Welcome to a new Chatterbooks reading group activity pack from Hot Key Books and The Reading Agency with ideas for activities, discussion, and further reading - inspired by an exciting and thought-provoking new book: TALL TALES FROM PITCH END by Nigel McDowell

Chatterbooks [www.readinggroups.org/chatterbooks] is a reading group programme for children aged 4 to 14 years. It is coordinated by The Reading Agency and its patron is author Dame Jacqueline Wilson. Chatterbooks groups run in libraries and schools, supporting and inspiring children’s literacy by encouraging them to have a really good time reading and talking about books.

The Reading Agency is an independent charity working to inspire more people to read more through programmes for adults, young people and Children – including the Summer Reading Challenge, and Chatterbooks. See www.readingagency.org.uk

Introduce the book to your group and give them time to read it – then you can follow up with a session using activities from this pack.

A suggested session plan for your reading group (times approx)Welcome – & refreshments if possible! (5 mins)Getting started - simple warm up activities (10 mins) - eg• Atthebeginningofthebook,Brunoistrappedwithinaburningbuildingandretellshisthoughtstothereader. What thoughts and emotions would be running through your mind in the same situation?• ‘Justthinkitandthat’llbeenough.No-onecanseeyeifyedon’twantthemto.’p133Doyoubelieveinthepower of the mind and positive thinking?Activitiesanddiscussionpointstogetyourgrouptalkingaboutthebook–choosefromthispack(35mins)Goodbye, and dates for the next meeting (5 mins)

After you’ve read TALL TALES FROM PITCH END - here are some more books to enjoy – try some of these steampunk, futuristic and fantasy (or not so fantasy?!) stories...

AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER ISBN DamienDibben TheHistoryKeepers:TheStormBegins CorgiChildrens 978-0552564137FrancesHardinge FlyByNight Macmillan 978-0330418263FrancesHardinge TwilightRobbery Macmillan 978-0330441926Matthew J Kirby The Clockwork Three Scholastic 978-1407120409GeorgeOrwell 1984 PenguinClassics 978-0141391700PhilipPullman Clockwork Yearling 978-0440866381Philip Reeve Mortal Engines Marion Lloyd Books 978-1407110912FrancescaSimon TheSleepingArmy ProfileBooks 978-1846682797John Stephens The Emerald Atlas Corgi Childrens 978-0552564021HGWells TheTimeMachine PenguinClassics 978-0141439976

Follow Nigel on twitter @NMcDowellAuthor and findoutmoreatwww.nigelmcdowellauthor.com

About TALL TALES FROM PITCH END

About Nigel McDowell

Ruled by the Elders, policed by an unforgiving battalion of Enforcers and watched by hundreds of clockwork Sentries, Pitch End is a town where

everybodyknowstheirplace.Soon-to-befifteen-year-oldBrunoAtlasstillmourns the death of his Rebel father ten years ago, and treasures the book of stories he secretly uncovered: the Tall Tales from Pitch End. After discovering achillingplotplannedbytheElders,Brunoflees,escapingtothemountainswhereabunchofdisparateyoungRebelsareplanningafinalattackonPitchEnd.Withsecretsandbetrayallyingaroundeverycorner,Brunowillfind

himselffightingnotonlyforhislife,butthelifeofthetown.

Nigel grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of his time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling

through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with his brother and sister, and reading. His favourite book as a child was THE WITCHES by

Roald Dahl.

After graduating with a degree in English (and having no clue what to do with it!), he decided to go off on another adventure, spending almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With him he took a small notebook

containing notes about a boy called “Bruno Atlas”, and a seaside town called “Pitch End”. When he returned to Ireland after his travels, one notebook had multipliedintomany,andeventuallyhisnotesfilledalargecardboardbox...

Nigel now lives in London, and TALL TALES FROM PITCH END is his debut novel.

Nigel McDowell: Author Q&A

What inspires your writing?

Difficultquestiontoanswer-I’mnotsurethereissuchathingas“inspiration”. Writing feels closer to something I must do, rather than something I feel inspired to do. And it’s hard work. Though whenIfinditdifficulttowrite,whatkeepsmegoingistheworkofgreat writers. Seeing what can be achieved with smart storytelling, language that makes me see the world anew, and being swept away by an author’s imagination - that’s what makes me pick up the pen again and persist. Perhaps that’s where “inspiration” comes into things-findingsomethingtoaimfor,wantingtodobetter,andsticking at it!

Howdidyoufirstbecomeanauthorandwhatwasyourearliestcareer aspiration?

Sounds so very corny and precocious, but since childhood I wanted to be a writer; since I knew that books were written and didn’t just appear. I can remember being eight and completing a project in Primary School to investigate which famous people we shared birthdays with. As soon as I discovered that Charles DickenswasalsobornontheseventhofFebruary,thatwasit:‘Myname is Nigel, and when I grow up I want to be an author.’

Where is your favourite place to write?

On (or in) bed. I can’t do desks.

Ask Nigel a question on twitter: @NMcDowellAuthor!

What advice would you give to budding writers?

Read as much and as widely as you possibly can - anything at all, forgetting things like genre or age-range, and whether best-seller or obscure translation, just read. Live and experience as much as you can...andfinally,write.Writeonlywhatyouwant.Whatyoucanwrite and what you need to write. And keep at it!

What was your favourite childhood book?

THE WITCHES by Roald Dahl. I loved my copy to tatters and - very shameful admission coming up - I used write my own stories inside the book, in blue biro, between the lines of print. I lovedopeningthebookandseeingsomethingI’dmadeupflowingalongside Roald Dahl’s words, my stories tucked close to his. (Though I of course do not condone book vandalism of any kind).

Are there any books you wish you had written?

Not really - the books I love most are books I could never, ever have written. Though there are individual ideas I wish I’d come up with: the Alethiometer in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; the Subtle Knife in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; the whole concept of “demons” in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy...okay, perhaps I wish I’d written His Dark Materials.

At the beginning of the book, Bruno is trapped within a burning building and retells his thoughts to the reader. What thoughts and emotions would be

running through your mind in the same situation?

What three things would you save from a burning building and why?

TheMarshallasksBrunoifheknowswhat‘war’isandthentellshimthatthemostimportantpartofitiswinning.Whatdoyouthink‘war’is?Iswinningthe

most important part?

Whydoyouthink‘war’and‘death’arenotreferredtodirectlybytheMarshallsand the Pitch-Enders?

Characters are given endearing nicknames in the book. Can you think of any other unusual nicknames that the people of Pitch-End might use?

Bruno meets many new people whilst exploring Pitch End and The Old Town. Ifyoucouldgoanywhereinthebook,wherewouldyouexplorefirst?Explain

where you would go and who you would hope to see and discover.

Bruno has an Owl-Sentry and the Elders have Cat-Sentries. What animal (including others) do you feel would be a good Sentry creature and why?

If you could have any talent from Tall Tales from Pitch End, which one would you choose? In what way would it help you in your daily life?

TALL TALES FROM PITCH END:

Discussion Questions

Try and remember the scene which got your heart pumping the most. Which one was it and why do you think this was?

The Seasons in Pitch End are named differently to our Seasons. For example, summeriscalledthe‘SwelterSeason’.CanyouthinkwhatthePitchEnderscall

the other seasons? Explain your choice.

What do you think happens when Bruno’s mother goes off to mourn with the other‘WidowsofPitchEnd’?Whydoyouthinkitissoimportantthatthey

hide their faces with a veil?

How do you think Bruno felt when Temperate Thomas accused him of being a Traitor? Try and sum up his emotions in three words.

If you had Bruno’s talent of Invisibility, what would you do in his world? Who would you see, where would you explore?

Can you think of another question that David could have asked Bruno when he wanted to enter The Rebel Chapel? Think of something that only the Rebels

would know.

Pitch End is destroyed at the end of the book. If you were rebuilding it, what would you put in it? What would you name the new town?

Join the discussion online with @HotKeyBooks and findoutmoreatwww.nigelmcdowellauthor.com

Designa‘WANTED:DeadorAlive’posterforDr.JonathanBloomandtheRebels.Thinkaboutareward,whereyoucan‘hand

them in’, and what they look like.

WANTED in Pitch End...

H C V F E R A B L V N G TS S T E A M P U N K C N EC E L V G S F N D R Z Q MY N T H O M A S V O F N PD T D V G K C X B W N E EE R I F M O Q K Z K Q T RA Y K Z N V V F D C T T AT L Q U I C K G G O R O TH U R X A M V O V L A G EY B H K Q R B M M C M R GS W E L T E R S E A S O NE H K C V K H D N C K F RZ S B M A R S H A L L D S

Searching Pitch End

Sentry Clockwork Bruno Dr.

Steampunk Swelter Season Temperate Talent

Marshall Thomas Forgotten Death

Fire

JointhePitchEnder’ssearch-findthewordsinthegridbelow as quickly as possible!

Draw and describe your own clockwork sentry animal. What are it strengths and weaknesses? Why have you chosen this animal?

Clockwork Sentry Animals