Heywood Fire Station Spooktacular

I had a great time at the fire station - and Ian Tracey sent me this afterwards

Good Morning Ray.

 

I would just like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks in dedicating your time to support the first Heywood Spooktacular Event.

 

As you know we hosted well over 1000 community guests of which I know you entertained a significant number with your stories. It would be very remiss of me not to let you know that I have had so much positive feedback about Story Time; despite the station being overwhelmed with guests to such a point we had to turn people away.

 

There are children within the community who may never explore the wonderful imaginative world that lies within a book, so for them to be exposed to a story teller who can bring a story to life is a great opportunity. An opportunity that is far removed from X-Boxes and Play-Stations. May be I am just from the Jackanory era?

Ian Tracey LLB (Hons), M I Fire E, Station Commander, E32 Heywood Fire Station

Light Installation Strikes Gold

There is a fantastic light fitting in the children's library at Number One Riverside. Designed and installed by Pete King, the spiralling white-cloud-blue-sky books look down upon us.
This has inspired me to create poems with visiting classes of children. After some warm up excercises, I post up on a flip chart any words or phrases or whole lines they think of. My task is then to arrange them into a poem. So far the results have been stunning. I'm hoping for many more yet.

Glodwick Nursery and Infants' Celebration of World Book Day

I told stories to 360 children at Glodwick Infants last week. They had held over their celebration of World Book Day and staff and children were all in fancy dress. I've never seen a school blessed with so many princesses and superheroes - and one scientist!
Staff costumes were equally good, Cruella de'Ville, Old Macdonald and Little Red Riding Hood to name but a few. Twenty minute "blitz" sessions with each class worked really well I thought, with plenty of water for me to drink. The voice was not too shot on saturday morning.
Thanks for the tasty lunch too, Glodwick!

Donald Maxwell

I've added another Donald Maxwell to my list, Excursions in Colour. Chris and I visited Haworth again and I couldn't resist another look around Hatchard and Daughter. I enquired about one Maxwell we had seen last time, this couldn't be found but Excursions in Colour leapt out at me.
It had to be joined by a folio edition of Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer. A good days browsing.

Goodbye To All That

 I was delighted to find a copy of Robert Graves "Goodbye to All That" in a charity shop in York at the weekend, especially with the centenary commemorations for the outbreak of WWI coming next year, I think it would have disappeared much more quickly had it been on display in a few months time.
This is a 1929 edition, the first year of publication, but my copy is already a fifth impression such was its popularity. There are three things about it that make it special for me, the first is the postcard, used as a bookmark and postmarked 1954. The postal address is Dover, a town in my home county if not my home town. Secondly a previous owner has cut out Robert Graves' obituary from The Times newspaper and folded it carefully so it fits in the book. Thirdly the endpaper has a line "Robert Graves 1929" I must try and find out if that is Robert Graves signature or not.

Kennings

Kennings are alive and well and living in Rochdale.
I  quickly put together a Canny Kennings competition to celebrate the launch of the new Rochdale Central Library at Number One Riverside.
here are some of the entries.
Hollie won with this incredibly imaginative Kenning
play together
nasty never
growing stronger
something sweeter
never better
friends forever

what am I?

friendship

I've never seen a Kenning that has used emotion for its theme. Usually we have objects, people or animals. What a brilliant twist.

Libby contibuted one about  my favourite amphibian
big jumper
loud croaker
green hopper
pond swimmer
fly eater
non drinker

what am I?

a frog!

Anum gave us

eye sighter
blue tweeter
game keeper
name signer
large facer
time holder

what am I?

a computer

Zak's Kenning goes like this

green monster
fire breather
tail swisher
loud roarer
scaly eater
terrible man muncher
sharp scratcher

what am I?

a dragon

Rochdale has very talented young people who enjoy playing with words

Rochdale Central Library Is Open - Official!

Saturday 27th April will stick in my memory for a long, long time.
For all the right reasons.
Rochdale Central Library planned the day to mark the official opening in the brand new building of Number One Riverside. Nick Oldham, Tommy Donbavand and Craig Bradley provided the "headline acts" in terms of authors and in Craig's case "PERFORMANCE" poet - and anyone who has seen Craig in action will know why I put that in capitals. Nick is a crimewriting novelist and spoke admirably of his craft. Tommy is the author of Scream Street - and more, a notable more being Doctor Who. I'd recommend any school to book him.
Norman Warwick acted as Master of Ceremonies for us and did his usual brilliant job. Norman was also commissioned to write a poem for the library, which he did and performed with aplomb. Norman was ably assisted by yours truly as the second voice and members of Touchstones Creative Writing Group displaying the words of the middle section of the poem as it was read. I have to say when I first read the poem it brought a lump to my throat as it hit the spot so well and so eloquently.
There were many opportunities for families to get involved in creative writing on the day, prizes were offered for the best Book Spine Poem and the best Kenning. The Where's Wally Treasure Hunt proved very popular with over 70 entries. Younger children were not forgotten with a colouring competition to try out their skills and Irene Peachey was on hand to sign them up for Bookstart Bear Club. The Reverend Margaret Smith was a star, volunteering to help make sure the children knew exactly what was going on and her routine for "Is poetry cool or does it leave you in a spin?" has to be seen to be believed. Vickke did us proud with her face painting, a riot of colour and character in every face.
Jason Grimshaw aka Ryan Thomas opened Bean coffee shop, much to the delight of many teenage girls.
 The whole place was really buzzing, I look forward to keeping the feel good factor going for a long time yet.

World Book Night 2013

On the 23rd April 2013 on the 18:36 Northern Rail from Rochdale to Sowerby Bridge, eight valiant (well it is also St. George's Day) book lovers gifted over a hundred volumes to travellers. We hope it added a pleasant touch to their journey and indeed the rest of their evening. Staff from Rochdale Borough Libraries volunteered to gift the books in their own time.
Our journey was made pleasant by the friendly Northern Rail Staff, the conductor, guard or whatever the job title is these days, announced World Book Night over the tannoy and explained that we would be making our way along the train. William Shakespeare himself, I am certain, would have been proud of us celebrating his birthday in this fashion.

Donald Maxwell

I was delighted to see a Donald Maxwell in the window of a bookshop in Howarth, even more so when I stepped through the portal of the establishment of Hatchard and Daughter. Failing in my mission here to copy the style of a writer and artist at the turn of the 20th Century. Donald Maxwell (1877-1936) lived in the village of my birth, Borstal, near Rochester, Kent.
I was even more delighted when the well read bookshop owner, who I took to be "And Daughter" produced another Maxwell to accompany "Travels With a Sketch Book." Until that moment I had not realised that Maxwell was a renowned war artist as well as a, shall I call him, travel writer. I left the establishment two volumes of Maxwell richer and a credit card transaction poorer, failing again to ape the style of my hero and his writing. My dear lady wife brought my attention to a volume in the window of said "Hatchard and Daughter" and, after a breakfast repast, I returned to that esteemed establishement to enquire about "Perambulations with a Parson." To my delight "And Daughter" produced a third Maxwell, but I declined, failing only in my third attempt at the style of the era, as I felt my constitution could take no more excitement that day, my reading would absorb all the rest of my time that week and my bank account would suffer.

Who Knows Where the Time Goes

So much to do, so little time. I've been so busy doing I've had no time for reporting. I've discovered Book Spine Poetry, so many of my sessions with classes of children have been devoted to that. So much so that I'm currently judging a competition we ran in Rochdale for schools to submit their Book Spine poems. The winner gets a days storytelling from me.