About JACK TRELAWNY
Jack Trelawny is the world's most regular school author visitor. He has made over 2,000 school author visits and conducted whole-school Assembly and individual Class workshops for more than 400,000 children. Lots of schools do class work about the author and his Books either before or after the visit. One of the Teacher Resources asks the children to find out all they can about Jack Trelawny. An interview with Jack by school children is below and provides some answers...
JACK TRELAWNY - AUTHOR, SCHOOL VISITOR, CHILDREN'S 'EDUTAINER', SCREENWRITER
Jack Trelawny is an author, school visitor, 'edutainer', and screenwriter - www.jacktrelawny.com. His first book for children, 'Kernowland 1 The Crystal Pool', was published in 2005. KERNOWLAND 1 THE CRYSTAL POOL - 'CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2006' Scott Pack, Head of Buying at Waterstone's Booksellers plc made Kernowland 1 The Crystal Pool a 'Children's Book of the Year 2006': "Jack Trelawny's Kernowland is about as good as they get... first rate... The story takes its brother and sister protagonists to Cornwall and then through a magic cave to Kernowland where adventures ensure. Witty, scary and full of adventure the use of alternative versions of West Country landmarks in the imagined world is very clever and the environmental message a great one for kids." (Scott Pack has been described by the UK's Guardian national newspaper as 'The most powerful man in the books trade'. The comments above appeared under the heading 'Children's Books of the Year' on his Blog page in December 2006.) FIVE MORE NOVELS AND 2,000 SCHOOL AUTHOR VISITS FOR 400,000 CHILDREN Since then Jack has written 5 more novels in the 'Kernowland in Erthwurld' series and conducted more than 2,000 school visits for over 400,000 children in the UK and around the world with a reading and writing 'Edutainment Show' that mixes education with entertainment. He can visit any school in the world via Skype (Contact Skype Name: jack.trelawny). THIRTEEN THINGS SERIES - OBJECTS FROM JOINT BBC & BRITISH MUSEUM PROJECT Jack is currently writing another series of 13 stories called 'Thirteen Things', with each story inspired by a different object from the joint BBC and British Museum project, 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'. The first book in this series, 'The Emperor's Rhinoceros: The Amazing Adventures of Ganda The Brave' was published in 2014. FOR BOOKS DEDICATED TO A CHILD AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR: https://www.jacktrelawny.com/signed-books JACK'S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE IS HERE: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Trelawny/e/B0034PEXIS JACK HAS WRITTEN THE SCREENPLAY TO TURN AN ADULT BOOK INTO A FILM In 2017-18, Jack co-wrote a screenplay after one of his adult books was optioned for film. This movie script has been lodged with the Writers' Guild of America and is currently being presented to film production companies and read by actors. SOCIAL MEDIA AND FREE SCHOOL AUTHOR VISITS As well as working on new writing projects, the author Tweets (@JackTrelawny), posts on Facebook Facebook.com/JackTrelawnyAuthor), and writes a Jack Trelawny Blog (JackTrelawny.blogspot.co.uk). He also continues to offer FREE author visits to around 120 schools each year. Schools wishing to arrange a FREE Author Visit should CONTACT Jane Bennett, Events Manager at Campion Books. |
1. Jack Trelawny, when and where were you born?
I was born in 1962, in Epping, Essex. 2. Are you married? Yes. My wife’s name is Jane. 3. Do you have any brothers and sisters? I have two brothers and two sisters. One sister is older. I’m the second child. 4. Who are your Mum and Dad and what job do they do? My Mum and Dad came from Newquay in Cornwall to Epping Forest in Essex for work. My Mum was a primary school teacher and my Dad worked in an insurance company. 5. What were your favourite subjects at school and what exams did you take? My favourite subjects were History and English. I passed my "11+" exam, then got 8 O’ levels and 3 A’ levels. At London University I received a Degree in Economics, Politics, and Philosophy. 6. Do you have a favourite sport? When I was younger I played lots of sports for the school teams, including football, athletics, and basketball. I was also a very keen amateur boxer. Now my favourite sport is golf. I play every weekend if I can. 7. When did you know you wanted to write story books for children and when was your first children's book published? I loved reading as a child and always had my head in a book when I wasn’t out playing sports. Ever since then I wanted to write my own stories and become an author. But you can't always do what you want straight away and I had to wait until 2005 for my first children's book, 'The Crystal Pool', to be published. By then I was 43 years old. 8. What are your favourite hobbies? When I was younger I used to love flying my aeroplane but have stopped that now. I’m very lucky that my work as an author is as much fun as a hobby. I also enjoy reading, podcasts, cinema, walking… and golf! 9. Why are some of your books set in Cornwall? For hundreds of years my ancestors lived in Cornwall. I spent my school holidays there as a child, visiting my grandparents and all my cousins. I have great memories of swimming in the sea, playing on the beach, and exploring the caves and countryside. My Dad died a long time ago when I was nineteen years old but my Mum has retired to Newquay where she grew up. We go to Cornwall regularly to visit Mum and all the family. It is a place I know very well and sometimes it’s good to write about what you know as you get lots of ideas. 10. What are the best books you have read? There are lots of great books. One of the best books I've read is, 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', by Bill Bryson. He is very clever because he takes things that are hard to understand and makes them simple and funny. My favourite story when I was much younger was ‘The Castle of Adventure’ by Enid Blyton. As soon as I got to the end, I started reading it again. When I was at primary school, I loved adventure books in which the children had to solve the problems and deal with the trouble on their own... and now I have the chance to write stories like that myself! I still read children's books as part of my work and I especially like the stories of authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz. My wife's favourite book when she was young was 'Black Beauty'. 11. How many children's books have you written? I have written seven books so far. I started with six novels in the 'Kernowland in Erthwurld' series and the first book in my new 'Thirteen Things' series, called 'The Emperor's Rhinoceros', was published on 3rd November 2014. There will be another twelve stories in that series, all inspired by the true stories of real objects in the British Museum. 12. Are you going to write more books? Yes, now that I've got started and am doing so many school visits, my plan is to write at least 100 books for children. |
Arrange a FREE Author Visit to your school
Jack Trelawny has written six novels in the Kernowland in Erthwurld series for children. He is currently writing another series, Thirteen Things, which is inspired by the joint BBC and British Museum radio podcast project: 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'. Click here for answers to questions about the author by schoolchildren.
Jack makes FREE visits to schools with his Edutainment Shows, which combine 'education with entertainment' and 'learning with fun'. He also visits schools with his Story House, a simple, step-by-step, creative writing system that helps children build (and de-construct) their own stories using an expandable 'Story House' template and links from across the curriculum, as well as the widest possible range of other resources, such as the BBC and British Museum.
Jack has made over 2,000 visits to schools all over the UK and is now conducting UK and international Skype visits for schools, during which he talks to the children via the internet. Teachers can find out more about the author's Free School Visits or fee-based Story House creative writing workshops by going to the Schools page to see the experience and reviews of other schools using the A-Z links.
To book a FREE SCHOOL VISIT
contact Jane Bennett
Events Manager, Campion Books (Publishers):
[email protected]
Jack makes FREE visits to schools with his Edutainment Shows, which combine 'education with entertainment' and 'learning with fun'. He also visits schools with his Story House, a simple, step-by-step, creative writing system that helps children build (and de-construct) their own stories using an expandable 'Story House' template and links from across the curriculum, as well as the widest possible range of other resources, such as the BBC and British Museum.
Jack has made over 2,000 visits to schools all over the UK and is now conducting UK and international Skype visits for schools, during which he talks to the children via the internet. Teachers can find out more about the author's Free School Visits or fee-based Story House creative writing workshops by going to the Schools page to see the experience and reviews of other schools using the A-Z links.
To book a FREE SCHOOL VISIT
contact Jane Bennett
Events Manager, Campion Books (Publishers):
[email protected]
Free Assembly-Style Talks: 'Edutainment' Shows
Class workshops using Jack Trelawny's
'My Story House' writing system
'My Story House' writing system
Pre-Visit Resources - Activity Sheet - 'Who or what is in Echo Cave...?'
Pre-Visit Resources - Activity Sheet - 'Who or what is in Echo Cave...?'
Arrange a FREE Author Visit to your school
Jack Trelawny has written six novels in the Kernowland in Erthwurld series for children. He is currently writing another series, Thirteen Things, which is inspired by the joint BBC and British Museum radio podcast project: 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'. Click here for answers to questions about the author by schoolchildren.
Jack makes FREE visits to schools with his Edutainment Shows, which combine 'education with entertainment' and 'learning with fun'. He also visits schools with his Story House, a simple, step-by-step, creative writing system that helps children build (and de-construct) their own stories using an expandable 'Story House' template and links from across the curriculum, as well as the widest possible range of other resources, such as the BBC and British Museum.
Jack has visited more than 1,200 schools all over the UK and is now conducting UK and international Skype visits for schools, during which he talks to the children via the internet. Teachers can find out more about the author's Free School Visits or fee-based Story House creative writing workshops by going to the Schools page to see the experience and reviews of other schools using the A-Z links.
To book a FREE SCHOOL VISIT
contact Jane Bennett
Events Manager, Campion Books (Publishers):
[email protected]
Jack makes FREE visits to schools with his Edutainment Shows, which combine 'education with entertainment' and 'learning with fun'. He also visits schools with his Story House, a simple, step-by-step, creative writing system that helps children build (and de-construct) their own stories using an expandable 'Story House' template and links from across the curriculum, as well as the widest possible range of other resources, such as the BBC and British Museum.
Jack has visited more than 1,200 schools all over the UK and is now conducting UK and international Skype visits for schools, during which he talks to the children via the internet. Teachers can find out more about the author's Free School Visits or fee-based Story House creative writing workshops by going to the Schools page to see the experience and reviews of other schools using the A-Z links.
To book a FREE SCHOOL VISIT
contact Jane Bennett
Events Manager, Campion Books (Publishers):
[email protected]