Blog Archives

Tooth Fairy in Training: coming June 6

5/29/2019

ALL HAIL BRIONY MAY SMITH!

'Just' a concept sketch... I KNOW! Art © Briony May Smith

Not only is she responsible for introducing me to pistachio and almond cookies, she also deserves the credit for making our new book, Tooth Fairy in Training, so beautiful.

Briony's work is beguiling and Walker Books have really done it justice. The hardback is stunning - it even has an iridescent cover that really SPARKLES!

How the story started.

I'm often asked where I get my ideas. Most often the honest answer is I don't know. But on this occasion I do, so I thought I'd tell you about it.

My kids both ask for 'a mummy made-up' every night. To translate: that's a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, fully ad-libbed story about whatever topic they request. A few years back, that topic was the Tooth Fairy. Every night. For weeks.

The kids wanted to know a lot. Where does she live? What if we stayed awake and saw her? Why does she need teeth? What about our pet kittens' teeth?

'Mummy made-ups' aren't generally worthy of publication. Heck, most are barely worth a listen. But after night after night of mediocre 'made-ups', I hit upon an idea that really worked.

The fairy door in my daughter's room.

Thanks for the idea, kiddos!

Another of Briony's CONCEPT SKETCHES. Unreal! Art © Briony May Smith

My kids had a good point: what about baby animals' teeth? There was a story in that - only instead of a kitten, I'd make it a tiger.

I told my little muses a not-so-polished version of the story, tucked them in and crept downstairs to start writing.

As all stories do, this one has evolved along the way (it was a sabre-toothed tiger and it didn't make the final cut). I couldn't be more delighted with how the resulting book turned out.

Exercise your imagination and ideas will come.

Where do ideas come from? If you think like a kid and keep exercising your imagination, ideas will come easily.

But books? Books come from graft.

Nudge your characters in different directions. Work and clobber and grind and polish - and in the meantime, carry on making up some more. You might just hit upon something SPARKLY!

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NEW YouTube series: Read, Write & Play!

5/23/2019

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It's taken a lot of graft, a day in a dingy dungeon with some good friends and their green screen (thank you, David Gibb and Eloise Dimmock!), grappling with new software (thank you, Andy Robinson!) and plenty of midnight oil, but I'm pleased to announce that my new YouTube series is here!

Each video sets 3 fun tasks:

a mental warm up
an imagination stretcher
a pen & paper challenge

Read, Write & Play is
designed to help
young children find
pleasure in improving
their literacy.

The challenges can even be tackled by kids who haven't yet learned to write. They can make up a story and tell it aloud, or simply start getting the hang of using a pen - a key building block in gaining the confidence to write.

Like me, the videos are short, sweet (debatable) and totally daft! They're also safe to share at home and in school.

Yep, I look like a wazzock.

The first two videos - How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth and Ten Fat Sausages - are already online. Plenty more are to come! I filmed a whole two years' worth of films and will be posting a new one every month - simply hit 'subscribe' if you'd like to hear about them when they go online.

I really hope you find Read, Write & Play useful. Please comment and let me know. You might even like to tell me which books you'd like to see next. Thanks for watching!

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Michelle's News

Tooth Fairy in Training: coming June 6

ALL HAIL BRIONY MAY SMITH!

How the story started.

Thanks for the idea, kiddos!

Exercise your imagination and ideas will come.

NEW YouTube series: Read, Write & Play!

Read, Write & Play is
designed to help
young children find
pleasure in improving
their literacy.

About Michelle

Newsletter

Archives

Michelle's News

Tooth Fairy in Training: coming June 6

ALL HAIL BRIONY MAY SMITH!

How the story started.

Thanks for the idea, kiddos!

Exercise your imagination and ideas will come.

NEW YouTube series: Read, Write & Play!

Read, Write & Play isdesigned to helpyoung children findpleasure in improving​their literacy.

About Michelle

Newsletter

Archives

Read, Write & Play is
designed to help
young children find
pleasure in improving
their literacy.