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Berlie Doherty is one of the UK’s favourite children’s authors. She has been writing for over twenty years and is published in more than twenty languages. She is a prolific writer of novels, storybooks, picture books, and plays. Berlie lives in Derbyshire.
To read a question and answer session with Berlie Doherty please click here.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month January 2018 An eye-opening book, The Girl Who Saw Lions (originally published as Abela) is the touching and profound story of two girls who apparently have nothing in common. The two girls tell their own stories. Abela, growing up in Tanzania, is surrounded by suffering. Her father has already died and now her mother and her baby sister are desperately ill. When they die too, Abela is sent off to England and an uncertain future as an illegal immigrant. Rosa, growing up in England, has everything she could possibly want. There is no reason why these two should become sisters. Their individual stories and the story of how they come together through adoption make a beautiful, satisfying and complete story. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for January 2018 Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by by Mem Fox Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal Emmeline and the Plucky Pup by Megan Rix Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy The Girl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty The Poesy Ring by Bob Graham
Interest Age 5-8 Inspired by the Blue John stone found in the hills around her Derbyshire home, Berlie Doherty has created a myth that already feels as if it has been always been in our memories, just waiting to be remembered again. Her Blue John is a magical boy, created from glaciers and the sun, ice-blue and golden, who lives deep underground with his mother, the Queen of Darkness. He’s drawn to the light where he meets a girl, one of a group of children exploring the caverns. They have one golden day together before Blue John must return to his mother. Berlie Doherty takes care over each sentence and this short story, beautifully and simply told, will intrigue and move young readers. ~ Andrea Reece With the evocative charm of a fable, Blue John is inspired by the semi-precious mineral found in the caves of Mam Tor by Berlie’s home. Berlie says: The internationally celebrated violinist Peter Cropper invited me to write a ‘story to music’ for a Christmas children’s concert. I chose the haunting piece by the Czech composer, Smetana, ‘From My Life’. The music made me think of ice and darkness and sunlight, loneliness and joy. I walked over the Mam Tor mountain with the music in my head, and looked down at the caverns, and I knew immediately what I was going to write about. So I invented a character called Blue John, a little boy who is made out of stone … About the Little Gems series: Little Gems are in a gorgeous new chunky format, with high-spec production including coloured endpapers and jacketed flaps with activities. Additional features include high quality cream paper, Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page. They are perfect for 5-8's. These quality stories promote good reading practice for all newly independent readers.
In a nutshell: Iconic | Outspoken | Big Issues | Difficult Truths The moving and very real story of two teenagers and an unplanned pregnancy. It is told from two viewpoints - that of Helen as she writes her thoughts in a series of letters to the unborn baby, the Dear Nobody of the title, and of Chris as he reads the letters and relives events as Helen is in labour. It is one of The Originals from Penguin - iconic, outspoken, first. The Originals are the pioneers of fiction for young adults. From political awakening, war and unrequited love to addiction, teenage pregnancy and nuclear holocaust, The Originals confront big issues and articulate difficult truths. The collection includes: The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton, I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith, Postcards from No Man's Land - Aidan Chambers, After the First Death - Robert Cormier, Dear Nobody - Berlie Doherty, The Endless Steppe - Esther Hautzig, Buddy - Nigel Hinton, Across the Barricades - Joan Lingard, The Twelfth Day of July - Joan Lingard, No Turning Back - Beverley Naidoo, Z for Zachariah - Richard C. O'Brien, The Wave - Morton Rhue, The Red Pony - John Steinbeck, The Pearl - John Steinbeck, Stone Cold - Robert Swindells.
Interest Age 5-8 Joe is upset: his teacher has asked the class to do a project on their pets but Joe’s mum has asthma and anything with fur makes her breath thick and squashy. Joe invents a pet for himself, an eleven-legged dragonosaurus with a voice like metal chains jangling, but it can’t compete with Lizzie’s rabbits. Then Joe goes to the help of a neighbour’s new born calf, and everything changes. Berlie Doherty, twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, always writes beautifully and this little story gives a very vivid impression of Joe’s life, and a real sense of just how he’s feels about things too. With lively colour illustrations by Becka Moor this is perfect for readers just gaining confidence in reading alone and for reading aloud too. ~ Andrea Reece About the Little Gems series: Little Gems are in a gorgeous new chunky format, with high-spec production including coloured endpapers and jacketed flaps with activities. Additional features include high quality cream paper, Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page. They are perfect for 5-8's. These quality stories promote good reading practice for all newly independent readers.
Longlisted for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal Award-winning Berlie Doherty tells a mysterious and romantic ghost story set on a wild and uninhabited island. Grieving Ellie is swept off to a special island belonging to a family she hardly knows at a time when she needs a way of resolving her great grief and rage at her parents’ divorce. Terrified when she is left alone on the island, Ellie’s experiences of nature and of her meeting a ghostly girl who once lived on the island change her perspective and give her space to heal.
Berlie Doherty, with her fantastic flare for storytelling, puts a different slant on a familiar fairytale. With beautiful line-drawn chapterheads by illustrator Steven Wood, this quirky set of stories within a story are perfect for children reading on their own, or for those adults reading with them.
Prize-winning Berlie Doherty brings the excitement and danger of life at the court of King Henry V111 vividly to life. Young William Montague is plucked from a life of obscurity to become a page boy to the King’s son and heir, Prince Edward. William soon becomes a favourite of the King’s but he also makes dangerous enemies who know enough about his family to bring about his downfall. Soon William is fleeing from charges of treason and the threat of death itself. These are dangerous times and William needs courage, luck and loyalty to balance love for his family and his father with saving his life and supporting the King.
Julia Eccleshare's Pick of the Month June 2016 Twice the winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal, here Berlie Doherty movingly captures the life of an orphan in Victorian London. Based on the true accounts of children whose lives led the famous philanthropist Dr Barnardo to set up his homes for children without families, Street Child is the troubling story of Jim Jarvis who is just a little boy when his mother dies leaving him all alone. Initially rounded up and taken to the workhouse, Jim soon escapes and finds a way of survival – and some friends. But surviving as a child in such a tough environment is tough. How can Jim stay out of trouble and be safe? Berlie Doherty makes the past come vividly alive in this story that will encourage all young readers to fight injustice. ~ Julia Eccleshare Click here to download a specially produced teachers resource to help children get the most from this Collins Modern Classic title.
The sisters of STREET CHILD tell their story... A companion novel to bestselling story of orphan Jim Jarvis set in Victorian England. When Jim Jarvis is separated from his sisters, Lizzie and Emily, he thinks he will never see them again. Now for the first time, the bestselling author of STREET CHILD reveals what happened to his orphaned sisters. In Victorian London, Lizzie and Emily are left in the care of a cook but their story takes them to the mills of northern England. There, under the keen eyes of the mill owners, the girls are made to work in harsh conditions and any chance of escape is sorely tempting... An incredible new STREET CHILD story based on the true experiences of Victorian mill girls.
A blind girl and a unicorn in a world where magic and reality merge together. Can Laura save the Wild Ones and take them to the safety of the Bright Wilderness? Laura is blind, but though she cannot see, she is an acutely perceptive child. As soon as she climbs onto the unicorn's back she is hurled into a wild and magical world. Though a contemporary child, living in a contemporary setting, Spellhorn and the Wild Ones see Laura as their leader and they know that only through Laura can they reach the safety of the Bright Wilderness. But can the unicorns lead Laura back home to her own world? Powerful and moving, a delicious blend of fantasy and reality.
Twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, Berlie Doherty is one of our finest writers for young people and Deep Secret is a beautifully told story of people, place, changing times and lasting memories. At its heart are two young girls, identical twins Grace and Madeleine, but it’s just as much the story of their community, the people of a small Derbyshire village. It’s 1945, a time of change for the whole country but particularly for the characters in the book: the valley in which they live is to be flooded for a reservoir and they must all leave their homes. Even before the waters arrive, stories float to the surface and we learn so much about the people of the valley and their history. It’s a wonderfully touching description of a lost way of life, and when a tragic event occurs drama and pain follows before finally acceptance and understanding. This is the kind of story that resonates with readers long after the final page, and highly recommended.
A spellbinding collection of twelve classic fairy tales, with exquisite illustrations by Jane Ray - shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. From double Carnegie Medal-winning author Berlie Doherty comes an enchanting collection of classic fairy tales, with magnificent illustrations by Jane Ray. The twelve stories in this collection - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, Aladdin, the Fire-bird and Snow White - are among the best-loved fairy tales of all. These classic stories have enthralled children all over the world for hundreds of years; but rarely, if ever, have they been presented as perfectly as here. Berlie Doherty's graceful, direct prose combines with Jane Ray's intensely beautiful pictures to create a most memorable read. Here is fairy tale magic for many a lifetime.
Bella has a secret - one that she is very good at keeping. That secret is a den hidden on a little muddy hill, wild amid the trees and nestled beside some foxes with a den of their own. But soon the secret is betrayed, and the foxes' lives are put in danger... Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 7+
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month January 2018 An eye-opening book, The Girl Who Saw Lions (originally published as Abela) is the touching and profound story of two girls who apparently have nothing in common. The two girls tell their own stories. Abela, growing up in Tanzania, is surrounded by suffering. Her father has already died and now her mother and her baby sister are desperately ill. When they die too, Abela is sent off to England and an uncertain future as an illegal immigrant. Rosa, growing up in England, has everything she could possibly want. There is no reason why these two should become sisters. Their individual stories and the story of how they come together through adoption make a beautiful, satisfying and complete story. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for January 2018 Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by by Mem Fox Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal Emmeline and the Plucky Pup by Megan Rix Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy The Girl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty The Poesy Ring by Bob Graham
Interest Age 5-8 Inspired by the Blue John stone found in the hills around her Derbyshire home, Berlie Doherty has created a myth that already feels as if it has been always been in our memories, just waiting to be remembered again. Her Blue John is a magical boy, created from glaciers and the sun, ice-blue and golden, who lives deep underground with his mother, the Queen of Darkness. He’s drawn to the light where he meets a girl, one of a group of children exploring the caverns. They have one golden day together before Blue John must return to his mother. Berlie Doherty takes care over each sentence and this short story, beautifully and simply told, will intrigue and move young readers. ~ Andrea Reece With the evocative charm of a fable, Blue John is inspired by the semi-precious mineral found in the caves of Mam Tor by Berlie’s home. Berlie says: The internationally celebrated violinist Peter Cropper invited me to write a ‘story to music’ for a Christmas children’s concert. I chose the haunting piece by the Czech composer, Smetana, ‘From My Life’. The music made me think of ice and darkness and sunlight, loneliness and joy. I walked over the Mam Tor mountain with the music in my head, and looked down at the caverns, and I knew immediately what I was going to write about. So I invented a character called Blue John, a little boy who is made out of stone … About the Little Gems series: Little Gems are in a gorgeous new chunky format, with high-spec production including coloured endpapers and jacketed flaps with activities. Additional features include high quality cream paper, Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page. They are perfect for 5-8's. These quality stories promote good reading practice for all newly independent readers.
In a nutshell: Iconic | Outspoken | Big Issues | Difficult Truths The moving and very real story of two teenagers and an unplanned pregnancy. It is told from two viewpoints - that of Helen as she writes her thoughts in a series of letters to the unborn baby, the Dear Nobody of the title, and of Chris as he reads the letters and relives events as Helen is in labour. It is one of The Originals from Penguin - iconic, outspoken, first. The Originals are the pioneers of fiction for young adults. From political awakening, war and unrequited love to addiction, teenage pregnancy and nuclear holocaust, The Originals confront big issues and articulate difficult truths. The collection includes: The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton, I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith, Postcards from No Man's Land - Aidan Chambers, After the First Death - Robert Cormier, Dear Nobody - Berlie Doherty, The Endless Steppe - Esther Hautzig, Buddy - Nigel Hinton, Across the Barricades - Joan Lingard, The Twelfth Day of July - Joan Lingard, No Turning Back - Beverley Naidoo, Z for Zachariah - Richard C. O'Brien, The Wave - Morton Rhue, The Red Pony - John Steinbeck, The Pearl - John Steinbeck, Stone Cold - Robert Swindells.
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