World Book Day special - The Time Tunnellers step into the shoes of a favourite character

Happy World Book Day everyone!

We’ve got some great news. We’re thrilled to be able to announce that we have a new member of the team!

Author Matt Wainwright

Matt Wainwright, a previous guest poster for the Time Tunnellers is joining us to help dig for the stories in history – and share his love of reading and writing historical fiction for young people.

Matt is the author of the fantastic adventure, Out of the Smoke (Wakeman Trust), which tells the story of young Billy the chimney sweep who, when he finds himself plunged into the criminal underworld of Victorian London, must battle to survive against notorious gang leader, Archie Miller and his friends. Help, when it arrives, comes from a very unexpected source in the shape of the famous educational reformer, Lord Shaftesbury –  the ‘Poor Man’s Earl’. But will Billy’s pride let him accept the offer? And if he turns on Archie, will it mean freedom or certain death?

What’s it like to be joining our merry band, Matt?

'It's an honour! From the first time I saw the Time Tunnellers assemble I was struck by how enthusiastic and knowledgeable you all are. It's a fantastic initiative, sharing your love for history and the stories it contains, and I feel privileged to be a part of it. I'm also excited to share some of the things I've learned - there is so much to discover in the past, and leading children (and adults!) down some of those paths, exploring the nooks and crannies, will be a real joy. Thank you for inviting me into the team!'

Our pleasure!  We’re really looking forward to having you on board too!

In this week’s blog we’re celebrating World Book Day – and Matt’s arrival on the team – by stepping into the shoes of a favourite character in a great historical fiction read for young people. 

Ally Sherrick: Boy in The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
(Published by Chicken House Books)

I studied medieval history at university so it was brilliant to have the chance to travel back to those times again in the company of Murdock’s plucky underdog hero, ‘Boy’. When the story opens it is the year 1350 and Boy is looking after the goats that belonged to the lady of the manor before she was carried off by the plague. Boy is different from other people. He can talk with the animals and birds. But he is also taunted and called ‘Monster’ by his fellow villagers because of the hump on his back. So when a mysterious pilgrim stranger – Secundus – arrives in the village and offers Boy the chance to join him on a quest for seven priceless relics – ‘rib tooth thumb shin dust skull tomb’ – he decides to take the risk and join him.

I loved accompanying Boy as he experienced all the incredible sights, sounds and smells of the places he and his new master encountered on their long journey through France and across the sea to the tomb of St Peter in Rome.  And listening in on the conversations he has with the animals and birds he meets on the way. But it is the special secret he keeps hidden from others and which finally brings him the freedom and happiness he craves which enthralled me the most.

A great read for anyone who enjoys historical stories with a twist of magic realism.

Barbara Henderson: Moss in The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff

(Published by Egmont)

I credit two books with sealing my love of historical fiction: Mary Hoffman's Troubadour and this, The Executioner's Daughter. 

The reign of Henry VIII is famous for its many executions - but what if your father is the one whose job it is to do the deed, again and again? Meet Moss. Growing up in the infamous Tower of London with only her taciturn dad for company, she longs to escape. The river flows past, carrying everything away with it - could Moss leave it all behind and find freedom? 

I loved the vivid descriptions of Tudor London, the dangers and secrets Moss has to navigate, and her reluctant friendship with streetwise Salter who survives by thieving. I was with Moss every step of the way, particularly when she realises that there are stranger, deeper powers at work beneath the surface of the Thames. 

My favourite chapter by a country mile was the one about the Frost Fair when the Thames froze over entirely - something that really happened! Moss encounters terrible danger, but so much beauty too. One of those books that stayed with me from the moment I read it almost a decade ago. 

Catherine Randall: ‘Cat’ in The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding (Egmont)

This thrilling adventure story set in and around the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London is narrated by one of the most engaging fictional characters I’ve ever come across. Cat Royal is an orphan who has lived backstage in the theatre ever since she was rescued as a baby by the famous playwright and theatre owner, Mr Sheridan.

As soon as you open the book, you are in Cat’s shoes and completely immersed in the world of late 18th century London. Cat thinks that she is simply guarding a diamond for Mr Sheridan, hidden somewhere in the theatre, but then she becomes friends with the mysterious new Prompt and a talented young African violinist – the new sensation at Drury Lane. It soon becomes clear that much more is at stake than a mere jewel. You experience the sights, smells and characters of Covent Garden market, the backstage of the Theatre Royal and the drawing rooms of Grosvenor Square as if you were there, while Cat and her friends – a wonderful mixture of boys from street gangs and refined young aristocrats – battle to save the ‘diamond’ who is really hiding at the theatre, not to mention their own skins.

This novel is a heady combination of vivid, engaging characters with authentic historical and geographical detail.  

I think Cat is one of the great heroines of modern children’s literature. I couldn't put the book down.

Jeannie Waudby: Ellen in The Secrets Act by Alison Weatherby (Chicken House)

It would be scary but also interesting and exciting to time-travel back to the Second World War in Ellen’s shoes. She is one of two teenage main characters in The Secrets Act. The story begins with her journey to the codebreaking HQ, Bletchley Park, where she is going to become a codebreaker. I once met a 90-year-old lady on a train and she told me she had worked there during the war. When I asked her what she did, she looked at me and said: ‘It was secret.’

I felt the sheer strangeness of this situation through Ellen’s eyes, travelling from Wales on her own, arriving in the pitch dark of the blackout. Everything is strange and even asking questions feels forbidden and dangerous. This is a tense and exciting story – Ellen meets new people; so many of them young. But always there is the question: who can you trust? This story doesn’t glamourize Bletchley Park; in fact in many ways it feels like a hostile environment with threats and dangers lurking round every corner – including the danger of accidentally committing treason. But it’s also a story of true friendship. 

I recommend this book as a thought-provoking journey into a time of war.

Matt Wainwright: Stepping into the shoes of … Sig Andersson in Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Part of me wouldn’t actually enjoy stepping into Sig’s shoes. Throughout most of the book Revolver, Sig is threatened, bullied and held hostage in his family’s remote Alaskan cabin by the enigmatic and seemingly unstoppable Wolff - which would not make for a particularly pleasant experience!

However, Sedgwick wrote the book so well that you can’t help but feel that you’re right there in the scene with the characters. He conjures up the vast frozen wilderness of the far north of turn-of-the-century America in vivid, startling detail: the crack of ice, the buffeting of the wind, the crunch of freshly-fallen snow. You can see every clouded breath, smell the pungent odours of oil and gunpowder and fur, feel the creeping fingers of perpetual winter worming their way through every crevice … It’s a masterclass of description!

And in the end, of course (no spoilers!) Sig learns how to grow beyond his fear and find a way to stage a near-impossible escape. He’s the kind of character I love: one who starts the story as a person we recognise but wouldn’t necessarily want to be, but who gradually becomes someone we can admire. Which just goes to show that, no matter what era they are from, people throughout history are like us in many ways, with so much for us to learn.

Susan Brownrigg: My Friend the Octopus by Lindsay Galvin
(published by Chicken House)

There is something very calming about wandering around an aquarium - the low light, the gentle movement of the fish and it is the perfect place for 12-year-old Vinnie Fyfe to find solace when she is abruptly sent away by her milliner mother to live with her aunt.

Vinnie loves to draw, and she is soon enchanted by the beauty of the aquatic life around her and especially a fascinating new arrival - an octopus! She quickly realises she has a special connection with the cephalopod and that they can communicate using colour.

I was enchanted by the gorgeous descriptions of how the octopus moves and learned lots about these intelligent, powerful creatures.

This wonderful adventure story is set in Victorian Brighton and the aquarium there - the world's oldest - still exists with it's beautiful period arcade having been lovingly restored. 

I loved exploring the aquarium with Vinnie and meeting her new friends - Charlie and Temitayo - who team up to solve a mystery which opens their eyes to cruelty close to home.

This book is so gripping you will think you have been grabbed by a tentacle or eight!

On this week's You Tube video the Time Tunnellers and our guest authors share their recommended historical reads for World Book Day - to watch CLICK HERE!

 

 

 

First in Flight by Catherine Randall

I was recently lucky enough to spend a few days on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the United States. The Outer Banks are a long string of barrier islands stretching along the coastline, with the Atlantic on one side and the sheltered waters of the Sound on the other. These days the Outer Banks are a popular holiday destination, due to their long, unspoilt sandy beaches and it was these same beaches and dunes which made the Outer Banks the site of one of the biggest breakthroughs in human history. It was here in December 1903 that the Wright Brothers made the first ever successful powered flight.

The Wright Brothers Memorial on Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina

The dream of achieving human flight is probably as old as humanity. Throughout the nineteenth century, a succession of inventors and engineers had worked on solving the three great problems of aircraft design.

LIFT – generating an upward force greater than the weight of the plane

THRUST – propelling the plane forward

CONTROL – stabilising and controlling the plane’s flight

By the end of the 1890s, progress had been made on the problems of LIFT and THRUST but nobody had worked out how to control an aeroplane once it was in the air so that it didn’t roll from side to side or pitch forward, or continually veer from right to left.

It was American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright who in 1899, after observing the flight of birds, realised that stabilised flight could be achieved by warping the wings of the plane, inventing a system which allowed the pilot to twist the tips of the wings, as a bird does, through a system of pulleys and cables.

The Wright Brothers - Wilbur and Orville

The Wright brothers ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, but from 1899 onwards they devoted themselves to the goal of human flight, spending their summers on the coast of North Carolina, where the huge sand dunes just south of the town of Kitty Hawk, at a place memorably called Kill Devil Hills, were the ideal setting for hundreds of experiments with kites and gliders. The location provided three things that they needed – plenty of wind for lift, sand for a soft landing, and privacy. They didn’t want other people copying their design!

Reconstruction of their 1903 Flyer, viewed from the back

In 1901 they built their own wind tunnel so that they could collect their own scientific data on aereodynamics. In 1902, after hundreds of test glides, the brothers felt sure that they had cracked the problems of lift, control and stability. The following year they designed their own engine and the first effective aircraft propellers and in December 1903 they returned to Kill Devil Hills, finally ready to test out their new flyer.

The pilot in the 1903 Flyer was positioned lying down, between the wings

On 17 December 1903, surrounded and supported by men from the local lifeboat station, Orville Wright climbed into position in the flyer. The flyer was designed so that the pilot lay down between the wings, controlling the machine with a stick and a lever, and controlling the warp of the wings by swinging a cradle with his hips. On the first flight the flyer only stayed aloft for 12 seconds, going 36 metres before pitching into the sand. The brothers took it in turns to make three more flights, getting used to the controls. Each time they spent longer in the air, flying further, until on the fourth flight, Wilbur piloted the flyer for a distance of 260 metres in 59 seconds.

The lift-off point of the first flights is marked by the First Flight Boulder on the left, with four other boulders marking the length of the first four flights

Today, this site is the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The First Flight boulder marks the lift off point for the four flights, and the four flight markers show the length of each successive flight. You can also see reconstructions of the sheds where the brothers lived and worked each summer, and on Kill Devil Hill – like the surrounding area, now sown with grass – there is a huge monument to the brothers, rising up impressively above the flat surroundings. In the Visitors’ Centre, you can see a reconstruction of the original flyer, and on the other side of Kill Devil Hill is a sculpture of the complete scene of the very first flight, complete with sculptures of admiring locals, including the man taking the photograph that is shown here! He had apparently never used a camera before.

The photograph taken of the very first flight. Orville is in the Flyer, Wilbur running alongside

Of course, the Wrights’ achievement was just the beginning for human flight. If you are interested in the history of flying, there are loads of other people you can research, including the French aviator Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel, and the pioneering American aviator Amelia Earhart. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932. Five years later, she disappeared with her plane during an attempt to fly around the globe – but that’s for another blog!

WRITING CHALLENGE: For your writing challenge this week, imagine that you are Wilbur or Orville Wright and write a letter to a friend back in Ohio, telling them about this incredible thing that has  just happened – you have achieved the first ever powered flight! You might want to tell them how hard you worked and the problems you had to overcome. Will you confide in them what you plan to do next?

 Alternatively, imagine you are one of the local people watching – how does this make you feel? Does it make you want to be part of the adventure of human flight? Has it ignited a dream for you too?

The White Phoenix by Catherine Randall is an historical novel for 9-12 year olds set in London, 1666. It was shortlisted for the Historical Association’s Young Quills Award 2021.

Published by the Book Guild, it is available from bookshops and online retailers.

For more information, go to Catherine’s website: www.catherinerandall.com

World Book Day special - what does a publisher do? by Catherine Randall

You’ve found a publisher for your book. What happens next?

Sadly, a publisher will never take your manuscript and say, ‘Great, that’s perfect, we’ll send it to the printer!’ It has to be worked on by quite a few people first. The good news is that all these people will help to make your book the best it can possibly be.

 Firstly, an EDITOR will read the manuscript carefully and suggest any changes they’d like to make to big things like the plot or the characters. They may even ask you to change the ending or get rid of a whole character! These suggestions can be difficult for you as the author, but I’ve found that however hard you’ve worked on a book yourself, it will always benefit from having a fresh pair of eyes looking at it, especially when those eyes belong to an experienced editor.

Once both you and the editor are happy with any changes, the book is sent to the copy-editor.

The COPY-EDITOR is responsible for going through the manuscript line by line, checking for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and over-used words. The copy-editor makes sure that the story you want to tell is clear for the reader. They also check for consistency so, for instance, if a character has blue eyes in chapter 2, they can’t have brown eyes in chapter 10.

While the copy-editor is doing their work, the manuscript will be sent to the DESIGNER. The designer makes decisions about how the finished book will look. Here’s a double-page spread from Barbara Henderson’s book Black Water to show you the sort of decisions the designer has to make.  

The DESIGNER will then combine the finished, copy-edited text with their finished design and produce proofs showing what the book will look like when it is printed. After these have been checked again by everyone, including the author, the book is finally ready to go to the printer.

But you might have noticed that there’s something very important missing! Ally Sherrick will tell you all about that tomorrow ….

 

 

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.

Stories in maps by Catherine Randall

I’ve always loved books with maps in the front, so that you can really picture where the action takes place.

Some books don’t tell you in the text exactly how different places in the story relate to each other, so a map is an extra way into the story. I love the map in the front of the classic Winnie-the-Pooh, so I can see exactly where Pooh and Piglet live, and where Eeyore’s Gloomy Place is (‘rather boggy and sad’, as it says on the map). Maybe it’s my lack of imagination, but I have always found that maps really help me to visualise the world I am reading about.

The endpapers in my 1970 edition of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A.Milne, published by Methuen

When I was a child, I was a bit obsessed with the Swallows and Amazons books by Arthur Ransome, about adventurous children having a wonderful time sailing and camping on an island in the middle of a lake, without any adults. The map at the front of Swallows and Amazons shows that the lake where these adventures take place bears a very strong resemblance to two lakes in the English Lake district. As well as showing me the geography of the stories, there was an extra thrill in this map as I tried to work out which bits of the fictional lake were taken from which bits of the real lakes, Coniston and Windermere.

 

The map in the front of my 1974 Puffin Books edition of
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

In the second book of the series, Swallowdale, the map in the front does not just show the setting for the story, it also shows exactly where some of the events in the book take place.

It is not very easy to read, partly because it is drawn as though by one of the characters themselves, but that adds to its charm.

The endpapers from my father’s 1943 copy of Swallowdale, published by Jonathan Cape

When I am writing a book, especially a book based on real events, I like to have a map in front of me so that I can see exactly where my characters are playing out the action of the story. Although the characters are fictional, the setting is not, and it is important to me to get things right.  When I was writing about the Great Fire of London in The White Phoenix, I spent a long time looking at maps showing how fast and how far the fire spread, so that I could work out where my characters needed to be and when, and also how quickly they would have been able to get from one place to another.

 

Part of a famous map drawn by Wencelaus Hollar in 1666,
showing the extent of the fire damage in London after the Great Fire.
You can see the shape of St Paul’s Cathedral just to the left of the centre

Maps can be just as helpful when you are writing about an imaginary place. Creating a map of your own can help you to write the story. Drawing a map – however basic – is a great way of getting to know your setting, and as you do that you might see where somebody needs to be, how the villain escaped, or where the treasure had to be hidden – important plot stuff. You may not be able to work out the whole story in a map, but it can certainly spark ideas, help you to solve plot problems, and put you with your characters right in the middle of the action.

 

Example of a map drawn to help work out the characters’ movements in a story

WRITING CHALLENGE

Imagine you are an explorer visiting a distant island, or a mysterious valley, or maybe an ancient forest - anywhere you think you might have an adventure. It could be a place that might really exist or a magical place with extraordinary creatures and strange beings. Using your imagination, draw a map of this place, including all the important features like mountains, rivers and caves and any houses, palaces or creepy castles that you find there.  Then write little labels on the map, showing where things happen in your story – where you first arrived, where you met that mysterious stranger, where you had to stay the night, where you ran away from whatever strange creature you come across in your adventures. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, although it is helpful if you can read the writing! If it grips your imagination, you might want to write it up afterwards as a written story, or maybe a comic strip.

Catherine Randall is the author of The White Phoenix an historical novel for 9-12 year olds set in London in 1666. The White Phoenix was shortlisted for the Historical Association’s Young Quills Award 2021. Catherine is currently working on her second novel, an adventure set in Victorian London.

 

 

Christmas Traditions - by the Time Tunnellers

 In our final blog post before Christmas, the Time Tunnellers explore some favourite traditions.

Jeannie Waudby: My Christmas tradition is something we used to do as children. We always made our own decorations, usually from scrap paper or crepe paper bought from a fantastic tiny stationer’s. It was only big enough for a long counter behind which an old man perched on his stool with wonderful things around him: rolls of shiny paper, glitter, pots of paste…

A paper snowflake

We made window snowflakes by folding paper circles in half again and again and then snipping little triangles out. Once unfolded they formed a snowflake pattern.

The nice thing about this decoration is its use of low-key materials – paper and scissors. In a short time you can make enough snowflakes to cover a window. You can make them more dramatic by using silver paper or by varying the sizes, and you can experiment with different shapes.

Scissors and paper is all you need

We also made paper chains out of cut-up magazines and old wrapping paper and draped them across the doors and walls. These were also quite quick and easy to make. People would have made these throughout the last century and even the one before. Here are the Fossil sisters from Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield with their paper chains, illustrated by Ruth Gervais.

 

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield, illustrated by Ruth Gervais

Susan Brownrigg:When I was little, my family received lots and lots of Christmas cards. I remember helping my mum drawing pin long pieces of red wool on the walls of the living room and hall and placing the open cards over them. Their would be cards from distant relatives, former work colleagues and loved ones who lived over seas. 

 

The first commercially produced Christmas card suggested by
Sir Henry Cole and drawn by John Calcott Horsley

The cards would often feature snowy scenes, golden bells, cute animals, Father Christmas and nativity scenes. They would look so cheery and festive as we counted down the days to Christmas.

A vintage Christmas card (Author's collection.)

Sadly, I don't have any of those cards anymore, but I do have a lovely small collection of cards from the 1930s which I use when visiting schools to talk about my new children's book, Gracie Fairshaw and the Trouble at the Tower, which is set at Christmas, 1935. 

The cards are much smaller than those my mum put up in the 1980s, but they feature many of the same scenes. 

1930s Christmas cards (Author's collection)

I love looking at the old verses and personal messages in side them, and they really give a sense of the times. 

A Victorian influenced Christmas card (Author's collection)

I especially like one design I own that features a very 1930s Fox Terrier on it!

 

1930s Fox Terrier Christmas card (Author's collection)

I wonder what future generations will make of card designs from the 2020s!

A 2021 Christmas card

 

Catherine Randall: The first sign that Christmas is coming in our house is when we get out our wooden nativity set, which doubles as an Advent calendar. I’ve shown this on the Time Tunnellers YouTube video. 

Wooden nativity set

Here I’d like to share with you two more unusual Christmas traditions. Like lots of Christmas traditions, they’re both associated with the Victorians.

The first one is a song. Every Boxing Day, my mum’s family would stand around the piano and sing a song called ‘Christmas Boxes’ from an old Victorian song book. 

 

Little Songs for Little Voices songbook

I think the tradition started when my granny was a child, over a hundred years ago, but it may be even older as the book is from the 1870s. 

 

Christmas Boxes

The tradition has passed down to me, my cousins and our families (though the quality of the piano-playing has declined somewhat!) I know Christmas is coming when I get out our Advent nativity scene, but I know it is really here when I hear the first few chords of ‘Christmas Boxes’.

 

Come Back, Lucy by Pamela Sykes

The other thing I do most Christmases is reread an old children’s book - Come Back, Lucy by Pamela Sykes. First published in 1973 and now sadly out of print, it is a wonderful Christmassy time-slip story about a lonely girl who moves into a Victorian house with a new family and is haunted by the girl who lived there in 1873, with dramatic results. It is one of the most imaginative, evocative books I have ever read. I only have to open it to get that lovely, enveloping Christmas feeling!

Ally Sherrick: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without present-giving, no matter how big or small the gift. Of course, the Christian Nativity has a gift-giving scene at its heart – when the three wise kings travel from afar bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to give to the infant Jesus. But the tradition of present-giving in December began long before the emergence of Christianity.

Christmas present

For example, the Roman festival of Saturnalia, held to honour the god Saturn, and which took place in the dark days leading up to the winter solstice, was a time of great feasting and merry-making, and of gift-giving too.

But modern gift-givers beware! Extravagant presents were looked down on as not being in the spirit of the season. If you really wanted to show the recipient you cared, simple gifts were judged to be the best. Things like combs, toothpicks, moneyboxes and lamps. 

 A Roman lamp

And, usefully for budding authors, writing tablets! People also gave small wax and clay statues known as sigillaria and joke gifts too.  Meanwhile, if you fancied yourself a bit of a poet you might include a line of verse or two – much like we do in Christmas cards today.

Happy Saturnalia! And remember: the best things often come wrapped in small parcels ... 

Barbara Henderson: I love Christmas and the fact that there are so many different traditions, past and present. 

Last week, I took a train to Edinburgh to research my latest manuscript, a story set during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Barbara in Edinburgh

I timed my visit so I could catch a talk about Christmas at the Court of the ill-fated Mary – these sorts of things add such wonderful colour to a historical novel.

Mary was certainly no party-pooper! She was used to lavish Christmas celebrations in Catholic France where she was brought up, but on her arrival, the Scottish protestants soon slammed on the brakes, forcing Mary to move some of her more extravagant celebrations to the 6^th of January instead. 

Her musicians were so intimidated by the protestant Lords that they refused to perform – the pressure was just too much. 

One thing we do know the Queen conducted is a celebration called ‘The Queen of the Bean’. A cake was baked for Christmas, and a bean was added to the dough. The Queen’s companions would each cut a slice of the cake, and whoever found the bean was allowed to be queen for the day. The Queen’s friend Mary Fleming won it one year, and was given a silver dress and a necklace of rubies belonging to the Queen to wear, while the famous monarch donned humble clothing instead. It echoes God making himself lowly in Jesus’ birth, but it also sounds great fun!

The Time Tunnellers would like to wish our readers a Happy Christmas, we will return in the new year.