Hi guys and gals!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're joining an Authoright Marketing & Publicity BLOG TOUR already in progress starring a rather unique storybook that celebrates imagination, the power of play, and the teachers that help open young minds every day. It's a curious read but an enjoyable one at that and with the whimsy filled illustrations, you can't go wrong. Ready to meet your next potential read? Take a seat at the head of the class as we welcome today's book of choice and blog tour guest...
by
Malcolm Howard
Illustrated by
Stephen Harrison
9781911525134
Clink Street Publishing
About the book...
Angelique has long thin legs, long thin arms and a turned-up nose on which sits an enormous pair of spectacles. Her spectacles are so big that they look like magnifying glasses and make her eyes look very large. She normally wears black shoes, a blue dress and a red scarf, and she had just been awarded all her Certificates and Diplomas to become a teacher. But she needs a job. Returning to her home village at the foothills of the French Alps, Angelique finds her childhood school has closed! All she needs is determination, enthusiasm and ten pupils to re-open the school and realise her dreams. But Angelique soon realises that her daily adventures have only just begun.
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Here we have a storybook that combines playful and colorful imagery with a lengthier tale than one might expect for the intended audience. Though that may concern some choosing to read this story at bedtime, it's actually a pretty big PLUS! Though it is wonderful to read all at once, it is broken into smaller pieces beautifully, so that it can be taken in smaller bites for younger readers. The fact that you can match up your reading night to the day/chapter of the book is simply the cherry on the sundae! Now, let's get between the pages...
We all have teachers we'll never forget. They are the ones that molded and shaped our young minds, helped us see something about ourselves or the world that we never considered, and otherwise left an impression most favorable. Angelique is certainly one of those people, despite her being a fictitious creation. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty, encourages interaction in both the classroom and at play, and never lets a student fall through the cracks...whether human or otherwise. ^-^ Yes, my friends, her imagination runs as wild as her hair, but that willingness to try something new, to let the students help guide their classroom learning as well as their creative endeavors is part of her charm...the fact that she has bubble potions to aid her in her quest is simply an accessory. She provides the real magic, along with her students, and it is that connection forged that makes this story THAT much better...along with those wonderful illustrations!
Now, as this is a blog tour, I had the option of getting something a little extra for you guys and my pick was a GUEST POST from the author himself! Topic suggested and accepted...a glimpse into their own school days so we can perhaps see where their inspiration for the book and love of learning came from. So, ladies and gents, children and magical creatures of all ages, allow me to introduce, author Malcolm Howard....
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School Days with Author Malcolm Howard
Aged nine, I was packed off to boarding school. It was 1953 post-war Britain. My Dad was in the Army and it was not unusual to go to a boarding preparatory school. Happily my elder brother was already there.
It was like something out of Harry Potter. Dressed in new uniform and cap I was taken to Victoria Station to join the school train to Westgate–on-Sea in Kent, complete with tuck box and trunk.
Today the journey would take about two hours by car, but then it took all day, and seemed to be a world away. So far away that parents would visit once a term and we would write weekly letters in the meantime.
The week before departure, I was riding down a hill standing on the back axle of a friend’s tricycle. “brakes don’t work” he said. I jumped off and incurred a broken front tooth and a bleeding face. Undaunted I arrived at school with scabs and stitches.
I enjoyed the boarding experience. They were years of innocence. I remember the Headmaster interrupting a Latin lesson to say that a storm had washed driftwood onto the beach. The lesson was suspended.
We took trolleys to the beach and loaded up old railway sleepers and wheeled them back to school. At the weekend we cut them up into logs, using a long two-handled saw operated by a boy on each end, for burning on the schoolroom fire.
My brother moved on to Pangbourne Nautical College because my Father thought he needed discipline! I was more of a daydreamer and moved on to Bradfield College in Berkshire.
I wasn’t a scholar. I drifted through and had a knack of just achieving the necessary pass mark to progress. I can’t say that I recall a favourite teacher. My Housemaster taught Geography which I managed to fail, but he still made me head of house.
I had just started my final year when my Father asked if I would like to sit the exam for Officer training at Sandhurst. True to form I passed by just three marks. I left the school at Christmas. I think my parents were finding it difficult to pay the fees.
I finished my education at the Royal Military Academy – where I got paid!
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About the author...
Now retired Malcolm Howard lives in Walton-On-Thames Surrey. Malcolm has enjoyed a varied career from being a part of the Queens Surrey Regiment, to moving to the French Alps where he set up a Ski High School, now part of the British Ski Academy, before returning to Surrey to work for the probation service. In his spare time he continues to lend a hand at the local Council as well as visit the mountains in France where his son still lives.
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Special thanks to Rachel at Authoright Marketing and Publicity for the copy for review as well as the chance to participate in this promotion, and to the author for taking the time to share a bit about their past with all of us. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag a copy for your bookshelf today!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
