Posts Tagged with Barbara Henderson

The Boy Witch and The Queen of Scots (Blog Tour)

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I was super excited to be asked to take part in author Barbara Henderson’s latest blog tour. Thanks so much to publisher Luath Press Ltd for a copy of the book.  I had the huge privilege to participate in Barbara’s blog tour for her first historical fiction book Fir for Luck back in 2016, and then for several other books since.
The Boy, the Witch and the Queen of Scots is an eye opening insight into the turbulent period when Mary Queen of Scotts was Queen of Scotland. It begins when she arrives back in Scotland, at the port of Leith in 1561, when she was 18 years old. 

The story draws you in from the very first chapter

The story is told from the unique perspective of Alexander Buchan, a 12 year old falconer. The reader is hooked in from the very beginning as the young man is sent to the docks to collect something, but then through the mist sees the returning Queen’s ship arriving. 
“But then, something catches my eye: a fainter shade of grey, a vessel less defined but sailing into port. No there are two, two galleys, and fine ones at that, though their bright paint work is fog muted..” P12
Alex is the one that alerts others to the arrival of the Queen’s ship (which has arrived a week earlier than expected). But the reader gets alerted to the suggestion that it’s the last thing he wanted, and there is some reason he needs to stay hidden. A terrific way to start a story, which will really draw young readers in.

An fantastic introduction to the conflicts of Tutor Scotland

Soon Alex is send to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, to assist Mr Kerr, the chief falconer to the Queen. Alex finds himself caught in the middle of the religious wars of the turbulent Tudor era, in which Nobels plot and scheme for power, willing to murder to ensure the religion (Catholic or Protestant) they owe allegiance becomes the dominant one in Scottish politics. Alex has to wrestle with right and wrong. Trying to hold his master the Early of Huntly and the more sister villain of ‘The Cloak’, at bay. He is assisted by a young girl Lizzie, who is employed as a Seamstress for the Queen. 
I highly recommend this book for children aged 9 to 13 years, though many older teenagers and adults with an interest in Scottish history would love it too.

Researching periods of history, reading around the topic

I loved reading this story, as I have several of her other Scottish historical adventures. Barbara has developed a real skill at researching periods of history, as part of the writing process and then identifying a young protagonist from which to tell the story and give a unique perspective on history. 
I was fascinated to read Lucas Maxwell, a librarian in a secondary school interview with Barbara for the Boy the Witch and the Queen blog Tour and have quoted a little piece from it below:
“I immersed myself in reading about the Queen best known for the tragic fate. Reading around the topic without as specific agenda can really help to distill a story.”

Educational resources

Barbara Henderson has created some fabulous teaching resources to go with her book, they can be viewed on her website, see the link at the bottom of this post. This would be a wonderful book to share in the classroom, Barbara has used her expertise as writer and drama teacher in primary schools to give you a wealth of resources to help create rich learning opportunities with this book in the classroom. These resources include:
    • The book has in the endnotes a glossary, historical timeline, and index of people and places
    • The education resources, include a chapter by chapter guide. See the example from chapter 8 below. Which opens up many possibilities to explore the reformation, conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, but also to widen the debate to a broader discussion about ‘sectarianism’. 
    • Events boxes to cut and and arrange in date order
    •   Drawing on her experience as a drama teacher, there are also some great drama based ideas to help students draw out knowledge and understanding from the text. I particular like the idea of freeze framing key events in the story (Photo Story Comic).

You can view and download the  educational resource pack for The Boy Witch and The Queen of Scots here

Do check out the other posts on the Blog Tour below. 
 

Trees and weird creatures – some quotes for writing inspiration

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A teacher in the fabulous bookish twitter community I am part off, recently posted this question:

“We are using this picture as a writing stimulus. Y6 children thinking hard about the effect of the reader. Looking for extracts from books of strange, unfamiliar creatures (harmless or dangerous) and/or forest descriptions (again peaceful or scary)”

 

Trees and Suspense

All three extracts feature trees or a tree, and some great suspense writing . In Celine Kieran”s Wild trilogy, MUP is on here way back home from visiting her sick Aunt; as she drifts in and out of sleep in the car she sees through the window witches in the trees.  In Kathleen Fidler’s the Boy with a Bronze Axe, they are not sure what’s lurking in the water in a cave they’re exploring. later they discover it is a tree trunk!  Finally in Barbara Henderson’s Punch a young boy is running away from a fire and climbs up a pine tree, but then something starts to climb up after him.

“outside the night was streaming past, Mup had slumped against the door with her face tilted to the sky, and she was looking up through the branches of the roadside trees, the trees were falling away as the car sped by, and there were witches in the branches and they were following the car.
Mup wasn’t startled – half asleep as she was, with the taste of warm custard in her mouth – but she frowned up aT the witches with an inkling that something wasn’t right……….….Mup was filled with the knowledge that she was awake, and there were witches in the trees, following the car.
There were men witches and women witches, and they leapt from branch to branch, racing along at tremendous speed. They were nothing but shadows among shadows, so that Mup had to strain her eyes to see them……….Then one of the witches jumped the gap between the two trunks, her silhouette dark against the fine grey of the sky. She descended in a falling arc, her clothes blown back like ragged black wings. As her pale hands reached for the branches of the next tree, she looked down into……”
p10-11  The Wild Magic Trilogy: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan
It was Brockan who first saw the strange thing in the water below the ledge. “Oh look! What’s that?” he cried in terror, clutching at Tenko. “What’s that dark thing, waving terrible arms? Is it the spirit of the cave come to snatch us?”
He turned to run and would have fallen into the water below if Tenko had not grabbed him. Tenko’s heart had leaped and thudded for a second, but he saw the object did not move any nearer to them. All at once he knew what is was.
“Stay here!” he said to the other two. “I am going to have a closer look.”
……………Tenko crouched down, crawling nearer and nearer to it as he would creep up on an enemy. One of its arms was outstretched towards him. Suddenly Tenko dealt it a blow with his axe. There was splintering sound but the arm did not move. Tenko stood up and gave a cry of joy.
“Come here! Come here!” He shouted. ” It is what I thought.” Kali and Brockan came slowly timidly, not quite sure of their safety.
“What is it Tenko?” Kali whispered, Even her low voice echoed mysteriously round the cave.
“It’s a tree!”  Tenko shouted triumphantly.
They drew closer staring.
P69 The Boy with the Bronze Axe, Kathleen Fidler.
A young boy called Phineas is running away from a his boss, after he accidentally started a fire. 
“ A sob rips through my lungs and my vision blurs, a mix of smoke and despair; until more flutterings and rustlings disturb me and the trunk sways alarmingly. I hold my breath. There is no mistaking it.
Someone is climbing my tree.
Someone heavy.
I cling to the trunk as tight as I can and I peer down, and my blood freezes.
Through the dense needle branches. I recognise the subtle stripes of a prisoners clothes.”
p12 Punch by Barbara Henderson

Some ginormous and rather unusual spiders:

In the Christmas holidays I read Dan Smith’s Below Zero. Which features some brilliant robotic spiders that get rather out of control, but to find out the reasons why they do you will have to read the book!  Then my son suggested I include the giant spider in Larklight.
“At the back of the room there were three large bays………Right now HAL and ROY were empty, but the bay with ED above it was home to something that was one of the most amazing things Zak had ever seen. But, also one of the scariest.
The Spider were slightly bigger than a two-seater Smart car, and was made of a flat oval casing, about a metre and a half deep that housed the robot’s ‘brain’. On top of that, the bulk of the body was a ribbed dome, like a bloated tick that had filled itself with too much blood. It had four legs, each joined in six places, giving it a look of a weird grey metal spider. Close to the front, it had four narrow arms designed to accept interchangeable attachments. For now the arms were tipped with pincers.”
P91   Below Zeor by Dan Smith
“Down in the hall, the monstrous spider squeezed it’s prickly ball of a body in through the door with a faint scraping sound. A cluster of black eyes glittered like wet grapes at the front end. Above them a shabby brown bowler hat was perched upon it’s spines. Beneath, hairy mouth-parts twitched and fidgeted. It tilted itself upwards, and saw me starring down at it.
“The names Webster ‘ it said, lifting it’s hat with one huge claw. I’m expected.”
P27-p28  Larklight by Philip Reeve and illustrated by David Wyatt
Some follow-on ideas:
Think about what sort of spider you would create. What size would it be? Is it a friendly spider or a monster?
Can you draw what Dan Smiths robot spider looked like? What features of your own might you add?
What other stories do you know that feature a spider or spiders?

 

Friendly, spoon collecting Alien’s

And finally but by no means least is my son’s favourite creature from Cakes in Space, written by Phillip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre. Astra IS in a spaceship, with her family, which is travelling from earth to the planet Nova Mundi in deep space. They were all put to sleep in little sleeping pods. But, astra wakes up whilst everyone else is sleeping. she has already dealt with some rather unsual cake monsters.
“ It was a monster alright, but a different sort of montster: a squat plump one in a grease-stained spacesuit like a grubby chimney pot, with a nest of eyes on stalks poking out of it’s helmet.“
“Ploogah stofie!” Shouted the creature, it’s voice loud and buzzy on her helmet radio. “Britxit Floop”.
“I am sorry said Astra. I don’t understand.”
Astra remembered her mum and dad telling her that there were not such things as aliens. But, then they’d probably thought there were no such things as a man-eating fairy cakes, either. She was going to have lots to tell them when the woke up.”
P105-p107 Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre

 

Blog Tour: Wilderness Wars, a conversation with Barbara Henderson

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I am delighted to have Scottish author Barbara Henderson back on my blog, having interviewed her about her first book Fir for Luck on my blog almost two years ago. Her third book is Wilderness Wars, an eco-thriller set on a remote Scottish Island. Which is a wonderful twist of several genres, survival on a remote island, family, and the developers ignoring the environment set the scene for what follows. The environment fights back and takes on a supernatural force of its own.  In all three of Barbara’s books she has shown that she clearly knows the natural environments of Scotland and has the skill to take her reader there. But, in Wilderness Wars she has absolutely nailed it. Striking a beautiful balance between character led prose and spot on description that you really feel like you are there, which combined with twist and turns and suspense is quite something.  The laying as the two main characters Em and Zac learn about themselves and begin to work out what is happening on the Island and the hints that perhaps something more than unlucky mishaps is going on is superb. I highly recommend it for everyone aged 9 years and above, including adults.

When I talked to you on my blog two years ago about your debut book Fir for Luck. You said one of your family holidays inspired the story, as you discovered a remote clearance village, which was the inspiration for your story.

  1. How have your family holidays to the Scottish Wilderness helped to inspire Wilderness Wars?

I am so lucky in that I live close to a lot of the types of places which helped to create the island world in Wilderness Wars. My base in Inverness can be annoying at times – any city is 2-3 hours away –  but you can drive for a very short time before you reach the sea, or the wilderness, or both. It’s one of the factors which drew us to the region. Holidays on Harris, with its white beaches and turquoise seas, Lewis, Mull, Iona, Skye, Islay, Assynt and Sutherland… all these played into the world I tried to create, and each memory contributed a little.

Some observations, such as seeing the seal move elegantly underwater from a hilltop, coral beaches and being dive-bombed by gulls are all directly lifted from holiday memories. I defy anyone not to be inspired by places like these – there is awe, but also a certain vulnerability as you realise how far you are from anywhere. Both are natural responses, and I hope that Wilderness Wars features a little of that balance.

In both Fir for Luck and Wilderness Wars there is a close connection with the characters to the land and they and their families depend on it for their survival. But, the context of Wilderness Wars is very different. It is not the people that are trying to stop them but nature itself.

  1. Tell me a more about the ways that nature fights back and how you selected the ways it does?

There is a lot more I could have done, a lot more facets of the wild world I could have included. The bottom line is, I wanted a slow escalation, so that initially, the setbacks for the building project would look like mishaps and accidents, before, without the reader realising it, we have moved into something a little bit more supernatural: the wilderness as a sentient force. So initially, the workforce on Skelsay have to contend with small accidents, freak weather, rodents, an inconvenient site for a protected species. If they run roughshod over these, as they do, there is an escalation until we are looking at the inevitable life or death showdown. I liked the fact that it begins with small, explicable things and I wanted to ask myself the question – if nature, as a whole, could fight back against our blinkered, short-sighted, selfish little meddling – what would it do?  It’s the classic Man-versus-Nature conflict, but with a bit of a moral twist.

In your opening chapters of Wilderness Wars you cleverly balance Em’s curiosity about the new environment she is going to live in, with another less friendly side, such as being pecked by seal gulls on the ferry and wild whether resulting in container being dropped in the sea.

  1. Can you explain more about how you balanced building up a picture of a ‘conspiring, sinister nature’ with Em and her friend Zac developing their understanding of the Island and a respect for the wilderness on the island?

It was really important to me that both sides should be shown – nature, respected and left to its own devices, is not a threat in the book. I love the wild landscapes and am definitely at my happiest and most peaceful when I am in such places. But in the book, the wilderness, threatened by thoughtless development and needless interference, certainly is dangerous.

It’s an element of the supernatural, designed to make a wider point about the way we make choices, questioning rather than scaremongering, I hope. The book ends on a very positive note, although I have to admit to terrifying myself with the chapters near the end.

But maybe Wilderness Wars can also be read as whatever you want it to be: a love letter to the wilderness, an adventure story in its own right, a book about integrity, isolation, friendship and finding your place in the world.

Goodness, that sounds a bit ambitious, but that’s my hope! Judge for yourselves readers…

 

Punch by Barbara Henderson

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Having loved Barbara Henderson’s first book Fir for Luck I was delighted to be asked to review her second children’s book, Punch. Drawn in by another great cover I couldn’t wait to get started, and what a cracking read it is. A fast paced and heartwarming story set in late Victorian Scotland.

It starts in Inverness in 1889, when orphaned Phin is ordered by his Uncle to collect some sausages late at night from their market stall. Whilst doing this Phin accidentally starts a fire in the market square and has to flee for his life. I love the dramatic start to this story, which is sure to draw in the reader. Barbara Henderson brilliantly captures the events as they unfold and the fears of Phin in those first few hours after the fire that changes everything.

“ It’s cold, really cold. Or maybe it’s the sweat running down my neck. Away, away from here, is all I can think.”  (p9)

As Phin runs from Inverness he bumps into an escaped prisoner called Mr Robertson, who needs Phin to help cover his escape.

“  ‘Listen, I willnae harm ye. But, they’ll be looking fer a man on his own, no’ a man and a boy. I’ll let you got once I am clear o’ them.’  His eyes dart up the hill and long the river, ahead and behind. ”   (p16)

I quickly warmed to both characters. On the run from the authorities they come across a travelling family called the Moffats. And this is how the story gets it’s name PUNCH. The Moffat’s travel across Scotland putting on Punch and Judy shows. The Moffat’s take Phin and Mr Robertson in, and teach them the tricks of the trade and soon they are an integral part of the show. But, all the while there is the added tension that they might be discovered by the police.

“The pot-woman answers, irritated: “You won’t go anywhere in a hurry. The sheriff officers have blocked the road ahead, they’re searching every cart and carriage. “ p43

In the story Barbara Henderson clearly shows her love of puppetry and there are wonderful insights into what putting on a Punch and Judy Opera was like in Victorian times. To find out more about this and what fired the authors enthusiasm for puppetry check out my interview here.

Punch is action packed with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested. Integrated into this on the run adventure is Phin’s personal journey. He is at first not sure about Mr Robertson, you begin to discover this is in part because of his own experience with his abusive Uncle. At the beginning Phin trusts no one, but he gradually begins to trust the adults around him. The relationship that develops between Phin and Mr Robertson is heartwarming to see and add’s something really special. Added to this is another layer as Phin begins to have memories of a more terrible crime. What is really clever about the way that Barbara Henderson has written the story is that you only begin to find out the true extend of this darker crime, as Phin begins to have other adults in his life, which cushion’s the impact for readers a little.

I would highly recommend this for all children aged 9 years and over, and for teenagers and adults too. Great for those looking for a fast paced, heart felt adventure, in the unusual setting of victorian Scotland.

You can BUY PUNCH from Amazon here

Read my Blog Tour interview with author Barbara Henderson here.

Punch Blog Tour: Interview with Barbara Henderson about here love and interest for Punch and Judy

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This is my stop on the Punch Blog Tour, a cracking new middle grade story from author Barbara Henderson.

 

   

 

1. What made you decide to link Phin’s story with Punch and Judy?

I am a self-confessed Puppetry fan! When I was four, I had a horrible accident, which rendered me bed-bound for weeks, on liquidised food and very, very bored! My two older sisters performed puppet shows for me then, and forever after, why would you do anything else with an open doorway or an empty cardboard box? Turning it into a puppet theatre is the obvious thing to do! Once I had time at home and my children were young, I set to work – the long summer holidays were the perfect time to try my hand at building a proper wooden booth, and i still have it. Soon I was taking bookings for children’s parties, festivals and all sorts of occasions – I was officially a puppeteer.

Once the children were at school and we had re-located once more, I went back to teaching – but my lovely booth has never been out of action since – I simply bring my puppets and my booth into the drama classroom with me, and it seems to work.

When I was looking to create the Victorian world which my character Phineas inhabits, there was a proper Eureka moment: here was an unusual, but historical context, and I already knew a lot about it – Victorian puppeteers travelled the length and breadth of the country! The perfect combo, and something to take the book out of the standard Victorian fare of poorhouses and child labour – although the book obviously touches on that.

2. Where does your interest and enthusiasm for Punch and Judy come from? 

My interest is a little wider than just Punch and Judy – I love marionettes, for example and own a pretty decent collection. Recently, I have got into shadow puppetry and even use it in some of my author events, as well as in the drama classroom. Puppetry is the perfect form of drama for those who may be a bit shy: It allows you to write, to make props and backdrops, to craft or customise puppets, to create music and sound effects and of course to use voice and movement in performance, but crucially – without being looked at! Punch and Judy style puppets always go down really well with youngsters, mainly because of the speed you can move glove puppets at, and also the potential for slapstick-type comedy. I love that it is the whole of ‘theatre’ in miniature – live, immediate and striking. I love performing, writing, making, painting, music – and I can do a wee bit of each without having to excel at any one area. Awesome!

 

3. Tell me more about the history of Punch and Judy and it’s importance in the Victorian era? 

I’m pretty sure that most modern children would be a bit bemused if they saw an authentic Victorian Punch show. For a start, they called them Punch and Judy opera, and the term puppeteer hadn’t even been invented yet. Those travelling and performing simply called themselves ‘showman’ and ‘Punch and Judy man’ – and yes there were very few women, although that changed in the early 20th century.

The plays would basically follow the same episodic structure: Punch would stay on stage and the performer would wear a swazzle, a small metal plate which was inserted into the roof of the mouth, and which distorted the voice to make it the distinctive Punch sound. One after the other, the characters would enter, and, by accident or design, Punch would kill them (I know! Modern parents would shudder!) until the devil comes to fetch him at the end. It may not sound like a barrel of laughs, but all this was delivered swiftly, with much chasing and slapstick-fighting. I found the research into this really fascinating. The Scottish records show that vast distances were travelled by these men and women, and that most diversified into being musicians, dancers and animal tamers, and some even travelled with dancing bears. Once I had read that, I had to include a dancing bear in Punch, surely!    

4. It is clear from the story how that you have done quite a bit of research on Punch and Judy, how and where did you carry out your research? Do you have any tips for children/young people wanting to find out more themselves?

My research process is pretty simple: I read around the subject a lot, just to get a feel. If a detail or a particular bit of research stays with me (as in, I don’t forget it immediately), then I can safely assume that others may be as interested or intrigued by it as me. For children’s fiction, you have to be so selective anyway – too much historical context can be a quick turn-off. I can only include as much detail as my readers are likely to care about!

I check out the historical timeline (after all, I can’t and shouldn’t doctor what actually happened) and then get busy with filling in the gaps with fiction. Sometimes this can be a lengthy process, as I often realise in the writing process that I have to know more. Any first draft often has notes like ‘(insert clever paragraph about soldieer recruitment)’ or whatever. 

But my secret weapon is the expert! I managed to locate THE go-to expert on Punch and Judy history in Scotland, cheekily made contact and asked if I could buy him a coffee. After a couple of hours enthusing on his pet subject with someone who genuinely wanted to know (me), he was willing to read the whole manuscript and give me feedback! Score!

There are many other places to find out more, too. The http://www.maskandpuppet.co.uk/ Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, for example, and the http://www.thepjf.com/events.html Punch and Judy Fellowship. There is a fab puppet festival in Covent Garden every year too: https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/29422454-covent-garden-may-fayre-and-puppet-festival-at-st-paul-s-church-garden#oMMLwrsPRLkHRomR.97

You can buy the book PUNCH   here

Read my review of PUNCH here. 

You can find out more about the author Barbara Henderson on her website:   http://www.barbarahenderson.co.uk

Fir for Luck Blog Tour: A conversation with Barbara Henderson on nature and outdoors in the Scottish Highlands

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What role does nature play in the story?

Nature is such a big player in my children’s novel Fir for Luck that I even argued it should be on the cover of the book! The land is part of Janet’s identity. It was a challenge, when writing Fir for Luck, to get across how tightly wound up Janet’s and her village’s identities are with the land.

But maybe the land didn’t need to be on the cover after all. Maybe the connection could be shown more subtly than that.*(1) I thought about all the ways that Janet’s environment featured in her everyday life. In the jobs she had to do: checking on the fields, grinding grain to flour, taking cows up the hill to better pasture, mucking out the byre. In her home: hearing mice rustle in the thatch above as she sleeps on a straw mattress beside the hearth. Being made to drink nettle brew when ill (one of my more fun research facts). And finally, the title sprig of fir as a symbol for luck, wound into a new hearth chain. The area around Durness where all this took place is barren and almost tree-less. A sprig of fir was not easy to come by. Again, it felt that nature itself played a part in Janet’s fate: the sprig is a motif which features throughout the book.

Spending family time in the Scottish Highlands…

I am a would-be-outdoorsy person. My husband and I are not one of nature’s innate sporty couples, but we do take our children*(2) on holidays to Skye, to Harris, to the wildernesses of Western Ross and Sutherland. There, our young people can enjoy searching for crabs under rocks, exploring empty beaches, building driftwood beach dens – and being dragged up a few too many hills! The stuff our children’s childhood memories are going to be made of: bonfire kindling, a blackened frying pan and the thinnest sausages you can buy (so that they cook before they char) – that is an essential part of kit for a fab day out. Of course it was on one of those ‘back to nature’ holidays that I came across the ruins of Ceannabeinne, a little known clearance village.

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Is Ceannabeinne a real place?

Ceannabeinne really existed as a thriving township. All that is left now is rubble and ruins of course, but the burn still trickles through. It’s just east of Durness, the nearest village to Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point of the UK mainland. Durness is a village now, but at the time it was made up of townships such as Durine, Sangomore, Balnakeil and of course Ceannabeinne. No place in the whole story is invented, and the key events all really took place there.

And a final word…   I know; not every reader of Fir for Luck will visit the amazing place where my character made her home, although they should if they can.So instead, let any outdoor bonfire take you to the ceilidh in chapter three. Listen to the sound and scent of the sea and hear and sense Ceannabeinne. Let every dark night take you there. That way, you can peek into Janet’s world.

Find out more on the authors website                      You can buy Fire for Luck here. 

*(1) There are hints of nature on the cover of the book with the fire in Janet’s eyes and the pine cones on the back. Publishers Cranachan decided against landscape in the end, and Barbara agrees as: “Young readers are most likely to care about the central character, and about the worst thing that can happen”.

•(2) Barbara has 3 children, who are now 11, 14, and 16 and they are in some of the pictures.

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