|
Ivan Jones (author)
Ivan Jones is a British writer of fiction. His work includes novels, picture books, plays, poetry anthologies, television series and many adaptations for BBC Radio. He was born in Shropshire and educated at Adams Grammar School in Newport and has a first degree from Birmingham University and a master's degree from the University of Nottingham. Novels and picture books Jones' best known novels are The Ghost Hunter series, published by Scholastic and Kindle The books were adapted into three six-part series for BBC Television. The first series was broadcast in 2000, second series in 2001 and the third series in 2002. They are still being shown in the UK and in other parts of the world. One of the main characters in the series was Mrs Croker, played by Jean Marsh (who also acted in ''Upstairs Downstairs''). Will Theakston played Roddy Oliver. The ghost boy, William Povey, was played by Lee Godwin and Roddy's sister was played by Verity-Jane Dearsley. ''The Ghost Hunter'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, and Herefordshire to the south. A unitary authority of the same name was created in 2009, taking over from the previous county council and five district councils, now governed by Shropshire Council. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998, but remains part of the ceremonial county. The county's population and economy is centred on five towns: the county town of Shrewsbury, which is culturally and historically important and close to the centre of the county; Telford, which was founded as a new town in the east which was constructed around a number of older towns, most notably Wellington, Dawley and Madeley, which is today th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Hurley
Collin Hurley (born 1957) is an English actor and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and the Shakespeare's Globe company, specialising in performing the works of William Shakespeare. Early career Born in Leicester, Hurley first became interested in acting at Alderman Newton's Boys' School when he played Le Beau in '' As You Like It'' before going on to act in youth theatre, school plays and amateur dramatic societies. On leaving school in 1969 he spent ten years working in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom when his roles included the title role in ''Hamlet'', Nero in '' Britannicus'', Gus in ''The Dumb Waiter'', Tony Lumpkin in ''She Stoops to Conquer'', (Salisbury Playhouse), Ariel in '' The Tempest'' ( Gateway Theatre, Chester), the title role in ''Henry V'', The Black Prince in '' Edward III'' (Theatr Clwyd), Pip in '' Great Expectations'' (Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich) and Dromio of Syracuse in ''The Comedy of Errors'' (Brist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Cinderella
''Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter (Wishbones)'' is a non-fiction book by Chinese-Canadian physician and author Adeline Yen Mah describing her experiences growing up in China. First published in 1999, ''Chinese Cinderella'' is a revised version of part of her 1997 autobiography, ''Falling Leaves''. Her mother died after giving birth to her (of blood loss) and she is known to her family as the worst luck ever. Her father remarries a woman who stays at home and looks after the children for a living while treating Adeline and her step-siblings harshly and spoiling her own children with many luxurious things. An extract of this book is also part of the anthology of Edexcel English Language IGCSE new specification. Plot Ever since Adeline was born, she had been rejected coldly because her family believed her to bring bad luck. Her father's first wife died two weeks after giving birth to her, the fifth child. Soon, her father remarries Jeanne Prosperi (refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. His most famous work is ''The Chronicles of Prydain'', a series of five high fantasy novels whose conclusion, ''The High King'', was awarded the 1969 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. He won U.S. National Book Awards in 1971 and 1982."National Book Awards – 1971" (NBF). Retrieved 2012-02-22. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelle Paver
Michelle Paver (born 7 September 1960) is a British novelist and children's writer, known for the historical fantasy series ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'', set in prehistoric Europe. For the sixth book of the series, '' Ghost Hunter'' (2009) she won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. Biography Michelle Paver was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in central Africa. Her mother was Belgian (Flemish) and her South African father ran a newspaper, the '' Nyasaland Times''. Her family settled in Wimbledon, England when she was three. She was educated at The Study and Wimbledon High School. After reading biochemistry at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, where she attained a first-class degree, she became a partner in a City of London law firm. Her father's death in 1996 prompted her to take a one-year sabbatical, during which she travelled around France and America and wrote her first book, ''Without Chari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf Brother
''Wolf Brother'' is the first book in the series ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'' by Michelle Paver. ''Wolf Brother'' takes place six thousand years ago during the Middle Stone Age, and tells the story of twelve-year-old Torak, a boy who can talk to wolves. The book was published in 2004 by Orion Children's Books. Most reviews were very positive, commenting on Paver's imagery, humour, and descriptive writings style. Most praised the author's attention to detail and depth of research. Paver travelled to the forests of Finland and Norway researching how people lived 6000 years ago, and she also spent time with wolves at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust. She also studied the raven population at the Tower of London. ''Wolf Brother'' is illustrated by Geoff Taylor. Plot summary In pre-agricultural Europe, the people of the Forest live in clans, each represented by a particular animal or life form. These clans live a hunter-gatherer existence with a shamanic belief system. To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Shipton
Paul Shipton (born 1963) is an English children's author. He was born in Manchester and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Manchester University. After completing two master's degrees (in Classics and Philosophy), he taught English in Istanbul for a year. After returning to the UK, he taught English as a foreign language for several years, and it was around this time that he published his first book, ''Zargon Zoo'' (1991). Four years later, he published ''Bug Muldoon and the Garden of Fear'', and relocated with his family to Wisconsin, United States where he works as a freelance writer and editor. He also writes books for younger readers under the pen name Paul Cooper. He, his wife and two daughters, now divide their time between Cambridge, England and Madison, Wisconsin. Partial bibliography * ''Zargon Zoo'' (1991) * ''Bug Muldoon and the Garden of Fear'' (1995) * ''The Mighty Skink'' (1996) * ''Bug Muldoon and the Killer in the Rain'' (1998) (winner of the Austrian Chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pig Scrolls
''The Pig Scrolls'' (2004), by Paul Shipton, is a young adult comedy adventure novel about a talking pig (Gryllus) and his endeavours to save the world. The novel is set in Ancient Greece with many, often comical, references to ancient Greek mythology and life. The characters include all the major Ancient Greek gods, some minor deities, the young Homer and Sibyl, a prophetess in training at the temple of Apollo in Delphi. Plot After all the Olympian gods go missing, Sibyl has a premonition in which the sun god Apollo tells her to find "the talking pig". Sibyl then sets out looking for the talking pig, Gryllus. She finds him first at an auction where she buys him for 200 drachmas then Gryllus runs away and he winds up at Big Stavros's Kebab bar where he is forced to entertain customers and where Sibyl takes him back. Together they set off for the temple at Delphi. Apollo informs Sibyl that she and Gryllus must find a goatherd boy living on top of a mountain. Once Sibyl and Gryllu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gennifer Choldenko
Gennifer Choldenko (born October 20, 1957) is an American writer of popular books for children and adolescents. Awards ''Al Capone Does My Shirts'' was a finalist for both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ... (Newbery Honor Book). References External links *Interview with Gennifer Choldenko at Mother Daughter Book Club.com * [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Capone Does My Shirts
''Al Capone Does My Shirts'' is a historical fiction novel for young adults by the author Gennifer Choldenko. In the book, Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island when his father takes a new job as an electrician and a guard in the well-known Alcatraz prison. The book was named a Newbery Honor selection, and in 2007 it received the California Young Reader Medal. It has three sequels: ''Al Capone Shines My Shoes'', ''Al Capone Does My Homework'', and ''Al Capone Throws Me a Curve''. Plot In the 1930s, Matthew "Moose" Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island when his father takes a new job as an electrician and a guard in the well-known Alcatraz prison. Moose becomes friends with the warden's daughter, Piper, who regularly gets into trouble in her attempts to earn money to get off of Alcatraz. Piper talks Moose into being part of her money-making schemes, like having inmates on the island do laundry for the kids at school. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Westall
Robert Atkinson Westall (7 October 1929 – 15 April 1993) was an English author and teacher known for fiction aimed at children and young people. Some of the latter cover complex, dark, and adult themes. He has been called "the dean of British war novelists". His first book, ''The Machine Gunners'', won the 1975 Carnegie Medal for the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. It was named among the top ten Medal-winners at the 70th anniversary celebration in 2007. Westall also won a second Carnegie (no one has yet won three), a Smarties Prize, and the once-in-a-lifetime Guardian Prize. Early life and career Robert Westall was born 7 October 1929 in North Shields, Northumberland. He grew up there on Tyneside during the Second World War, which he used as the setting for many of his novels, including his own life. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art at Durham University and a post-graduate degree in Sculpture at the Slade School of Art in London in 1957. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Machine Gunners
''The Machine Gunners'' is a children's historical novel by Robert Westall, published by Macmillan in 1975. Set in northeastern England shortly after the Battle of Britain (February 1941), it features children who find a crashed German aircraft with a machine gun and ammunition; they build a fortress and capture and imprison a German gunner. The author also wrote a play based on the book, and others have adapted it for television and radio. A sequel, '' Fathom Five'', set two years later, was published in 1979. Westall won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject, and ''Machine Gunners'' was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works for the 70th anniversary celebration in 2007, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Plot summary Set during the Second World War the story follows six children living in the fictional town of Garmouth which r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
