Books are a big thing in our house and we love reading. Over the years I’ve set myself various reading challenges, some of which I fared better at than others. This year I challenged myself to read 100 books for example, I actually managed 104. When my sister’s boyfriend and I decided to read 25 classic novels however, my performance was less impressive.
Belle has always been a big reader, and I appreciate how lucky this makes me as a parent. I know that a lot of children are reluctant to tear themselves away from whichever screen has their attention and get lost instead in a paper based alternative reality.
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour (organised by Scottish Book Trust) takes the very best UK and international authors directly into schools across Scotland and the UK to inspire a love of reading, writing and illustration. Children’s literacy is something that’s hugely important to Scottish Friendly and they are chuffed to bits that the 2014 managed to reach more than 7,000 children in over 80 schools through the tour. It’s initiatives like this that really can make the difference – sometimes all it takes is finding a connection with one book, being touched by one story, to inspire a love of books for live.
Last November the fantastic young adult author Phil Earle visited secondary schools in Falkirk, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. Phil’s award-winning novels which include; The Bubble Wrap Boy, Being Billy and Saving Daisy are inspired by real stories and real people.
Win a signed copy of Phil Earle’s The Bubble Wrap Boy
To support the tour and to help get kids excited about books, Scottish Book Trust has given me a signed copy of The Bubble Wrap Boy to give away to one lucky reader. Here’s the blurb, to give you a flavour…
All my life I’ve been tiny Charlie from the Chinese Chippie, whose only friend is Sinus, the kid who stares at walls.
But I believe that everyone’s good at something.
I’ve just got to work out what my something is…
Charlie’s found his secret talent: skateboarding. It’s his one-way ticket to popularity. All he’s got to do is practice, and nothing’s going to stop him – not his clumsiness, not his overprotective mum, nothing.
Except Charlie isn’t the only one in his family hiding a massive secret, and his next discovery will change everything.
How do you stay on the board when your world is turned upside down?
How to enter
To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is read about Phil Earle here and then leave your answer to the following question as a comment on this post:
Over the course of the Phil Earle’s tour how many pupils did he meet?
A – 150
B – 1,500
C – 15,000
The competition will close at midnight on March 8th and is open to UK residents only. A winner will be chosen at random after this date and notified within 3 days.
Tips for writing great dialogue
I’ve dabbled a bit over the years in story writing too, proper made up stories rather than just the retelling of amusing things Belle has said. After one Arvon residential course I even wrote the first chapter or two of a post-apocalyptic novel about a camel. The camel, by its very nature, didn’t lend itself terribly well to dialogue, but if you have secret novel writing ambitions then this video from Phil Earle includes some great tips.
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B – 1,500
Thank you!
B – 1,500
1500
B – 1,500
*waves hand in air* B! 1500
The answer is 1500
What a fantastic prize!
B – 1,500
B – 1,500
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Thanks, sounds great!
B – 1,500
B) 1,500
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B) 1500
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B! 1500
1500! Really like the sound of that book.
B) 1500
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B) 1500
1500! x
B!
B-1,500
B. 1500
B.1500. Thanks.
1500! :) x
B – 1,500
B! :)
B ) 1.500
It’s B) 1,500
1500 thanks x
B) 1500
B – 1,500
1500
B – 1500
B – 1,500
1500
1500
B) 1500
1500
1500
B – 1,500
1500
B – 1,500
B – 1,500