Tunneling Under the Forth

I recently worked with two brilliant men, Rab McKenzie and Alistair Moore to help them write and share their mining memories. I’m really excited to share them with you here…

Tunnelling Under the Forth
There are three iconic bridges crossing the Firth of Forth, between Edinburgh on the south side and Fife on the north side. But did you know that deep beneath the firth of forth is a mining tunnel that crosses too? Alastair Moore is the chartered mining surveyor responsible for making two tunnels meet in the middle, back in the sixties before we had GPS. Here’s how he did it:

Press play above or click here to watch on YouTube. 

The Valleyfield Colliery Disaster

In 1939 there was a mining disaster at Valleyfield Colliery that claimed 39 lives. Tragically it could have been prevented. Robert McKenzie shares what happened using his extensive research on the disaster, he says mining is in his blood. His story commemorates the lives that were lost:

Press play above or click here to watch on YouTube. 

Digital Stories

Digital stories are true stories that last 1 to 3 minutes. They’re first person and in the story makers own voice with still images or video over a story sound track.

I worked with Rab and Alistair over several workshops while they crafted and shaped their stories. They also chose images and I recorded their voices and put everything together in these YouTube videos.

We also had help from Kirsty McAlister at the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative.

Earlier in the project, I worked with primary school children, their stories were factual but we broke the rules when they used their imagination and told the story from the perspectives of pit ponies and canaries!

You can read more about that part of the project here.

Other Projects
If you’re interested in digital stories and local history, you might like some of the other projects I’ve worked on, just click on the links below.

Working with the Arnol Blackhouse and children on the Isle of Lewis to share stories from the Blackhouse (including a story told by a chicken and a piece of peat!)

Working with Trinity House Maritime Museum to share maritime memories of Leith and Newhaven

Working with the Govan Reminiscence Group and Britain from Above to create memories from Govan

 

Bluebell and Blue Cat

I forgot my stylus on a visit to Strathclyde Country Park so I had a go at sketching using using my finger:

I love bluebells! I was pleased with how it turned out.

And here’s a sketch from earlier this month when I did have a stylus, it’s my lovely cat! He didn’t stay still long but I’m trying to loosen up a bit and add some fun into illustrations. Once he’d moved it forced me to use my imagination and here’s what happened:

 

Cover Reveal: DK Find Out! Energy

I’m excited to share the cover of a new science book I’ve written for DK. It’s out in July and it’s all about energy:

You can pre-order it here. Woooo!

 

Sketching on Skye

I’m going to draw more. I’ve set a goal of posting a new drawing on here every other week, this week it’s the black cuillin, sketched on my ipad from the middle of Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye:

Loch Coruisk is described as the most magnificent of Scotland’s freshwater lochs by Walk Highlands. It’s also supposed to be home to a water horse – a kelpie! I was excited when we got the boat towards these misty black mountains, from Elgol:

We passed some seals on the way:

And clambered over lots of slippery rocks:

And I stopped here and sat to sketch:

Here’s where I was, from the other side:

It really is one of the most magical places I’ve been too. I wanted to capture the feel of the mountains – they seemed almost angry. With their snow capped peaks. And the mist too – that’s hard to draw! And all that orange tufty grass:

And I only had twenty minutes and at one point I got attacked by a cloud of midgies so I’m pleased with how it turned out. But more then that, it helped me to take my surroundings in, to really experience the place I was. Here’s the sketch with a filter on it:

And a goodbye from me on the boat trip home:

 

Do You Know About Science?

It’s out now! I’ve written a new book that’s filled with science questions and answers!

Each double page spread is a question, answer and extra related facts:

The book is divided into the following sections:

• The living world
• Human body
• The material world
• Energy
• Forces and movement
• Our planet

I asked Oscar to choose his favourite spreads, here he is reading them:

The book is aimed at children aged 6 – 9 years old. My role was to answer each question by coming up with visuals and words to answer the question for each page. I was given the list of questions and I worked with the senior editor Lizzie Davey, to reword some of the questions or come up with new ones to cover certain topics. For example we needed a spread to cover the structure of the inside of the earth so I came up with the question

‘How deep can a hole get?’

You can read more about the process of writing a children’s encyclopedia on my blog here. Really hope you enjoy the book!

Do you know about science is published by DK and available in all good book stores. 

 

Multi-Sensory Stories

Last week we celebrated World Book Day… correction, we would have celebrated if this hadn’t happened:

Not the cat, snow! Deep snow everywhere closing roads, schools and putting a stop to world book day celebrations across the UK. My events were cancelled but I’ve been thinking back to World Book Day last year, when something magical happened.

I was invited by Oaklands School (for children with additional support needs) to come to watch their performance of a picture book I’d written called Can’t-Dance-Cameron, illustrated by Katie Pamment:

They had turned the book into a multi-sensory story. That means they created a sensory experience for the children to engage in using the story as the journey through the experience. They recorded sounds and children who were unable to speak pressed buttons to make the sound at the correct moment in a story, for example “PING”:

They made props like this amazing tree, giant hazelnut and bird hat:

*By the way, the teachers dressed up in pajamas or so that’s why I’m in my dressing gown and slippers!

The children and support workers made costumes and the children acted out sections of the book while one of the teachers read the story using a microphone:

They invited parents and other schools to come and watch. They invited me to say a few words about a new book Ollie and the Otter, illustrated by Kirsteen Harris-Jones, and I used a squeezey osprey to join in with the muti-sensory theme:

Their performance was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. I was so impressed by the effort that had gone in to practicing the story and making it so extrodinary.

The whole event finished with a capercaillie ceilidh – the children danced around in wheelchairs while I was trying not to cry.

One of the staff members told me the boy who played Cameron kicked independently for the first time at the kick part of the story – this was really exciting because in the practice the carer had lifted his leg to make him kick! That’s just one of many moments that morning that made me smile:

Thanks to everyone at Oaklands for making World Book Day a day I’ll never forget!

 

Christmas Contract: Little Door Books

I have some super exciting news! I’ve signed a contract with Little Door Books for a picture book and download album!

This is me with Alan Windram from Little Door Books at the Scotland children’s authors and illustrators Christmas meal – nice hats! You might spot author Lari Don photo bombing in the background.

The Download Album

To be honest, I’m more excited about the album than the book!!! I’ve been trying to work out why that is? Maybe it’s because I’ve written the book already and I’ve not started on the album yet. Or because I’ve written a few books before but an album is an entirely new and exciting challenge for me? Or because music is amazing? Or because an album is a collaborative process and I’m looking forward to working with someone else who has expertise in this area? Or because my whole life I’ve been writing comedy animal type songs anyway!? Or because I don’t look like a person who would make an album but it doesn’t matter because it’s for young kids and they don’t really care what you look like. It’s just very exciting anyway. I’m looking forward to singing harmonies. And recording in a studio.

The Music Industry

Alan formally worked in the music industry so every book Little Door Books brings out includes a download album of tracks for children and an audio book. Authors can play or perform the songs at book events. Children can download the songs later. Sometimes authors write lyrics and he writes music, other times he writes it all or sometimes they work together. We’re going to work together!

There’s a woodpecker in the book so perhaps I’ll write a woodpecker rap!!! Something fun for the children to sing and dance to anyway.

Dancing at Events

Speaking of dancing – here’s me and Alan earlier in the year when I was chairing his One Button Benny author event at Edinburgh International Book Festival! He’s an author too. We did lots of robot dancing with the families there:

My Book with Little Door Books

The book I’m writing for Little Door Books is a secret just now but I can say it was first pitched to Alan in the author’s yurt at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2016, we had a really good chat back then about books and music. I start all my events with a bird themed dance track that I commissioned a songwriter, Sam Gallagher to produce. I also use it to teach children real life bird dance moves. So we had lots in common in terms of valuing music and dancing in events for children. I was impressed with the books they were producing as Indie Publishers too so we decided to work together.

Little Door Books have a full schedule so we penciled a book in back then for 2018. I pitched a few ideas and we had some meetings and narrowed it down to one. We first met at a book festival a year before that in 2015. So it’s a long process – making books!

Alan and Susan at Little Door Books have chosen a wonderful illustrator from Italy for the book – I’m so excited about the first few pictures I’ve been sent. I’m making the last edits to text over the next few weeks with feedback from Little Door Books and my Agent Lindsey Fraser. So next year will be finalising the text, illustrations from Italy and writing and recording the songs! Bring it on!

PS The book will come out in 2019. Did I mention, we’re making an album?

Please note the album is not an actual CD. It’s a download album of children’s songs and an audio book.