This summer storytellers John Kirk and Dan McGarry are presenting Jeremy Strong’s The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog in Northamptonshire libraries.
Streaker is a mixed up kind of a dog. She’s part greyhound, part Ferrari and unless Trevor and Tina can train her before the end of the holidays arch pain Charlie Smugg is going to throw them both into a bath full of frog spawn! Come along and see if Trevor and Tina can avoid their early bath in an action packed story that just gets sillier and sillier.
On the 18th August see John Kirk at..
10am Rushden Library, 12.30pm Raunds Library, 2.30pm Higham Ferrers Library
On the 21st August see Dan McGarry at..
10.30am Wellingborough Library, 2.15pm Irthlingborough Library, 4pm Wollaston Library
On the 25th August see John Kirk at..
11.30am Long Buckby Library, 2pm Brackley Library, 4pm Middleton Cheney Library
On the 1st September see John Kirk at..
10am Desborough Library, 1pm Oundle Library, 3.30pm Thrapston Library
On the 4th September see Dan McGarry at..
10am Hunsbury Library, 12.30pm Duston Library, 3pm St James Library
This presentation lasts 40 minutes and is suitable for families with children age 6+.
#100mphdog
NB: John will also visit Nottingham City (17th and 22nd Aug) and Barking and Dagenham Libraries (31st Aug) during the summer holidays with this presentation.
The summer holidays are here and my retelling of 
Sometimes I think maybe its too fast but then this isn’t the book, its a story. In Jeremy’s book he throws in loads of lovely jokes, witty observations and one liners which in a 40 minute presentation I simply do not have time to deliver. This story is a bit like a situation comedy; that much of the humour comes from things getting worse and worse for the characters involved. Its in all this mania that I find my task for even when the story seems to be out of control I have to be master of its rhythms for there to be any kind of momentum. As crazy as what I’m doing might seem, most of the time I’ve got these rhythms on a tight leash and as a result when I do slow down, pauses have real impact and key bits of narrative can be easily stressed.
Next weekend we’re heading to 
Its been a funny old month. After 
place). Nine weeks and a seven and half hour flight later I enter Dubai’s airport – gateway to the Gulf and beyond – shining out in marble and chrome (and that’s just the baggage hall!). From there we were whisked off to Sharjah’s Hilton Hotel and as I’m sat in the lobby staring up at a crystal chandelier I am still pinching myself – is this all a dream? Then I step outside the lobby into temperatures of 31-36oC – no, this is really happening.
Arriving at the Expo Center I am met by a security cordon. There’s royalty attending the opening of the festival and the organisers aren’t taking any chances. Today I’m telling 
My workshops, morning and afternoon, were well received but it is all a steep learning curve here in Sharjah. I am always pretty dynamic when I tell stories but in front of a largely arabic speaking audience I have to become even more demonstrative and am already wondering how my proposed Shakespeare session will go down on Friday night.
I open my curtains to another day of sun but the superb mosque on the other side of the lagoon reminds me this isn’t La La Land.
Once I’m finished I flit between workshops helping out where I can (drawing with children who have learning difficulties and pretending to be a rabbit in a book workshop). I do this because the other workshop leaders have been at my session to support me, joining in so that the children have somebody to copy. It seems like a really simple thing but its tough work when your audience/participants don’t really understand what’s going on. The support of the other facilitators is invaluable to the success of the sessions.
After a dip in the pool and exchanging messages with home (I miss Lauren and VB and am looking forward to seeing them in a few days time) I’m back in the Expo Center. My afternoon time slot is quite close to prayer time so numbers in the hall are thin but with my colourful jacket and another game of Follow my Leader I am soon the Pied Piper leading the children toward my session. Over the next 30 minutes lots of children and families brave the water and stick their heads in on what I’m doing. It seems that The Mad Hatter is visual enough and interactive to hit the right notes for this event. With this in mind and with concerns about my Shakespeare presentation I take the decision to host a tea party again tomorrow evening!
When I finish my session I go out into the Expo to look at what other people are doing. There are flight simulators, Lego building, book and toy stores, jugglers, acrobats, marching bands and much much more – you couldn’t possibly see it all.
Friday is prayer day in Sharjah which means the festival opens at 4pm giving us enough time to visit Dubai. The hotel shuttle bus drops us near the metro from where we go to the Dubai Mall to see the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world). From the viewing levels you can see that Dubai has just about every type of tall building ever imagined and that the growing city is surrounded by sand. Its a bit mind boggling to consider what man has achieved in a very short space of time and in such harsh landscape.
Day three represents the halfway point in my trip. I still can’t believe that this is really happening and I count myself very lucky to have this opportunity to be a part of what is a tremendously prestigious event. I remember being asked to participate in Shrewsbury Children’s Bookfest and then the CityRead 2014. At the time these were big, big deals for me after years of hard work but being in Sharjah this week is incredible. The facilities are amazing but its the people who make it. The people here are really friendly and couldn’t do enough to help you. Often what they lack in the way of English comprehension they make up for in sheer enthusiasm for life. The other facilitators too, are very supportive and ultra talented. I’m rubbing shoulders with some very inspiring people.
I think that I’m relaxing into a routine of workshops and 5 star hotel life but I can’t wait to see Lauren and VB on Saturday. I had a dig in my bag and found one of VBz rattles and a book of nursery rhymes (*sigh*).
water and anarchy. We ran and danced and conga lined through the festival; we caused chaos and they loved it. At one stage in my presentation they were three deep at the door, with faces pressed up against the windows and when we finished it took 10 minutes for the families to get all the photos they wanted with me. The children loved taking part and it really felt like we provided something that was genuinely fun that will inspire the learning of English. In short a job well done. I hope that tomorrow, my final day in Sharjah, will be just as memorable.
Saturday morning. My final day in Sharjah. Last night I slept with the curtains open and was woken by the sunrise. It was a bit misty but still rather lovely.
It’s now after midnight. My final presentation went well and I have waved farewell to the expo center for the final time. In some ways its a case of just about getting the ropes then having to leave. I know its for the best though, in 25 hours time I’ll be back in blighty with Lauren and VB and this evening just showing somebody a picture of VBz almost had me in tears. Saying this hindsight is an amazing thing; if I knew before all that I know now eh? On Monday I’ll be with Merton Libraries telling 
The ladies at the expo gave me a little parting gift (a model camel) and 
Every year March is my busiest month.
The children took a lot from the session and they were enthralled when John was acting out scenes from Shakespeare on his own. The children were still talking about it when we returned after the weekend.
I love my job. I love it because everyday is different and I get to meet literally hundreds of interesting people and visit loads of new and interesting places. I love it because I work with teachers and library staff to create memorable experiences for young people and in doing so challenge myself and those around me to engage creatively. I love it because of the responses I get from the children and young people I come into contact with. I love the moment I hit the brief or when an entire room is really (and I mean truly) listening to, participating in or simply enjoying a story or just the little moments along the way; a thank you or just a smile. I love my job. I’m not very good at advertising that fact.
May-October 2017 – NEW!! Jeremy Strong’s “One Hundred Mile an Hour Dog”.
All that remains for me to say is a big thank you to my beautiful wife for tolerating another year of chaos (although next year’s 
Tis the season to be jolly (almost) and this year (once again) I have decided to expand my repertoire of seasonal 
To prepare the session I spent a bit of time reading through potential material. To make the task slightly more tricky the brief was that the stories should in some way feature a house. Now, if you look on paranormal websites and read through folklore there are hundreds of ghostly goings on said to be happening up and down the country in stately homes and houses but many tend to be unexplained. “A blue lady haunts the top corridor” needs the how or why to become a great story. I also pondered the ghost story’s relationship with the ghost. Is it enough to say “this place is haunted because…” or do we need to encounter the ghost during the story and learn how it makes things go bump in the night? I plumped for the latter because it’s more frightening.
Then there is the thorny question of how suitable ghost stories are for young children. I have used this blog to talk about 
The Seven Swans – a folk tale about a hunter who wounds and captures a swan princess before meeting his grizzly end in a lake.