A book recommendation - A boy and a Bear in a Boat

What do you get when you put a boy and a bear in a boat?  A wonderful story - that's what!  It begins with the two companions making their way across a vast blue sea.  How will they cope when all around them is ocean and sky.  Nothing else to be seen anywhere!  Or is there?  Discover the answers for yourself as you follow our duo in this wonderfully written story by Dave Shelton.

I am looking forward to getting started with another summer of storytelling workshops for the Summer Reading Challenge.  What excites me about it most this year is the theme - 'Story Lab' - another chance to invent some wonderful stories.  I and/or 'Professor Floyd' hope to see some of you soon as we begin our tour of the libraries next week - first stop, Mill Hill Library in Barnet (click here for more info)!

Nev :)

Escape from Home (Chapter 5)

Bruno was still following Thomas and the policeman.  Thomas turned to Bruno and scratched his head.

‘Hey Bruno, what happened to your collar?’  Bruno looked puzzled as did the police officer when he saw that Bruno was still wearing his collar and it looked fine.

‘We’d better go find it.  Back in a minute!’  Thomas shouted as he quickly turned and ran back into the park through the narrow gate. 

‘Hold it there!’ the policeman shouted, but Thomas was away with Bruno following closely behind him.

‘Quick Bruno, run!  He’s an imposter!!’

As Thomas ran he turned around to see the policeman now running through the gate chasing after him. 

‘Ahhh!’

...to be continued!

Escape from Home (Chapter 4)

The car looked old and dirty.  ‘I’m really not sure about this’ Thomas was thinking.  ‘I need to find out if he really is a policeman.  Hmmm, I need to catch him out in someway.’ 

‘Excuse me Mr. Officer’

‘Yes?’ the policeman said as he wiped his runny nose with his sleeve.

‘What unit are you a part of?’

‘What unit?’

‘Yes, what police station do you come from?’

‘Oh, I see!  Yes, of course – unit!  I come from the one down the road of course!’

‘The one down the road?’

‘Yes, the one down the road!’

‘Well, what is it called?’  Thomas asked.

'What’s it called?  Er… er… you mean you don’t know the name of your local police department son?’

‘No, I’m afraid I don’t’

‘Ah, well let me fill you in.  It’s called ‘Lower Park’ police department.’

Now Thomas knew something was up.  It wasn’t called ‘Lower Park’ police department.  Yes, there was a police station near Lower Park, but Thomas knew it was called ‘North Side Police Department’ as he had been there only two weeks before on his school trip.  Thomas now knew that this man was not a real police officer at all – he was an imposter.  Now he had to think of a plan to get away.

[Chapter 5]

Escape from Home (Chapter 3)

Thomas stopped and looked round at the face of this policeman.  He had chubby cheeks, which were rosy and red.  He looked a bit flustered.  ‘I really need to get going!’  Thomas protested. 

‘But where are you going lad?’

‘To find my mum, she’s just down here somewhere…’

‘Oh, I see.  So you want to find your mum.  You want to go back home do you?’

‘Er, yes…’ said Thomas, knowing that wasn’t the truth because he had actually run away from home.

The policeman sneezed ‘Achoo!!’

‘Are you okay sir?’  Thomas asked.

‘Yes I’m fine.  Now, you don’t want to go back home do you.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Thomas.

‘You’ve run away haven’t you.’

‘Er… er…’  How did he know that? Thomas thought to himself.

‘Yes, yes I have.’

‘Well we can’t have you running away now – we need to get you back home.  Come along with me now and I’ll drive you back.’

Thomas was told never to go somewhere with a stranger, but this was different of course, it was a policeman.  But there was something odd about him.  His policeman badge had a crack in it.  And under the crack the badge looked thin.  Not thick and heavy like the police badges Thomas had seen on his school trip to the police station.  All the officers there had solid metal badges on their jumpers.  And there was a hole in the policeman’s sleeve.  ‘I thought policemen had to look their absolute smartest at all times.’  He then looked down at the policeman’s shoes.  ‘Dirty shoes?  They look like they haven’t been cleaned for weeks!  But I thought they had to polish them every day?’

Something was not adding up here.

‘Well come on then lad, let’s get to it.’

‘Erm… okay then’ Thomas said reluctantly.  Thomas then followed the policeman to his car.

[Chapter 4]

Escape from Home (Chapter 2)

Before he knew it, he was all the way at the end of his road, far away from his home.  He walked up the road and came to a bush.  He stopped at the bush because something caught his attention.  A small brown sniffing thing moving around.  ‘Hello?’ said Thomas.  The sniffing thing suddenly disappeared into the leaves.  Thomas stuck his hand in and ‘GRUFFF!’  The loud noise threw Thomas back down to the floor in surprise! 

‘Ouch!’ said Thomas as he landed on the hard pavement.  The head of a curious dog peeped out of the bush.  ‘Oh, it’s just a dog.  You gave me quite a scare you know!  You should be careful who you bark at!’  The dog tilted it’s head to one side, trying to make sense of what this boy was saying. 

‘Well, the truth is… I’ve run away from home.  Yep, no body wants me there anymore, so I’ve left them.’  The dog came out of the bush and started sniffing Thomas’s feet.  ‘Are you listening to what I’m saying?’  Thomas then noticed the sun shining on the dog’s silver collar tag.  ‘Bruno’ it said.  ‘Your name is Bruno.  Hello Bruno.’  Bruno seemed to show a smile.  ‘Have you run away from home too?  Maybe we could be friends.  It can be quite scary out here on your own.’

Just then, a police car raced past Thomas and Bruno at high speed with it’s sirens on full blast.  ‘WA-OOO WA-OOO WA-OOO!’

‘Wow, must be some robbers on the loose!  Come on Bruno, let’s go and see if we can help!’  Thomas ran up the road as Bruno followed behind.  ‘Can you see anything yet?’  Thomas puffed to Bruno.  Bruno didn’t reply but carried on as they ran round the corner.  And there, up a narrow alley Thomas spotted the blue flashing lights reflecting off the brick wall.  ‘They must be up there Bruno, come on!’

As Thomas and Bruno turned to corner to go up the alley Thomas noticed a policeman and a tall man talking.  The policeman was a short stubby gentleman who had to look up when speaking to the tall man who had a short beard and dark glasses.  The tall man was holding a brown bottle and only had one sleeve on his black jacket.

‘What do you think they are talking about Bruno?’  Thomas took another step forward to get a better view, but as he did he stepped on a twig, which broke making a loud enough noise for the policeman and the tall man to look over.

‘Oi!’ shouted the man in the sleeveless jacket, ‘Come here!’  Thomas turned and ran at top speed in the opposite direction.  He was told never to talk to strangers and even though there was a policeman, something did not seem right about this at all.

Thomas looked behind him to see Bruno following along with the bearded man.  ‘Ahh!’ Thomas thought to himself ‘He’s gonna catch me!’  But then, Thomas seemed to be away from them.  ‘We’ve lost them Bruno.  But where are we now?’  Thomas and Bruno found themselves in the middle of the park, the one that his mother told him never to go to alone.

‘Bruno, this isn’t good.  I’m not supposed to come here on my own.  Well, actually, I’m not on my own am I?  I’m here with you!’  Thomas chuckled to himself at his own cleverness then started walking towards the swings.  He was just about to sit down when a hand landed on his shoulder and a voice followed ‘Hello boy!’

Ah!  It was the policeman, the short stubby one whom Thomas was rather suspicious of.  ‘What are you doing out here on your own?’  Thomas froze momentarily, then quickly thought of something to say.  ‘Well, I’m not here on my own actually, I’m here with my dog.’

‘That mutt is yours is it?’

‘Yes, his name is Bruno.  And my mum is on her way, I just ran off ahead of her.’

‘You did, did you?’

Thomas was not sure whether he was managing to fool the policeman or not. 

‘Well, I’d better go find my mum now.’  Thomas walked past the policeman to get away when the policeman grabbed his arm.  ‘Not so quick lad.’

[Chapter 3]

Escape from Home (Chapter 1)

Thomas woke up very early in the morning.  He got out of his bed and dragged his red and green stripy duvet down the stairs and into the lounge.  No one else was up yet, and he should not have been up either, but he wanted to watch cartoons on the television.  His favourite one started at 5am.

Thomas started watching, making sure no lights were on and the door was shut.  But then, all of a sudden, BANG!!  The television exploded!  Mum and Dad jumped out of bed and came running down the stairs.  They discovered the television smoking like a burning tower block and their son, Thomas, hidden under his duvet.  Dad pulled the duvet off Thomas and shouted, ‘Thomas!  What have you done?’  Thomas was scared, he looked at his Dad, then his Mum, and he burst into tears. 

‘You silly boy!’ shouted his father. 

‘Come on dear, I’m sure it was an accident’ said mother.  ‘Thomas, what were you doing down here?’

‘I… I…’ but Thomas could not get his words out as he was still choked up. 

‘That’s it, no more television for this family and no more toys for you for the rest of this week,’ said his father.

‘But…’

‘No ‘buts’ Thomas, now go to your room!’

Thomas ran upstairs, so upset.  It was not his fault.  He decided he did not want to stay in this house anymore.  ‘Nobody really wants me here – I’m going to run away’ he decided.   So Thomas gathered some belongings in his rucksack, he set it on his back, and then he crept out of his window and ran down the road.  

[Chapter 2]

A note from Nev...

'Professor Floyd'

I'm already looking forward to the Summer Reading Challenge this year.  The theme is fantastic - 'Story Lab: A celebration of story and the imagination' - I couldn't have picked a better one myself!  As ever, I will be making my way around the libraries telling and discovering brand new stories and many wonderful imaginations - but I may look a bit different this year.

Make sure you do not miss out on the many opportunities to take part in some live and interactive activities in a library near you this Summer!

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 6)

Returning to the source

On the little amount of light Charlie had left, he rushed back towards the light.  Before long he had returned, back to that glorious place.  He was out of breath and in need of a good rest, and this was the very place for just that.

As he was resting and enjoying being back, he told some of the other people there about where he had been and what he had seen.  He managed to speak to the hearts of many of those people, who then realised how important it was to get back in the tunnel, to the many lost people.

Charlie then got back on his feet, and took a fresh candle.  The many he had talked to did the same.  Then, together, they lit their candles… together they walked towards the tunnel… together they would take the light to the people.

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 5)

Standing out

As Charlie ventured into the darkness he discovered many things.  The further down the line he got, the worse the people and the tunnel seemed to become.

His candle lit up rats; what seemed to be huge animal traps, and then past those… skeletons and fleshy remains.  The smell also increased, it was becoming unbearable for Charlie, but his flame helped burn away the worst of the stench around him.

The state of the people in the line was deteriorating.  The more Charlie went on, the more miserable, desperate, confused, angry and scared the people became.  The noise, which the woman had thought was the sound of cheering, turned into the sound of screaming and shouting in pain.  Some of the people would shout at Charlie and mock him because of his light – he stood out from them.  But Charlie’s biggest concern was not for his own safety and well being, as he knew where to go.  He was far more distressed by the fact that so many of these people were heading towards destruction and missing the true glory of the light. 

As things began to get really hectic Charlie looked down at his candle.

He was shocked to find the candle had dropped dangerously low.  If he did not turn back there and then, his candlelight would vanish and he would be stuck in that place for a long time!

[Chapter 6]

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 4)

Stepping back into the darkness

There he found himself again, back in that tunnel he once knew.  Charlie was nervous, yet he felt confident with his understanding of the light, and the light he was holding with him. 

As he got further into the tunnel he began to see people.  He approached the first person he came to; it was a young woman.  As she turned to him, he immediately said to her ‘You’re going the wrong way!’

The woman was quite taken aback by this comment, but then responded, ‘I don’t think I am!’

‘You are, trust me! I’ve seen the light, look behind you!’

‘No thank you, I think I’ll carry on my own way.’

‘What makes you believe this is the right way?’

‘Look for yourself.’

Charlie moved his candle and saw that ahead of this woman was a long line of people, each person following the next.

‘Everyone else is going that way,’ she said.

‘Well where does the line lead?’

‘I don’t know exactly, but there are so many following the line, there must be something great at the end.  If you listen carefully you can sometimes hear some cheering... so it must be good!’

Charlie then took his candle and walked further down this long line of people.

[Chapter 5]

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 3)

Lighting the way

Just as he was turning back to the tunnel, Charlie noticed something great.  He saw a huge, fiercely burning flame.  It seemed central to the place he was in, and it captivated his gaze.  He saw people approaching the flame with candles.  They were lighting their candles from the flame.  Charlie then realised that if he were to go back into the tunnel, he would need one of these candles to light the way, especially if he were heading into the darkest parts of the tunnel.  So Charlie took a candle and lit it from the flame.  He was now ready to step back into the unknown.

[Chapter 4]

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 2)

A desire to lead others

After making the decision, it seemed like a moment before Charlie was just a few metres away from the end of the tunnel.  As he got nearer, he saw more, and his excitement increased.  He began to run.  The hard surface of the tunnel path vanished – Charlie was out!

He dropped to his knees in amazement!  This was the most beautiful place he had ever seen!  His ecstatic joy caused him to laugh out loud!  The green pastures, the perfect blue sky, the coloured rocks and varying landscapes all around were just a taste of some of the things Charlie saw and experienced.  He found many other people there, each full of joy and buzzing with the excitement of a 5-year-old child on Christmas Eve!

‘This is great!’ thought Charlie.  ‘This is where I belong… I’m home!’  But just as he said that, he was hit by a strong feeling of discomfort.  ‘What about all those people still in that tunnel?  They’ve got to know about this place!’ 

As much as Charlie wanted to stay in this beautiful place and never leave, he also felt a great desire to go back into the tunnel he was once in and tell others of the good news.

[Chapter 3]

Tunnel Vision (Chapter 1)

The Discovery

Charlie emerged from a manhole.  He found his footing on a solid surface then looked up to see that he was in a dark place.  The echo of his footsteps bounced within the surrounding area.  ‘What is this place?’ Charlie thought to himself. 

As he crept forward he stretched out his arm in hope that he would find something.  His mind began to materialise thoughts and questions. 

Contact!  His hand pressed against something.  It was solid – a wall!  He brought his other arm forward and began to explore it with both of his hands.  Feeling across, it seemed as though this wall was long and could possibly lead on for quite a way.  Then, as he moved his hands up the surface, Charlie could feel the wall beginning to curve, moving up and over him.  It soon became apparent to Charlie that he was in, what seemed to be, a huge tunnel.

SLAM… clink!  Charlie was shocked to hear the manhole close.  He could not see where it had gone.  Looking one way he could see a tiny dot of light.  When he turned the other way he saw nothing but blackness.  He was now faced with a decision – which way?

Is it not obvious that he heads towards the light?  A way out, surely!

His thoughts, however, were not so straightforward,

‘I guess it would make sense to head towards the light.  But I’m sure I can hear noises… voices coming from the other way.  I don’t know what might be the other way?  What if there is a door a bit further down there?  A way out!  Maybe I should explore it quickly.’

Just as he was going to make his decision, Charlie heard some laughter.

It came from the light end of the tunnel.

‘What was that about, why are they so happy?’

In an instant, Charlie was drawn with curiosity and wonder towards the light, just before he had taken the chance to explore the darkness.  Charlie had made his decision – he would walk towards the light.

[Chapter 2]