http://www.slainte.org.uk/news/newsindex.htm
SLAINTE reports that this Festival will be held mainly in Elgin Library between 21 – 24 September and includes a whole series of events to celebrate Scottish writing, illustration and publishing. The programme includes events for babies, children and adults and features writers such as Theresa Breslin, Iain M Banks, Vivian French and Mairi Hedderwick.
‘Out of the gate and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy.’
Anyone with young children will recognise these immortal words instantly as the opening lines of the book ‘Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy’ by Lynley Dodd. Following a Sell-Out run at the Fringe 2010, Hairy Maclary and his friends are springing off the page once again this Summer.
Featuring many of the characters from the books like Hercules Morse, as big as a Horse – Bottomley Potts, covered in spots – Schnitzel von Krumm, with the very low tum and Scarface Claw – the toughest tomcat in town. With music, singing and several of your favourite Hairy Maclary stories, this show is a must for the whole family.
MUMS.NET:- “…Hairy Maclary was fab, my nearly 3 year old practically levitated in excitement…”
No Nonsense Productions presents Hairy Maclary
Tues 6th September
Palace Theatre
10.30am & 1.30pm
£5 for schools
On Thursday 16 June 2011 Andy Stanton spoke to an audience of over 17000 P3-P5 children across the UK as part of Authors Live. Andy spoke about how he began writing Mr Gum, his love of books and even did a spot of beatboxing and rapping! The event was the first Authors Live event to be broadcast on the BBC red button.
Andy’s performance was watched by over ten thousand pupils across Scotland. You can watch the event again on Scottish Book Trust’s website. Additionally, free teaching resources for Andy’s Mr. Gum series (great for engaging reluctant readers) are available through the site.
Authors Live: Mr Gum with Andy Stanton http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-with-andy-stanton
Scottish Book Trust is currently on the lookout for three enthusiastic writers between the ages of 14 and 17 to participate in their Young Writers Awards. You could have the chance to be mentored by an established teen writer over a period of six months as well as meeting industry professionals and visiting a top London publisher.
There are now 30 creativity filled Glow Groups listed on the Creativity Portal – stacked with resources for drama teachers, literacy, social studies and the moving image. Use the broad sweep search tools on the front page of the Creativity Portal to access a broad range of creative partners, online resources and case studies relating to your own field of expertise.
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) has launched its 2011-2012 programme of free workshops and Glow Meet sessions for primary and secondary schools.
New topics include ‘Tartan: a Chequered Tale’, ‘Witches on Trial’ and ‘Scottish Census Records’. Senior secondary students may be interested in ‘Study Skills – using primary sources’, and new sessions that support Higher History topics: The Wars of Independence, 1286-1328, The Age of Reformation, 1542-1603, and Migration and Empire, 1830-1939.
Full details of the Schools Programme and the booking form are available on the NRS education website.
Grampian Children’s Book Award goes jointly to The Enemy and Grass. It’s a librarian’s dream to see so many children showing their enthusiasm for reading. There were more than 500 young people in the audience to hear who had won this year’s Grampian Children’s Book Award.
The decision is a popular one and children from schools across the north- east greet the news with screams and cheers of approval. It’s refreshing to see books produce such passion.
This is the seventh annual award open to voters in S1-3 in schools across Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The youngsters have voted two books into joint first position – Catherine MacPhail’s Grass and Charlie Higson’s The Enemy.
MacPhail is there and signs copies of her book afterwards: “I’m absolutely over the moon. I can’t explain it – I am so chuffed,” she says, as a long line of teenagers queue up clutching copies of Grass.
Twelve-year-old Adam Mair from Buckie High in Banffshire is glad that both books are sharing joint first place. “I liked The Enemy because I like a good horror book. Grass was different from what I normally read – I usually read more science fiction and it was more reality-based, so I found it interesting.”
Chloe Johnston, 13, from Meldrum Academy in Inverurie, has enjoyed an afternoon listening to extracts from the six shortlisted titles. “It was a really good atmosphere and a good experience. I read every day. I think this competition introduces kids to other books they might not otherwise have read,” says Chloe.
A committee of librarians runs the event and children at schools across the region vote for the winner. The other four books that made it to the shortlist of six were Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy, Wasted by Nicola Morgan, Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Young Writers Awards http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/young-writers-awards
Do you love to write? Ever dreamed about getting published? Would you like to work with a professional writer?
Scottish Book Trust is currently on the lookout for three enthusiastic writers between the ages of 14 and 17 to participate in our Young Writers Awards.
They could have the chance to be mentored by an established teen writer over a period of six months as well as meeting industry professionals and visiting a top London publisher.
The novelist Louise Welsh has joined the Scots Words and Place-names competition as a judge, alongside the writer Amal Chatterjee!
Louise Welsh is author of several books, including ‘The Bullet Trick’ and ‘Naming the Bones’ and won several awards for her debut novel, ‘The Cutting Room’. She lives in Glasgow and is currently the Writer in Residence at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Her website is at: http://www.louisewelsh.com .
The SWAP competition asks pupils to write a story, poem or essay relating to Scots words and/or place-names. There are four age categories: P1-3, P4-7, S1-3, S4-6 and prizes to be won.
Click here [link] for more details about the competition and how to enter.
[https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/SWAP/default.aspx]
