Teach Primary Issue 18.2

50 | www.teachwire.net I wanted to explore how two people can go from being enemies to being friends. Having two voices, with opposite points of view, made the story a challenge and a joy to write. Serina is a confident, privileged person who must learn to survive on Skull Island, keeping her identity hidden. But beneath all her good fortune, she’s actually lonely and isolated. As she and Raff care for their baby dragons, Serina makes her first true friend. The children begin to trust and respect each other. This helps them both to question their side of the story, and Raff finds the courage to challenge his strong mother for the first time. But Serina is keeping secrets from Raff – and they all come to light in very dramatic ways! Will he still trust her when he finally learns the truth? Throughout the story there are strongly contrasting views. This is the first time I’ve written with two narrators, and switching between voices became my new favourite technique, judging exactly when to flick between perspectives for maximum tension. It’s a dramatic adventure, with a cast of dragon-riders and pirates, but at the heart of the story is a question that’s been on my mind lately: how do we talk to people we disagree with and find a way of seeing through their eyes? How do we listen to each other, and how do we find common ground? Raff and Serina have to work together to defeat a shared threat, in spite of all their differences. TP T he Pirate’s Dragon tells the story of two children who seem like opposites in almost every way. Serina is the daughter of the rulers of Arcosi. She’s just bonded with a fragile baby dragon, when pirates raid her island and steal the eggs – and her hatchling! She doesn’t hesitate: she leaps on the pirate’s dragon and gets carried away to a strange new island where they do things very differently. Meanwhile, Raff Sparrowhawk is waiting anxiously on Skull Island for his mother, the pirate queen, to return with the eggs. Why should the people of Arcosi have all the dragons, especially after what they did? The Pirate’s Dragon by Liz Flanagan WAGOLL Text © Liz Flanagan. The Pirate’s Dragon (£8.99, UCLan Publishing) is out now. DOWNLOAD RESOURCES AT Download your FREE , exclusive teaching pack to help you explore both this extract and the rest of the book with your class. tinyurl.com/ tp-PiratesDragon GET TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTER Before I write about them, I need to get to know my character, to learn how they think and feel. I make notes and sketches to prepare. I like to use Pinterest to find a visual image to inspire me and help me bring each character into focus. WHAT’S THEIR STORY? You don’t need to know every detail, but it helps me to have a rough idea of my character’s backstory. What do they want? What’s brought them here? USE ALL THE SENSES Everyone has different sensory input – what is it like for your character? Do they notice sights or smells or sounds? Adding these details will bring them alive on the page. GO DEEP We all feel different inside from how we look on the outside. How can you show your character’s inner self and how vulnerable they feel? This helps your character seem real and encourages the reader to care. MAGPIE IT! Can you borrow a feeling or a trait that you’ve had yourself, or you’ve noticed in someone else? Don’t borrow a whole person, but act like a magpie and swoop on shiny ideas here and there. The character you make will be totally imaginary – but seem real. No one else will guess which bits you have borrowed. Peer inside the mind of the author, and help pupils understand how to show important events through a character’s eyes 5 TIPS for showing important events through a character’s eyes