Grandad's Island

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How to assess and analyse ways in which pupils respond to stories, poems and plays’ by Michael Rosen I was completely stumped. Why was I crying? I felt embarrassed, flustered, hot and like I had lost control. I think children easily identify with Katie Morag’s problems, her moods and the family issues. I try to create stories seen through the eyes of Katie Morag. I think children, through Katie Morag, can recognize and explore the familiarity of the problems that she has. Which means you don’t have to go all the way to Borneo (East Malaysia) to see orangutans! As Orang Utan Island is close to Taiping, Ipoh, and Penang. So it’s worth your while to visit it! I asked my children if they thought Grandad would return and almost all of them thought that no, he was happy on his island and the big, metal door in the attic had vanished anyway. Syd hugged Grandad one last time. He would miss him very much.

Katie Morag - Media Centre - BBC Katie Morag - Media Centre - BBC

I really liked going to hair, make-up and costume every morning. My favourite costume was my wedding dress costume. That was really nice. I wore my wellies with it though! There are definitely some characters in the first book that were based on people living on the island at the time. There are also some family members who have provided inspiration too. Granma Mainland is based on my own mother a little bit. My mother was urban based and I remember when she would come to visit us on the island, and she would get off the boat wearing her good court shoes. Grannie Island is the Grannie I always wanted to be. I was reading to the class and had reached the part of the story where Grandad tells Syd that he is thinking of staying on the island. Up until this point, I have to admit that my reading of the book had been rather superficial, reminding me even now that revisiting a story, re-reading it and allowing ourselves time to slowly pore over the illustrations is vital and time well spend.When I returned, under the expert guidance of my Mum and an LSA, my Year 2 class had begun to compose their letters from Grandad to Syd, writing things like: The book certainly developed what Michael Rosen calls ‘intratextual skills’ or ‘harvesting’ – the ability to relate one part of the text to another and find clues along the way. One boy was beside himself to discover that he had already seen the animals helping to build the shelter…in Grandad’s attic! I'm totally not looking forward to seeing myself. I'll have to watch though, but I might hide my eyes! Main cast Family: Katie Morag lives with her parents Isobel and Peter, her little brother Liam and her baby sister Flora Ann. Mr McColl is the shopkeeper in the village shop and Mrs McColl is the postmistress. I managed to compose myself and, on reaching the end of the story, when Syd receives a mysterious envelope, asked the children what they thought might be in the envelope. “A letter from Grandad!” they chorused. It had to be! They soon set about writing their own letters in the role of Grandad and it was at this point that I had to leave the classroom. Once again, I had started crying. I sat in the toilets for a while sobbing, feeling very foolish.

BBC - Katie Morag Series 2 BBC - Katie Morag Series 2

I had a moment when I was on set, watching all the actors and film crew. I thought how rewarding it was that so many people have been employed on a project that started as an idea in my head 33 years ago. That gives me a great feeling, better than anything else. And the knowledge that Katie Morag is a real ambassador for the Scottish Highlands and Islands, a part of our country that a lot of people don’t know about. I suddenly found that I had a lump in my throat and I had begun to cry. My children looked at me and I wiped the tears away.

Cherry Campbell biography and interview

If you’re interested in whole class reading and using picture books in your own class, these resources, articles and books may be useful: I thought I wouldn’t be involved to be honest and as a writer you have to know when to let go of your characters to another medium. But as it turned out, the production company Move on Up have been so inclusive and invited me up to see the sets on the Isle of Lewis. I’m very happy with all the casting, especially Cherry, she is totally natural; she’s even got Katie Morag’s fleeting facial expressions which you can’t dictate to a child actor. Never in a thousand years! With the first book, I was given a brief to write and illustrate a picture storybook. My own children were teenagers by this point and so it was a self-indulgent nostalgia re-run of my children’s upbringing on the Isle of Coll. I never got a chance to say goodbye to my Grandads. I like to think that both of them are somewhere on an island faraway, where the waterfalls cascade and a large chimpanzee serves them tea, or maybe even a ‘Footballer’s Dinner’. Perhaps I’ll see them again one day. I'm asked quite often which Grannie Katie Morag prefers but she likes them both the same. Katie Morag sees Grannie Island more often because she lives nearer but it is great when Granma Mainland to visit. She usually comes on the ferry. I’ve got a Grannie Island and Granma Mainland in real life too!

Taken inspiration from Pinterest. Here is my Rivers and

Filming is brilliant! I really like my own bedroom in the studio. It's not real though. I get to run up the stairs and flash my torch to Grannie Island. Her house is a different set in the studio.Somewhere in Perak is Bukit Merah Orangutan Island Malaysia. This is a rehabilitation center of 35 acres just for orangutans! The biggest difference is that there are more episodes than there were stories. The scriptwriters have taken the characters, the locations and the relationships and created six brand new stories and six special episodes. They have come up with new original ideas while still being very faithful to the original stories. I have written one script myself which was a very different process because I had no illustrations to rely on. What the book allowed me to do is open up my own attic of memories, prompting me to remember both my Grandads. They were very special to me and were the embodiment of safety, love and family. Grandad Eagleton taught me to laugh, collected conkers for us and told us not to worry about anything (“If worrying did me any good, I’d do it all the time!”). I have a clear memory of him helping with the washing up after Grandad Allen’s funeral and making jokes with an aunt. His easy ways, laughter and warmth were just what was needed on a difficult day. We used to enjoy playing hairdressers with Grandad Allen (who was pretty much bald!), whilst he watched the horse racing. He used to make my Nan laugh a lot. I remember him introducing me to his ‘Footballer’s Dinner’ – mash potatoes with a fried egg on top. I felt very grown up and loved when I got to sit next to him at the dinner table and have my own ‘Footballer’s Dinner”. I know they were both very proud of us, loved my family dearly and left a terrible hole in the fabric of our family life when they died.