Tuesday 28 August 2018

Visit from Jenny Sommervell

Today we were fortunate to have Jenny Sommervell in our school reading two of her picture books, The Day Dad Blew Up the Cowshed and The Eel Hunt. We  learned lots about how Jenny gets her ideas from real experiences and stories from childhood, and she also told us about her writing process. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to get a book to the publishing stage! Jenny told us that the most important thing is to get the story right first, then to think about choosing the right words to use. She also told us how important it is to have the characters encountering lots of problems because that is what makes the story interesting.  This is known as "torturing the characters"!









2 comments:

  1. Kia ora Room 5,
    How lucky to have an author come and visit and talk about her work. I laughed when I read that Jenny called challenges 'torturing the characters.' I bet it has inspired you to write some imaginative stories too. I hadn't heard of these books so have looked them up online. I will need to go into a book shop and see if I can read one. What age do you think these books would be good for? I am wondering if I should buy for my nieces.
    Tania

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  2. Hi Tania
    Thanks for your comment. Most of us in Room 5 can read and enjoy Jenny Sommervell's books and we are all 8-10 years old, but they are also enjoyable for older children, and younger children would also enjoy hearing them being read aloud. How old are your nieces?
    Room 5

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Thank-you for your positive, thoughtful, helpful comment.