Blog Archives - STORY SHACK

“But it is one thing to read about dragons and another to meet them.” ― Ursula Le Guin

4/25/2014

Just catching up on on reading reading reading and have, this week, mostly been reading the first of Ursula Le Guin's quartet-'The Wizard of Earthsea'. I'm ashamed to say I think I read some of this at uni as it was a classic then as it is now but didn't finish. We can never decide on a favourite Ghibli but two of us in the house have 'Tales from Earthsea' in our Top 3 which is based on the book

....and then more treats in the form of amazing book makers at Albert Pye Primary school today. Really ambitious books with many many people using very clever fastenings and very tricky, fiddly buttons. Lots of perseverance needed and that was just for the teachers I think! Interestingly many Year 5s chose the more 'traditional' book making method of covering two pieces of card and the adding a spine of tape with an inlay over the top....lengthy but worth it in the end as you can see:

'A child who reads will be an adult who thinks'

4/22/2014

And here they are below....those children (and families) who read, dream, create and IMAGINE. If we don't allow children to do these things who will be the thinkers and dreamers of the future?

This is Daisy and Molly (self portraits) wearing rather fetching blue and pink cat hats....in the Story shack dressing up box

Very exciting new stamps in Storyshack. Knights in all sorts of comedy capers for you to use. There be DRAGONS too...can you spot him above?

Dotty the reading cat comes to Storyshack

4/18/2014

Storyshack books made today and their rightly proud owners :-)
Open again on Monday for more book making fun 10-1pm

BUSY BUSY BUSY beautiful book-making

4/17/2014

Lovely to see so many folk at the Storyshack today-a whole party of book makers who perhaps didn't know they were book makers until later but, nonetheless, stuck with it and gallantly mucked in to a busy shack gamely retrieving scissors, ribbons and the very important 'sharp pointy tool' amidst books and papers.
The sunny spot outside was great for a spot of fishing and writing and reading. Isobel caught all of the fish :-)Pop in tomorrow 10-1 OR Monday 10-1pm then look out for more dates coming soon. As it gets sunnier there's more space to spread out and enjoy a well earned (after serious threading, gluing, cutting etc) squash/tea/coffee.

'I would press the Chaos walking trilogy urgently on anyone, anyone at all' The Guardian

4/15/2014

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/whole-truth-for-teenagers-patrick-nesss-novels-have-attracted-acclaim-awards--and-censure-2301674.html
An immense read...once you've read 'The knife of letting go' you'll need to read on through 'The Ask and the Answer' to 'Monster of Men'. You might need a certain amount of strength to read on. There are some very big themes in all three books but you feel compelled to read on. The writing is really powerful and excellent. I particularly liked the way you read from the main character's view-different voices re telling the same scene the way they see it. Just all one I couldn't put down as from an earlier post I had to hurriedly get hold of 'The Ask and the Answer' because stupidly I only had the first one in my paws. Lovely Marilyn Brocklehurst obliged and had a copy at the UKLA conference-phew! I cried, it's one of those everything stops around you books.

The quote above says it all really but in case you're undecided (ooh you probably need to be at least 12+ if you're embarking on this trilogy AND if your child is reading it it would be even better to read it too as some of those themes might fuel some discussion...that's no bad thing. A link to an interesting interview with Patrick Ness up above to see what he says about such themes in young adult books....
'Chaos Walking is remarkable, and it's conclusion, Monsters of Men, a triumph. This is an intensely moral, thoughtful work.' The Times

'A dramatic and powerful finale.....The ending is superbly well handled and Ness brings the original series to a close with the high -level tension and ambiguity he has maintained throughout.' Daily Mail

'Gripping, thrilling, hurtling....The most perfect conclusion to any big series I've read....A stunning climax-pulse racing, tear-jerking, mind boggling...' Independent on Sunday

Once upon there was a cosy Dovecote with lots of lovely 'recipes' for stories (thank you BEBE for such an apt phrase)

4/14/2014

.....and so lots of children could come along and bring their families to make, read, write, create amazing books and write in them. If you look carefully you can catch some fish, find beautiful shells, make a cup of tea and create a puppet show with Chimp and Zee.

I even found another very handy use for the magnetic fishing rods today. I dropped the key into a little grate outside the Dovecote but got it out with the fishing rod...never fear story shack items are HERE.

Here's what those clever imagineers and their families made earlier....come along this Thursday/Friday or Monday (10-1pm)to make your own.

My life is still books..the one below was fairly significant way back in the Duran Duran era...(the first time round)

4/14/2014

Just had to pay homage to Sue Townsend-a sad loss to all especially to folk like me who were practically the same age (actually a bit younger and I don't get to say THAT very often these days!) as Adrian Mole in 1982. I can remember reading out lots of extracts in our family and just laughing, a lot! The later ones, the 'prostate years' are the same...bits you just want to read out and celebrate the humour together.

More books at lovely relaxed Storyshack today-meeting new friends and old. Wonderful creations once again-really are special-I think some of our imagineers could provide some of the notebooks in the lovely Snape Maltings card+stationary shop.

Wonderful ORIGAMI inspired by Anna and her Mum:-) It certainly wasn't anything to do with me! This one fits into Lily's beautiful art book alongside this owl pocket too...all the 'mod-cons' in these books I can tell you!

Dressing up, reading and book making all in an afternoon at Storyshack. A red theme and a yellow theme with a book all about castles...the tag you can see is an interesting one; it's a dinosaur with a bow and arrow. I think that makes for a really intriguing story.

Jam packed at the Storyshack....

4/8/2014

BUSY BUSY times at the Storyshack, Dovecote. I know it was a bit of a 'squash and a squeeze' but that didn't seem to deter book making, playing, music making (with some very young musicians indeed), reading, writing and making friends at all.
Somehow we made ourselves smaller and squeezed in! Families were very patient with the space so THANK YOU if you came yesterday and mucked in :-) I'm sorry we couldn't make more use of the outdoor space for reading. Next time perhaps I need a variety of large umbrellas!

Daisy May spent her day creating (with her Mum too)

Then went upstairs to our rather inspirational writing spot to write her story which included an owl as a main character. So to make the story even better she created her own owl which can be used as a book mark throughout the story, in its own little pocket pouch. Wow.....and we don't think our children can write these days?

The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences-Loris Malaguzzi

4/5/2014

....and when we believe in our children being strong, powerful and CREATIVE we enable them to explore+create books (and lots and lots of things) they can be proud of. This was one example of the books made today-the other equally superb ones are below. A Saturday of making AND WRITING, thinking, being careful about choices of paper, decoration and taking TIME to make something very special. A beautiful setting, delightful company, talking about books. Really what more could one want ? More of it of course so..........

COME ALONG FOR
SToRysHACK FUN at the
Dovecote, Snape Maltings
Monday 1-4pm OR Thursday 10th OR Saturday 12th 1-4pm OR Sunday 13th 1-4pm OR Monday 14th 10-2pm OR Thursday 17th 10-2pm OR
Friday 18th 10-2 pm OR Monday 21st 1-4pm
If you prefer Ipswich Storyshack is at the Ipswich
Art school 9/10th April
TAKE YOUR PICK

Children deserve to create, have space, IMAGINE