Heart Of Hawick Childrens Book Award

Animated Book Trailer: 'Meteorite Strike' by AG Taylor

Hawick primary children have been getting animated with another fabulous book trailer for the Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award shortlist 2011. This year, the book in question is the action-packed 'Meteorite Strike' by AG Taylor. The animation workshop was led by Mary Morrison and Jim Stirk, along with a notorious pirate, better known as Mr Hunter from Drumlanrig St Cuthbert's Primary School.

The animation had its world premiere at the Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award Ceremony in Tower Mill, to great applause from the primary school audience and visiting authors.You can see the finished film by clicking the 'play' button below.

 

 

Author visit: Allan Burnett and Keith Charters

Wednesday 10^th February, 2011
Hawick High School
Keith Charters - P5, P6
Allan Burnett - P7, S1

A Little Bit Funny, and a Little Bit Disgusting!

Not entirely an appetising advert for the recent author events at Hawick High School, but certainly popular with the audience of P5 and P6 pupils whohad travelled to hear Keith Charters.

Keith started by asking his audience if they would like to hear something a little bit funny and exciting or a liitle bit funny and disgusting - and the winner was never in doubt.

Keith entertained with tales of the hero of his books, Lee, in particular his stay in hospital, and went on to speak to the children about their own writing giving tips from his experience as an author.

In the afternoon Allan Burnett inspired pupils from Primary 7 and S1 with stories of how great ideas and theories were turned into real practical innovations that revolutionised our everyday lives. He told moving tales of the struggle of remarkable people to create products, machines, systems and gadgets that infinitely broadened mankind's horizons.

The events organisied by The Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award and part funded by the Scottish Book Trust were attended this year by 700 pupils.

For many this is an ideal opportunity to familiarise themselves with the building and meet some of the staff of the High School they will be moving on to.

The schools participating were Burnfoot Community School, Drumlanrig & St Cuthbert's Primary, Wilton Primary, Trinity Primary, Hawick High School, Stirches Primary, Newcastleton Primary, St Margaret's RC Primary, Denholm Primary and Hobkirk Primary.

The Reivers by Hawick High School (2010)

  "The notorious Border Reivers wreaked havoc on both sides of the Scotland/England border from the 13th to the 16th centuries AD. It is thought that reiving crime started then due to the wars of independence and the Borders were being ravaged by English soldiers invading..."

Addressing this question were a group of second-year pupils at Hawick High School taking part in a project to produce a book about the reivers. With the help of Allan Burnett,  historian and author of the 'And All That' series of history books, they split the business of book creation into manageable chunks and set off tofind out more.

Starting from existing texts, the students made recordings of visits from local experts (Ian Landles, reiver historian and Derek Stewart, reivers weapons demonstrator) and visits to The Heritage Hub local history archive and Hawick Public Library. Using all these sources, they began the work of writing and illustrating the book. The students worked in groups focusing on  specific elements of the reiving life (battles & raids, weapons, armour & equipment, clans & famous reivers, castles, towers & abbeys, law & order and music, ballads & pastimes), and were encouraged to evaluate the pieces of writing and artwork produced and develop their editing skills towards a final version.

The project helped to build many practical skills - good note-taking and putting information into your own words; finding sources and using the internet effectively; working to a deadline and working in groups. Another undoubted benefit was the self-esteem and confidence pupils gained from producing a book - a very tangible result at the end of a period of hard work.

One student described the project as "tough, challenging and worthwhile", while another remarked that they had learned to "express my opinions constructively" over the course of the 6 months. Another felt the need to manage existing schoolwork alongside the project had "taught me a lot".

Exploring the romance and intrigue of the time (not to mention the blood and guts) inspired many of the students to produce artwork subsequently used to illustrate the book. One student composed a tune for the pipes, 'Ten Thousand Raids', which was played at the launch of the book at the Tower Mill auditorium in November. The launch allowed everyone involved, and their families, to celebrate their work and see the unveiling of the high-quality book they had produced. See gallery pics here!

Copies of 'The Border Reivers' have now been distributed to local primary schools and libraries throughout the Borders, and further copies are available at local outlets in Hawick.

For further information, contact us at Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award by emailing info@hawickchildrensbookaward.org

Thanks also to Lesley Fraser, ILF Imaging;  Scottish Borders Council Community Grant Fund, Determined to Succeed, Scottish Book Trust Live Literature Funding.

      
 
 
 

 

Author visit: Rachel Bright and Tracey Alexander

Hawick primary children had the chance to meet shortlisted children's authors Rachel Bright and Tracey Alexander during special schools visits May. 

Writer and illustrator Rachel Bright visited pupils at Trinity and Denholm Primary Schools and read from 'What does Daddy Do?'', a picture book for 4-7s about what fathers get up to when they go off to work. The children at Denholm made cards for their dads and the Trinity pupils made a superhero called 'Trinity Man'!

Fiction author TM Alexander visited children at Wilton Primary School and read from 'Tribe: Jonno Joins', her novel for 8-10s about a new boy who joins the school and changes everything...

Border Reivers’ Book Project with Allan Burnett

He’s a man with a mission – to blow away the cobwebs from history! And now author Allan Burnett is working with second year pupils at Hawick High School on a new book about the Border Reivers.

Pupils are researching the Borders reivers at local libraries and the Heritage Hub, undertaking research trips, and drawing on oral history interviews, as well as working on the photography and marketing side for the book, due to be launched at later this year. A display of the work in progress was also shown at Hawick Reivers’ Festival at the end of March.

WARNING: Don’t read Allan’s history books unless you love compelling heroes and villains, bloody battles, spine-tingling mysteries, romantic intrigues, myth-busting facts and philosophical puzzles.

Allan has the skills for his quest. He was awarded a distinction for his postgraduate thesis about Scottish political history (featuring dead clever people in wigs) from the University of Edinburgh. Allan also has an honours degree in Scottish History from the same university.

This is a mission to entertain, inform and educate. Allan strives to achieve a balance between teaching and learning, encouraging curiosity and nurturing areas of special interest. Allan’s history projects have been widely praised by head teachers and librarians. His work is recognised by Literature In Learning as a model of Curriculum For Excellence good practice.

Allan Burnett’s website is at www.allanburnett.com.

Author Visit: Lari Don

Wednesday 20^th January, 2010  
Hawick High School
Lari Don – P5 and P6

Lari is a writer and storyteller based in Leith. She was schooled in Innerleithen, and her first children’s novel, First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts, set in the Scottish Borders, was published in 2008. The sequel, Wolf Notes, was published in summer 2009.

At the end of last year, First Aid for Fairies won the Royal Mail Award for Children’s Books 8-11 category – a prize voted for by children, like our own Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award.

Another book, a gory retelling of Tam O’Shanter, was also published last summer.

You can use Lari's website to find out more about her books, her writing, and her storytelling.

When did you become a writer?
"I think I’ve always been a writer. I wrote a story about going to see Peter Pan when I was in Primary Two and made it into a tiny book. And I used to write stories in the middle of the night and push them under my Mum’s bedroom door. I still write stories in the middle of the night. But I don’t push them under doors any more.

"When I grew up, I thought I ought to write for grown-ups, so I wrote short stories, some of which got published in books and magazines, and one of which even won a prize (the Canongate Prize in 2001).

"But when I had children of my own, I started to have ideas for children’s books, so I left a pile of short stories half-finished and wrote children’s stories instead. And I enjoy writing adventures and fantasies more than anything else I’ve ever written (but don’t tell anyone that, just in case I write a grown-up novel some day and want people to take it seriously!)"

Bookshelf:

First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts £5.99
Wolf Notes £5.99
Tam O'Shanter £5.99

www.laridon.co.uk

This event is FREE to schools, funded by The Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award and Awards for All Scotland.
Authors’ books will be available for sale, and the event will be followed by a book signing.

Author Visit: Catherine MacPhail

Wednesday 20^th January, 2010
Hawick High School
Catherine MacPhail – P7 and S1

We’re delighted to welcome Catherine MacPhail back to Hawick to talk to P7s and S1s about crime thrillers, hooks and characters.

Action, pace and cliffhangers are elements Catherine tries to have in all her stories. Catherine will be talking about her series of crime thrillers: Nemesis, and two of her more recent novels, Grass and Hide and Seek. She will also be talking about how she sustains a character and stories throughout a series of books, how she maintains the pace of a book and, how she keeps the reader hooked! Catherine would love to get the audience to do a spontaneous brain storming about what could happen next in the series.

'I always wanted to be a writer, but growing up in a working class family background in the west of Scotland, with a widowed mother and three sisters, being a writer was a dream I thought could never come true. So I stayed 'in the closet' until after my youngest child was born, and it was only then that I started sending stories away. I wrote every kind of story, from horror to romance, but began to realise I had a knack for writing comedy and ended up with two series on Radio 2 - My Mammy and Me. I thought I'd found the kind of writing I wanted to do until my daughter Katie was bullied in school and I wrote my first children's book Run Zan Run. Now I love writing for children too. Missing came about because I've spoken to children who've felt neglected by parents when a sibling is very ill, or is in trouble, or has run away. I wanted to write about that and as a mother I know how I would feel but I also wanted to make it a rattling good story with a ghostly element to it too.'

Bookshelf:
Nemesis 1: Into the Shadows £6.99
Nemesis 2: The Beast Within £6.99
Nemesis 3: Sinister Intent £6.99
Grass £6.99
Hide and Seek £6.99

There will also be a selection of Catherine MacPhail's other titles, all priced at £6.99.

www.catherinemacphail.co.uk
www.bloomsbury.com/childrens/

This event is FREE to schools, funded by The Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award and Awards for All Scotland.
The author’s books will be available for sale, and the event will be followed by a book signing.

Author Reading: Gus Grenfell

19th May 2009
Stirches Primary School

The author of ‘Woodenface’, one of the books shortlisted for the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book Award 2009, paid a visit to Stirches Primary School on the morning of the award ceremony.

As well as reading from his book, he also brought some wonderful puppets to help tell his story, including the dancing wooden doll you see on the right.

Gus’ visit was funded with support from the Young People’s Library Service at Scottish Borders Council.

www.gusgrenfell.co.uk

Author Visit: Annmarie Allan

19th May 2009
Drumlanrig St Cuthbert's Primary School

The author of ‘Hox', one of the books shortlisted for the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book Award 2009, paid a visit to Drumlanrig St Cuthbert's Primary School on the morning of the award ceremony.

As well as reading from her book, Annemarie spoke of some of the science behind her writing and answered questions from the pupils about the life of a writer.

Author workshop: Alan Bissett

23 March, 2009
1-3pm
Tower Mill, Hawick

Author Alan Bissett visited Tower Mill to hold a creative writing workshop for nearly 30 pupils from ten schools in and around Hawick.

Alan has been a secondary school English teacher, and lectured in Creative Writing at the Universities of Leeds and Glasgow.  He also frequently reads from his work to 5th and 6th year pupils and for the last year has been involved in teaching literacy to Primary sixes using the medium of graphic novels.

www.alanbissett.com