Knights, Wizards, Dragons and Frogs…

C.J. Busby writes fantasy with packed with humour, pace and inventiveness. Her first book, Frogspell, is a magical adventure set in Arthurian times which was a Richard and Judy Children’s Book Club choice for 2012. The four-book Spell series brings together would-be wizard Max, his sister Olivia and an assortment of knights, wizards, evil enchantresses and a very dim dragon called Adolphus. Her new series is a multiple worlds trilogy set partly in modern times, with a powerful amber jewel, two sinister black-suited men who want to find it, and four children from different worlds who have to join forces to stop them. The first book, Deep Amber, came out in March2014; the second, Dragon Amber, has just been published.

Students at Priory School and Christ the King College will join Cecilia to find out how a childhood living on boats inspired her stories, and have a go at doing a bit of magical writing of their own, whether it’s learning the trick of writing powerful magical spells, or imagining themselves entering a portal to another world. What will they see? Who might they meet?

From ink, to Wolfblood! Writing for the big screen

Writers of CBBC’s Wolfblood, Hannah George and James Whitehouse will be in town

Screenwriting is a career many avid wordsmiths are clambering to get into, but let’s face it, how many of us who fancy the idea would even know where to start? The fact is, we probably don’t stumble across too many screenwriters in our day to day lives to get any pointers, and searching Google for hours trying to find some tips doesn’t come close to face-to-face human interaction.

Well isn’t it fortunate then that we have two very successful screenwriters coming to Cowes Enterprise College to share some inside industry knowledge with island students. James Whitehouse and Hannah George have been working together for fours years. They have written for series 1 & 2 of CBBC’s Wolfblood, series 5 of The Slammer, and series 3 of Nickelodeon’s House of Anubis. They are currently in development with several production companies with their original work and IWLF Schools might be the first to know that Hannah is actually about to film a pilot at Node Hill school that she has written!

This will be an incredible opportunity for students to pick the brains of the experts and make some contacts- who knows, Hannah might even be looking for some actors and actresses for the pilot. Get your questions ready!

The Magic of Dianne Hofmeyr

An illustration from her wonderful children’s book- The Magic Bojabi Tree

Dianne Hofmeyr is a children and young teen author. Her ‘Zeraffa Giraffa’ story won Children’s book of the Week (2014) in the Sunday Times with not just a beautifully imaginative story, but equally brilliant illustrations to match. It’s not just young children who are captivated by her words, Dianne has also written a series of fast paced action and adventure novels with her Oliver Strange series for an older audience. She will be sharing some valuable insights into her writing when she visits IWLF and will also conduct a workshop for students. Dianne’s own personal adventurous history of travelling the world is infused into her work to create special reads.

She will be visiting Gurnard Primary School and Lanesend Primary School on Friday of the festival, leading workshops based on the Indiana Jones style, high adventure series: Oliver Strange and the Journey to the Swamps, (set in Botswana) Oliver Strange and the Ghosts of Madagascar (set in Madagascar) and Oliver Strange and the Forests of Secrets (set in Colombia), the workshop will explore:

How do you find a story? What makes your characters special? How do you use language to create tension? How do you develop your story using images and music?

Dianne will de attending the Thursday Ryde School event where Reception and Year 1 will be presented with The Magic Bojabi Tree – an interactive storytelling experience

Meet monkey, zebra, elephant, lion and clever tortoise and find out what happens when they all want the fruit from a very special tree. A story told with masks, music and plenty of fun and maybe even a chance to dance to some African marimba music. The Magic Bojabi Tree was nominated for the 2014 Kate Greenaway Award and is translated into 7 languages. It will be produced by the Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra in November with specially composed music.

 Year 2 and 3 will be hearing all about Zeraffa Giraffa

What happens when a giraffe is sent all the way from Africa to Paris? How will she get there? Based on a true story.  A chance to map the giraffe’s journey through the desert, down the Nile river, across the Mediterranean & finally her walk to Paris, with music to set the atmosphere. Make your own giraffe mask afterwards.  Zeraffa Giraffa, Illustrated by award winning Jane Ray, is in The Sunday Times Top 100 children’s classic in the past 10 years

Get to know more about Dianne by visiting her website.