Book reviews 2.7

​Dan Smith discusses the importance of stories…

WAS WWII A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTED YOU AS A YOUNG PERSON?

I grew up in the 1970s, when WWII was still very much in people’s minds. My own grandparents had lived and fought through the war, so their house was full of reminders of those experiences. Many of the films I watched and the books and comics I read were set during that time; it was hard not to be interested!

YOU’VE ALWAYS WRITTEN FOR ADULTS BEFORE – HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO MODERATE YOUR LANGUAGE FOR YOUNGER READERS?

When I read a book, I want it to make me feel something. I want a story to provoke an emotional reaction, so I decided to be honest; war is unpleasant and dirty, and I wanted the reader to see that. There’s one particular scene, inside the plane, which I thought about for a long time, but decided to leave as it was because I wanted the reader to be just as afraid and shocked as Peter was. I think young readers are often more sophisticated than we give them credit for, and I didn’t want to patronise or disappoint them by pulling my punches at the last minute.

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF MY FRIEND THE ENEMY MAKING IT ONTO A GCSE REQUIRED READING LIST?

I can’t imagine why an author would be anything other than thrilled to make it onto any kind of reading list! As a child, I was always a fairly avid reader, but the books we were given at school weren’t always to my taste. A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines is one of those books that I didn’t like but have since re-read and enjoyed. I was unable to appreciate just how good Animal Farm is because I didn’t understand the political connotations. The Runaways by Victor Canning was a book we read in class that I loved. For me, though, the pinnacle of all those books we were compelled to read is Lord of The Flies; it’s a brilliant book and a big inspiration to me.

DO YOU THINK THAT CHILDREN WILL STILL BE READING BOOKS IN FIFTY YEARS’ TIME?

I really hope so! People love stories and, as well as being entertaining and provoking emotional reactions, they are an important tool for us to use when trying to understand the world. Books give us the opportunity to experience stories in ways that film and television can’t. Electronic books may well become more widely used, but my own experience is that children like something with an interesting cover and the promise of something exciting within. I hope that this continues and that people’s expectations for ever cheaper books doesn’t kill the writers’ ability to produce them.

My Friend the Enemy (DAN SMITH, CHICKEN HOUSE, £6.99)

This is Dan Smith’s first novel written for a junior audience; the plot – a couple of youngsters find an injured German pilot in the woods following a WWII air raid, and decide to help him recover and get home, rather than turn him in to the authorities – has a vaguely familiar feel to it, but this is nonetheless an original and distinctive piece of storytelling. From the first page, events and emotions are described with a similarly thrilling (and occasionally, quite shocking) intensity, and the two main characters, Peter and Kim, are hauntingly authentic. As the narrative develops, the children are forced to question not only their assumptions about what ‘the enemy’ must be like, but also the nature of friendship and courage, the importance of loyalty, and the role of those left behind while others go off to fight. Smith’s crystalline prose neither glamourises the conflict, nor reduces it to a sentimental simplicity; consequently, this is an intense, thought-provoking, and deeply satisfying read.

The Whoosh Book (ROBINS/EVANS-JONES, ROUTLEDGE, £27.99)

Do you whoosh? If not, then it really is something you should consider – and this is absolutely the resource book you need not only to get you started, but to see you through many fantastic sessions of engaging, interactive literacy work. The technique itself can be – and is – explained in a couple of pages. Essentially, it involves learners ‘acting out a story’ as they hear it, thus enabling them to experience it in a physical, involved way, with the result that understanding is deepened and responses become more complex. In order to make the exercise a success in terms of teaching and learning, however, a strong structure is essential; every whoosh needs a clear purpose, precise language selection and, crucially, relevant follow up activities. Here, the planning has been done for you by the experts, using texts from various genres from fables and fairy tales to the modern novel… although there’s also guidance to get not only you, but your pupils, too, writing original whooshes of your own.