Ideas for Julian Clay's Third 'Bolds' Book

Egham Library Chatterbooks, on 18 October 2016, came up with a fantastic plan: writing to Julian Clary and giving him some ideas for a third Bolds book!


Fleur, one of the Chatterbooks group members, wrote this lovely letter to Julian Clary, on behalf of the Egham Library Chatterbooks:

Egham Library Chatterbooks group wanted to show the author that they could also come up with exciting adventures for the Bolds as well as designing their own eye-catching book covers. Their ideas (set out below) were posted to Julian Clary along with the letter and you never know he may use one or some or even all of these ideas in the future. Just watch this space!

Top Marks for The Bolds by Julian Clary

Egham Library Chatterbooks were excited to talk about ‘The Bolds’ by Julian Clary on Tuesday 18 October and they almost jumped off their seats when asked if they would like to read the second book in the series: ‘The Bolds to the Rescue'. Hands up in the air, they all exclaimed, ‘Yes, please, please… when can we read it?’

So what did Egham Library Chatterbooks find so amazing about ‘The Bolds’ book? You can read their reviews below because they say it best in their own words. Megan gives an excellent summary of ‘The Bolds’ and they all agree it was the fabulous humour, the great illustrations and the unusual storyline that kept them glued to the pages. Now they are hooked and want MORE. Thank goodness Julian Clary has written the second book in the series: ‘The Bolds to the Rescue’. What will Egham Library Chatterbooks think of book two in the series? We’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out…

Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne: Reviews by The Avengers Teen Reading Group

 

The Avengers Teen Reading Group met at Egham Library on Tuesday 11 October 2016 to discuss ‘Lottery Boy’ by Michael Byrne.

The group had high expectations for a book with an appealing front cover and an interesting storyline. There was no question that the book is action packed as the young protagonist, Bully, is set on a quest to claim a winning lottery ticket given to him by his mum as a last gift before she died. However, when word gets out on the street that Bully has a winning ticket, his quest to meet the deadline to submit his ticket before it is made null and void is complicated by those on the street who want to claim it for themselves.

It all sounds like an interesting and somewhat unusual story but the average rating for ‘Lottery Boy’ by Michael Byrne from the Avengers Teen Reading Group was just:

 

Here are the group’s reviews:

Tiree said, ‘I enjoyed the background story of Bully’.

Grace said, ‘It is an unusual story… it’s very slow and not interesting.’

Sophie said, ‘It was a very desperate race for Bully to survive in the book and it kept me reading a teeny bit. It was a very complicated storyline and got a bit boring halfway through.’

Elliot said, ‘It was action packed but also monotonous.’

Emily said, ‘It was exciting with great scenes and background but it was also repetitive and a bit slow.’

The Avengers Teen Reading Group had fun talking about what they would do if they won the jackpot lottery prize… the possibilities are endless!!!!

 

A Day to Remember... Egham Chatterbooks Meets Author, Dame Jacqueline Wilson

In twenty years time, if you ask any of the Chatterbooks members to tell you about one of their special childhood memories, I'm sure they'll tell you about the time they met the author, Jacqueline Wilson. It was a rainy afternoon on Saturday 1st October, with intermitent sunny spells but inside Windsor Boys' School, this famous children's author lit up the room with her inspirational talk about how her love of reading and writing, from an early age, led her to become an author. Her message to all aspiring young authors (and there were a lot of them in the room) was to just keep writing, forget about grammar, forget about structure, just let your imagination and creative juices flow and enjoy the experience.


As if Jacqueline Wilson's amazing talk wasn't enough, Egham Library Chatterbooks was asked to go back stage and have their own private meeting with her. She was everything the children imagined her to be: charming, friendly, interesting and fun. She had a lovely natural rapport with the children and the conversation and interation between them was so easy. Jacqueline willingly signed their books, had her photo taken with them and to top it all off, she took part in a short Chatterbooks session where she answered questions about her book, 'Worry Website' and about her writing in general.


You may be asking yourself, how did this all come about? Well, the first ever Chatterbooks was launched in October 2001, 15 years ago, and to celebrate the event, Egham Library Chatterbooks was chosen to meet the Chatterbooks Patron, Jacqueline Wilson.  Here is the Chatterbooks Q&A (written and presented to Jacqueline Wilson as a display board):

Lucy asked: "What inspired you to start writing?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I love books very much."


Sophie asked: "How did you think of all the characters names?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "That's the fun bit, making them all up. I had great trouble finding a name for the character of my recent book, [to be launched on Thursday 6th October] as I found out that  another author had used the name I had chosen so I had to think of something else and I am glad she is now called 'Clover Moon."


Maya asked: "What inspired you to start writing books?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I love telling stories so much."


Megan: asked: "What's the best thing about being an author?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "It's very exciting when a story that you have in your head comes out on the page and nice to meet boys and girls like you who enjoy my books so much."


Kirsty asked: "What is the best book you've read so far in your life?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is probably my favourite. I've read it many times and I still love it. You're all a bit young for it now but remember the name and go for it later."


Fleur asked: Why did you choose Nick Sharratt as your illustrator?
Jacqueline Wilson said: "Because I thought his drawings were really good."


Poppy asked: "What was the best book you wrote?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: Right now I have to say 'Clover Moon."

Sophie asked: What is your favourite book, it doesn't have to be one of yours?"
Jacqueline Wilson said: My favourite book as a child was probably 'Ballet Shoes' by Noel Streatfeild. It's about three girls at stage school. It may be a little dated now but its really good and I certainly recommend it."


Here are some photos of Egham Library Chatterbooks' afternoon with Jacqueline Wilson - it was truly amazing and everyone went home with a big smile on their face. Thanks to the Reading Agency and everyone else who was involved in organising such a special event.