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Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack www.harpercollins.com.au Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack 0207199825 by Michael Panckridge Reader’s Notes Synopsis Toby Jones is crazy about cricket. He plays cricket in a local team, watches it on TV, reads about it and talks about the game with his friends, teacher and father. While on a school excursion to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Toby finds himself in the Melbourne Cricket Club library looking at a Wisden Almanack — a special cricket book that comes out each year and is full of match reports, cricket records, statistics and heaps of other information about cricket matches from the previous year. Toby also meets Jim Oldfield, who works at the library, and Jim discovers that Toby has an extraordinary gift that Jim also shares. Like Jim, Toby is able to use the Wisden Almanack to travel back through time to see any game he wishes. Although Toby is warned not to carry anyone back through time with him, he makes the decision to take two of his friends, Jimbo and Rahul, back to various matches of their choice. When Toby and Jimbo go back in time to watch Jimbo’s father play in a match, the boys encounter a mysterious and evil person desperate to pursue Toby for something unknown. And on a trip back to India to see the Tied Test Match of 1986, Toby watches on helplessly as Rahul runs off in search of a brother he has never known. Sadly, Jim Oldfield is too old and ill to time travel now. But Toby knows that there is one final journey that Jim would like to take. Jim would like to return to England in 1930 and the golden era of Don Bradman. Although Jim has always had the gift of travel, he had been misled into believing that he should never return to the famous 1930 game he missed as a boy, and now it seems it’s too late. Interspersed throughout the story are the exciting matches of Toby’s local Under-13 cricket team as they do battle with other teams in their competition. Writing Style The story is told in the first person from Toby’s point of view. Writing from Toby’s point of view gives the author the chance to get into the heart of the story and be ‘the eyes’ that describe what is happening. It also allows the readers to slip into Toby’s shoes and go on the journey with him. Other features within the book make Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack a little different. At the end of each chapter there are snippets of cricket trivia, statistics, amazing feats and odd situations that, while not related to the story, add another layer of interest to the reading experience. The book also contains commentary about cricketing skills that was written with input from fast bowler Brett Lee. This commentary arises from real-game or practice descriptions in the narrative. Reader’s Notes Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack 1 Finally, the book also contains a detailed description of the 1999 World Cup semi- final; an interview with Ray Bright and Dean Jones; a glossary of cricket terms; diagrams of a cricket pitch; the rules for dice cricket; as well as the rules, draw, results and ladders for the local games that Toby and his friends play. This variety of text will give readers the opportunity to explore and enjoy the book at many different levels. Author Inspiration There are perhaps two main elements of the book that motivated me most to write this novel — sport (especially cricket) and the idea of time travel. Having coached, read about, watched and played cricket for many years, I have had the opportunity to enjoy the game from a variety of perspectives. All those elements are included in the novel. I am thrilled by the passion many children have for cricket, as I felt similarly about the game as a child. For me the passion for cricket is as strong as ever and it is through Toby that this passion finds its release. The notion of time travel is one that has intrigued me for a long time: the idea of ‘What if?’ and considering the amazing consequences of having the ability to time travel. And so I unleashed this idea on Toby and watched him deal with the situations that arose. The poem warns him of interfering with people in different times and the consequences that could arise. His experiences are the closest I’ll ever get to time travel. Study Notes There are a number of themes, issues and scenarios that arise in the book that could form the basis of class discussions and endeavours. Relationships and Characters Toby’s relationship with a number of characters grows through the course of the book. Select one or more of these relationships and describe how it develops as the story unfolds. Give possible reasons for Scott Craven’s behaviour. Develop a portrait of the life of Jim Oldfield. You could set it up as a time line. Write a news report describing the situation of the flooding that occurred in India when Rahul was a baby. Whose fault was it? Write an argument from either the driver’s or Martian’s point of view defending your behaviour just before the accident. Present the dialogue of an interview you have with Rahul in which he explains why he was so keen to return to India. Why is Toby so concerned about Jim? Do you feel sympathy for Jim? Why? Why not? Toby has the gift; Jim has the gift. Could their families be somehow related? Make up a family tree that somewhere, back in time, brings the two families together. Fantasy, times and places Explore the concept of time travel by researching books and films. Report on the various ways the travel actually takes place. Describe a journey in which Toby actually takes Jim back to 1930. Imagine you are caught there for a night. Describe the experience in full. Choose a cricket match from a different time and/or country and take a journey back in time. Write a journal recording your time there. Decisions What difficult decisions did Toby encounter during the story? How would you have reacted in the same circumstances? Different writing styles There is a detailed description of the 1999 World Cup semi-final in the book. Select a section of the game and write the transcript of match commentary that might have taken place. Research your own collection of cricket trivia that could be included at the end of a chapter. Use a Wisden’s Almanack to research a cricket record. Write the heading and report for a news article that features the cricket record you have chosen. Write a detailed explanation that will help someone learn about a particular aspect of cricket. You may like to write how to bowl a flipper or explain the different fielding positions. Reader’s Notes Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack 2 .
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