Wednesday 2 March 2016

An utterly fabulous pair of writing activity books arrive tomorrow - "My Book of Stories: Write your Own Adventures" and "My Book of Stories: Write your Own Shakespearean Tales" By Deborah Patterson (British Library Press)


Most kids who read books will soon want to make up their own stories, and we've seen some truly brilliant children's activity books that show how to plot out a tale, how to construct your characters and how to begin writing your epic adventures.

Two new books from the British Library Press will be released on 3rd March 2016 under their new children's range, both written by Deborah Patterson and filled to the brim with classic illustrations to help generate the right atmosphere for stirring up your imagination.

"My Book of Stories: Write your Own Adventures" gets things off to a flying start by delving into a rich history of children's stories and taking inspiration from such luminous greats as "Alice in Wonderland", "The Wizard of Oz" and the utterly glorious "Swallows and Amazons".

The books are thoroughly researched and designed to be scribbled over (if you're one of those brave souls who can BEAR to write in books). There are plenty of spaces to include your own notes and plots, your own character descriptions and your own detailed and atmospheric settings for your stories.

We love how there's a section entirely devoted to drawing up a 'book world map' of your story's primary locations and some excellent ideas to plot the flow of your first zillion selling novel. Or at least perhaps an awesome story to share with your family and friends.

The second book seems perfectly timed to help celebrate  (if that's the right word!) the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. In "My Book of Stories: Write your Own Shakespearean Tales" once again there are tons of inspirational ideas to draw on the methods and means "The Bard" used to produce some of his most important stories and plays.

It's a dizzying wealth of information packed between the covers of this handy pocket-sized reference that's perfectly sized for toting around with you, so you can delve into it for ideas at any time.

Both books are really impressive, probably the only criticism to note is that you might find it almost too much to bear to write in them (or to crack their spines so they lay flat for your notes and scribbles while you're tapping away at the keyboard or writing up your manuscript!)

"My Book of Stories: Write your Own Adventures" and "My Book of Stories: Write Your Own Shakespearean Tales" are out on the 3rd March 2016, available in paperback from British Library Press.