Helen: Tony Mitton event

The Edinburgh International Book Festival enters the final weekend at Charlotte Square but the children’s team at Scottish Book Trust are still visiting schools with some of the festival’s authors through the Outreach Programme. Helen drops by the blog to talk about being out with the children's team and helping with Outreach events.

When the children’s team asked me to write my very first blog for them about the Fife Tony Mitton events at Foulford and Pitcorthie Primary Schools on 24^th August, I was a little over-excited to say the least. I demonstrated my enthusiasm by mentioning the blog to them 62 times before, during and after each of the events, although I ceased and desisted from this when they started muttering darkly to each other about reducing it to 22 words and large amounts of pictures.

The day started well, with Tony and Kate (Children’s Programme Assistant) on fine comedic form, so much so that they are now considering attending Edinburgh Festival 2011 as a stand up duo, with a special focus on food punning. Chris (Acting Children’s Events Manager) and myself struggled to match them in terms of both wit and comedy timing , but fortunately SBT staff are not employed for their entertainment value - we leave that to the authors and illustrators who we take on tour. And Tony Mitton did not disappoint.

Although faced with vast numbers of children ranging in age from primary 1 right up to primary 6 (and some parents too) Tony drew everyone into his world of rhythm and rhyme by beginning with a flow of poems about everyday objects, which made his subject matter instantly accessible. The children were encouraged to get involved by guessing the missing words through a combination of mimes and rhymes, accompanied by lots of giggles and enthusiastic hand gestures.

A highlight of the event was undoubtedly the raps Tony recited, some written during his time as a teacher 20 years ago. A fresh take on Little Red Riding Hood had the entire room spellbound, with even the wriggly primary ones captivated by this modern twist on a traditional classic.

When it came to question time, one world-weary little boy, who had been following the previous dialogues about Tony’s writing career and habits with earnest interest, enunciated his own question carefully -  “do you ever get sore and tired?”  Although it is likely that the little boy was referring to his own struggles in learning to manipulate a pencil into forming marks on page after page of paper, it was a pertinent question in view of the recent problems Tony has suffered with his back. His answer was typically generous, telling the little boy to keep trying and reassuring him that it gets easier as you get older.

This idea of encouragement and support pervaded both events, especially in the way that Tony took care to portray poetry as an art form that is accessible to everyone, from the ease with which he encouraged the children to finish the rhymes, to the seamless inclusion of cultural references that they could relate to, the celebrity rap being a good example.

We may all occasionally get sore and tired, but Tony’s event was a great reminder that it is worth summoning the energy to look at the world in a different way, and try our hand at something new.

To find out more information about Tony, his books and to check out his blog visit his brilliant website.

Other news:

This week, Floris Books revealed that Aberdeenshire author Caroline Clough is the winner of their annual Scottish children's fiction prize, the Kelpies Prize with her first novel Red Fever. The other shortlisted authors were Elizabeth Spalton, author of Operation Bonobo, and Ritske Rensma, author of The Angel Ashariel. Congratulations to Caroline from Scottish Book Trust!

Keep up-to-date with us on Twitter and Facebook to get all the latest news from Scottish Book Trust.