feature in a Jack Reusen book. I’ll write the character into a short story which will appear on this site soon after the arts festival, but it will also be appearing in print and released inside a book that’s due to come out just before Christmas (I’ll post the title of the new book tomorrow night 😉 ).
You can submit a picture, a character description, or both. Just in case you don’t get a chance before the talk, I’ll also be bringing a big pile of paper and pencils along to the Strathearn Artspace on Saturday so that children (and adults if they want) can draw up their characters and hand them in either to me on the day. You can also drop off entries at Fun Junction up until 5:15pm on Saturday (if you want to take your time drawing/writing). Judging will take place this weekend and entries should either be dropped in to Fun Junction, or scanned and sent digitally to either the Jack Reusen facebook account, twitter account, or to jackreusen@hotmail.co.uk.
The second competition will now be running until the end of August: Simply explain what you liked most about ‘Jack Reusen and the Fey Flame‘ on the facebook page to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of either ‘Jack Reusen and the Spark of Dreams‘, ‘Jack Reusen and the Fey Flame‘ or (if you don’t mind the wait), you can get an early release, signed edition of ‘Jack Reusen and the Children of Fate’ when it comes out in the Autumn.
If you haven’t already, please pop along to the events page on facebook and say whether you’ll be able to make it along to the book talk (if I know that people are coming I might be able to relax enough for that ‘humming’ noise in my ears to go away 😉 ). As always thanks for reading, all the best, John
(*updated timetable) Many years ago I went to the Edinburgh International Book festival on a trip with my Higher (5th year) English class. We were dropped into the middle of an event that felt like it was part rock festival and partly like sitting down for a cup of tea in a friend’s living room. There was excitement, humour, and we were introduced to a lot of incredible writing. However, the most striking thing for me was the way it felt to be talking to an author about their work.
Meeting an author, even of a book you haven’t read, can be a really interesting experience, mostly because writing is such an intimate art form and those who do it gain a lot of insight into what makes them tick. It can be genuinely refreshing to get inside someone else’s head and see how ideas form and develop into something tangible, which is then presented openly to the public. Not everyone acts like this and when I saw the type of people that writers are it made me even more sure that I wanted to be one.
Well, good news everyone! Now anyone in the Crieff area on the 22nd August can get the chance to have this experience too as, Crieff is getting their own mini literary festival! There will be a huge array of writers with very different writing styles in attendance and there will even be a talk on getting your own work published (for any aspiring authors among you).
Don’t forget to add the date to your diary, I’ve added a facebook event so that you can join and get a reminder closer to the time (click here to pop over and join the event). I’ve written about the ‘Writers Live’ event before but we now know more about the line-up. I should point out that I previously posted a list of authors who would be attending but was mistaken about Jess Smith who unfortunately won’t be able to make it along this year. Apologies for my mistake.
For those who would like to join me and many other writers on the day, here’s the timetable:
‘Writers Live’ Saturday 22nd August 10am-3pm Strathearn Artspace:
10:00am: The day starts with me (John Bray). I’ll be reading from, and talking about, the first two books in the Jack Reusen series (click these links to find out more about ‘Jack Reusen and the Fey Flame‘ and ‘Jack Reusen and the Spark of Dreams‘). I will also be reading an exclusive excerpt of (my still very rough draft of) ‘Jack Reusen and the Children of Fate’, so if you want a wee glimpse of what happens next you’ll need to come along.
10:25am:Peggy Hewitt: Peggy will be reading three of her children’s short stories which were commissioned BBC Children’s television. Peggy is also a real Bronte lover, you can get an idea of her work at her Amazon author’s page here. Probably her best known book ‘Bronte Country: Lives and Landscapes’ looks at the land that the Bronte sisters called home, and its history. Peggy is also one of only a handful of people who can say that they got to read about their own demise in the newspaper. You can read the retraction from The Telegraph and Argus here. It must have been a very odd experience for her, though she seemed to find the humour in it.
10:45am:Margaret Bennet: Margaret is a writer, folklorist, ethnologist, broadcaster and singer. She has so many talents, and such a large body of work to draw on and is sure to bring something to ‘Writers Live’ which will be both entertaining and informative in equal measure. She will also be reading from her latest book: “We Are the Engineers!”
11:25am: Ann Petrie will be reading from her book about the 1920s rent strike
11:45/12 noon: Break for lunch (we’re leaving a bit of space to be safe)
12.45pm:Hazel Buchan Cameron: Hazel is a well noted poet and In 2014 she was the first Writer in Residence for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Moving away from poetry Hazel will read from her new book “Just Go In” which follows a seventeen year old as she sets off from a council estate near Glasgow to become a farm secretary in the East of Scotland. Her memoir spans the late 70s to the early 90s. “…Life is often stranger than fiction, and this story shows the fine line that is walked in relating true events whilst maintaining a believability.” (Hardeep Singh Kohli, comedian and chef)
1.15pm:Patricia Ace (Poet): Partricia has a lovely, smooth yet disjunctive style to her work and her debut poetry collection ‘Fabulous Beast’ contains some intriguing and sometimes comical takes on some every-day or at least familiar scenes and scenarios. You can hear her read some of her own work by clicking this link. (As it turns out Partricia is also my mum’s yoga instructor, small world)
1:35pm: David Cowan author of books on Ley Lines and the energies of the Earth will be talking about. Crieff’s secret societies and symbols.
1.55pm:Helen Grant: Helen will be reading from her ‘Forbidden Spaces’ trilogy of urban exploration themed thrillers set in Brussels and Ghent. Helen’s research for these books looked like a lot of fun, if you pop over to her Twitter account and look through the pictures you’ll see what I mean (warning, you’ll be clicking for a while). Helen is an international author and thriller extraordinaire who has enjoyed glowing reviews from The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Daily Mail.
2.25pm: Publishing talk with Q&A by Helen Lewis McPhee and Gonzalo Mazzei. Helen has worked with Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communications, and, currently Canongate Books. Gonzalo is from Grace Note Publications C.I.C, publisher of many the books listed here. They will both be there to talk about the publishing process and answer questions from would-be (and current) writers.
3pm: Finish: You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here. (Actually you can stay, if you stick around you’ll catch a the concert that follows us, admission for the concert is £3)
So there’s a basic run down of the programme. There will also be the Jack Reusen window and competition over at Fun Junction to look forward to (click here for more information). The competition is a ‘design a Jack Reusen character’ competition which closes during the festival weekend, the winner will see their character feature in a short story to appear on this site sometime after the festival closes (and if I can manage I’ll try and fit it into one of the books so that the winner can see their character in print).
I look forward to seeing you along at the ‘Writers Live’ event, thanks for reading, all the best, John
During my wade through a world of words I somehow managed to finish Neil Gaiman’s book ‘Stardust’. To be honest I’m surprised that it took me this long to pick it up, it’s a fantasy book about a town that lies right beside an opening into the land of the fairies. Familiar as this sounds it’s miles away from my own books in plot, themes, characters, and most of all tone.
It’s a book that’s definitely not for kids and as fun as it was for me to read, at times it could be quite jarring to go from reading Gaiman’s work and then delving into writing the wold of Jack and Thea. Sure there’s magic, other worlds, odd creatures, etc. but ‘Stardust’ was so much more adult that I had to be careful to remember to tone down the themes in ‘Jack Reusen and the Children of Fate’.
I normally make a rule of not reading while I’m writing so that I don’t get caught up writing in somebody else’s style but I was half way through ‘Stardust’ when NaNoWriMo started and I found that I needed some type of diversion whilst writing this time. I think I managed to keep the books separate in my mind probably first and foremost because of the main theme of each. Where ‘Stardust’ is a stand-alone adventure into a slightly Victorian take on the fantasy genre, ‘Jack Reusen and the Children of Fate’ is a modern disaster novel set in a fantasy setting.
I feel like I’ve had a chance to play with some of my favorite movie genres whilst writing the Jack Reusen books. ‘The Fey Flame‘ is a world building book with a big villain but beyond that I’ve had a chance to play around with some other ideas. ‘Spark of Dreams‘ was my take on the zombie genre (but toned down a lot to cater for children of seven or eight years old and up). Next, in ‘Children of Fate’ we get an ‘end of the world’ themed story (don’t worry, everything is kind of alright in the end), after that we have what I’m thinking of as book three and a half, it’s a Christmas/Yule story and for now that’s all I’ll say about it.
Book four is all Thea’s, in many ways (and yes I know this sounds totally nuts) she seems to be helping me write it but overall it will be a quest, one that takes her through many of the other nations to be found in Fey, it’s a strange place and it’s becoming a huge pile of fun to research.
Anyway back to Stardust, if you’re a fantasy reader like myself I imagine you’ll get a kick out of Stardust. The one unusual aspect I noticed about it was just how rigidly Gaiman sticks to the ‘show don’t tell’ rule for writers. Basically we’re supposed to explain the worlds we create using the characters reactions and by highlighting that world using carefully described action sequences.
Ordinarily writers do a good job of this but in fantasy the rules are often relaxed. It’s not easy to build a world in the first chapter or two of a book without having to occasionally allow the narrator to explain what’s going on. J. R. R. Tolkien basically writes a history of Middle Earth in the first few chapters of ‘The Fellowship of The Ring’. It helps you get to know where you are but it’s not the easiest thing to get through.
To be fair to Tolkien he was writing his books at a time when the modern fantasy genre was in its infancy (Tolkien being it’s godfather after all). A lot of modern fantasy harkens back to Tolkien so in a way he was doing a lot of world building for all of us. That said we don’t all deal in elves, orks, dwarves etc. and even if they did there’s still a sizable chunk of the population who still wouldn’t know what these races are. As a result many modern fantasy writers still have to explain the people of their worlds and describe what they can do.
Gaiman doesn’t really do that, you simply see the characters do what they do and it’s up to you to gauge what they are capable of and to establish what power level they have. Sometimes when two characters meet for the first time it can be surprising to realise that you may have misjudged just what that character is. ‘Stardust’ is a fantasy book but if you’re expecting a big expository element in the first chapter or two you’ll be waiting a while, the story just starts and it’s up to you to keep up. It’s an unusual yet refreshing experience for a fantasy reader and I definitely recommend it (I should also point out again one more time: ‘STARDUST’ IS NOT FOR KIDS).
Anyway, thanks for reading, and feel free to add suggested reads in the comments below (I’m editing now so the ‘no reading’ rule has been officially dropped). Next up for me is Hiraeth: a Burden (the second book in the Hiraeth trilogy), again not for kids but definitely worth a read, it ‘s a modern-day fantasy set in Wales, Ireland, England, (and a wee bit of Scotland too), and focuses on an underground (not literally) group of Druids who hide their true nature by means of working for the lifeboats service.
Let us know if you’ve come across any particularly good reads, after all the nights are fair drawing in (I don’t really remember having a summer) and nothing completes a chilly night-in better than a good book. All the best, John
At the moment our house is enjoying a full-on adventure with the wee free men and their ‘Hag’ Tiffany Aching. Terry Pratchett’s ability to create a world filled with humour, excitement, intelligence, and heart is not compromised by writing for children. The Tiffany Aching series includes four (soon to be five) books, set in his iconic Discworld, and each book focusses on a young woman called Tiffany as she grows into a fine upstanding witch.
Out of my two my eldest is especially enthralled with the books. The first book (The Wee Free Men) went down a treat and he really got a kick out of the violent, loud, yet loyal and caring ‘Nac Mac Feegle’ (or ‘wee free men’). It’s a book series that I enjoyed myself years before I became a parent and there’s something really special about being able to share it with my kids now.
The thing that impresses me most is one simple fact that, in itself, shouldn’t be impressive: the main character is a girl. Every book follows Tiffany, sure the wee free men are there too, as are a few other male characters, but the character we follow through every page is Tiffany. This shouldn’t be a big deal but it is. So many books for children (my own included) focus on the adventures of a boy as the main character, and in most cases he’s also cast as the hero. It makes a refreshing change to see that a girl can be just as heroic, just as relateable for two young boys as any male protagonist (I feel I redeemed myself a little with Spark of Dreams, you’ll see Thea’s heroics near the end of the book).
Not once have my kids asked ‘but why is a girl doing everything?’ not once have they complained. Both my six (soon to be seven) year old, and four year old sons have barely noticed that they’re following the adventures of a girl. Perhaps it’s because this is one of the first chapter books I’ve read to them (smaller frame of reference), or maybe their generation has different expectations than mine did. Whatever it is, I’m getting a lot of enjoyment out of knowing that my two kids clearly know how brave, clever, and heroic girls can be.
I’ll be rectifying my own lack of a central female character in my books next year as I delve more into Thea’s story, and follow her on a voyage around the world of Fey. It’s in the planning stages at the moment, so very little is concrete, but I can’t wait to delve into the world of legends, mythological animals, and the downright made-up stuff that I’ve got planned for next year’s batch of books.
In the mean time I heartily recommend Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching books (‘The Wee Free Men’, ‘Hatfull of Sky’, ‘Wintersmith’, ‘I Shall Wear Midnight’, and Pratchett’s soon to be released, final Discworld book ‘The Shepherd’s Crown‘). In the first book you’ll follow Tiffany as she meets strange little blue men, discovers she might well be a witch, and has to fight the Queen of the Fairies. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as we are. All the best, John
It’s not as bad as it sounds, please read on to find out more. I was first told about the boy wizard in high school, it would have been about 2000/2001, and I point-blank refused to read it. I even laughed at friends who were recommending it. You see the problem was that Harry Potter was a kid’s book, and seventeen year old John was no child.
I had my mind set on becoming an author and was sure that truly engaging writing (the kind that I could learn from) could only be found in books aimed at adults. I read magical realist authors like Rushdie, de Berniere, and Garcia Marquez. I also Immersed myself in classic literature and edgy new work. In short I thought of children’s literature as something of an oxymoron. Instead I was simply a moron.
Reality hit me at Stirling Uni in 2002 when I headed down to the MacRobert Cinema to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with a friend. The film left so much unsaid, so many questions unanswered, that I borrowed copies of the first two books from her to catch up with what was going on. Then I borrowed another (you know, just to see what happened next), and then another. Then I ran out.
On the 22nd of June the following year I was queueing outside a Waterstones in Aberdeen at midnight. I patiently waited for them to open the doors and release copies of ‘the Order of the Phoenix’ to the street-load of waiting children dressed as witches and wizards (I wished I had come in costume too).
A good book transports you to another world, or offers a view of our own that you might not have considered. It opens up questions and makes you think, and if you’re lucky it takes you for an adventure. Magical realists can do that, classical literature can do that, gritty ground-breaking new fiction can do that, and (unbeknownst to my seventeen year old self) so too can a good children’s book do all of these things.
We can get stuck in a rut when it comes to what we read, fixating on just one genre, but we miss out by doing that. As students, a bunch of us traded favourite books, we all had widely different tastes and we decided we might benefit by shaking things up a little. To be honest I don’t think I’ll ever be a full horror, crime, or thriller convert (though I still like to jump into a good horror book as the nights start to draw in) but that wasn’t really the point of our experiment. Our wee book-swap gave me an insight into what qualities made these types of book so appealing to so many people, it made me realise just how hard it can be to pin down just exactly what counts as ‘good writing’.
I still cringe at the thought of how condescending I must have sounded as a teenager and I apologise to Adam for dismissing what truly was an amazing find, and I also thank Vikki for allowing me to see how rich and enjoyable children’s literature can be (even for adults).
Are there any ‘children’s books’ that you’ve found particularly engaging? Do you avoid popular authors because you think they’re somehow less remarkable because of their popularity? Feel free to have a chat about it in the comments below, or over at the facebook page or twitter account. As always, thanks for reading, Cheers, John
Here’s a quick wee glimpse into a place that will be very important in book three. I hope you enjoy it:
These caves were his. It’s not like he actually owned them or anything, but in the same way that a town, a school, or a stadium can ‘belong’ to someone, these caves belonged to Magus Hypologismos (people called him Logi for short, you can see why).
Logi was no stranger to the outside world. As a young man he had toured the globe with a group of Lutin traders (we might call them leprechauns). They exchanged exotic wares from one country to the next, and Logi saw more of the world than he had ever expected. He had three favourite memories. There was the time he had been invited to hunt with centaurs in Laconia, riding onto their horsey backs and gripping onto their broad human shoulders for support.
Further east he had eaten a feast of spiced meats and rice with a genie, sitting in the desert sands around the fire-pits of Mishan. After the meal the genie had entertained him with displays of incredible magic making the sky dance with light and the moon change its colour to shine like a giant gold coin hovering in the sky.
Possibly Logi’s greatest memory was in fact the moment that began his adventure back home to the caves. Whilst sitting in a sanctuary in on the mysterious island castle of Por-Bajin, he was invited by a jadatski (rain master) to a modest dinner of pickled cabbage. They debated into the night, and right through to dawn about whether the golden scrolls of Kubai-Khotim were real.
The scrolls were said to be able to tell the future, and Logi had made it his mission to find them. Sadly in all the centuries that followed he had still never found them.
Logi had enjoyed a colourful life, but his travelling was over, and now these ancient caverns were his home. Books and scrolls weighed down the shelves that lined every wall. Orange lanterns added their flickering light, making the ancient texts appear to dance and move, almost as though they were alive. Logi often wondered if some of the movements really were just a trick of the light.
Logi took the stairs down to the deeper chambers, where the most ancient and powerful texts were housed. No one but the Magus (Logi himself) was allowed down here and he hadn’t had a request for any of these texts in centuries. All the same it was one of the most comfortable places available to him, and he often sneaked down here to sit in the huge throne-like chair and enjoy the peace.
Thick books with gilted spines surrounded him like dusty jewels, their leather dyed in all manner of colours. Logi sat back in the quiet, enjoying the rainbow of books flickering by the light of the lanterns. Then something moved, it didn’t just look like it moved; it really moved.
Logi stepped closer to inspect. It couldn’t be a creature of any sort; the enchantments protecting the library wouldn’t even let a dust mite down here without permission. All the same Logi knew what he saw, something had definitely moved.
In the silence Logi could even hear his shoes creak. A sudden ‘thwap’ echoed around the chamber as a thick scroll dropped onto the hard stone floor and began unravelling. Logi leaned in closer and was astounded to see fresh words appearing on the paper, as though being written from inside:
“The families are reunited. The children of fate grow closer to learning their heritage but dark days are ahead and they may have to pay for the mistakes of their ancestors. One will return to claim these scrolls, and once again wield the knowledge of what is to come. He prepares even now.”
The writing stopped.
Logi sat down cross-legged on the polished stone floor and lifted the scroll, allowing a simple ‘Hmmm’ to escape his lips. All those years and the scroll had been right here under his nose the whole time. Whatever it had been up to seemed to be over for now. In the several hundred years that Logi had patrolled these tunnels (aside from the odd holiday), he had never once witnessed a book, or scroll, write itself. He didn’t have anything else planned that day, so he relaxed into a big leather chair, rolled out the scroll, and waited.
Hours passed, but Logi had centuries of experience in patience. The writing began again, it looked like some kind of heading this time:
“What has come before…“
After that the writing came quicker, Logi’s eyes struggling to keep up. As the story poured out in front of him, words escaped his lips: “What is a ‘TV’?” “Who is Tam?” and “This ‘macaroni cheese’ sounds amazing, I wonder where I might get some…”
Logi read on and on, getting more involved still. Perched on the edge of his seat he actually yelled out “Run Sparky! Run!”. He relaxed, things seemed better now, the characters appeared to be safe. He settled in and read on.
The writing slowed, the last few lines had been about three men getting on ‘motor-bikes’ (whatever they were), and heading for an underground library. Logi got the feeling he might find himself a lot more involved in the story very soon.
(This post is also available to watch and listen to as a vlog/podcast. You’ll find it on YouTube and Spotify down at the bottom of this post.)
Read for 1 minute or less a day with your children and they may end up in the bottom tenth percentile! (But should you care?)
According to a number of educator resources and literacy advocates, children who read for around 20 minutes a day are exposed to as many as 1.8 million words per year, and this level of exposure is often linked to performance in the top 10% of standardised test scores. (phoenixacademyomaha.org)
While these figures reflect general trends rather than guaranteed outcomes, they do highlight the potential impact of regular reading habits.
Are test scores really the best gauge of childhood success?
I’ve seen this graphic (or something very similar) floating around the internet on a number of occasions. Often, the original context of these stats is lost and, instead, people (often parents) seem to see the higher test scores as the motivating call to action.
However, while I agree with the idea that reading with your children is a good thing, I’m not sure if I agree with the hefty role being given to word volume, or the assumption that parents should only care about test scores. It’s part of the growing inclination of so many to try and quantify childhood learning.
Of course, some skills are more quantifiable than others: vocabulary, memory, the ability to follow instructions (this list is far from exhaustive). In this sense, it’s easy to see how an increase in vocabulary and memory might improve test scores. However, there are so many more important skills that reading helps develop than the capacity to have great test scores.
Children who read find themselves exposed to other ways of thinking, other worlds, and other people, in a much more intimate manner than you find in any other medium.
“One in Five UK children don’t own a single book”
That said, for many children, access to books (or even the idea of owning a book) is far from guaranteed. In a related post, I explore recent headlines suggesting that one in five children don’t own a single book, and dig into the complex role that book ownership plays in childhood literacy. You can read that post here.
For families concerned about the cost of books or about limited living space, it’s also worth knowing that there are fantastic digital alternatives to physical books. In a separate post, I explain how you can access thousands of free books on almost any smart device (phone, tablet, even a PC). You can read that post here.
Reading does a lot more than improve test scores
The characters, ideas, plots, scenarios, and places found within the pages of a book do not stay there; they find a home inside your mind. It’s about as close to telepathic communication as we can get.
When a child reads a story where a character loses their memories, they aren’t simply exposed to a vocabulary-building exercise; they have been given access to some fairly complex notions about identity. This might lead them to ask questions about whether we are the sum of our memories, or something more. In essence, books (and perhaps fantasy books in particular) provide simple, digestible ways of thinking about some pretty big questions.
It kind of bothers me to see test scores held up as the pinnacle of childhood achievement. Test scores can be a great way of gauging a child’s engagement with their learning, but I’m a little dubious about regarding these scores as anything more than that.
A child’s ability to deal with the world outside of school will have a lot more to do with how much they understand, plus a host of skills that are even harder to quantify.
Academic skills are not simply the ‘Three Rs’
Many children will go on to opt for university or college at the end of their school career. Despite what they may assume, they may be surprised to discover how important it is to have a collection of skills that go beyond reading speed, vocabulary, and memory (the more testable skill set).
I tutored Philosophy undergraduates at Edinburgh University for four years (and was an examiner for one of those as well). It was amazing to see how often some students (who came in with less than stellar grades in high school) would somehow overtake their higher-scoring classmates. Often, this hedged on far less tangible/quantifiable skills than rote memory etc.
We wanted to see students demonstrate an understanding of the nuances of arguments; memorising facts and figures simply wasn’t enough (though it was, of course, valuable). What’s more, the ability to step outside rote learning and think for themselves enables students to create thought-provoking and insightful essays. I learned that high test scores aren’t always a clear indicator that someone will perform well, even in an academic environment.
Good teaching and the challenge of ‘soft skills’
The abilities of a teacher are often assessed based on the test scores of the children they teach, but this can leave little room for some truly vital skills; like bolstered inquisitiveness, social understanding, and the ability to ground ideas within a real-world backdrop.
Teachers do a phenomenal job at encouraging these traits, and many more beyond those. I’ve met a good number of these teachers on the various school talks I’ve done, and it always impresses me to see how well-rounded their pupils are in ways that go far beyond traditional testable academic skills. I’m not an expert on the curriculum, but I’m fairly certain that these essential skills will be hard to locate by looking at where a child falls within the ‘national percentile’.
If you’re a teacher looking for ways to spark those kinds of wider conversations, I offer free school author talks that tie reading into big ideas, imagination, and creative thinking. You can contact me to discuss a talk or workshop here. I’m also currently working on a new range of classroom resources that will provide free activity sheets (and more) to support classroom discussion.
Alongside my school talks, I write books that open up the kinds of big ideas I’ve discussed here: from friendship and imagination to questions about memory, morality, and identity.
The Jack Reusen series (for ages 6+) brings magical disruption into Jack’s everyday life, whilst Marcus (for ages 10–12+) explores darker themes of power and consequence, all through a fantasy lens grounded in familiar Scottish settings.
I’ll post new literacy resources here as soon as they’re ready, as well as other updates regarding books and literacy. To be the first to hear as soon as they’re available, you can subscribe using the box at the bottom of this post. Simply pop your email address into the box, click ‘subscribe’, and you’re good to go.
Reading is more important than test scores
Of course, we should read to our children for twenty minutes a day, longer if we get the time. For some of us, it’s part of the ever-shrinking portion of the day in which we can spend time together, without necessarily having to deal with some kind of screen.
Not only does it allow you and your child to discuss all kinds of topics and issues, but it also gives you a few moments in which to touch base and enjoy spending time together.
Reading, at least in this context, has much more to do with maintaining relationships and learning about the world we share, than it has to do with building vocabularies and assisting in academic scores.
Reading shouldn’t be marketed as a fast track road to success (even if the numbers suggest it); it’s an activity that opens dialogue, builds relationships, and encourages inquisitive minds. In short, reading opens us up to all of the fantastic skills that make us human. It doesn’t just help us test well.
If you have anything to share about any of the issues I’ve touched on in this post please feel free to share your ideas in the comments, or over on social media (here’s the Jack Reusen facebook account, and here is my Instagram account).
Want to read more on the topic of the deeper positive effects of extended reading? You’ll enjoy this fantastic post by teacher librarian Krystal Gagen-Spriggs about the great effects of developing a reading habit.
I knew it was going to be a different kind of talk today because the whole class had already read the book. In fact they had literally just finished the last chapter when I got there, so they had lots of questions about the characters.
The great thing for me was seeing that I’d managed to make a story that they had clearly all enjoyed. I tried to write the books so there was something for everyone and today made me feel like I’d managed to get pretty close to that goal.
The added bonus of knowing that the class had all heard the first book was that I could get away with reading a wee sample of ‘…the Spark of Dreams‘. I think they enjoyed their wee teaser, and they certainly asked a lot of questions about what to expect in future books.
It was a fantastic day and a genuine thrill to see that Jack’s world had clearly appealed to them all so much, and I’ll definitely be down there again (if they’ll have me) to talk about any future books. In the mean time it sounds as though I might be getting some illustrations from the class, inspired by characters from the book, to share with you soon. I’m looking forward to what they think Jack, Thea, Sparky, and Harold look like.
Weirdly enough I spent yesterday in my p2 classroom in Comrie primary and today I was in my p3 classroom. The last couple of days have been really enjoyable and a wee walk down memory lane. Hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about it, thanks for reading, Cheers, John
If you have a kindle (or something that can run the kindle reader app) then you can get hold of both of the Jack Reusen books (and a whole heap of books by other authors too) by signing up to a month’s free trial of Kindle Unlimited over at Amazon, here’s the link.
Once you’ve signed up you’ll see that both of the Jack Reusen books come up as free, so you can read the whole adventure so far, for nothing.
‘Jack Reusen and The Fey Flame‘ introduces you to the land of Fey, as creatures (and other things) make their way through to the ‘matter-world’ (basically our world). Jack and his family have to discover a way of closing a collection of ‘breaches’ between the two worlds to make their world safe again.
‘Jack Reusen and the Spark of Dreams‘ is a slightly different kind of adventure. People are losing their ability to dream. Every night more and more people lose the certain something that makes human beings so good at solving problems and creating things; the spark of dreams. Jack discovers that he could be the key to understanding what’s causing this change, and he may even be the only person who can solve it and bring back the dreams and imaginations of hundreds of people.
I hope that both of the Jack Reusen books give you and/or your kids something to enjoy over the summer holidays. Let me know what you think, all the best, John
I’m now officially a goodreads author. They were brilliant at helping me link together my books and even created a wee page to show the ‘Jack Reusen’ series in its own light. It’s a great wee (OK not so wee) site which helps you track down books that you might like based on what other readers have said about them. I’m looking forward to experimenting myself as it’s always tough for me to figure out what to read next.
However, while I agree with the idea that reading with your children is a good thing, I’m not sure if I agree with the hefty role being given to word volume, or the assumption that parents should only care about test scores. It’s part of the growing inclination of so many to try and quantify childhood learning.
When a child reads a story where a character loses their memories, they aren’t simply exposed to a vocabulary-building exercise; they have been given access to some fairly complex notions about identity. This might lead them to ask questions about whether we are the sum of our memories, or something more. In essence, books (and perhaps fantasy books in particular) provide simple, digestible ways of thinking about some pretty big questions.
The abilities of a teacher are often assessed based on the test scores of the children they teach, but this can leave little room for some truly vital skills; like bolstered inquisitiveness, social understanding, and the ability to ground ideas within a real-world backdrop.
