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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.
When Tilly's mum goes out to work, Mrs Hardcastle from up the street pops in to look after her. There are two special things about Mrs Hardcastle. The first thing is that she's always dropping off to sleep (she snores too, sometimes). The second special thing is that whenever she goes to sleep, something magic always seems to happen to Tilly Mint! Carnegie Medal winner Berlie Doherty's enchanting Tilly Mint tales are at last available in one complete collection with brand-new illustrations from Tony Ross.
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.
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.
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.
The sisters of STREET CHILD tell their story... A companion novel to bestselling story of Victorian orphan Jim Jarvis based on the founding of Dr Barnardo's homes for children. 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.
Great-grandpa Toby is making so much Noise! And if Tam can hear the clamour coming from his humming machine, the fairies will too. And soon enough, on the night of a blue moon, Great-grandpa Toby vanishes without a trace. While battling nightmarish fairies and decoding the words of the Flame-Reader, Tam eventually discovers his Great-grandpa has been captured by the beautiful Damson Hag, and turned into a nine-year-old boy! Bewitched, fed only with rose petals, and mournfully playing the humming machine to himself, Great-grandpa Toby is tempted to stay in Faery Land and be young for ever...Unless Tam has anything to do with it.
First the fairies took Tam's little sister, Blue. Then they took his Great-Grandpa Toby. Now Tam has to keep a great secret - not only is Great-Grandpa still in Faery as King, but the old King of the fairies, Oban, is now in Tam's world disguised as a boy Tam's age! At first, it's lots of fun having Oban and his magic around. He manages to charm everybody - even Tam's teacher at school. But then things start to go wrong . . . When Tam finds the magical Windspinner that Great-Grandpa Toby left for him, Oban can't make the magic work like Tam can and he disappears in a huff and starts causing chaos. The only person who can stop the trouble and call Oban home to fairy land is his mother, the Damson Hag. But she's locked up tight in a golden cage. So Tam sets off on another adventure to Faery - this time with Great-great aunt California at his side - to rescue the Damson Hag and try and return Oban and Great-grandpa Toby to their right homes . . .
Follow Tam on three exciting adventures to the land of Faery - where he'll battle castle nightmares, evil creatures and mischevious fairies! THE STARBURSTER At first, Tam isn't at all keen on his baby sister, Blue. But with a little inventive persuasion from Great-grandpa, Tam changes his mind. One terrible night, Blue is stolen - and an ugly fairy changeling is left in her place! It falls to Tam to journey to the magical land of Faery, return the changeling and win back Blue... THE HUMMING MACHINE Great-grandpa Toby is making so much NOISE! And if Tam can hear the clamour coming from his humming machine, the fairies will too. Soon enough, on the night of a blue moon, Great-grandpa vanishes. Tam must venture to Faery Land once more - but what will he find when he gets there? THE WINDSPINNER First the fairies took Tam's little sister, Blue. Then they took his Great-grandpa Toby. Now Tam has to keep a great secret - not only is Great-grandpa still in Faery as King, but the old King of the fairies, Oban, is now in Tam's world disguised as a boy Tam's age! At first, it's lots of fun having Oban and his magic around. He manages to charm everybody - even Tam's teacher at school. But then things start to go wrong . . . Three enchanting stories from much-loved, Carnegie Award-winning author Berlie Doherty. Young Corgi books are perfect for building reading confidence
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.
Great-grandpa Toby is making so much NOISE! And if Tam can hear the clamour coming from his humming machine, the fairies will too. And soon enough, on the night of a blue moon, Great-grandpa Toby vanishes without a trace. While battling nightmarish fairies and decoding the words of the Flame-Reader, Tam eventually discovers his Great-grandpa has been captured by the beautiful Damson Hag, and turned into a nine-year-old boy! Bewitched, fed only with rose petals, and mournfully playing the humming machine to himself, Great-grandpa Toby is tempted to stay in Faery Land and be young for ever... Unless Tam has anything to do with it.
At first, Tam isn't at all keen on his baby sister, Blue. All she seems to do is cry. But with a little inventive persuasion from Great-grandpa Tam changes his mind and even goes as far as to admit he might quite like her. But then one terrible night, Blue is stolen and an ugly fairy changeling is left in her place. With his Mum and Dad wrapped up in grief, and his Great-grandpa far too old for adventures, it falls to Tam to venture to the land of Faery, return the changeling and win back Blue. But it is a hazardous journey, and Tam must keep his wits about him as he crosses the Sapphire lake, does battle with the castle nightmares and finally confronts the King and Queen of the fairies.
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.
Catrin lives in Wales, and prefers drawing animals to spending time with friends. One night, she hears an eerie howl from the nearby mountain - a wild cat. Can she confront her shyness and go in search of this rare animal? This sensitive story by award-winning author Berlie Doherty shows that courage and friendship can come from unexpected places. * Pearl/Band 18 books offer fluent readers a complex, substantial text with challenging themes to facilitate sustained comprehension, bridging the gap between a reading programme and longer chapter books. * Text type: A mystery story. * Curriculum links: Citizenship: Choices.
The mischievous imps' magic mirror has frozen Kay's heart, turning him into a miserable prisoner of the Snow Queen. His best friend, Gerda, is racing barefoot across Lapland to save him - together they must find the secret of the universe and sing their way home, before Kay's heart becomes cold and black forever.This story is a magic bean. It may not look much like a bean, but I can promise you that it is. For if you plant it in a young mind, it will grow into a love of story and reading. These beans are favourite fairytales and legends that will delight, thrill and thoroughly entertain. Each story has been brilliantly crafted by one of the best-loved writers for children. This story was published by David Fickling Books as part of the Magic Beans anthology. The complete anthology is available in hardback and in ebook format.
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.
The Three Princes are all desperate to win the love of Princess Halima, and a challenge is set by her father to find the most beautiful, magical gift they can find. But when disaster strikes, will they be magical enough? Full of rich, bold illustrations, this traditional Arabian tale is humorously retold by double-Carnegie-winner Berlie Doherty. * Topaz/Band 13 books offer longer and more demanding reads for children to investigate and evaluate. * A traditional folktale. * A summary on pages 30 and 31 of the magical objects that the princes find helps readers to recap the story. * Curriculum Links; Citizenship: living in a diverse world, Art and Design: Self Portrait * This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.
Grace put out her hand, almost touching the mirror. Her image did the same. 'There's another world in there.' 'We could float in and out of it.' Deep in a Derbyshire valley live two girls, twins, so alike they seem like one person, even their family can't tell them apart. But tragedy is waiting. When the valley is sold to be flooded for a huge dam, the villagers are forced to leave their homes. Deep secrets are uncovered. New characters enter their lives and desires, love and grief come to the surface.
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.
Lyrically told this is a wonderful collection of the best-loved stories from the Old Testament including the fight between brothers Cain and Abel, how Noah saved the animals by building an Ark when the floods came and the epic fight between David and Goliath. Berlie Doherty never loses sight of the origins of each story but also brings out the universals, which have made them important and long lasting.
Two spooky stories from double-Carnegie-winner, Berlie Doherty. Dark and atmospheric these two tales send a chill down the spine. A desolate winter moor is the backdrop to the first story of a haunting friendship, and, in the second, when the past comes back to haunt Charlie, it becomes impossible to tell what is real and what isn't. * Diamond/Band 17 books offer more complex, underlying themes to give opportunities for children to understand causes and points of view. * Text type: Two stories by a significant author. * A feelings bar chart on pages 54-55 show the rise and fall in the narrators emotions during the first story, Nightmare. * Curriculum links: Citizenship: Living in a diverse world. * This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.
Holly's world came apart when she was six, when her mother took her, and ran away from her father and his farm. From that day on she has had no contact with him, and can barely remember him. But eight years later, with a new family around her, she feels very alone and longs for that half-remembered life. She is starting to question who she really is, and then a stranger appears... This is an absorbing and moving book about identity, fatherhood and family.
An eye-opening book, 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 Republished under the new title The Girl Who Saw Lions. Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Award for ‘the book I couldn’t put down’.
The only life Gioga has ever known is that of a fisherman's daughter on remote Hamna Voe. But as a baby she was a gift of the sea to childless Munroe and Jannet, and now the Lord of the Oceans wants her back. Torn between her love for her adopted parents and her strange attraction to the seal people, which will she choose - the sea or the land? From the traditional folk-tale of the selkie, award-winning author Berlie Doherty has created her own lyrical and timeless story of a young girl's search for her true identity.
Be strong, my Abela. These are the last words of Abela's mother in their HIV/Aids stricken African village, where it seems that to live or to die, to be sick or to be healthy, is just a matter of chance. It takes all Abela's strength to survive her Uncle Thomas's scheming to get to Europe, but what will be her fate as an illegal immigrant? I don't want a sister or brother, thinks Rosa in England, when her mother tells her that she wants to adopt a child. Could these two girls ever become sisters? Is there room in Rosa's family for an African orphan haunted by lions? Is there room in their hearts? Abela is a powerful and moving story based on true life from Carnegie award winning author Berlie Doherty writing at her very best.
The lives of three generations of a Sheffield family are cleverly interwoven in this Carnegie Prize winning novel. Eighteen year old Jess is about to leave home for the first time and, with the family gathered, she hears the lives of her parents and grandparents.
This book will capture your imagination right from the beginning as you go back in time – you’re sure to feel right there with them throughout all their time-travel experiences. By a double Carnegie Medal winning author (I think only three authors have done that in its 70 year history), Berlie Doherty writes with a lightness of touch and tremendous fluidity despite the haunting nature of the story, so I’m confident you’ll more than enjoy this book.Her 1987 Carnegie winning novel Granny was a Buffer Girl is also featured on Lovereading so why not read one of the extracts and decide for yourself whether you enjoy Berlie Doherty's writing style and then you have a choice of reading one or both books. We think you will love it.
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. What the judges said: It employs sumptuous colour, and layers of exquisite decorative detail to really draw you into the story. You can feel the presence of the ghost; there is a real sense of her movement. Though the illustrator has not stuck to a single colour palette, there is no jarring. There is plenty for children to look at in this book which repays revisiting.
Introducing Jinnie Ghost, thin as the wind, with hair as white as the feathers of owls and eyes like water. Jinnie whispers dreams to children as they sleep. She brings Charlotte's dolls to life, makes Amy's carpet bubble with frogs and toads and conjures up a giant to carry Joe away shoulder-high to his castle in the sky. But the break of dawn takes Jinnie away...and the children wake to a new day, brushing wonder from their eyes. This perfectly-pitched poem takes readers on a thrilling fantasy journey, raising a shiver or two on the way, but returning them safe and sound in the morning.
An engaging classroom playscript. Fifteen-year-old James is mad about diving and trains hard. He has a natural talent and his dad encourages him to aim high. But James has always known he is adopted, and now he decides to find his birth mother and his true identity. He sets out alone, on the journey of a lifetime... New, innovative activities specifically tailored to support the KS3 Framework for Teaching English and help students to fulfil the Framework objectives. Activities include work on Speaking and Listening, close text analysis, and the structure of playscripts, and act as a springboard for personal writing
How long can a secret stay buried? The Barnes family has lived in one tiny village for generations. Twins Madeleine and Grace, their cousin Elspeth, their mums and in-laws, old Aunt Susan - all there for ever, in a place barely touched by time. But then two things change - one twin dies, and the villagers are told that their beautiful valley is to be sunk underwater to make a reservoir. How can you live without half of yourself? And how can this tiny community rebuild itself when its past is drowning? As family secrets begin to surface, secrets of love, death and hope, the Barnes family learns that change brings hope as well as sorrow.
Berlie Doherty with her unique style manages to bring classic Fairy Tales such as Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty to life once more in this truly gorgeous picture book. Inside are some surreal, elegant and always exquisite illustrations from Jane Ray, which compliment the text superbly. Prepare to be enchanted!
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.
Teenage Holly Starcross doesn't know who she is. She lives with her beautiful mother and stepfather, the twins and the baby, Zoe. She is close to Zoe, and the mysterious e-mail correspondent in whom she confides. Holly is stalked by a strange man who turns out to be her father - not seen since her mother stormed out when Holly was four. Holly and her father run away on a mad weekend and Holly is reunited with her grandparents. As she discovers that her musical talent comes from her grandmother who is her mystery e-mail friend, Holly must decide where she belongs and where she wants to live.
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.
James is adopted. He knows that to work out his future he has to make sense of his past. He embarks on a journey to find his birth-mother who tells her own story in this moving and powerful novel. James's adoptive parents are proud of his talent and determination. He's in training for the Junior National Diving Competition. But when he discovers the snake-stone in a box with his other `belongings' from his time as an abandoned baby, he determines to set out on a quest to find his birth mother. He must make sense of his past if he is to work out his future. James travels to the Derbyshire Peak District to begin his search. Events leading up to James conception and birth are told in his birth-mother's own voice, in flashbacks, and the most moving, poignant and powerful story is told.
Adapted from Berlie Doherty's award-winning book, the play examines how two teenagers cope with an unplanned pregnancy. Tackling the issues of relationships, love and pregnancy, Dear Nobody is the story of two teenagers, Helen and Chris, in their final year of school. Their plans for music college and university are suddenly thrown into disarray when Helen falls pregnant. Chris tries to keep them together, but Helen withdraws into herself, writing letters to her unborn baby. Sensitively adapted from the best-selling novel, this play is perfect for school performance.
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