Ali Sparkes
Award-winning author of children's books
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About Ali Sparkes
Ali's School Visits
Books by Ali Sparkes
Recommendations & Reviews
To Make a Booking
About Ali Sparkes
Here is Ali in her own words:
If you like your author visits lively and interactive, we will get along well! I could stand up and yak for 45 minutes but I much prefer to get some fun rolling with games and props. For younger classes I have some fab drawing sheets created by Scholastic to go along with the Monster Makers series (Years 3 to 5, ideally) which I can send before I arrive, to see what characters have already been created when I get there - and what we might do with them. The sessions - for all age groups - tend to be lively, occasionally very noisy. I love to make up stories with classes as well as talk about the whole weird business of being an author (and I don't shy away from audacious questions).
My Shapeshifter Series (OUP) books are fantasy adventures, with a fair bit of humour but also a lot of intense emotion and danger. (9+ readership, but with quite a few teen and adult fans).
The Monster Makers series (Scholastic) are much more comedy romp, although also definitely fantasy adventure. (6+ readership, but with parent/teacher friendly humour too).
Frozen In Time is a sci-fi/comedy/drama adventure exploring what happens when two children from the 1950s find themselves in 2009. With much affectionate spoofing of the Famous Five, this is one which will strike chords with many grown ups too - and the research! Oh! Don't get me started... Can't wait to bring along my box of stuff...
Humour and scariness usually play an equal part in my sessions.
I can show you fear in a handful of Tellytubby...
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Ali’s School Visits
Ali describes her school visits in her own words:
How does an author day pan out?
We will work it out together, of course, but for me, an ideal day would involve a couple of workshops in the morning and one in the afternoon. I am happy to do informal chatting and signing during the lunch hour and to fit in an assembly slot if required.
I try to avoid packing more than this in, as I often end up very tired by the second half of the afternoon and feel it’s unfair to the children who would get me for a fourth session.
I appreciate, though, that most schools want to involve as many children as possible, and I do not mind doing workshops for large groups if necessary. Often a year is split into two, for groups of around 45-60 at a time.
Smaller groups are lovely, but I can manage larger ones, with appropriate teacher support, if need be.
How many sessions?
I limit my full sessions to three per day (I can lose my voice if I try to do four!), but will willingly factor in some informal chatting/signing time (often in the library) for smaller groups (this is where some potential young authors can get a bit more discussion time).
WORKSHOPS: YEAR 5 and up
I like to keep them very interactive. I usually bring boxes of curious things, which I get the children to describe, usually to a blindfolded teacher, without using the ‘easy’ words. This is a great warm up and usually goes down very well.
We talk about how much description you need – and whether you can get too much of it.
I talk about the kind of writing they may be doing and show them the evidence of my path from writing in school to the books I have published today – starting with my own hand-written and illustrated stories about me and my friends.
If there is time we can kick off a story of our own – sometimes using a flip chart or a whiteboard.
Q&A can take us anywhere – and is usually very lively. I am frank about an author’s life and how tough it can be – as well as how rewarding.
This usually takes 45 minutes to an hour and is connected with my older children’s books, such as the Shapeshifter Series.
I am happy to key in with specific projects you may be doing, as long as I have some notice to prepare.
Assemblies
I am happy to do an assembly slot. Usually I do the ‘writing path’ part, as mentioned in the workshop section above, in a shortened form. I can also do a little bit of interactive with a flipchart, a willing teacher and a Tellytubby (don’t ask!). Q&A usually works well too – it’s great if the children have had some notice and can surprise me with unusual questions.
Spark offs
I have some opening paragraphs of stories at the ready, which I can email to you, in case your young writers would like to have a go at finishing them off.
MONSTER MAKERS (YEARS 3 to 4)
My series for younger readers came out in February 08 with Scholastic. The Monster Makers is all about two boys (aged 7 and 9) who love drawing monsters, known as Taurs (or Mites). One day some magic mead gets spilt on two of their monster pictures, bringing Electrotaur & Slashermite to life with disastrous, but quite entertaining, consequences.
Using Monster Makers during an author visit usually works well for younger age groups – years 3 & 4 ideally – and means we can involve all children in the drawing side of the books. I have some drawing sheets designed for me by Scholastic which can be printed off and used on the day or ahead of my visit. If I have a sheaf of monsters drawn by your own pupils we can use them to kick off story ideas.
The description boxes exercise mentioned above also works with this age group, and some of the more advanced readers may be interested in the Shapeshifter books too, but Monster Makers is a very bright and lively place to start. I also have posters I can send ahead.
As ever, Q&A is one of the best bits and I’m happy to talk about all aspects of authoring (even how rich I’m not!)
FROZEN IN TIME: All Age Groups
AREN’T WE ALL A BIT 1950s AT HEART?
Even if you didn’t grow up in the 1950s, the betting is you read a load of books about children who did – mostly Famous Five, of course.
But imagine what 1950s children would make of children today?
That’s one of the things we’ll be doing in a Frozen In Time session. In an hour (or longer) of exploration into a bit of our history which is still so close to us, we will:
• Dress up 50s style. All this fun will be intertwined with elements of Freddy & Polly and Rachel & Ben’s story in Frozen In Time, where two 1950s children are discovered after more than 50 years asleep – ‘cryonically frozen’ in a buried chamber. When Rachel and Ben wake up Freddy and Polly they defrost a mystery which stretches from their back garden to the poisoned wastes of Chernobyl, from Spam to Pot Noodle, from Listen With Mother to Big Brother. As a children’s author, Ali Sparkes will also examine the influence of 50s writing on her own books as well as give a lightning tour of her own journey to becoming an author (even though she started out rubbish at reading).
• Have a pop quiz – 50s style.
• Taste some 50s style food
• Examine how our language has changed in 60 years and have a go at 50s style talking.
• Compare how kids in the 50s played with how we play.
• Look at 50s comics and magazines.
• Imagine the most shocking things that 50s children would encounter in our world today.
• And imagine what would shock us about their world…
The length of sessions will depend on schools – you may want to do one or two of the same session across a morning – or maybe you’ll go for a whole day of 50s madness, and get children to come in already dressed 50s style (it’s quite easy to achieve!) – or perhaps set up a session where grandparents can come along and join in. I am longing to get a 21st century child up against a 50s ‘child’ and do a pop quiz - half now, half then - and see who wins. This may be possible if you have any teachers in their 60s who would be game.
I will bring along props and dressing up gear and possibly a PowerPoint presentation if there is the facility to run it.
This is a session which can work for Year 3 upwards, although the reading age of Frozen In Time is likely to be regarded as 9+. Which means a good few 7-year-olds will be fine with it, of course! My Monster Makers sessions can be aimed more squarely at years 3 & 4 – although these also have appeal up to year 6.
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Books by Ali Sparkes
Ali has written a number of books. Click on each below to find out more about it:
Monster Makers: Electrotaur & Slashermite
The Shapeshifter 5: Stirring The Storm
The Shapeshifter 4: Dowsing The Dead
The Shapeshifter 3: Going To Ground
The Shapeshifter 2: Running The Risk
The Shapeshifter: Finding The Fox
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Recommendations & Reviews
On her school visits:
“At last, it has been a real pleasure to have someone in who was as entertaining in person as they were in their books! Thanks so much. Kids loved it. We did too!"
- Caroline, Fleur & Joy (the Library Lovelies) at Bay House School, Hants
“The extravaganza continued throughout the day! Several boys came up to me and thanked me for organising such a fun author visit... a success I feel!"
- Helen at Shrewsbury House School, Surrey
“Just a quick e-mail to say a big 'THANK YOU' for such a wonderfully stimulating and interesting visit for the boys. I've forwarded an e-mail from a parent (see below).
Excerpt: 'Many thanks Linda. For some months our son has lost interest in reading but the presentation by the two authors has really got him fired up, esp Ali. He is enjoying the first book we bought and for the first time in months, I caught him in bed this morning at 6.50 am reading! Fingers crossed.'
The staff here have been full of praise too and have noticed little groups of boys everywhere busy designing monsters and writing stories!
- Linda at Rokeby School, Surrey
“I just wanted to thank you again for Thursday. Many of the boys went home and wrote stories and the number of boys who had their noses stuck deep into one of your books on Friday, was phenomenal. I've had some fabulous feedback from boys and staff alike. Year 3 and 4, have planned 'Monsters' into their work for next week."
- Belinda at QEGS, Wakefield
“Just to thank you again so much for coming to our bookshop last week. You gave the children such an interesting and enjoyable session and, as we said at the time, quite a few teachers were taking note of your excellent ideas. Several came in afterwards to send their thanks to you."
- Sara Bowers, Steyning Literary Festival
If you would like us to put you in touch with any of the schools that Ali has recently visited, please don't hesitate to ask us for contact details.
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To Make a Booking
To make an enquiry about Ali Sparkes, or any of the other authors, poets & illustrators listed on this website, please phone Trevor Wilson on +44 (0) 1535 656015, or email him at info@authorsabroad.com
Further information on Ali Sparkes is available on her website: www.alisparkes.com
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