Writing Prompt – To be continued …

My Favourite Football Books and other World Cup resources

Hi folks!

I'm sure you've already heard, but I believe there's a wee sport thing taking place this summer over in Russia. While football and reading may not be an obvious pairing, I've always held a place in my heart for both. So when my librarian friend George Kirk asked if I'd record a video recommending a few of my favourite football books I jumped at the chance. We're hoping that some of the football fans at George's school will be inspired to pick up a book to fill the gaps between matches! Anyway, I thought it was such a good idea, I decided to post the video in case anybody else found it useful. Watch it below or on my YouTube channel here.

On a similar theme, I finally found some time to make a Charlie Merrick's Misfits poster (see above) to add to my library display set. A3 and A4 sized posters in jpeg format can be downloaded here.

The Charlie Merrick 2018 WORLD CUP WALLCHART (above) is now also ready for download.

Finally . . . and I promise to wrap this up before we get dragged into extra-time and penalties . . . I've collected a few more links to various reading, writing and drawing resources that might be of interest in the current football crazy climate:

An 8 day scheme of work based on the Charlie Merrick football book is available on the TES website. (Please note - I had no involvement in the production of this resource, but I've been told by teachers that it's good. There's a small fee to download.)

The National Literacy Trust World Cup Kit Bag

The OUP Charlie Merrick Activity Pack, including design your own squad cards, comics and match sheet templates.

Finally my step-by-step guide to drawing a football action scene from the Guardian Children's Books website.

These and a few more links are also available via my website.

Thanks as always for your support. Have a great summer and enjoy the football!

Cheers for now,
Dave

St Saviour's School Dream Football Kit Designs

The Charlie Merrick's Misfits tour kicked off with two fixtures in East London yesterday. Berger Primary in E9 hosted the morning event for years  3 to 6, who came up with some fantastic questions that got us talking about writing, our favourite books, and football! 

A quick trip on the Docklands Light Railway and we arrived in E14 for the afternoon session at St. Saviour's. After the talk, year six downloaded the Charlie Merrick Activity Pack and designed some great dream football kits. They kindly allowed me to share them here.

BY ANNA, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY BOBBY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY COUTHEY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY HARRY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY JAHNI, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY JULIAN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY KENZIE, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY NATHAN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY NIMAT, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY ROAONIN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY SACHA, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY SHANAZ, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY WAFEE, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY ZAC, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

Thanks to all the staff and students at Berger Primary and St. Saviour's for a very enjoyable and entertaining start to the tour. Also, huge thanks to Joanna at Victoria Park Books for supplying copies of Charlie Merrick, and to Rose for her book selling, AV skills, and company on the road!

If you would like to design your own dream kit, make a comic or some stat cards for your football team, you can download the pack for FREE here.

Charlie Merrick's World Cup wallchart—FREE download!

Love it or loathe it, the football World Cup is here! Why not join in the fun and download the FREE Charlie Merrick World Cup wallchart? 

If you're wondering who Charlie Merrick is, and why you would want his wallchart—all is revealed over on my website. 

Now, what time's kick-off …

Charlie Merrick's Misfits in Fouls, Friends & Football

A nice surprise this morning when a final printed copy of my new book landed on the mat.

A tale of friendship amidst the highs and lows of the beautiful game.

It's always a special moment when you hold the finished book in your hands. I'm not ashamed to admit there may have been some celebratory dancing!

Charlie Merrick's Misfits in Fouls, Friends & Football will be stampeding into book shops and libraries on May 1st. You'd be most welcome to read it.

Lots of laughs, action and even a bit of romance in this one! Pictures too!!

Thanks to everyone at Oxford University Press for their hard work and enthusiasm in bringing this story to life, with special mention for Clare, Claire and Molly.

4 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #12: You make your own luck! Customs to welcome in the New Year.

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 4 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on Thursday. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course.

The theme of luck runs throughout 15 Days Without a Head. DJ Baz, is constantly asking Laurence, “Do you feel lucky?” This was deliberately ironic, given that for most of the book Laurence is having a hard time and could be forgiven for thinking he is the unluckiest person in the world. It is only when Laurence feels that fate is so stacked against him, that he might as well give up, that he remembers his Nanna's belief that luck can be influenced:

“You make your own luck – that’s what Nanna used to say. She believed that if you expected the worst, that’s what you’d get. But if you counted on good things happening, then they usually would. The Power of Positive Thought, she called it.”

(from 15 Days Without a Head)

It is strange when you consider that luck, by definition, is random, and yet every day people modify their behaviour in attempts to influence it: not walking under ladders; wearing lucky underpants to watch football (or is that just me?); not opening an umbrella inside the house. There is no scientific reason why these things should change what happens to us, and yet if we break a mirror, many of us might admit to a momentary feeling of uneasiness about the seven years bad luck the superstition warns of.


Given these tendencies, it’s not surprising that there are many New Year customs around the world, designed to bring good luck in the following twelve months. The first twenty four hours are believed to be crucial and will have a huge impact on the fortunes that follow. 


Many customs in this country concern themselves with the idea of luck flowing into or out of the house. First-footing is probably the most well known. The details vary from region to region and have evolved over time, but all varieties seem to involve the person doing the first-footing (ie. the first person to enter a dwelling in the New Year) having a lucky characteristic – dark hair, for example – and carrying certain objects – coal, is a common one.

First-footing from Punch, 1897

There were also widely held beliefs in the nineteenth century, that it was inviting bad luck to let anything leave the house on New Year’s Day, especially fire.

“At any other time they would be quite happy to let a neighbour or stranger take a live coal or taper to light their lantern or house fire, but not at New Year.”  – The English Year

Another superstition that may provide a legitimate excuse to steer clear of the laundry basket today, is that it was thought to be extremely dangerous to wash clothes on New Year’s Day, as you would be “washing out” one of the occupants of the house (ie. they would die in the following year!) On the other hand, for those fond of washing (themselves) it may be worth noting the Herefordshire custom regarding the “Cream of the Well”. Servants would sit up to see the New Year in and then rush to draw the first water from the well, as it was “thought to be beautifying and lucky. The maid who succeeded in getting it would take it to the bedroom of her mistress, who would give a present for it.” * Unfortunately, I'm not sure the first water from the tap has quite the same properties.


As well as doing everything they could to ‘make their own luck’ for the following year, many people would go so far as to try and obtain a peek into their future. 

“before retiring to rest the old women opened their Bibles at haphazard to find out their luck for the coming year. The text on which the forefinger of the right hand rested was supposed to foretell the future.” – Folk-Lore Journal, 1886

Of course, this method left much room for interpretation and was the subject of some discussion during the following day. The bible was the book of choice, but other texts, especially poetry, were seen to be just as effective, especially if you were worried about using the Bible for such a purpose. I did consider trying this using 15 Days Without a Head, but I’ll admit to being a little bit superstitious at the best of times and chickened out. You’re welcome to have a go though, I’d be interested to hear what the pages predict!


Happy New Year!


* Much of the information above was taken from The English Year by Steve Roud, a fascinating book for anyone interested in folklore.


Tomorrow: My 15 Days Without a Head playlist.

The classic quest story?

This weekend finds an unexpected sense of excitement crackling through our house. On Sunday afternoon, I'll be walking my son down Wembley way to his first cup final. We'll be setting off early to soak up the atmosphere, making the most of the occasion and the hours of pre-match optimism while we can still dream, before the game kicks-off, and reality kicks-in.

A first cup final beckons

I did wonder if I should even mention the match here – this is, after all, a blog about stories. But then it occurred to me that football and fiction might have more in common than we think. I mean, what is a cup final if not the classic quest story? All the ingredients are there: a closely knit band of brothers (a fellowship if you will) in search of a mythical trophy (believe me, if you're a Blues fan, such trophies are indeed the stuff of legend). These protagonists are watched over by an older, slightly enigmatic figure, guiding them with words of wisdom from the sidelines. We have conflict, an adversary – larger, more powerful than our plucky heroes. There is a beginning, a middle and an end; a repeating series of try/fail cycles where our players attempt to use what skills they have to achieve their aims; we have characters, heroes and villains: the angry one; a young hopeful; the mercurial maverick; the legendary almost magical one; the unlikely hero waiting on the bench. As for the setting – what could be more dramatic and evocative than a full football stadium? That palpable sense of anticipation, hope and fear, carried across the floodlit field by a hundred thousand voices raised in song. If you want a story of adventure, a struggle against the odds, containing heroism, deceit, glory and failure … a cup final might not be a bad place to start.