Dancing Smoke, The Orbit of Zorbit and Cloud Fortresses

I've been reading your responses to the scene setting task. I am amazed by how brilliant your writing is becoming. Here are some of the highlights.

Awesome Place Names

Baxteronia - Yasin, Bridge School
Spookynal Island - Ahmad, Bridge School
Fangland - Victoria, St Edwards
Yazoble - Ahmad, Manor School
Mangrewer - Charlotte, St Edwards
Dooms Dale - Josie, St Edwards
Lumipoo Momp swamp - Ella, Queensgate
Swampy Momp - Charley, Queensgate
Muskiland - Muscab, Barford School
Sanskatopia - Sanskar, Barford School
Shoogle Lagoon - Kayla, St Edwards

Personification

'There were tall towers, their heads talking to the clouds sitting in the sky.' - Naazneen, Bridge School

'Talking' and 'sitting' are both superb examples of personification.

'Smoke danced out of the chimney.' - Naazneen (again), Bridge School

More wonderful personification.

'The train jogged over fields.' - Mustafa, Bridge School

I really like this example of personification. Not only does it show that the train was going quick fast, but the motion of jogging does remind me of a train chugging.

'It is silent apart from the raging winds.' - Brendan, St Edwards

Personification of the weather is always a winner.

More Examples of Great Language Usage

'The snow-topped mountain is surrounded by a huge frozen lake with the salty scent wafting around the mountain.' - Anonymous, St Peters.

I like the way this sentence is written, particularly 'with the salty scent wafting around the mountain'. It pays attention to different senses and uses some great connectives (e.g. 'surrounded by' and 'with').

'If I stand right in the middle, I can smell the refreshing roses from the depths of the parks. Also when I step out in the morning, I can hear the whistling of the birds.' - Katie, Rosemellin

Katie's description indulges the senses.

'It is spring and the scent of flowers fills the air; the soft grass tickles your hand; tigs are soaring through the air whilst lumipoo momps are migrating to the forest.' - Jamie, Queensgate

Great example of showing spring, as well as telling. Also, I like the idea that lumipoo momps migrate.

'The season is set in autumn when all the leaves begin to fall.' - Liam, Queensgate

Another example of showing as well as telling the season.

'The lush deli smell was flowing around the city like smoke out of an airplane. The tall buildings were like massive giants in the fluffy and white clouds. You can see through your glass window the aqua and wavy river swaying like professional dancers on the hard old stage.' - Aaliyah, Manor School

This is very poetic. Lots of beautiful imagery that appeals to many senses. The personification of the river is beautiful.

'Home to Lumipoo Momps, in planet Zero they call Lumipoo Momps, Momps because they use slang on that planet.' - Bethany, Manor School

Thinking about the slang that a community might use is very advanced. Good work Bethany.

'The sky is usually full of fluffy clouds that just move around gracefully. They are as graceful as ballerinas.' - Bethany (again!), Manor School.

Lovely imagery. Although I have to admit, when I read it quickly I thought it said Lumipoo Momps were ballerinas - now there's a hideous mental image!

'After that I headed towards something green. It was the Creepy Forest. It was the right name for such a place: the branches sticking out on the oak tree looked like arms coming to grab me. I noticed a door in the middle of a trunk saying ‘Beware!’ I wasn’t sure whether I should touch the golden door handle or not. Just then a bolt of lightning spread across the sky and thunder roared around me. The clouds poured rain and I stood still, getting soaked.' - Yasin, Bridge School

This is superb scene setting. I really felt as though I was there. I appreciated the personification of the branches. 'Roared' is great onomatopoeia.

'All you can hear is the rush of the wind and the leaves of the light green, spruce trees swaying heavily in the background.' - Brendon, Queensgate

Effective attention to other senses.

'The planet Zorbit is a tiny planet on the edge of space, one hundredth of the size of earth. It is so small that aliens often fly straight past it and only spot it if they actually get into the ‘orbit of Zorbit’!' - Alex, St Edwards

'The orbit of Zorbit' is brilliant example of assonance (the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences). It rolls beautifully off the tongue.

'Splish, splash, splosh' - Alex (again), St Edwards

Alliteration, onomatopoeia and consonance (the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession) all crammed into three words. Now you're just showing off! Hee hee. Brilliant work, Alex.

Well Thought Out

'It’s scorching hot. In fact the only specie that lives there is the Lumipoo momp. If it gets above these temperatures they turn into puddles to cool themselves.' - Muscab, Barford

I thought this was a clever example of matching a species to an environment. Although the momps will have to be careful that their puddles don't evaporate in the hot weather!

Interesting Features

'SandsTown, which has wigwams and igloos, is a desert. The igloos donʼt melt because they have a protective layer of red sand which stops them melting. The wigwams are made of cloth and cactuses to protect the people from predators.'

These ideas for structures are very inventive.

'Most of the mountains are snow mountains and some are volcanic mountains.' - Sanskar, Barford

These sound like dramatic features to have in a landscape.

'It has a permanent smoky smell as the volcano is always depositing is smoky toxic stench! The volcano is the rocks main feature; it’s a night sky black colour and crumbles underneath your feet.' - Anonymous, St Peters

Ooh! A smoking volcano! Let's have one of those.

'The Lumipoo Momps normally play a game of Lumi hockey (It is like ice hockey, but it has a different name).' - Red, St Edwards

That sounds like fun. I'll add a frozen lake to our map.

'The towers, castles and even gates have faces and laugh and laugh everyday! All the faces on the constructions look different, one might have an afro, one might have blond hair or a red mohican' - Quinn, St Edwards

Gates with faces could be an interesting plot device. Our heroes are in a hurry, but they have to remember to be polite to the gateposts, or they won't get in!

'People from Bongdon will not walk, instead they will jump, so paths will be made out of trampolines, wow! So much fun!' - Victoria, St Edwards

That does sound like fun!

'My setting is the floating cloud fortress it's an adventurous, exciting and enchanted place!' - Brendan, St Edwards

That does sound magical!

'Advertisements are all around you of  big companies such as Nike and McDonalds.There is almost a shop on every corner of the city and billions of products for your every needs.' - Zacari, Barford

I like the idea of billboards etc, but I wonder if a place overrun with monsters might have different adverts to Great Britain.

Amusing

'It's the year 3010 and it's the hottest Easter on record!! I'm driving in my dune buggy. It's scorching in the middle of the desert.. As I look around its barren, yellow and dry, apart from the odd bit of green in the form of cactus and of course Mcdonalds!! What a strange place to have one, very convenient though.it smells very dry and dusty and the yummy smell of burgers. You can hear the wind whipping round the Mcdonalds and the silent scurrying of scorpions and rattle snakes. Other that that is so silent... With the odd beep of the till....' - Harvey, St Edwards

A very entertaining commentary on the size and robust nature of the McDonald's corporation.

Check out the rest of the blog for more great map work and scene setting.

Afrio - Where the zebras live

I've decided to share Afrio by Georgia from Queensgate, because it both has a beautiful, colourful picture and because Georgia has remembered a very important feature: the thing the zig fears the most - zebras.

Afrio

Time period: 2025

Afrio is a tiny, tiny country but that is where Simon the child lives there are lots of wild zebra’s that live there but Simon has tamed two; one is called Zeeby and one is called Suzie. There is a massive mansion called Zebra House. All of the zebras grow very quickly in to adults because the grass has so much moisture in it and when they bite into the grass it grows back instantly. There are 4 trees that have grown there for over 3 century’s.

The weather:
The sun always sings a happy tune as the clouds sprint through the sky and the snow hugs the mountains.

The landscape:
Beyond the city, the mountains sleep while the water teases the rocks and the tower block talks to the sky.

By Georgia , Queensgate

Glacier Islands

The Glacier Islands is particualrly well thoughtout, so I decided to share it with you/

The Glacier Islands

In the year 3014, the earth was beginning to recover from the centuries of darkness. The evil smokestacks from Earth’s power plants created so much pollution that the sun had been blocked out completely and the earth was plunged into total darkness. As the pollution slowly cleared, the sun was returning bit by bit. 

On the Glacier Islands, which housed savage blizzards ravaging on unpredictably, there lived the Glacier tribe with their leader Glacious. The Glacier tribe was constantly under threat from mysterious monsters (Lumipoo Momps) who lived in a winding underground cave system that was in the foot of the mountain (Momp Mountain). 

The Glacier Islands were so named because the floating islands were located just above Iceland and they were mostly frozen. The group of islands are connected by a system of ice bridges. On the islands, there were flowing rivers and lake systems. The Glacier tribe lived in the Frozen Fortress – a castle-like structure built of ice, which helps them defend themselves. Within the fortress, the Glacier people lived in log cabins made from pine tree.

The Tubsters in this area are white, like polar bears, but can swim like Octopus with their tentacles. They live between Momp Mountain and the Frozen Fortress in the hollowed out trunks of the trees in the pine forest. The forest floor is covered in dangerous black ice. Tubsters often slip off the island to their death.

By Oliver, Alistair, Annabel, Alex, Harry and Matthew from St Edwards

Why I love this setting

- It shows an appreciation of what the earth might be like if we don't take care of it.

- 'savage blizzards' is a very powerful phrase.

- They've paid attention to the variety of tubster you might find in a cold climate. I love the idea of using their tentacles to swim rather than just to menace.

Spookynal Island

Brilliant scene setting by Ahmad from Bridge School.

It was January 12th, 1997. Around me was nothing except snow and ice. Suddenly I heard a momp momp. This place I had found was a Spookynal Island. The sky was green and the ice a bright blue. I continued to walk. No-one was there. Then I spotted an ancient looking cave next to a red sea. It looked like the sea was made out of blood. It made me shiver. I felt brave so I went towards the cave. I was surprised to see so many people in the cave. “Why are you here?” I asked. One old man replied “because we might get eaten outside. Have you not seen strange looking ducks with spikes?” I looked around the cave and spotted the creatures they were talking about in paintings on the walls. The paintings terrified me and for the second time I shivered, maybe because of the snow or more likely I realised the red liquid in the sea may have come from humans. Humans like me.

By the time I'd finished reading, I was shivering all over.

Lumipoo momps, with their duck like appearance, often make me giggle but it's important to remember they they are also deeply sinister creatures.

Why I loved it?

- The tension builds slowly. There are lots of creepy clues (e.g. 'No-one was there) throughout the description.

- 'Shiver' is a powerful verb.

- I like the idea of creepy lumipoo paintings.

- It has a very powerful ending.

Heinz Holiday Camp

Heinz Holiday Camp by Red from St Edwards is very original and silly. It made me giggle so I thought I'd share it with you:

Heinz Holiday Camp

In Heinz' Holiday Camp you will see lots of mountains, tremendously slippy ice and different types of sauces.

On the resort there are lots of places to go, including: the shopping mall, arcade room, Tesco and the pool. The pool is normally blaring with noise.

Behind Tesco live the army of Lumipoo Momps; they normally eat food from the boxes outside and they normally play a game of Lumi hockey (It is like ice hockey, but it has a different name). The Lumipoo Momps' spikes are the shiniest thing on the island.

Even some of the places are named after Heinz - here are some of them: Worcestershire Sauce Woods, Horseradish Hall, BBQ Bay, Spaghetti Spa, Mayonaise Mall and Gravy Golf.

Instead of normal water in the ballistic slides and transparent peaceful blue pool there are either mustard or ketchup.

Therefore, when you go down the ballistic slides instead of rubber rings they use spaghetti hoops.

Amazingly different to the Lumipoo Momps, ther Tigs and the Tubsters are officially fighting over a secret cave down under BBQ Bay.

Who do you think is going to win?

Heinz' Holiday Camp is just a few 100 miles away from Portugal.

Whiff Towers, Bogie Bank, Bogshire, SME 11Y

I enjoyed reading the work from Highfield School so much that I decided to share the entire piece. It starts off with a hilarious address, and the intrigue continues ...

'The address is Whiff Towers, Bogie Bank, Whiffleton on the Swamp, Bogshire, SME 11Y

Whiff Towers is an abandoned and run down castle. At least, everyone thinks it’s abandoned.

To get there you have to follow a dirt road through a dark forest, where it always rains and the tree branches brush against you like cold fingers. The dirt road comes to an end, and suddenly you find yourself in boggy swampland. The swamp echoes with the screams of a thousand souls who are forever lost in the swamp. There is a way across the swamp, but only if the castle wants you to come in…

If the castle welcomes you, a drawbridge across the swamp and lake slowly lowers with a clanking chain. Cross carefully…the bridge is narrow and the swamp could take you at any time. Crossing over the swamp leads you to a lake. The lake smells like rotting fish and the water is so black it is like looking into a well that goes on forever.

If you are welcome, the castle door will open with a creak and a clank. The air inside is perfectly still and makes you feel afraid to move or breathe. The castle is dark and dusty and you feel like someone is there. When you call, no one answers.'

Why I love this
1. It's full of suspense. Will the castle welcome Simon and Tigotha, or won't it? Is there anybody in the castle?
2. The place names are very colourful and funny.
3. Swamps add an element of danger to any story.
4. The tree branches brushing against cold fingers is creepy.

Flopsy-Turvey Island

I just received two brilliant pieces of work by Matthew from St Edwards School. His description rich in information including the history of the island, the type of inhabitants and its geography. He's also created a beautiful, clear map on his computer.

Not only is it well written, but it's intriguing too. I wonder what Upside Down City is like ...

Flopsy-Turvey Island

Flopsy-Turvey Island is not exactly paradise; when it was discovered, early on in 2002, it was told that the team were exploring because of a volcano eruption in the area. The land was desolate and grey, as if everything was dying and withering; although it looked desolate, it was teeming with life, and would soon become a stable enough environment for humans to live in. The island is located 900 miles off of the southern most tip of Portugal and was not put on maps because it would be too small to fit on and still be to scale. Now it has a population of just over 6324 (including all wildlife) spread out over 5 cities and 4 towns and villages. The capital city holds 33.3% of them. The majority of people speak Portuguese but some speak English and some Chinese. Tubsters of Terror, Tigs and Lumipoo Momps enjoy living here.

Tiny Mistakes in the Planning Stages

Some of you may have noticed a few spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes in my blog posts and character booklets. Do not worry.

Even authors make mistakes, that's why make plans and then write lots of drafts.

The planning stages are all about getting ideas jotted down. It's important to try and use the correct spellings etc, because it makes notes easier to read. However, planning notes won't be read by our readers, so they don't need to be 100% perfect.

Our finished book does need to be perfect, so we will draft it, then redraft it, then hire an editor. I will tell you more about editing after half term.

Our Ludicrously Long Collection of Crazy Characters

Looking for some revolting and crazy bedtime reading?

I've created a printable booklet describing all the characters that will be found in our monster book.

Download Our Ludicrously Long Collection of Crazy Characters

There are thirteen main characters and at least five secondary characters. Books don't need this many characters, but you had so many good ideas that I couldn't resist using as many as possible.

In weeks 5 and 6, you will be set the task of plotting a short story thread using two or three of your favourite characters. So best get reading!

Pogy by Shayna

Here's another attractive illustration of a tig. It's a tig called Pogy by Shayna from Manor Lodge School.

Pogy is a five-year-old tig who is generally cute and nice, but can sometimes be a bit of a pain.

Thanks to Shayna for her hard work.

Crunching, Croaking, Toilet Roll Shooters and iPonds

I haven't had time to respond to each school's villains individually this week, because I went away for a few days. However, I read all of your responses while I was on the aeroplane. Here are some bits that stood out:

Brilliant Character Names

Despicable Thorn - Sasha, Queensgate
Pandorafreek Deepshine - Sadie, St Edwards
Summer Jelly Spikes - Anonymous, Morton Trentside
Traceyfreak Uglyfeetdrip - Josie, St Edwards
Despicable Thorn - Sasha, Queensgate
Maddie Long Legs - Anonymous, Morton Trentside
General Jibbers - Ashton, Queensgate
Tubzilla - Alex, St Edwards
Tubby Mompstrosity - Josh, St Edwards
Sophie Wiggleton Fingers - Charlotte, St Edwards
Steve Stinky Trumpy Beak - Anonymous, Morton Trentside

Humour

'Tubsters habitat is a microwave; that is how he gets his food. He is always excited when someone opens the door of the microwave because he gets to eat and he normally pretends to have a disco. He has a disco by stepping on the food pot and starts to spin around and dance. When the person opens the door again Tubster uses his special abilities of going invisible whilst in he is pretending that the spotlight is on him as well as striking a pose. The family who live in the house are usually puzzled where the food has gone.' - Red, St Edwards

This is a very creative and amusing idea. It conjures up a wonderful mental image.

'He listens to old classical piano music on an iPond.' - Prashna, Lucy and Aaliyah from Manor School.

'iPond' is a very amusing play on the word 'iPod'.

'The Luminater won Lumipoo Momps Got Talent for the best spike throwing.' - Charlotte, St Edwards.

I wonder what Simon Cowell made of that!

'It builds nests anywhere, yes even on your doorstep and on people’s heads!' - Hamzah, Bridge School

This is hilarious. I'd be really cross is a lumipoo momp nested on my head. I'd better go and brush my hair ...

'Instead of making nests everywhere he always makes nests on top of peoples cars and it REALLY annoys them.' - Samantha, Barford Primary School.

This is also amusing. Imagine if you wanted to visit a friend who lived on top of a car? How would you find him or her?

'The Tubsters of Terror Prime Minister of Terror has just bought a mini Ferrari for himself.' - Humaira, Bridge School.

The idea of a tubster driving a car makes me giggle.

Alliteration

'Slimy, sickening , sneaky tentacles' - Annabel, St Edwards

Onomatopoeia 

'In class, she stuffs her face with crisps so all you can hear whilst working is, CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! How annoying?' - Chloe, Queensagate

The use of onomatopoeia ('CRUNCH') in this sentence really helps me picture how annoying Chloe's character is.

'He has the croakiest voice in the whole universe.' - Liam, Queensgate

'Croak' is a splendid example of onomatopoeia.

'Strangely he is afraid of puppies and the yap yap sound they make.' - Fatimah H, Bridge School.

'Yap yap' is a great example of onomatopoeia.

Showing as Well as Telling

'Dr. Tubster of Terror is the father of T.O.T (Tubster of Terror). He lives in the dustbin which is full of junk and rubbish. He lives in the bin because it has all his favourite junk in it e.g. banana skins and fruit and vegetable peelings.' - George, St Edward's School

This habitat really shows how disgusting Dr T.O.T. is.

'Whenever Pandorafreek Deepshine gets angry, her eyes turn blood red and her body turns as dark as the night. Once, when she was really angry, she saw an old woman walking along the street she picked her up and spun her around like a lasso then, catapulted her into to space. Sadly she is stuck there forever.' - Sadie, St Edwards

This shows how angry and nasty Pandorafreek can be.

'He has a nasty habit of chewing strawberry flavoured chewing gum and then spitting it out on the floor, he then stamps on it.' - Josh, Queensgate

This really shows how revolting Josh's bully character can be.

'He stays strong by eating chilli and Brussels sprouts and lots of fast food. (Which he steals from the drive thru on his motorbike).' - Highfield School

This is clever because the class have used their answer to the food question to also remind us how horrible their villain is.

'Steve Stinky Trumpy Beak is evil because he steals other Lumipoos eggs.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside

Another great way of showing evilness.

'Bogey the Bogster has bushy overgrown eyebrows with a piece of cheese in it and nits and everything he needs or has lost.' - Charlotte, Manor Lodge

Food in the eyebrows is a great way of showing how grubby a villain can be.

'He also likes to read fashion magazines while he is lunching on Tig.' - Harry, Manor Lodge School

This shows how insensitive the character is. He has killed and is eating a Tig, yet casually reading as if it doesn't even matter.

'Carefully, he transforms himself into a puddle and if someone steps into the puddle he will gobble them up quick as a flash.' - Ahmad, Bridge School

Admad's work provides a good description of how the lumipoo momp's puddle feature works.

Similes

'Because of his tininess he speak like a shrunken man acting like a scurrying mouse finding some cheese that is out of date.' - Joe, St Edwards

This is a brilliant simile by a class four child. It's very detailed, which makes it hilarious.

'He sounds like a big piano being thrown down the stairs.' - Anonymous, St Edwards

Another brilliant sound simile from class four.

'His sound is like a child screaming when being bitten by a crocodile.' - Anonymous, St Hardulph's.

What a truly awful sound! Well described.

'His tongue is as long as a python.' - Anonymous, St Hardulph's.

Great simile. Suggests both length and snakelike qualities.

'He smells like a dictionary-flavoured soup with bananas from mould-a-lot.' - Brendon, Queensgate

This is a really interesting simile because it uses figurative language (i.e. expressing ideas indirectly). Because dictionaries don't have a strong smell (unless you hold them really close to your nose), I had to use other things I know about dictionaries, to imagine the smell.

'She smells of socks (that have be worn for PE) what haven’t be washed in centuries and then dipped in mouldy Stilton cheese.' - Sadie, St Edwards

Another truly vile smell.

'The Lumipoo poo smells like BBQ sauce mixed with mustard, which smells revolting.' - Liam, Queensgate

Yet another disgusting smell!

'The Tubster of Terror has red skin, which is as red as a devil. He smells like the wettest, moldiest wallpaper you could ever get. He talks like a crying baby on Broadway.' - Katie, Rosemellin School

A great selection of similes from Katie. I particularly like the crying baby on Broadway imagery.

Backstories

'He was born a bad egg. He was picked on really badly at his old school so he moved to a new school and became a BULLY. He picked on every one in sight (because of what happened in the past), later on in life they called him the DESTROYER.' - Tyler, Queensgate

This is good. Even bad people have histories and reasons for their behaviour.

'When he was little he got bullied by a girl called Tabitha and she was a really mean girl. Dave is also a bully because she was a girl and he didn’t want to be shown up by a girl again so he became a bully and he thought that no one would pick on a bully.' - Grace, Queensgate

The children at Queensgate have really thought about what makes an ordinary person become a bully.

'Strangely, he has an exceptionally high voice, because as a young baddie he was discovered snooping around inside a human’s house.  Although they were extremely frightened of Tubzilla, the humans managed to capture him inside a big helium balloon. Luckily Tubzilla had detachable teeth when he was born.  He pierced the balloon and managed to scramble out just in time; but never quite got rid of his high voice.' - Alex, St Edwards

An outstanding back story by Alex. He cunningly used the question about sound to add extra details.

'Even the bad crowd he hung around with were not proper friends; they would bully him and tell him he had no mates.' - Highfield School

I feel the above shows great insight into how bullying works.

'He is a bully because he can’t think about good things.' - Ryan, St Edwards

This also shows insight into the mind of a bully.

'Dark Raiden is 20 years old and has just graduated Dangerous Duck school where they learn you how to be pure evil.' - Daiyaan, Barford School

I love the idea of a duck school that educates lumpipoo momps on the particulars of being evil.

Distinguishing Villains from Other Members of the Species

'He only has 2 slimy, sickening, sneaky tentacles,  unfortunately the others got chopped off when he was stirring up some more trouble. They are green with purple spots on them, the DNA made the purple spots  have poisonous  liquid in  them... So be careful when a Tubster of Terror is stressed because that is when he has the ability to squirt!' - - Annabel, St Edwards

You'd definitely be able to identify a tubster with only two tentacles. The spot idea paints a vivid (and disgusting!) mental image.

'Tubby Monstrosity was born, well not born but created, when a Tubster of Terror challenged a Lumipoo Momp to a fight. The Lumipoo transformed itself into a puddle and tried to make the tubster slip but instead the tubster slurped up the Lumipoo and together they morphed into a duck-beaked, spike-covered hamster.' - Josh, St Edwards

A great super-villain from Josh. Not just a hamster spliced with Count Crocular, but a hamster spliced with Count Crocular, then mixed with a lumipoo momp.

Random Creativity

'He’s now an evil, vicious and violent Tubster. It loves eating everything except his imaginary girl friend called Katie - he loves her so much even though she’s imaginary.' - Tyler, Queensgate

The above is very random, but it made me chuckle.

'He has lots of sets of wings for different occasions, like a pair of casual wings, flying away wings, party wings, weird wings, wings for every times in its life.' - Koby, Queensgate

I find the idea of detachable wings very amusing and original.

'Dr Scarepants is mixed gender, and has the ability to look after the other Lumipoo Momps when they dissolve into puddles. She can scoop them up into bottles, take them back to his lab and pour it into a machine.' - Claudia, Manor School

Firstly, a mixed gender lumipoo momp is very original and poses some interesting questions. Secondly, a lumipoo momp that bottles lumipoo puddles is a brilliant idea for a character.

Alternative Weapons

Remember what I said about guns and lasers being boring? What do you think about some of these ideas?

'Unlike other LMs, he can shoot out his spikes and then regrow more.' - Ahmad, Bridge Junior School

'Its weapon is a banana and it's used for chopping heads off and she keeps them in her pink handbag. Slowly she shoots the banana in the eye. It would be horrible.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside.

'The Captain Tubster of Terror has teeth like razors, which can shoot out of his mouth.' - Enzo, Manor School

'Scarily he has a toilet paper shooter which shoots toilet rolls and spins round people. It shoots two at a time.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside

'Its weapon is a red, green and black pea shooter. The squidgy green frozen peas are poisonous peas.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside.

'He’s got a pond water gun to avoid enemy ducks.' - Koby, Queensgate

'Summer Jelly Spikes has an elastic band to use as a rope and another one with lots of nails so she can use it as a bow and arrow.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside

'Her weapon is a wooden spoon because it can creep up on you and knock you out with the wooden spoon.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside

'He has a bin lid and he uses it like a frisbee. It would hurt your body and it is made out of metal.' - Anonymous, Morton Trentside.

'Spike lives in a nest that’s made with junk, especially with rotten brown banana skins, at the top of a cherry tree. He can poo glowing yellow, steamy smelly water bombs that shoot in the air and aim right in your face.' - Lucas and Darcey, St Hardulphs.

I really don't want to be walking under than cherry tree!

I Almost Forgot ... We Need a Scientist

We need a scientist character who injects a hamster with Count Crocula's DNA. Fortunately, George and Matthew from St Edwards both created a scientist tubsters, so I plan to borrow some of their ideas and apply them to a human:

'Dr. TOT has no eyelashes, one long eyebrow and a small smudged nose. His hair is grey, wild and wiry just like a mad scientist. He has little zigzag teeth with thin lips as grey as thunder. His ears are round like teddy bears, on the top of his head. He has feet and legs like Kangaroo’s that are springy, so he walks with a bounce.  Dr. TOT likes to wear a white Lab Coat. In his pockets of the Lab Coat are Dr. TOT’s secret potions. Every night, he puts them into the food and drinks at the supermarket. These potions make people become his servants. The only way for people to get rid of the potion is to drink cola.' - George, St Edwards

'He is also quite academic being top of several topics including chemistry, science and mathematics. All of the topics are evil, obviously, but the most evil is the science. Using his vast knowledge of science Fudgeblock puts together machine after maniacal machine to help conquer the world.' - Matthew, St Edwards

Thank you for all your ideas. I'm in the process of creating a booklet of characters, containing notes for you to use when we storyboard our plots next week.

Grandma Tig

Here's an illustration that I particularly like - Grandma Tig by Reese at Manor Lodge School.

Grandma Tig is the one who did a deal with a genie to secure the power of flight for her family.

Dooms Dale - A Map

Today is a very exciting day - Josie from St Edwards has created a map of an imaginary land where our monster book could take place.

It's called Dooms Dale and is a few miles off the south coast of Portugal. I particularly like the poison flower fields, the electric fence and the clusters of lumipoo momps - not an ideal holiday destination, that's for sure!

Josie has used some very intuitive symbols and a clear key. All in all, a super map.

Week 4 Task - Quick Question : Name a Scientist

I need a name for a mad scientist who works for the government. I'm looking for a full name, so title, first name and surname please.

Please email your suggested scientist names to rosen.trevithick@gmail.com or leave them as comments.

Which Heroes? The Results

I've totalled up the votes for the heroes to feature in our monster book. Which characters will they be?

First, here's some information about characters.

Books have two types of characters:

- Main characters

- Secondary characters

Main Characters

The main characters are the ones who feature throughout the book. They are usually introduced near the beginning and are described in detail.

The main heroes in our book will be:

Turbo the Toddler

and

Simon the Child with his trusty friend Tigotha the Tig

Secondary Characters

These are characters that pop up from time to time. They're usually introduced later in a book than the main characters and are described in less detail.

The secondary good characters will be:

Bob the Good Lumipoo Momp and Jeff the Cleaner.

Children enjoyed all of the hero characters and it was a very close race.

Here are some of the things children loved about Super Amazon Wow Woman:

- 'I like that she flies and has a gold belt.'

- 'I chose that choice because she takes care of children, her name is amazing and I think women are good.'

- 'I like wow women because I really like that she can hold a volcano with one hand.'

- 'She is literally super amazing and I thought wow.'

Here are some of the things children loved about Sir  Fartalot the Fredanielawrobyus:
- 'He has a funny backstory and is a truly extraordinary character for the book and also hilarious.'

- 'Sir Fartalot is funny and crazy mad.'

- 'Sir Fartalot the Fredanielawrobyus sounds cool and would make a great book character.'

Perhaps those of you writing your own stories will use all the heroes, but our monster book will focus on Turbo, Simon and Tigotha.

Week 4 Tips - Apostrophes

Here's a quick illustration to show the importance of using apostrophes.

Apostrophes can show that something belongs to something else.

Here is a sentence from one of the baddie descriptions, with and without an apostrophe.

If you don't use an apostrophe, the sentence means that the ears are actually shaped like teddy bears.
If you do use an apostrophe, the sentence means that the ears are shaped like teddy bears' ears.

Tubsters in the Oven and Squirting Spots

I'm going to be very busy this weekend, so there will be less feedback than usual. However, I have time to comment on some of the work that came in early.

'Sector the Bad Tubster of Terror has fur that is normally snot green but when she gets infuriated the fur on her back gets coal black and her eyes turn blood red.' - Madeline, St Edward's

I like this idea. Our hero could see Sector and think 'Uh oh!' Then sees Sector's eyes turn blood red and our hero realises that he or she is in serious danger.

'This particular Tubster of Terror's habitat is an oven.' - Madeline, St Edward's

Yikes! I wouldn't like to open my oven and find a tubster in there!

'He only has 2 slimy, sickening , sneaky tentacles,  unfortunately the others got chopped off when he was stirring up some more trouble.' - Annabel, St Edwards

This is a good way of distinguishing a particular baddies from the rest of the species.

'They are green with purple spots on them, the DNA made the purple spots have poisonous  liquid in  them... So be careful when a Tubster of Terror is stressed because that is when he has the ability to squirt!' - Annabel, St Edwards

I can't decide whether this is revolting or funny - possibly both.

'His smell is revolting. Its like rotten tuna smothered in mouldy Stilton cheese and some vile nappies on top!' - Annabel, St Edwards

Nice paying attention to the senses with a truly vile simile. Brilliant.

Week 4 Tips - Personification

Personification is where you give something human qualities.

You might say that the sea was angry. Angry is an emotion and the sea doesn't literally have emotions, but using human emotions to describe the sea makes the reader think of big waves.

There will be many opportunities for using personification when you set your scene.

It's best to come up with your own examples, but here are some of mine:

The Weather

- Clouds sprinted through the sky. (The clouds moved very quickly.)
- The sun sang a happy tune. (The sun was shining in a pleasant way.)
- The snow hugged the hillside. (The snow covered the hillside.)

The Landscape

- Beyond the city, the mountains slept. (There were still mountains.)
- The waterfall teased the rocks. (The waterfall splashed the rocks.)
- Tower blocks talked to the sky. (The tower blocks were very tall.)

A Quick Exercise

How might you use personification to describe the following:
1. A deserted, tumbled down castle. (Tip: Imagine about how you would feel if you were that castle.)
2. A moon that keeps disappearing behind clouds. (Tip: Do you know any games where people disappear?)
3. Trees getting blown in the wind. (Tip: Think of activities where people move around.)
4. Thunder making a loud noise. (Tip: What words do you use when a person is noisy?)

Using personification helps make your writing vivid and powerful.

Week 4 Tips - Drawing a Map

One way to plan your setting is to draw a map. A map shows the shape of your land if viewed from the sky and uses symbols to show where the important things are.

Here's one I knocked up quickly called Boglewax Island

I've used villages, churches, railways etc. You can put whatever you like an a map, as long as you create a key with all the symbols in it.

If you create a map at school, best check whether or not your teacher has any special symbols that he or she wants you to use. If not, you can make up your own symbols.

If you're interested in how maps work, here is a picture of a real place (Falmouth) taken from the sky, and a map (by Google) of the same place.

Week 4 Tips - Naming Places

Here's quick game to help you invent a place name:

1. Write a List of Funny Words
Think of words that makes you laugh, or even better, words that makes you go 'ugh'. Suitable words include 'bogie', 'slime' and 'sausage' but you can come up with your own.

2. Find Place Names on a Map
Find a map of somewhere similar to the land in your book and jot down some of the place names on the map.
Do you notice any patterns? For example: 'Falmouth', 'Plymouth' and 'Exmouth' all end in 'mouth'.
If you don't see any patterns, try chopping a long word in half. For example: 'London' would become 'Lon' and 'don' and Manchester would become 'Man' and 'chester'.
Make a list of the bits of place names that you really like.

3. Combine Your Funny Words with Bits of Real Place Names
Mix your words from Part 1 with the bits of place names you found in Part 2, to come up with your snotacular place names.
For example: Bogiemouth, Slimedon, Sausagechester

Week 4 Task - Design the Environment

We now know a lot about our characters but characters are not the only thing a book needs, it also needs a setting and a plot.

This week, we're going to work on the setting. A setting is the place and type of surroundings in which a story takes place.

Please write a description of the place where our story takes place in up to 200 words.

Here are some things to consider:
- Where is the book set? (e.g. England, a fictional country on Earth, a different planet)
- What time period is it? (e.g. past, present, future)
- What season is it? (e.g. summer, autumn, Christmas)
- What is the weather like? (e.g. icy, scorching, windy)
- What is the landscape like? (e.g. mountainous, coastal, desert)
- If you were standing in the middle of our setting, what would you see/hear/smell going on around you?

Remember to use showing as well as telling. You also might like to use similes, alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Further resources and information
- Personification
- Naming places (a silly game)
- Looking for clues (What do we already know?)
- Connectives (including another exercise)

- Drawing a map

Week 4 Tips - Looking for Clues (What Do We Already Know?)

It's important, when setting the scene, to make sure that our setting doesn't clash with any of our characters.

For example, if we put an astronaut in a book set in Victorian times, that would be a continuity error because man didn't go into space until 1961.

We can make sure there are no clashes by looking for clues in our character descriptions. For example:
- We know that it's later that 1942 because there is styrofoam in our story and it wasn't invented until the 1940s.
- We know that Tigs originated from Portugal. So our story is set somewhere in our universe.
- We know that there is open water like a lake, river or ocean, because we have characters who swim.
- We know that there are snakes, puppies and zebra in our world.
- We know that football is played.

Perhaps you can spot more clues about our setting?

When you imagine a setting for our book, make sure it is suitable for our characters and animals.

Week 4 Tips - Connectives

Connectives are connecting words and help the reader move smoothly from one point to the next.

Here are some examples of connective words:

and ~ so ~ but ~ because ~ when ~ for ~ as ~ though

It's important to use connective words when setting a scene because setting a scene involves giving your reader lots of information. You want your reader to move smoothly through your description.

Here is a special exercise for classes learning about connectives:

Imagine the town in which our monster story takes place.

1. Choose a name for your imaginary town. Say that there are lots of interesting things to see in your town and choose one of these giving example connectives to launch into your description.

such as ~ for example ~ for instance

Here are some examples:

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for example ...'

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, such as ...'

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for instance ...'

2. Think of two things that can be found in your town. Now put them together using one of these adding connectives:

and ~ also ~ as well as ~ too ~

Here are some examples:
'... there are purple horses and orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses. Also, there are orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses as well as orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses, orange cows too.'

3. Think of two more things that can be found in your town. Now put them together using one of these space and place connectives:

above ~ behind ~ below ~ beyond ~ to the right ~ to the left ~ opposite ~ in the background

Here are some examples:
'Lumipoo momps fly above a glittering pond.'
'Lumipoo momps fly beyond a glittering pond.'
'A pond glitters beneath lumipoo momps.'

4. Imagine something that's different from your own town and use one of these opposite connectives to explain in what way it's different:

instead ~ whereas ~ unlike ~ but

Here are some examples:
'Instead of a blue sky, the sky is green.'
'Whereas most skies are blue, the sky in this town is green.'
'Unlike on Earth, the sky is green.'
'Skies are usually blue but this one is green.'

5. Think of something in the town that is causing something else, i.e. something that is happening as a result of something else. Use one of these results connectives to explain the cause and effect:

because ~ therefore ~ thus ~ consequently

Here are some some examples:
'All the people are walking puppies because they want to scare off tubsters of terror.'
'People fear tubsters of terror, therefore they all have puppies.'
'People want to scare off tubsters of terror, thus they all have puppies.'
'Evil tubsters of terror are scared of puppies, consequently all the people have dogs.'

Now let's look at my example without any connectives:

My place is called Soggyswamp. There are purple horses. There are orange cows. There are lumipoo momps. There is a pond. The sky is not blue. The sky is green. Tubsters and scared of puppies. The people walk dogs. 

Compare it to my example using connectives:

There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for example there are purple horses and orange cows. Lumipoo momps fly above a glittering pond. Whereas most skies are blue, the sky here is green. Evil tubsters of terror are scared of puppies, consequently all the people have dogs.

As you can see, using connectives makes a description flow nicely.

More Comments of Our Brave Heroes

So far, sixty-seven children have taken part in the vote for the hero characters to be included in our book. Here are some of the latest comments:

'I like Tigotha's power and I like the way Wowser Women is described.'

'I voted for Turbo the Toddler because it is hilarious and enjoyable. My favourite part was the part where Turbo the Toddler took a bite of the cake and realised he had super powers. But I didn't get why nobody else got a bite because normally everyone gets a bite. But it was still a really good story about a toddler.'

'I choose simon because its a sad story. I choose turbo because he has a funny backstory. I choose Jeff also because I liked the way he was described.'

'I voted for Jeff and Turbo because I thought it might be funny to have a toddler saving the world with a cleaner.'

'I think the friendly lumipoo is a humorous monster and an amazing duck and also his power is awesome!'

'I like Turbo the Toddler's backstory about how he ate a piece of birthday cake that gave him powers! Simon the child is a heart touching story about how his parents get killed by a pack of Lumipoo Momps but its good that he makes a friend with a Tig and both have a wonderful time with each other!'

'I voted for Simon, Super Amazing Wowser Woman and Turbo the Toddler. I chose these three because I have feelings for simon. It must be sad losing both his mum, dad and grandpa. I voted for Super Amazing Wowser Women because I think when I read it I thought the person how wrote that is amazing because it reminded me of my brother - he thinks he is a super hero! And I voted for Turbo the Toddler because having a piece of cake and the next day he woke up with super powers is as funny as a monkey smelling its bum.'

'I chose Bob the Good Lumipoo Momp because I love the description of it and I like how he turned nice. I also love the beginning when the lady thinks he is a boiled egg and it is a bit funny how he likes his milk. Next I chose Simon the Child because he has a sad back story which makes me feel sad and sad for him. However it gets better as it goes along like for example when he meets the tig outside the shop was a nice part and then at the end when he has hope again to kill the lumipoo momp flock and save other people from being killed which is very nice to see he has hope again. Finally, I voted for Turbo the Toddler cause it's an original idea because you don't normally find babies as heroes in books  and I also like how he got his super power.'

'I voted for Jeff the Cleaner, Super Amazing Wowser Woman and Sir Fartalot the Fredanielawrobyus because they have a funny backstory and they are truly a extraordinary characters for the book and also hilarious.'

Which Heroes? Votes Have Started to Arrive.

Already many of you have voted for the hero characters that should go into our book. Here are some of the comments so far:

'I voted for Jeff the Cleaner because he is random.'

'I think Simon the child has a great backstory therefore would make a great hero in this particular book!'

'I voted for Bob the Good Lumipoo Momp, Sir Fartalot the Fredanielawrobyus and Turbo the Toddler because they are an awesome threesome.'

'I chose Bob the Good Lumipoo Momp because I thought it was a good idea to have good and bad lumipoo momps.'

'I want Simon the Child because his story is very sad and it makes you feel sad for him.'

'The Tig sounds amazing and Jeff the cleaner sounds very helpful for a hero also Turbo the todler sounds really funny.'

Meet a Tubster With Seven Tentacles

Our first potential villain has arrived. It's Bob the Tubster of Terror by Oliver from St Edwards.

I was thrilled by how brilliant Oliver's work was this week, so I've scribbled notes all over it.

Download Bob the Tubster of Terror + my notes.

So what have we learnt so far?

1. Choose a unique name for your baddie, that's nothing like any of our heroes' names.

2. Consider your baddie's relationship with the other characters.

3. Remember to give your baddie characteristics that the rest of the species might not have (and many that they do.)

4. Don't be afraid to give your baddie the odd good quality.

Week 3 - Decision Time - Which Heroes?

We have a wide variety of heroes to choose from. Read the short list very carefully and then vote for the heroes you would like to write about in our monster book.

Heroes rarely work alone. Some have sidekicks and friends to help. (You can read more about hero structures here.) I recommend picking two or three that you feel would work together well.

Bob the Good Lumipoo Momp

When Bob was a only a mere mompling (still in his momp egg) his brother mistook him for a ping pong ball and batted him almost into orbit. After landing back on solid ground, he rolled and rolled until finally a little old lady picked him up thinking it was a boiled egg. Just as she was about to take her first bite, Bob and his tiny head popped out. Since lumipoo momps only get their spikes when the reach the grand old age of three, Bob was still rather cute and had found himself a new home. The old lady looked after him until he was old enough to look after himself - that’s why he isn’t like the other lumipoos. 

He doesn’t have any special powers, but his good nature and understanding of lumipoo momps puts him in a unique position to help save the world.

Bob looks very messy with his scruffy, unkempt feathers, large boggley eyes and microscopic ears. You can always smell Bob coming because he stinks of lime soap. He has a very high squeaky voice. He can also be a bit of a prankster- this helps him when trying to catch the villains.

Since growing up in a quiet neighbourhood with the little old lady, Bob loves hot water bottles – they remind him of cuddle time. He has since discovered that they are a useful hiding place for concealing lumipoo slime and provide him with a portable device to surprise unsuspecting passers-by for a bit of slime bombing practice. Although he likes green things, he hates sprouts, and he strangely dislikes cheese, although this could have something to do with his childhood mouse trauma! 

Simon the Child

Simon was  born without any skills. In fact he was born quite a weak child. He grew up without any brothers or sisters, so was close to his parents.

When he was just at the age of five, he was in the park with his grandpa when he heard a terrible din. His grandpa hurried him away. He was later told that his parents had died in a boating accident. This developed into a giant fear of water.

Then at the age of ten his grandpa, who was very old, passed away. Simon felt very sad and lonely.

The very next day, Simon was popping down to the shop, when he saw the strangest thing; he found a very small tig lying on the path all sprawled out. Simon picked her up and took her home, where he nursed the young Tig back to health. They became great friends.

This friendship became so strong it gave Simon the strength to try new things. They practised football together and both grew strong and fast.

But one day, Simon found out some terrible news – his parents didn’t drown in an accident; they were attacked by a flock of lumipoo momps.

Now Simon’s mission in life is to track down monsters and take them to a paradise away from humanity. 


Tigotha the Tig

Tigotha comes from a family of tigs, who live in a secret, oxygen-filled cave that you can only get to by swimming under the sea.

The whole tig family can fly because Tigotha’s grandmother once did a job for a genie and the genie gave her a wish. She asked that tigs be given the gift of flight, and the genie granted her wish.

When Tigotha was very young, she flew to a nearby town and joined in a game of football with some human children. At first, it went well. The children were impressed with the way her six legs could dribble and tackle. But then some bigger children came and bullied her, leaving her weak.

Years later, Tigotha is strong again, but she hates bullies more than ever and wants to put the world to rights.

Jeff the Cleaner

Cleaning Jeff is 42. He is a man of few words, with a face as still as a statue, nobody ever notices him. School children throw their paint, lunches and crayons on the floor and Cleaning Jeff picks them all up. The next day, children throw things on the floor again.

But Cleaning Jeff is not a meaningless cog in the education system. He has the important job of keeping lumipoo momps away from school. They frequently try to sneak in to jab children with their spikes. They try to slip under the school gate in puddle form. Jeff hovers there with his trusty vacuum cleaner, ready to hoover them all up.

He regularly checks to pipes for tubsters of terror.

He is also a super-duper banana-bomb maker. He collects bananas and takes them to the school basement, where he creates banana bombs are other fruit-related arsenal.

Super Amazing Wowser Woman

She can fly. She can lift volcanos. She has laser eyes.

Oh yes, Super Amazing Wow Woman is a super super hero.

Descended from a long line of super heroes, Super Amazing Wow Woman sounds like a tornado as she zooms around town in a red cape with a gold belt. She has a sword that was once used to slay a dragon. She has gloves that can wrap 'truth wire' around baddies, forcing them to tell the truth.

Whoever she’s been fighting, wherever she’s been flying, her clothing always sparkles. She is the cleanest super hero in town. (Always ready for the next photo opportunity). Her ball earrings are actually super spy hearing balls, that improve her hearing.

Super Amazing Wow Woman loves children and ducks. Unfortunately, she loves ducks so much that she has failed to realise that lumipoo momps are deadly villains. She thinks they’re cute.

She believes that tigs are her mortal enemies because they eat children. She doesn’t know that Tigs are misunderstood because she has a very simple view of life. Being a super hero, she believes in goodies and baddies but doesn't realise that good people can make mistakes.

Her hobbies include catching scoundrels, reading newspaper articles with titles such as ‘Super Amazing Wow Woman Saves the Day’, and eating chocolate straight from the microwave. (Without chocolate she wilts like a flower that’s not be watered.)

She has a sidekick but she can’t remember who it is. (She’s too busy looking in the mirror.)

Yes, Super Amazing Wow Woman is definitely a super hero. Unfortunately, unlike her sword, she’s not the sharpest tool in the box and often zooms in to save the day, without checking whether or not the day needs to be saved.


Sir Fartalot the Fredanielawrobyus

He has such a loud voice that windows rattle and shatter, and computer screens splinter and crack.  He is a happy fellow, who likes to tell jokes. His favourite joke is:

Where do pirates buy toys for their children? Toys ARRRRR us!

He hardly ever gets cross, but when he does, you better watch out, because that is when he is most likely to eat you.

He hasn’t quite managed his laser eye skills, so occasionally he blows up something he didn’t mean to. His skills with a bow and arrow are much better; he has won competitions for shooting apples out of trees. He likes to juggle especially with bananas. He gets jealous when others juggle and uses his laser to zap them to teach them a lesson.

He isn’t really that keen on pizza, but he has to eat it if he has an emergency and needs to go invisible.

He is practicing hard on his farting skills; he keeps having accidents when farts sneak out and stun people by mistake.

Most of the time Sir Fartalot is bald, but on Fridays and at Christmas he has very long blue hair. He is one of the few Fredanielawrobyi to have straight teeth. He wears blue nail polish on his claws.

He is quite the snappy dresser; his favourite day wear is pink baggy trousers and a t shirt bearing his name. Baggy trousers are important as they allow full functioning of his fart powers. He enjoys wearing a suit and tie for special occasions. When relaxing at home, he likes to wear a smoking jacket and cravat.


Turbo the Toddler

Toby is known as Turbo the Toddler because he has the super hero ability to run and fly really fast. Unfortunately, aside from his speed and an uncontrollable urge to rescue people, he behaves exactly like a toddler. He poos his nappies, can say very few words and gets food all over his face. 

On his second birthday a strange chemical dropped into the oven while his
birthday cake was baking. Toby took a bite of cake with the chemical and the
next day he realised he had two super powers!

One of his skills is curl power. His hair springs to life when a monster is in sight. Those short baby curls suddenly become helicopter propellers and Bobby can fly into the sky.

Turbo’s other skill is that he is very fast on foot. He is very good at getting to emergencies quickly. He once saved a lady from being eaten by a lion.

He wears a blue onsie with a red ‘T’ on the front and springy booties. The suit smells of mashed banana and sour milk, which is what he likes to eat.

He sometimes finds himself slowed down by chewing gum on the pavement, because his feet get stuck to it. He can be incredibly infantile and throws a lot of tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. For example, he threw a tantrum because a boy needed rescuing when he wanted to watch his favourite TV show.

Unfortunately, Turbo’s nappy smells so bad that many people refuse his help. Others mistake him for on ordinary toddler and try to help him instead of being rescued. It can be very confusing.

Click here to vote.

Week 3 Tips - Heroes Working Together

Most stories have more than one hero. Here are some typical hero setups:

The Hero and Sidekick

E.g. Shrek and Donkey.

One hero takes the lead, but is assisted by his or her trusty sidekick. The sidekick is usually less skilled or skilled in different ways to the hero.

Sometimes writers make their sidekick cleverer than the hero, because that can make people laugh.

The Hero and His Friends

E.g. Harry, Ron and Hermione.

In this scenario, the hero lakes the lead but has a pair or group of friends who help throughout the story.

A Group of Heroes

E.g. The Famous Five

A group of friends work together to save the day. No one hero stands out as the best. All the heroes have different skills and abilities.

Week 3 Task - Design Some Villains

It's time to create our baddies characters. What is the leader of the lumipoo momps like? What is the most dangerous lumipoo momp called? Who won the last Lumipoo Momps' Got Talent? Which lumipoo momp is best at the eyes-closed swimming race? We also need a few tubsters of terror and some bullies.

We already know that Tigs are friendly (albeit with an unfortunate tendency to eat the odd child) so we don't need any tig baddies.

This week you need to create one baddie character and describe him or her in up to 200 words.

Your baddies must be one of the following, please:
- One of the human children that bullies tigs
- An evil lumipoo momp
- An evil tubster of terror

Please don't create any new species.

If you choose a human child who bullies tigs, please use what you already know about humans to build your character.

If you choose a lumipoo I would like you to use the lumipoo momp species notes to build a character please.
Download Lumpioo Momp Species Notes

If you choose a tubster I would like you to use the tubster of terror species notes to build a character please.
Download Tubster of Terror Species Notes

For example, when I wrote about trolls, I first decided that all trolls would be smelly, greenish-tinged and horned. When I later designed characters, they were all smelly, greenish-tinged and horned but had individual qualities as well. For example I gave each one a different backstory, a different haircut and a different unique bad smell.

So if your villain is a lumipoo momp, it must be a spiky duck that can turn into a puddle, but you can choose your own characteristics to add to the information on the species sheets.

The children's illustrator, Katie W. Stewart, has sketched a typical member of each species, to help keep you on track. (Read all about the brilliant Katie.)

Here are some things to think about if your baddie is a lumipoo momp:
1. What's its name, age and gender?
2. What is its job or rank? (e.g. the leader of the species, a spy, the runt)
3. Where is its nest, what is it made from and what is it like inside?
4. What colour are its eyes and beak?
5. What accessories does it wear? (e.g. red cowboy hat; purple, silk scarf; pink polka-dot handbag)
6. What else distinguishes it (tells it apart) from other lumipoo momps?

Here are some things to think about if your baddie is a tubster of terror:
1. What's its name, age and gender?
2. Where does it live (e.g. in a pipe, in a shoebox, in a cash machine)
3. What colour is its fur? What colour are its tentacles?
4. We know that they smell bad, but what exactly does yours smell like?
5. What does it sound like? Can it talk? If so, does it have an accent?
6. What distinguishes it (tells it apart) from other tubsters of terror?

Here are some things to think about if your baddie is a bully:
1. What's its name, age and gender?
2. Why is he or she a bully? (e.g. parent is too busy to teach right from wrong, tiny brain, traumatised by an experience with a lumipoo momp)
3. What nasty things does he or she do? (e.g. call names, throw things, steal sandwiches)
4. What does he or she look like?
5. What does her or she smell like?
6. What does he or she sound like?

Don't forget what you've already learnt about backstories, showing/telling, similes and onomatopoeia.

Here are some tips to help you with this week's task:
A Game for Naming Monsters
Inventing Interesting Weapons
Using Alliteration

Please email your descriptions to rosen.trevithick@gmail.com

A Game for Naming Monsters

There are many ways to choose names for characters. You can flick through the phone book for surnames, you can look at the census from 100 years ago, and I've even got a book of names.

However, monster names are a bit different from ordinary names. You might want your monster to sound fierce, slimy or stinky.

Here's a quick game to help you invent a monster name:

1. Get into a group of three or more and sit in a circle.
2. On a piece of paper, write down a first name (e.g. Barry, Henry, Anita)
3. Fold over the piece of paper and pass it to the person on your right.
4. Write down a funny word (e.g. 'sausage', 'wibble', 'smelly') and then a hyphen.
5. Fold over the piece of paper and pass it to the person on your right.
6. Write down a part of the monster's body (e.g. spikes, feathers, beak)
7. Fold over the piece of paper and pass it to the person on your right.
8. Open the piece of paper you were just given and read the same of the monster.

You will come up with names like:
Barry Sausage-Spikes
Henry Wibble-Feathers
Anita Smelly-Beak

If you don't think the name you read out suits your monster, could you tweak it slightly?

For example, 'Barry Sausage Spikes' is funny, but it's not quite right for a lumipoo momp because sausages are round and spikes are sharp. I could change 'Barry Sausage Spikes' to 'Barry Prickle Spikes'.

Perhaps you'd like alliterative names (names where the first letter of each word is the same) such as Barbara Batty-Beak. If so, decide on a letter before starting the game. The new rule is that you can only write down words starting with that letter.

If you're really stuck, you can try my Troll Name Generator.

The Sketches From Katie Have Arrived

Remember I said that a professional children's author was going to sketch our monster species? If not, you can read all about Katie W. Stewart here.

Anyway, the sketches have now arrived, all the way from Australia. There will be plenty of opportunities to draw your own versions of the characters in the future, but these are guides to help you remember the key points about each species this week, as you create your baddie characters.

Here they are, in all their glory:

Duck Donkers, Booming and Shadowy Water

This afternoon, I've been reading ideas from Morton Trentside Primary School.

Here are some of the highlights:

'Quackers is a lumipoo momp that has super power senses so then he would not bump into anything.'

A very useful skill for creatures that prefer to swim with their eyes closed.

'Duck Donkers has a shiny, bright and pointy orange beak.'

Duck Donkers is a brilliant name. I like the idea of a bright and shiny beak. Perhaps Duck Donkers could polish its beak with furniture or shoe polish?

'Duck Donkers closes his eyes because he doesn't like his own reflection in  the light blue, wavy water.'

The sentence above contains some lovely adjectives (describing words) used to tell us about the water.

'Ducky can pick up cars.'

A duck holding a car? Now that's something I'd like to see.

'He can jump over the moon and when he lands he makes a boom.'

I really like the line above because you could make it into a mini poem with a half-rhyme:

'He can jump over the moon,
When he lands he makes a boom!'

'Boom' is an example of onomatopoeia (when saying a word out loud sounds like the thing you're describing.) Try saying 'boom' out load - it sounds like an explosion.

'Dance Duck enjoys swimming in dark, gloomy and shadowy water.'

I really like the adjectives (describing words) used to tell us about more water.

'Every time he tries to say hello  he says "momp momp".'

This is very amusing. I can imagining it happening.

'If you laugh, Quackers will charge at you.'

Uh oh! I think I would find it hard not to laugh at a crazed duck saying "momp, momp". I'll have to practise keeping a straight face.

'If a baby is trying to get him, Crackers can turn into a puddle in a click!'

At first, I thought, 'Why would a baby, of all people, try to attack a lumipoo momp?'. Then I realised that babies are too young to understand that lumipoos are dangerous. Perhaps the baby just wanted to pet crackers (bad idea!).

Many thanks to Morton Trentside for their interesting responses.