Magazine Takes Shape

This week saw the students finishing off their stories, poems and information pieces ready for the first edition of the Notebook Ninja magazine. The range of writing set to fill the debuting publication is absolutely amazing, with so much enthusiasm and imagination on show. There will also be puzzles, pictures and the opportunity to collect tokens which can be exchanged for exclusive Ninja memorabilia. Keep an eye out at school for further information on the release date and price of the magazine.

Paul Morton's Fantastic Illustrations

Paul Morton is a very talented illustrator with over ten years  experience in the business. The Notebook Ninjas were extremely excited to be using three of Paul's  illustrations as starters for writing. A lost bear, Tarantula Tartlets and performing amphibians: take a look below at a selection of work that the Ninjas produced this week. 

You can see more of Paul Morton's portfolio at http://www.hotfroggraphics.com/

The Lost and Lonely Bear!

The polar bear looked around him, the ice was gone!  Where was it? He thought that he was in a different world, so he looked around for anyone who he thought could help him.  Then he saw some foot prints in the sand. So he followed the foot prints until he came to a hole in the ground.  The polar bear popped his nose into the hole and sniffed.  Suddenly he heard a noise in the hole. It was getting louder and louder and then the polar bear took his nose out of the hole and something peered over the edge of the hole and looked at the polar bear.  The polar bear stared back at the thing!  The polar bear asked what he thought was an alien if he had seen his den.  The meerkat asked him what it looked like.  He said ‘It looks all icy and crystal white and cold’.  The meerkat said 'no'.  The polar bear felt sad.  But then the meerkat said he might know someone who could help.       

So the meerkat got out of this hole and he had to run to keep up with the polar bear.  The polar bear was getting very hot.  It was very hot in the desert and the polar bear needed shade to cool down in.  So he asked the meerkat if he could find him some shade or a tree.  He took him to the only tree in the desert and there was an owl.  Owls are wise but this was a cheeky, wise owl.  So the meerkat left them and the polar bear asked the owl if he had seen any ice.  The owl said 'yes!'  He said 'It’s too far for you but I can take you'.  So the polar bear asked 'How?'  The owl said 'Hold on to my feet and I will take you there'.  The owl began to flap his wide wings and they took off!  Below them they could see the meerkat going back to his den.  The polar bear was very tired so he drifted off to sleep in the owls feet.  He dreamed of his icy den.  But because he was relaxing he let go of the owl's feet!  He fell on to something wet and cold.  It wasn’t sand.  It wasn’t grass.  Can you guess what it was?  It was ice!  Then the polar bear woke up.  He saw that he was back where he belonged.  He crawled into his den and lived happily ever after.

The End.

Untitled

Won day a frog clled bella went for a wolk. it was jusd him but he herd a noiz. hee sord his frend it was his frend Doree. He sor mumy and his mum givt him a cis. the end.

The frog that could do ballet

One glorious spring day there was a frog called Splash.  Now Splash was an unusual frog because Splash liked ballet.  But all the other frogs told Splash that it wasn’t frog-like to do ballet, but Splash wanted to prove them wrong!

So he decided to put on a ballet show but he was going to tell them it was a bouncing show so they would come.  The next day Splash was up early making posters and a stage.  That night at dinner Splash told everyone about the bouncing show, so they agreed to go.  Splash was so pleased. 

That sunny morning Splash was so excited he woke up at 5 am in the morning!!  For the rest of the morning Splash was getting ready for his ballet show. He put on his ballet uniform and started to practice his dancing and then he realised it was time for the show.  So he got ready pulled down the curtains and then he saw shocked faces so he carried on dancing.  And then at the end of the show everyone started to clap and cheer.  The rest of the frogs liked it so much they wanted the frog to carry on and so he did it for the rest of the day.

The End.

The Dancing Frog Of Moonlight Pond

The frog danced and turned

On her lily pad.

The moon shone bright-what a sight!

And leaves blew in the dark of the night.

The other frogs watched in wonder and awe,

At a spectacle never seen before.

As she spun into the air,

Even the water-newts had to stare.

As she swirled for all to see,

The notes played on-a, f, then g.

Then as they saw the finale unfold,

She jumped really high-then lo and behold,

The frog plunged into the water below.

The animals clapped; they loved the show.

She got a massive standing ovation,

The rest of that night there was a huge celebration.

The frog danced and turned

On her lily pad.

Zombie Tarts!

One day at Paignton zoo the clumsy keeper fed the rhinos octopus. Meanwhile Guy’s tarts jammy and nutellary were fed to the rhinos as well!  In the rhino's mouth the octopuses hugged the tarts to float on the saliva but it killed them = Zombies!!!!

The rhinos coughed them out and Guy ate them!

                                                                 The End

(That night his pee was ink!)

The Spider Tart

There was once a boy called Jim.  Jim had an obsession with spiders and any flavoured tarts.

One wonderful Sunday morning Jim was eating some cornflakes for breakfast when he saw a spider upon his cereal.  He tried to avoid eating it so he got a spoonful of cereal and went to eat it when suddenly the spider majestically leapt onto the spoon! Before Jim could react, he ate the spider...

HE LOVED IT!

Ten years later...

Jim became a scientist.

He wanted to study what different flavour tarts tasted like with a spider on top.  That’s when he invented the spider tarts.  He started with his own bakery with lots of cookies and cakes, but the main thing he was selling was his spider tarts.  That’s why he named the bakery ‘The Spider Tart’...

It was a massive failure.

He carried on eating the spider tarts but he died on his 1000^th.

Week Three : Secrets

Shhhh, don't tell anyone but there was definitely something mysterious going on in the library last week.  According to my anonymous informants it involved lions, hidden diaries, pirate treasure and other strange and wonderful tales too shrouded in secrecy to even mention here.  The word is that there are some fantastic pieces nearing completion, so watch this space over the next few weeks!

Week Two: Poetry

From Shakespeare to Spike Milligan, poetry has been a huge part of writing, dealing with the funny, the serious and the down right strange. This week was an opportunity for the children to get those rhythmic pens beating on the page. Some of the children had never really read poems before whilst others had even written pieces of their own. The great aspect of this week's theme though was no matter if poetry was completely new to a Ninja or a regular part of their reading, they all got into the spirit of rhyme, rhythm and word wizardry. There were poems about cheese, poems about puppies and even a poem about a brother's smelly feet (eugghh!). So watch this space for the next bard of Britain.

Week Three Preview: Secrets

Here's a sneaky peek at our theme for next week.... press the triangle play button to find out more. It works best if you keep the video screen on the small setting but you can watch a bigger version when you come next Thursday. 

Start thinking of some top secret ideas but don't tell anyone...

Week One: Idea Explosion

The sheer amount of children who have signed up for Notebook Ninjas has been overwhelming. The group even has a waiting list now. I fear however the eagerness of the current crop of children will leave those on the waiting list disappointed. Today saw the first real chance for the children to come up with ideas for their first piece of Notebook Ninja writing and boy did the ideas come thick and fast. The theme was humour and the children delivered this in abundance. From a man with flying eyebrows to a Narnia inspired piece, the variety and quality from all of these budding authors was brilliant to see. Next week will be based around poetry in all its forms. If the enthusiasm carries on, which I'm sure it will, then we will have yet another catalogue of fantastic writing to enjoy and hopefully display.

Logo Competition

 

The children have entered a colouring competiton to decide the design of the official Notebook Ninja logo. Vote for your favourites by posting the number of your chosen entry in the comments box below! The winner will be announced after the last entry has been recieved on Thursday 9th May. 

 

About The Notebook Ninjas

Masters of the blank page

The Notebook Ninjas are a group of creative writers based in Ivybridge, Devon.

We believe that you are never too young to start writing. At Notebook Ninjas, children between the ages of 4 and 11 years old are inspired and encouraged to write fiction.

Never afraid of a blank page, we meet weekly during term time and give children the space and opportunity to write their own stories, often about a given theme.

 

We also support the children with:

 

1) Plot and character development

2) Scene setting and description

3) Discovering their individual writing voice

 

If you are an author, illustrator, teacher, librarian, child or adult and are interested in working on a project with The Notebook Ninjas please find out more by emailing welshclare1@gmail.com or phone 01752 892247 where we will be happy to answer your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!