Reading Aloud: Episode 9

0001 10:00:12:09 10:00:15:16

Hello, and welcome to "Reading Aloud", the programme about books

0002 10:00:15:16 10:00:17:21 that's more than just a review show.

0003 10:00:17:21 10:00:23:06

It's about sharing books that you're passionate about using in schools.

0004 10:00:23:06 10:00:27:20

Now, these exam crammers may not excite much passion,

0005 10:00:27:20 10:00:31:22 but in today's programme, one top author launches a blistering attack

0006 10:00:31:22 10:00:33:06 on testing.

0007 10:00:33:06 10:00:37:16

These exams don't just crucify the children, they crucify the teachers.

0008 10:00:37:16 10:00:41:15

(Michael) Also in this show: pupils play pitching to the publisher,

0009 10:00:41:15 10:00:43:15

I do my Russell Crowe impression.

0010 10:00:43:15 10:00:46:20

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius."

0011 10:00:46:20 10:00:50:12

And the public prove why we need Bill Bryson's guide to science.

0012 10:00:50:12 10:00:53:21

- Do you know what a proton is? - No.

0013 10:00:57:09 10:01:01:21

First, an author with a fascinating range of material and interests -

0014 10:01:01:21 10:01:03:13

Robert Swindells.

0015 10:01:03:13 10:01:06:05

He's not afraid to tackle controversial issues

0016 10:01:06:05 10:01:08:19 like nuclear disarmament and homelessness.

0017 10:01:08:19 10:01:12:19

He's also responsible for chilling and magical adventure stories

0018 10:01:12:19 10:01:15:07 like "Ice Palace".

0019 10:01:15:07 10:01:17:14

The hero, Ivan, lives in a land

0020 10:01:17:14 10:01:20:02 where the winter is dark and fearful.

0021 10:01:20:02 10:01:24:04

Starjik, King of Winter, steals Ivan's little brother,

0022 10:01:24:04 10:01:27:17 and Ivan braves the bitter cold and packs of wolves

0023 10:01:27:17 10:01:30:05 to find the little boy.

0024 10:01:31:05 10:01:33:24

"And somewhere, back there, he knew

0025 10:01:33:24 10:01:36:12 the wolves were running in his tracks."

0026 10:01:36:12 10:01:39:13

"He must find a tree to climb."

0027 10:01:39:13 10:01:44:14

"Wolves can outrun any living thing, but they cannot climb trees."

0028 10:01:44:14 10:01:49:03

"He stumbled on, looking wildly around him,

0029 10:01:49:03 10:01:54:11 but the trees just here were pines with smooth, icy trunks."

0030 10:01:54:11 10:01:56:11

"The wolf cries drew nearer." 0031 10:01:56:11 10:01:58:20

"He plunged forwards, gasping."

0032 10:01:58:20 10:02:00:15

"They had seen him now."

0033 10:02:00:15 10:02:05:12

"A few seconds more and they would be upon him."

0034 10:02:07:12 10:02:10:24

(Michael) Ivan's adventures have really captured the imagination

0035 10:02:10:24 10:02:14:16 of the children at Leegomery Junior School in Shropshire.

0036 10:02:14:17 10:02:17:14

They've all read the book, but teacher Merle Traves

0037 10:02:17:14 10:02:20:01 wants to know how they would promote it.

0038 10:02:20:01 10:02:22:11

What is it that's so special about this book

0039 10:02:22:11 10:02:24:17 that I should spend the money to publish it?

0040 10:02:24:17 10:02:28:10

It's really exciting and thrilling, 0041 10:02:28:10 10:02:32:05 and every child in the world would want to buy it.

0042 10:02:32:05 10:02:34:21

(Merle) Really, the focus was children's writing.

0043 10:02:34:21 10:02:37:15

I wanted to improve their writing,

0044 10:02:37:15 10:02:39:18 instead of the sudden story that started,

0045 10:02:39:18 10:02:42:08 this happened, this happened, and there's the end.

0046 10:02:42:08 10:02:45:17

I wanted them to think carefully about the type of language

0047 10:02:45:17 10:02:48:17 they were using in that opening sequence.

0048 10:02:48:17 10:02:52:12

(Michael) Did you ask them to guess what might come next as you read?

0049 10:02:52:12 10:02:55:15

(Merle) That's right. I waited till the first incident,

0050 10:02:55:15 10:03:00:00 because what takes place is he's got a number of obstacles.

0051 10:03:00:00 10:03:03:12

The main character is going to get his brother back,

0052 10:03:03:12 10:03:07:13 and in order to do that he has to overcome a number of obstacles.

0053 10:03:07:13 10:03:11:09

So after the first obstacle I wanted them to predict

0054 10:03:11:09 10:03:13:12 what was going to happen next.

0055 10:03:13:12 10:03:16:19

There was some really good thinking coming from the children.

0056 10:03:16:19 10:03:20:14

"As Ivan was walking, he felt the ground start to shake."

0057 10:03:20:14 10:03:23:10

"He did not know what was happening and felt scared."

0058 10:03:23:10 10:03:26:00

"He was alone in the woods with the ground shaking."

0059 10:03:26:00 10:03:28:17

"And as he turned, he saw a blinding light, 0060 10:03:28:17 10:03:31:20 and a crack in the ground started to open

0061 10:03:31:20 10:03:34:11 until it was as big as a lake."

0062 10:03:34:11 10:03:36:21

"It's so cold that the trees shiver."

0063 10:03:36:21 10:03:40:00

"Because it's magical it's like a dream come true."

0064 10:03:40:00 10:03:42:05

"The snow looks..."

0065 10:03:42:05 10:03:46:03

(Merle) If they weren't committed to the story, it wouldn't work,

0066 10:03:46:03 10:03:48:03 but at the same time, you are able to say:

0067 10:03:48:03 10:03:50:19

"Listen to this. How does he describe it?"

0068 10:03:50:19 10:03:55:18

And you've got really good examples of the description in the book.

0069 10:03:55:18 10:03:58:12

I love that phrase you use - "committed to the story". 0070 10:03:58:12 10:04:02:16

Yes, in the sense that they wanted to know what happens at the end.

0071 10:04:02:16 10:04:07:06

And what works really well is that it pulls the class together.

0072 10:04:07:06 10:04:11:06

There's a lovely shared experience that they have.

0073 10:04:19:05 10:04:23:03

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius,

0074 10:04:23:03 10:04:25:09 commander of the Armies of the North,

0075 10:04:25:09 10:04:27:24 general of the Felix Legion,

0076 10:04:27:24 10:04:31:21 loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius,

0077 10:04:31:21 10:04:36:07 father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife."

0078 10:04:36:07 10:04:40:16

"And I will have my vengeance in this life or the next."

0079 10:04:40:16 10:04:43:12 Russell Crowe, eat your heart out.

0080 10:04:43:12 10:04:46:17

Well, the man who penned those famous lines from "Gladiator"

0081 10:04:46:17 10:04:49:21 is the Oscar-nominated writer William Nicholson.

0082 10:04:49:21 10:04:52:03

The screenplay has brought Nicholson fame,

0083 10:04:52:03 10:04:55:12 but he's also an award-winning, best-selling children's writer

0084 10:04:55:12 10:04:58:05 specialising in fantasy.

0085 10:04:58:05 10:05:01:02

(William) What I'm doing now is writing fantasy novels.

0086 10:05:01:02 10:05:04:15

I've got a new novel out called "Seeker".

0087 10:05:04:15 10:05:08:08

What I'm trying to do in "Seeker" - it's very ambitious -

0088 10:05:08:08 10:05:12:10 it's three books, and I'm taking three teenagers,

0089 10:05:12:10 10:05:16:15 and I'm putting them through enormous changing experiences

0090 10:05:16:15 10:05:20:03 as they pursue what, to them, is the most valuable thing they can do,

0091 10:05:20:03 10:05:21:19 which is serve their god.

0092 10:05:21:19 10:05:25:06

I have tell you, their god will turn out to be not what you expect.

0093 10:05:25:06 10:05:27:00

Nothing is simple in these books.

0094 10:05:27:00 10:05:30:17

But what I promise you is this is me trying to say:

0095 10:05:30:17 10:05:33:00

"Everything that you need to learn for life,

0096 10:05:33:00 10:05:35:18 these characters will learn in front of your eyes,

0097 10:05:35:18 10:05:37:17 including how to have superpowers."

0098 10:05:37:17 10:05:41:12

(Michael) In "Seeker" there's a pirate called the Wildman.

0099 10:05:41:12 10:05:43:13 Now, the Wildman looks rather like me,

0100 10:05:43:13 10:05:47:12 except you've got to imagine me with long, blond curls, OK?

0101 10:05:47:12 10:05:49:12

My arms are bare and tanned,

0102 10:05:49:12 10:05:52:02 and I've got these silver bangles all down it,

0103 10:05:52:02 10:05:55:07 and I've got bright-coloured clothes, and I am a river pirate.

0104 10:05:55:07 10:05:57:23

I come in my boat with my team of pirates,

0105 10:05:57:23 10:06:00:12 and all I want to do is rob and kill.

0106 10:06:00:12 10:06:04:21

I come into a village of terrified villagers, and I'm the Wildman,

0107 10:06:04:21 10:06:09:07 and the first thing I say is, "Hee-ya! Do ya love me?"

0108 10:06:09:07 10:06:11:18 because the Wildman loves to be loved. 0109 10:06:11:18 10:06:14:08

And if you don't love him, he cuts your throat.

0110 10:06:14:08 10:06:17:19

Something very interesting happens when you write a story.

0111 10:06:17:19 10:06:21:03

You think what you're doing is writing a story that's just fun,

0112 10:06:21:03 10:06:25:00 and all you're interested in is the plot and how it develops,

0113 10:06:25:00 10:06:27:06 and making your characters be fun.

0114 10:06:27:06 10:06:29:08

Actually, what happens when you write

0115 10:06:29:08 10:06:32:14 is everything you most believe starts to come out,

0116 10:06:32:14 10:06:34:11 and you don't know it's happening.

0117 10:06:34:11 10:06:39:09

But the act of storytelling is also the creation of values,

0118 10:06:39:09 10:06:41:10 the communication of values. 0119 10:06:41:10 10:06:45:00

(Michael) Values that, in "Seeker", involve a quest for power.

0120 10:06:45:00 10:06:47:20

And he doesn't even touch him, and the Wildman flies,

0121 10:06:47:20 10:06:50:01 flies away, he's completely knocked over.

0122 10:06:50:01 10:06:55:08

So the Wildman gets up and he thinks, "This is real power."

0123 10:06:55:08 10:06:58:00

"I want some of this."

0124 10:06:58:00 10:07:02:00

When I started writing my first children's novel, "The Wind Singer",

0125 10:07:02:00 10:07:04:15

I said to myself, "If anybody will want to read this,

0126 10:07:04:15 10:07:06:22 it must have strong emotion driving it",

0127 10:07:06:22 10:07:09:06 and, "What do I really feel strongly about?"

0128 10:07:09:06 10:07:11:19 And up popped the idea - exams.

0129 10:07:11:19 10:07:16:23

My three children were beginning to get into this mad testing thing,

0130 10:07:16:23 10:07:18:20 where everything gets tested.

0131 10:07:18:20 10:07:22:10

They get measured, the schools get measured. It just drove me crazy.

0132 10:07:22:10 10:07:26:20

I thought, "I'll write a novel which smashes the idea of exams."

0133 10:07:26:20 10:07:30:12

These exams don't just crucify the children, they crucify the teachers.

0134 10:07:30:12 10:07:33:07

They force the teachers to go down these narrow rails.

0135 10:07:33:07 10:07:36:06

And I know teachers hate this. Many of them have told me.

0136 10:07:36:06 10:07:37:17

I'd hate it if I was a teacher.

0137 10:07:37:17 10:07:40:11

What I want from a teacher who's teaching my child

0138 10:07:40:11 10:07:45:20 is for that individual to pass on the passions and the enthusiasms

0139 10:07:45:20 10:07:49:12 and the knowledge and wisdom of that individual, whatever that may be.

0140 10:07:49:12 10:07:51:16

I mean, what else is worth passing on?

0141 10:07:51:16 10:07:55:05

And it just makes me weep when I see that they say:

0142 10:07:55:05 10:07:57:21

"I'm sorry, I can't answer that question."

0143 10:07:57:21 10:08:01:00

"It's not part of the syllabus. We must stick to the syllabus."

0144 10:08:01:00 10:08:03:05

I mean, that's not education.

0145 10:08:03:05 10:08:06:14

William Nicholson sounding off about exams there,

0146 10:08:06:14 10:08:08:10 and I tend to agree with him.

0147 10:08:08:10 10:08:13:10

I've sat a good few exam papers in my time and had my scary moments.

0148 10:08:13:10 10:08:16:12 And the things that nervous candidates come up with

0149 10:08:16:12 10:08:19:15 can be quite surprising.

0150 10:08:19:15 10:08:22:15

"The first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus,

0151 10:08:22:15 10:08:25:02

Deuteronomy, Numbers and Laxatives."

0152 10:08:25:02 10:08:27:05

"The First World War was caused by

0153 10:08:27:05 10:08:30:13 the assignation of the archduck by a serf,

0154 10:08:30:13 10:08:35:03 and ushered in a new error in the anals of human history."

0155 10:08:35:03 10:08:37:10

"In one of Shakespeare's famous plays,

0156 10:08:37:10 10:08:40:08

Hamlet relieves himself in a long soliloquy."

0157 10:08:40:08 10:08:42:18

"William Tell shot an arrow through an apple

0158 10:08:42:18 10:08:44:22 while standing on his son's head."

0159 10:08:44:22 10:08:46:17

And my all-time favourite:

0160 10:08:46:17 10:08:52:16

"Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a hundred-foot clipper."

0161 10:08:52:16 10:08:55:24

How much do we know about the world around us?

0162 10:08:55:24 10:08:58:19

Travel writer Bill Bryson woke up one morning

0163 10:08:58:19 10:09:01:00 and asked himself that very question,

0164 10:09:01:00 10:09:05:06 and realised that, in his case, it wasn't very much, or, as he put it,

0165 10:09:05:06 10:09:07:21 he didn't know a quark from a quasar,

0166 10:09:07:21 10:09:09:19 a proton from a protein,

0167 10:09:09:19 10:09:13:09 and he had no idea how an atom is put together.

0168 10:09:13:09 10:09:17:03 So he spent three years attempting to answer these conundrums,

0169 10:09:17:03 10:09:20:09 and the result - a brilliantly funny, bestselling book -

0170 10:09:20:09 10:09:22:17

"A Short History of Nearly Everything".

0171 10:09:22:17 10:09:25:04

In a moment, I'll be putting it to our panel,

0172 10:09:25:04 10:09:31:04 but do we really know our protons from our proteins?

0173 10:09:31:04 10:09:34:14

- Do you know what a proton is? - No.

0174 10:09:34:14 10:09:36:07

- A car? - No.

0175 10:09:36:07 10:09:38:19

- It's a fast vehicle. - What is? A proton?

0176 10:09:38:19 10:09:40:20

- Part of a cell. - Something to do with atoms.

0177 10:09:40:20 10:09:42:05

The bit in the middle. 0178 10:09:42:05 10:09:45:16

- Do you know what protein is? - That's a coffee drink, man.

0179 10:09:45:16 10:09:48:05

- It helps builds muscles. - A vitamin you need?

0180 10:09:48:05 10:09:50:14

- It's good for the body. - Ah, right.

0181 10:09:50:14 10:09:53:13

- Ever heard of a quark? - You can make cheesecake with it.

0182 10:09:53:13 10:09:55:14

A quark - a little bird

0183 10:09:55:14 10:09:59:15 we find in the wheat fields.

0184 10:09:59:15 10:10:02:01

- Right. What is it? Like a rodent? - That's right.

0185 10:10:02:01 10:10:05:10

It's not some kind of fat, is it?

0186 10:10:05:10 10:10:07:08

Or is it a unit of measurement?

0187 10:10:07:08 10:10:13:05

It's a building block of an atom, of protons, electrons and neutrons. 0188 10:10:13:05 10:10:15:09

- I didn't do science. - He's a bit flash.

0189 10:10:19:12 10:10:23:01

Well, plenty of interpretations of the word "quark" there.

0190 10:10:23:01 10:10:26:06

Now, is this book - "A Short History of Nearly Everything" -

0191 10:10:26:06 10:10:28:07 is this going to help them, Julia?

0192 10:10:28:07 10:10:31:10

Probably, but I can't remember finding out about quarks.

0193 10:10:31:10 10:10:34:23

You would find out who discovered the quark, who found the quark,

0194 10:10:34:23 10:10:37:15 how they are related to others who knew about quarks.

0195 10:10:37:15 10:10:42:00

All of that would be in this. This is more about people than science.

0196 10:10:42:00 10:10:46:02

You'd have to remember the detail. There's a lot of detail in the book.

0197 10:10:46:02 10:10:49:00

- Too much detail, Ghulam? - Yes.

0198 10:10:49:00 10:10:52:11

To to an extent, it's like going maybe four rounds with Mike Tyson,

0199 10:10:52:11 10:10:54:23 but instead of having brain cells knocked out,

0200 10:10:54:23 10:10:57:07 it's like having a whole lot crammed in.

0201 10:10:57:07 10:11:00:10

At the end of it, you still wake up face flat on the canvas.

0202 10:11:00:10 10:11:02:11

It's a lot to take in.

0203 10:11:02:11 10:11:05:04

But, having said that, it's very informative.

0204 10:11:05:04 10:11:07:24

It's a lively style, isn't it, Stacey?

0205 10:11:07:24 10:11:12:11

He's telling many stories and knitting in a few gags on the way.

0206 10:11:12:11 10:11:15:13

Is that just making science palatable?

0207 10:11:15:13 10:11:17:15 Is it a way of sugaring the pill?

0208 10:11:17:15 10:11:19:23

Well, I think that's what he's trying to do,

0209 10:11:19:23 10:11:21:20 and, in a way, it sort of works.

0210 10:11:21:20 10:11:25:03

But ultimately, it is still a book about science.

0211 10:11:25:03 10:11:30:00

And at the end of it, if that isn't your particular interest, I think...

0212 10:11:30:00 10:11:33:23

- I suspect it may not be yours? - No, it isn't, unfortunately.

0213 10:11:33:23 10:11:35:22

I did appreciate the literary style.

0214 10:11:35:22 10:11:38:16

There are a lot of techniques that he uses to liven it up

0215 10:11:38:16 10:11:42:12 and make it interesting, but I'm afraid for me, it just didn't work.

0216 10:11:42:12 10:11:45:21

Aren't you excited now that you know how important carbon is?

0217 10:11:45:21 10:11:48:17 No. I've got through my life so far without knowing.

0218 10:11:48:17 10:11:51:06

Now, I don't... I think I am excited.

0219 10:11:51:06 10:11:53:21

I'm excited by his excitement with science.

0220 10:11:53:21 10:11:57:16

Amazing stuff, like about the Curies -

0221 10:11:57:16 10:12:01:11 nobody realising how dangerous everything they were working on was,

0222 10:12:01:11 10:12:04:05 and that Marie Curie's papers are now kept in a lead box,

0223 10:12:04:05 10:12:08:12 because they are so incredibly impregnated with plutonium.

0224 10:12:08:12 10:12:11:11

It's things like that that were absolutely fascinating.

0225 10:12:11:11 10:12:13:07

You do come away knowing a lot.

0226 10:12:13:07 10:12:18:00

You come away knowing about how people understood about fossils. 0227 10:12:18:00 10:12:19:22

The science is hard to remember.

0228 10:12:19:22 10:12:22:06

It's more the stories about the science.

0229 10:12:22:06 10:12:27:02

The problem is it's not the "Oxford Illustrated Guide to Science".

0230 10:12:27:02 10:12:30:03

It's not what a scientist would pick up and use as a manual.

0231 10:12:30:03 10:12:33:11

If I walked into a book with no knowledge, say, as a 13-year-old,

0232 10:12:33:11 10:12:36:04 if I walked into that book and started hearing about

0233 10:12:36:04 10:12:41:03 protons being ten to the minus-nine or whatever the figure is,

0234 10:12:41:03 10:12:43:22

I would put the book down. I couldn't comprehend that.

0235 10:12:43:22 10:12:49:12

I think you need to have a bit of background before you pick it up.

0236 10:12:49:12 10:12:51:20 It isn't a short history of nearly everything.

0237 10:12:51:20 10:12:55:11

I think this is a short history of the ideas and the people in science.

0238 10:12:55:11 10:12:57:12

Any implications for teaching science?

0239 10:12:57:12 10:13:02:01

I think it would be a really useful teaching tool in science classrooms.

0240 10:13:02:01 10:13:06:10

It would create cross-curricular links because of how it's written.

0241 10:13:06:10 10:13:09:14

I think it would be an interesting way for them to approach it.

0242 10:13:09:14 10:13:12:01

I don't know how the science teachers would feel.

0243 10:13:12:01 10:13:15:09

I'll be positive and say there's something in here for everyone,

0244 10:13:15:09 10:13:19:22 but it just might be very different particles.

0245 10:13:22:23 10:13:25:10

Time to say goodbye, but before I go, 0246 10:13:25:10 10:13:28:19 have you got any idea where that word "quark" comes from?

0247 10:13:28:19 10:13:30:20

Bill Bryson's got the story.

0248 10:13:30:20 10:13:33:21

He says, to start with, they wanted to call them "partons"

0249 10:13:33:21 10:13:37:08 as in "Dolly", but in the end, they went for quarks,

0250 10:13:37:08 10:13:39:24 which they took from a line in "Finnegans Wake":

0251 10:13:39:24 10:13:42:05

"Three quarks for Muster Mark."

0252 10:13:42:05 10:13:44:12

"Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce.

0253 10:13:44:12 10:13:47:02

You see, it all comes back to books, doesn't it?

0254 10:13:47:02 10:13:48:22

0255 10:13:55:04 10:13:57:20

Visiontext Subtitles: Sarah Johnston 0256 10:13:57:20 10:13:59:20 www.visiontext.co.uk