![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/LearningResourceService\/uploads\/sites\/2007\/2022\/05\/05140739\/Hag.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHag Storm by Victoria Williamson is a spooky tale based on the atmospheric poem Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burns. It imagines his life as a boy growing up on a farm in Ayrshire and how he may have been inspired to write the famous poem. A perfect tie-in for Burns Night.<\/p>\n
Find out what some our #FalkirkReadingTeachers think – Warning! These reviews contain spoilers.<\/p>\n
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Review 1 – 5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n 12 year old Rab spends his time doing backbreaking work on his father\u2019s farm. He misses his old life where he was able to attend school. One day he finds a Hag Stone in the field. When he looks through the stone, he can see witches gathering. He befriends a young maid working in town who warns him the witches will be after his sisters. Rab soon grows suspicious of his old cousin and is determined to stop her before Halloween.<\/p>\n Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n Rab is wrong in his suspicions and the young maid is in fact the real witch. His cousin has been trying to protect the family all along.<\/em><\/p>\n Rab and his brother save his sisters in the nick of time!<\/em><\/p>\n This would be an excellent book to share with a class in the lead up to Burns\u2019 Day. The story is inspired by the events in Tam O\u2019Shanter and the links to the poem are clear.\u00a0 (My current class loved listening to and retelling the story of Tam O\u2019Shanter this year and I think this book would have been a good addition to the learning). The story is exciting and has a spooky element that I think older children would enjoy.<\/p>\n Good for – Inference, curriculum links, reading for enjoyment.<\/p>\n Review 2 – 4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n Rab works hard on his family\u2019s farm.\u00a0 Strange things start to happen when he discovers and strange stone which has the power to show him things he doesn\u2019t want to see.\u00a0 Rab starts to suspect witchcraft is afoot.\u00a0 He needs help to fend off the evil forces but, who should he turn to.\u00a0 The young maid from the big house seems to know about these things, maybe she can help Rab before his family are put in mortal danger.<\/p>\n Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n Rab sees his mum\u2019s old cousin, Betty, behaving very strangely in the lead up to Halloween.\u00a0 She\u2019s making dolls, chanting and going to the old ruined kirk.\u00a0 She\u2019s been like a granny to him, could she really be a witch?\u00a0 She cursed the factor and now he\u2019s ill…it must be true.\u00a0 Things are starting to go wrong for Rab\u2019s family and Halloween is fast approaching.<\/em><\/p>\n Rab and his family have been befriended by Morven, the new maid from the big house.\u00a0 She\u2019s lovely and they welcome her into their family.\u00a0 She\u2019s trying to help Rab uncover the truth about Betty.<\/em><\/p>\n Big spoiler.\u00a0 Morven is actually the witch not cousin Betty.\u00a0 Rab finds out just in the nick of time.\u00a0 Maybe if he\u2019d spent more time listening to cousin Betty\u2019s cautionary tales, he\u2019d have been more aware of what was really happening.<\/em><\/p>\n The story is structured around the events set out in Tam O\u2019Shanter.\u00a0 It\u2019s draws on all the little stories wrapped up in the poem and suggests how Burns (Rab) might have neen inspired.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great tale for Halloween or Burns week. Great for discussing Burns and the folklore of his day.\u00a0 Opens up the whole subject really well. It also gives a good platform for discussing the historic perspective of life in Burns\u2019s time. What was it like?\u00a0 How tough was it?\u00a0 The novel actually contains a lot of solid historic facts about the Burns family and their migration from Alloway to Mount Oliphant.\u00a0 It exposes the troubled relationships that his family had with their landlords and factors.<\/p>\n There are quite a lot of old scots words but, it\u2019s not over done.\u00a0 There is enough to start a conversation but, not so many that it becomes hard work.<\/p>\n There are also some great passages for discussing the relationships between siblings.\u00a0 Do we have favourites?\u00a0 Do we treat people how we want to be treated?\u00a0 Are we always fair?<\/p>\n This is also a great witchcraft story.\u00a0 It\u2019s perfect for Halloween.<\/p>\n Good for – This is a great way to introduce pupils to the ideas and the story of Tam O\u2019Shanter.\u00a0 If the P7s are tackling Burns and Burns Suppers, then this would be a great read at Halloween or, even when in P6.\u00a0 It\u2019s a neat segue from the novel into the poetry.\u00a0\u00a0 It makes all the old scots a little less intimidating. There are some very clever passages where there are clues given as to what is going on.\u00a0 That meta processing is something that you can go back and tackle afterwards.\u00a0 This is a much easier introduction to Burns than diving straight into the poetry.<\/p>\n Review 3 – 5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n This book is based on the life of Robert Burns and inspiration taken from his poem Tam O\u2019Shanter. <\/em><\/p>\n The book follows the story of a 12-year-old Rab who lives in Ayrshire on his family\u2019s farm. He works hard to help his family make a living in hard times. When out clearing a field of stones one day he finds a strange stone in the field and his life takes on a strange turn of events. Looking through the stone, he is sure he can see witches and he\u2019s now not sure his cousin Betty is all she seems!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t judge a book by its cover! Don\u2019t jump to assumptions! The mystery of the witch(es) will keep a reader hooked as will the reveal of the true identity of the witch, especially if the reader has guessed correctly. Yes, its\u2019s a piece of historical fiction, but also a great adventure book.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t read the blurb before reading this \u2013 simply picked up the book as it was written by Victoria Williamson, one of my favourite children\u2019s authors. I devoured the book on a cold and windy Sunday morning. I was immediately transported to 18th<\/sup> century Scotland; Victoria\u2019s narrative voice and characters are very authentic and easy to read. For these reasons, I think even reluctant readers would enjoy it. It is a great story with a fab twist at the end that keen readers will spot but it\u2019s also a good teaching point for prediction and inference. There\u2019s obviously been a lot of research put into writing the book which adds to its authenticity so pupils would be able to get a lot of information about life in Scotland in the time of Robert Burns, or what life as a country farmer might have been like, in an accessible and interesting way.<\/p>\n My class also watched the live event with Victoria Williamson available through her publishers (Cranachan) website on Burns Night which they enjoyed as we\u2019re also reading another of Victoria\u2019s books. They enjoyed seeing their \u2018author\u2019. We have also entered the Magic Spell competition which was inspired by events in the book.<\/p>\n Truly, you could do a whole IDL topic on this book. You could investigate the Witch Trials in Scotland or America (second level) and follow this through to look at prejudices and stereotypes in modern society. Lots of scope for literacy activities from instructional writing, creative writing, poetry\u2026 You could view it all from a more historical angle looking at the reliability and variety of sources used to investigate the past and the use of artefacts in recreating past societies. You could compare rural and city living and jobs available today or in the past.<\/p>\n I cannot recommend the book and author enough. Read it to your class!<\/p>\n Good for – reluctant readers, curriculum links, inference, narrative, reading for pleasure<\/p>\n Review 4 – 5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on Tam O\u2019Shanter and the life of Robert Burns. 12-year-old Rab spends all his time doing back breaking work on his family\u2019s farm instead of attending school. Rab gets fed up with the work and misses his old life and school but knows he has responsibilities to his family. Rab finds a Hag stone in the field and realises that the witches are coming for his family.<\/p>\n Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/p>\n Rab misreads the situation and is taken in by a young witch who convinces him his old Aunt is the one putting his family at risk. Rab uses all his wits and knowledge to save his two sisters and triumphs in the end.<\/em><\/p>\n Good for – curriculum links<\/p>\n A terrific way to introduce the pupils to Robert Burns and Scottish literature but also contains a lot of useful information about life in rural Scotland at the time. Would sit well with a Scottish Topic as well as learning about Rabbie Burns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hag Storm by Victoria Williamson is a spooky tale based on the atmospheric poem Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burns. It imagines his life as a boy growing up on a farm in Ayrshire and how he may have been inspired to write the famous poem. A perfect tie-in for Burns Night. 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