Cirque du Freak - Ireland in Schools

’Ireland in Schools㌖
Delivering the NLS through Ireland
QLS, Staffordshire
’Irish literature has created a magical learning environment
for our children, its range and quality enabling all of them to
participate in our Ireland project and to produce work of
fantastic quality.
Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
Year 5 Scheme of Work
Literacy Hour & Beyond
Barbara Heath & Jo Robinson
Gorsemoor Primary School
Contents
Gorsemoor‘s Ireland project
1
The book
2
Lesson plans
3
Darren O‘Shaughnessy (aka Darren Shan)
4
Reviews of Cirque du Freak
5
Worksheets etc
The character I‘d most like to be
Comparing characters
Cirque du Freak - introduction
Symptoms of Fear
Cirque du Freak - pp 50-1, 115
Fears
Spooky poems
áThis is the key to the castle‘ by Dave Calder in Twinkle, Twinkle Chocolate Bar compiled by John
Foster, OUP, 019276-125-0
áMrs Mather‘ by Colin McNaughton in Who‘s Been Sleeping in My Porridge? by Colin
McNaughton, Walker Books, 0-74457-779-9
áThe Elf and the Dormouse‘ by Anon in The Walker Book of Poetry for Children selected by Jack
Prelutsky, Walker Books, 0-74450-224-1
áThe Bogeyman‘ and áThe Troll‘ by Jack Prelutsky in The Walker Book of Poetry for Children
selected by Jack Prelutsky, Walker Books, 0-74450-224-1
Test - soft c and g
Cirque du Freak - pp 140-3
Book review
Book report
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
14
14
14
15
16
18
19
Children‘s work
Story board
Poems
21
23
Appendix
áThis is the key to the castle‘ - plain text
26
GorsemoorŶs Ireland project
Gorsemoor Primary School lies on a large new housing estate on the outskirts of Cannock in Staffordshire. A 5-11 school
with an Early Years unit, it has 430 pupils on roll. For two years the school has made a special study of the island of Ireland
in Years 5 and 6, particularly by using Irish texts in the Literacy Hour. The school re-inforces this learning experience with
visits by Irish authors and by forging links with children in a primary school in Belfast and another in County Dublin.
Involving all children
In Years 5 and 6 there are some very gifted children, but there is also a significant minority of children on the Special
Education Needs register - 18 in the current school year (2001-2), of whom 15 are boys. The range and quality of Irish
children‘s literature suits such a mix of children, allowing all the children to participate in a common project. They can all
enjoy reading books which are suited to their individual interests and abilities.
Teaching schemes
For the texts used, Gorsemoor has produced teaching schemes, which generally contain NLS weekly planning sheets,
examples of worksheets etc., and samples of children‘s work. The schemes are reproduced in pdf format in the “Ireland in Schools‘
CD-ROM, No. 01. The location of each scheme on the CD-ROM is given in italics.
Setting the scene
Children are introduced to the island of Ireland through cross-curricular activity sheets (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the History &
citizenship directory: C208 Ireland Activity Sheets) .
Boys, fantasy, & Cirque du Freak
Reluctant readers among the boys have responded well to fast-moving fantasies by Irish authors such as Cirque du Freak,
by the young Irish author Darren Shan, Harper Collins, 0-00675-416-3. This built upon the success in the first year of the
project of The Battle below Giltspur by Cormac MacRaois, Wolfhound Press, 0-86327-356-4 (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the Literature
& literacy directory: L211 and L216) .
Other texts used
The favourite novel is an historical one - Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna (O‘Brien Press, O-86278206-6), the first of an award-winning trilogy, with exciting cross-curricular potential (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the Literature & literacy
directory: L217 Under the Hawthorn Tree - Famine Story). A Channel 4 film of the book assists the less able and reluctant
readers, as does the existence of excellent easy readers on the famine (such as The Great Hunger by Malachy Doyle,
Franklin Watts, 0-74963-447-2, and Famine by Arthur McKeown, Poolbeg, 1-85371-505-0).
Among Irish myths, legends and fairy tales, the one which most captures the children‘s imagination is áThe Sea Woman‘
as retold by Sionbhe Lally in the lavishly illustrated Favourite Irish Fairy Tales Poolbeg Press, 1-85371-777-0 (IiS CD-Rom
01 in the New trials directory: NL224 Sea Woman - Gorsemoor. For the cross-curricular aspects, see “Human Beings under a Spell‘
on the IiS CD-Rom 01 in the Literature & literacy directory: L219) .
It remains to be seen how the children respond to the reality of urban life in contemporary Ireland when they begin reading
The Moon King by Siobhan Parkinson, (O‘Brien Press, O-86278-573-1).
SEN
Books like The Lough Neagh Monster (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the New trials directory: NL223 Irish & Other Monsters) enable the
children with special education needs to play a full part in the Ireland project. Such stories provide high interest material
at a low reading age while at the same time offering opportunities to address key grammatical features and extend spoken
vocabulary.
Another favourite with this group is the tale of the two giants, the outwitting of Cucullin by Finn MacCoul and his fearless
wife (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the New trials directory: NL222 Giants‘ Week). The group will shortly read two books by Siobhan
Parkinson, an author who is fast becoming a favourite in Years 5 and 6: The Leprechaun Who Wished He Wasn‘t (O‘Brien
Press, 0-86278-334-8) and Cows Are Vegetarians, the misadventures of a Dublin girl visiting her cousins in the country
(O‘Brien Press, 0-86278-694-0).
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 1
The book
by Darren Shan, Harper Collins, 0-00675-416-3
CIRQUE DU FREAK is Darren Shan‘s first children‘s book. It is about something out of the ordinary, but set
against the background of children's normal lives to chilling effect. J.K Rowling describes it as, áA compelling
book ... a plot full of twists which leaves the reader hungry for more.‘ The TES describes the book as, áa
compelling page-turner.‘
The narrator and main character, Darren Shan, is a strange boy. He goes to a freak show with his friend, Steve.
It‘s the gothic áCirque du Freak‘ where weird, half human/half animals appear and interact with the audience.
Darren áfalls in love‘ with a tarantula and determines to steal the spider so that he can train it to perform amazing
deeds. Soon, Darren and his friend Steve are caught up in a deadly trap. Darren must take a bargain with the
one person who can save him. But that person is not human and only deals in blood. Darren must become the
vampire‘s assistant and a half-vampire himself in a bloody initiation ceremony:
He dug his nails into the soft tips of my fingers, all ten of them at once. I cried out with pain and fell
back, tucking my hands in at my sides, rubbing them against my jacket.
” Do not be such a baby, he jeered, tugging my hands free.
” It hurts! I howled.
” Of course it does, he laughed. ” It hurt me too. Did you think becoming a vampire was easy? Get
used to the pain. Much of it lies ahead.
He put a couple of my fingers in his mouth and sucked some blood out. I watched as he rolled it
around his mouth, testing it. Finally he nodded and swallowed. ” It is good blood, he said. ” We can
proceed.
He pressed his fingers against mine, wound to wound. For a few seconds there was a numb feeling
at the ends of my arms. Then I felt a gushing sensation and realised my blood was moving from my body
to his through my left hand, while his blood was entering mine through my right.
It was a strange, tingling feeling. I felt his blood travel up my right arm, then down the side of my
body and over to the left. When it reached my heart there was a stabbing pain and I nearly collapsed.
The same thing was happening to Mr Crepsley and I could see him grinding his teeth and sweating.
The pain lasted until Mr Crepsley‘s blood crept down my left arm and started flowing back into his
body. We remained joined a couple more seconds, until he broke free with a shout. I fell backwards to
the floor. I was dizzy and felt sick.
” Give me your forgers, Mr Crepsley said. I looked across and saw him licking his. ” My spit will
heal the wounds. You will lose all your blood and die otherwise.
According to the author, áIt‘s not a book that sets out to be frightening for the sake of it. Dark things happen,
but they happen for a reason, and there are definitely repercussions. ‘
Cirque du Freak ends with the chilling three words áTo Be Continued ...‘ Its sequel, The Vampire‘s Assistant
was published in June 2000 with Book 3 in The Saga of Darren Shan, Tunnels of Blood, published in November
2000. Book 4 Vampire‘s Mountain appeared in June 2001.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 2
NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET
Class: Year 5 Text used: Cirque du Freak
Term 3
by Darren Shan, 0-00675-416-3
Week: 5
Range:
Story from an Irish author
* indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening
Prior to this week all pupils will have read Cirque du Freak in group reading time
and been asked to make notes (T20). The lesson time is follow up work.
WK
SPELLING PATTERNS
Homework:
Y5 spelling folder
TOP:
} Thematic words
MIDDLE: } phobia
afraid
BOTTOM: } fear
evidence
scared
symptoms
consequence
’
’
Children to chooses an emotions word
and to a calligram poem, ie, SPOOKY, to
display
To choose a spooky/scarey poem and
bring it in to produce class anthology
(T7)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
WHOLE CLASS
SHARED TEXT WORK
WHOLE CLASS
WORD/SENTC WORK
INDEPENDENT WORK
GUIDED GROUP
READING/WRITING (Y3/4)
PLENARY (Y5/6)
M
“ Investigate a range of texts from
different cultures considering
relationships, social customs,
attitudes, beliefs (T1)
“ Analyse features of a good opening
(Term 1, T1)
“ Read info about author children having read Cirque
before lesson.
“ Recap on main characters
“ Reread introduction - teacher
emphasis on áatmospheric voice
“ Discuss the word phobia and
collect examples
“ Ask class to identify the words/phrases
that represent the emotions of fear or
excitement
“ Ash children to think about personal
experiences of fear/excitement and when
they felt it and why
“ Children to complete the
wor ksheet about physical
symptoms of fear and excitement
“ Children to compare emotions
“ Discuss the children‘s 5 physical
feelings of each. Produce a class
brainstorm and put on display
T
“ áC‘ is usually soft when followed by
an ái‘ (Term 2, W4)
“ Constructing sentences in different
ways (Term 2, S8, 9)
“ Conventions to guide the reader
(S6)
*
“ Reread pp 50, 51 and 115 children to use the text to
identify expressions of fear and
terror and feedback to class
“ Identify words that follow the pattern of
a soft ác‘. In pairs, using a dictionary,
children to identify others and make a
class list
“ Worksheet about personal
emotions, such as fears, eg, áI am
afraid of ...... because .......
“ Teacher to discuss the sentence
development and empathy of
others
“ PSHE style feedback. Circle time
about fears and sharing - how
they cope with fear
W
“ Read a range of narrative poems
(Term 2, T4)
“ Write a poem and perform it (Term
2, T5)
“ Read the range of poems to
inspire the children
áThis is the key to the castle‘
(Twinkle, Twinkle, Chocolate
Bar by John Foster, pp 52-5)
“ Continuing with the work of the soft ác‘
from yesterday, children to complete the
soft ác‘ and ág‘ mini test sheet
“ Mark with the children and talk through
the answers
“ Children to write spooky poems
inspired by Darren Shan‘s Cirque
du Freak - can be acrostics if
children want to
“ Children to read out their poems,
performing it appropriately in a
spooky voice, and evaluate each
other‘s work (T24)
T
“ Evaluate the text critically by
comparing how different sources
(children‘s opinions) treat the same
information (T19)
“ Discuss áIn your own words‘ copy/quote/adapt/taking notes (T20)
“ Work on nouns, verbs etc to write
detailed sentences (S4)
*
“ Reread the text (pp 140-1, 1423), using PSHE approach owing
to sensitive subjects
“ Discuss the topical key
questions: Do vampires really
exist? Does the book scare you?
How would you feel if you were
Darren Shan
“ Consolidate nouns, verbs, pronouns,
sentence construction
“ Children to write a flow diagram of a
maximum of 8 sentences that summarises
the whole story - using áfirstly‘, then
ánext‘ and áfinally‘ as prompts. Eg,
1. Firstly, Darren Shan is a strange boy who
wants to be a vampire and visits Cirque
du Freak.
2. Mr Crepsley bites Darren etc.
3. Then ...
8. In the end Darren fakes his own death
and becomes a vampire‘s assistant.
“ Children to complete a book
review of Cirque du Freak
“ Explain that there is a follow up
book
“ Vampire‘s assistant to read
*
“ Reinforce to the children that the
work we have studies is based on
fiction and they should not be
worried by it
*
Extended writing:
Story Board. Children to write in cartoon format a story inspired by Darren Shan, using illustrations (above ) and appropriate text below. Emphasis on colour and calligram writing.
’Ireland in Schools㌖ Staffordshire Pilot Scheme Gorsemoor PS
www. darrenshan. com
DARREN OŶSHAUGHNESSY
(aka DARREN SHAN)
Biography
Darren was born on the 2nd July 1972, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London. After starting
school at the age of three, he moved at the age of six to Limerick with his parents and
younger brother, settling into the Irish way of life but without losing his London accent.
He went back to London to study Sociology/English at college, and then worked for a
cable TV company for a couple of years before setting up as a full time writer.
Darren enjoyed his first taste of literary success aged 15, as a runner-up in a TV
script-writing competition with a comedy script entitled ‘A Day in the Morgue’ (he was
morbid even then!). A big film buff, he also reads lots of comics and books. Other
interests include long walks, outdoor swimming, watching and discussing football,
worldwide travel, and dreaming up new ways to terrify his readers.
Darren started out as an adult-oriented writer. His first published book was
Ayuamarca, in February 1999. A sequel, Hell’s Horizon, followed in February 2000. In
January 2000 his first children’s book - Cirque Du Freak - was published. The first book
in a series entitled The Saga Of Darren Shan, it attracted rave reviews and much media
attention - especially when the movie rights to the first two books were bought by
Warner Bros in a seven figure deal prior to publication. A dark, brooding horror/fantasy
story, it has proven equally popular with girls and boys, and appeals to both pre-teens
and teens (most readers are aged between 10 and 15). The book - along with its sequels
- has been sold in many countries around the world, including America, Japan, Brazil,
Germany, France and Spain.
The Saga Of Darren Shan is an epic undertaking, which will eventually run to an
estimated 20 books, which should keep its author busy and out of harm’s way for the
next 12 or 13 years at least! It is an action-packed, thought-provoking series, which will
evolve as it progresses, covering various themes and genres. It promises much
adventure and bloodshed - and many, many vampires! Unlike most long-running series,
this saga does not boast ever-fortunate, ever-escaping characters: in the brutal,
unforgiving world it portrays, death looms large, and many of the cast meet with sticky,
messy ends before the curtain finally falls.
The second book in the series, The Vampire’s Assistant, was published in June 2000, and
book 3, the mouth-wateringly titled Tunnels of Blood, in November 2000. Book 4,
Vampire Mount is due for release in early June. In America, Cirque du Freak was
released in April 2001, and swiftly entered the New York Times Children's Bestseller
list at # 10.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 4
Reviews for Cirque du Freak
THE FUNDAY TIMES (THE SUNDAY TIMES) - 5 MARCH 2000
(Five stars) This is the first book in the Darren Shan saga, and what a beginning it is!
Darren visits a mysterious freak show that leads him on a spiralling journey into a dark
world of vampires. The finale is a nerve-shredding race against time in which Darren
must question his loyalty to friends and family - and just how much he is prepared to
sacrifice for them! A book that leaves you longing for a second bite.
THE INDEPENDENT - 3 DECEMBER 1999
Darren Shan is undoubtedly a literary find for children. Still in his twenties, he has
produced a genuinely original story that combines near-horror with mainly
good-humoured, everyday reality. This story describes how the juvenile hero - who
shares the author's name - finally decides to become a vampire in order to save his best
friend's life. Many sequels are yet to come; children who read this story may have
problems waiting for find out how it will all finish up, so great is the tension.
TIME OUT - MARCH 2000
Things are certainly freaky here, in this gripping debut novel. Spider-loving Darren is
intrigued by a Freak Show which offers a wolf-man, snake-boy and the world’s fattest
man. But there’s much more here than he expected, as an encounter with a vampire and
his performing spider reveals. Brimming with imagination and very, very spooky, this
book and its projected sequels gives the strong-of-stomach something to feast on.
MAIL ON SUNDAY -16 APRIL 2000
The author is the central character in this brilliant Gothic fantasy. In search of thrills,
Darren and his friend Steve go to a freak show. What happens next is not for the
squeamish. To save Steve, Darren has to make a pact with a vampire ...
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 5
The character IŶd most like to be
Name ______________________________ Class __________ Date _________
Title ________________________________
Author _____________________
Illustrator ________________________________________________________
A picture of the character
These are the reasons I d like to be this character.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
I have talked about this with _____________________________
Date _______
Signatures _______________________________________________________
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 6
Comparing characters
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 7
Cirque du Freak - introduction
I‘VE ALWAYS been fascinated by spiders. I used to collect them when I was younger. I‘d spend hours rooting
through the dusty old shed at the bottom of our garden, hunting the cobwebs for lurking eight-legged predators.
When I found one, I‘d bring it in and let it loose in my bedroom.
It used to drive my mum mad!
Usually, the spider would slip away after no more than a day or two, never to be seen again, but sometimes
they hung around longer. I had one who made a cobweb above my bed and stood sentry for almost a month.
Going to sleep, I used to imagine the spider creeping down, crawling into my mouth, sliding down my throat
and laying loads of eggs in my belly. The baby spiders would hatch after a while and eat me alive, from the
inside out.
I loved being scared when I was little.
When I was nine, my mum and dad gave me a small tarantula. It wasn‘t poisonous or very big, but it was the
greatest gift I‘d ever received. I played with that spider almost every waking hour of the day. Gave it all sorts
of treats: flies and cockroaches and tiny worms. Spoilt it rotten.
Then, one day, I did something stupid. I‘d been watching a cartoon in which one of the characters was
sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. No harm came to him. He squeezed out of the bag, dusty and dirty and mad
as hell. It was very funny.
So funny, I tried it myself. With the tarantula.
Needless to say, things didn‘t happen quite like they did in the cartoon. The spider was ripped to pieces.
I cried a lot, but it was too late for tears. My pet was dead, it was my fault, and there was nothing I could do
about it.
My parents nearly hollered the roof down when they found out what I‘d done - the tarantula had cost quite
a bit of money. They said I was an irresponsible fool, and from that day on they never again let me have a pet,
not even an ordinary garden spider.
I started with that tale from the past for two reasons. One will become obvious as this book unfolds. The other
reason is:
This is a true story.
I don‘t expect you to believe me - I wouldn‘t believe it myself if I hadn‘t lived it - but it is. Everything I
describe in this book happened, just as I tell it.
The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you. In books, the heroes can
make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn‘t matter what they do, because everything comes good at the end.
They‘ll beat the bad guys and put things right and everything ends up hunky-dory.
In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a
car. If you fall out of a tree, you break some bones.
Real life‘s nasty. It‘s cruel. It doesn‘t care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be.
In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.
I just wanted to make that clear before I began.
One more thing: my name isn‘t really Darren Shan. Everything‘s true in this book, except for names. I‘ve had
to change them because... well, by the time you get to the end, you‘ll understand.
I haven‘t used any real names, not mine, my sister‘s, my friends or teachers. Nobody‘s. I‘m not even going
to tell you the name of my town or country. I daren‘t.
Anyway, that‘s enough of an introduction. If you‘re ready, let‘s begin. If this was a made-up story, it would
begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed. But this is a real story,
so I have to begin where it really started.
It started in a toilet.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 8
Name ______________________
Date _____________________
Symptoms of Fear
1. Talk about how people feel when they are afraid. What physical symptoms of fear do they have?
2. Make a list of five physical symptoms of fear, e.g., mouth goes dry or dizziness.
Five Physical symptoms of fear.
1 ___________________________
___________________________
2 ___________________________
___________________________
3 ___________________________
___________________________
4 ___________________________
___________________________
5 ___________________________
___________________________
3. Read this paragraph from a story opposite - which gives a detailed
description of a character's feelings.
4. Underline all the words and phrases
which show John is afraid.
John raced
towards the
house, his head
lowered. His eyes filled
with tears. Through
blurred eyes he saw the
tufts of grass springing up between the
small gravel stones. The sweat trickled
down his face mingling with his tears.
His chest felt so tight, he could hardly
breathe. His heart pounded and a sharp
pain stabbed at his
stomach. He walked in
through the front
door and stood
shaking in the hallway.
The perspiration on
his face turned cold
and clammy.
5. Think and talk about how people feel when they are excited. Are the
physical symptoms different from those when people are afraid?
6. List five physical symptoms of excitement.
Five Physical symptoms of excitement.
1 ___________________________________________________________
2 ___________________________________________________________
3 ___________________________________________________________
4 ___________________________________________________________
5 ___________________________________________________________
7. Now delete the words and phrases in the paragraph which describe fear and
rewrite the paragraph to describe excitement.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 9
Cirque du Freak - pp 50-1, 115
The wolf-man and ladies were about halfway down the rows of seats when there was a big BANG! I don‘t
know what made the noise, but suddenly the wolf-man began roaring and he shoved the ladies away from him.
People screamed and those nearest him leapt from their seats and ran. One woman wasn‘t quick enough, and
the wolf-man leapt on her and dragged her to the ground. She was screaming fit to burst, but nobody tried to
help her. He rolled her over on to her back and bared his teeth. She stuck a hand up to push him away, but he
got his teeth on it and bit it off!
A couple of people fainted when they saw that and loads more began yelling and running. Then, out of
nowhere, Mr Tall appeared behind the wolf-man and wrapped his arms around him. The wolf-man struggled
for a few seconds, but Mr Tall whispered something in his ear and he relaxed. While Mr Tall led him back to
the stage, the women in the suits calmed down the crowd and told them to return to their seats.
While the crowd hesitated, the woman with the bitten-off hand went on screaming. Blood was pumping out
of the end of her wrist, covering the ground and other people. Steve and me were staring at her, our mouths
wide open, wondering if she was going to die.
Mr Tall returned from the stage, picked up the severed hand and gave a loud whistle. Two people in blue
robes with hoods over their heads ran forward. They were short, not much bigger than me or Steve, but with
thick arms and legs, and lots of muscles. Mr Tall sat the woman up and whispered something in her ear. She
stopped screaming and sat still.
Mr Tall took hold of the wrist, then reached into his pocket and took out a small brown leather pouch. He
opened it with his free hand and sprinkled a sparkly pink powder on to the bleeding wrist. Then he stuck the
hand against it and nodded to the two people in the blue suits. They produced a pair of needles and loads of
orange string. And then, to the amazement of everybody in the theatre, they started to stitch the hand back on
to the wrist!
The people in blue robes stitched for five or six minutes. The woman didn‘t feel any pain, even though their
needles were going in and out of her flesh, all the way around the wrist. When finished, they put their needles
and unused thread away and returned to wherever they‘d come from. Their hoods never slipped from their
faces, so I couldn‘t tell if they were men or women. When they‘d gone, Mr Tall let go of the woman‘s hand and
stepped back.
”Move your fingers,„ he said. The woman stared at him blankly. ”Move your fingers!„ he said again, and
this time she gave them a wiggle.
They moved!
Everybody gasped. The woman stared at the fingers as though she didn‘t believe they were real. She gave
them another wiggle. Then she stood and lifted the hand above her head. She shook it as hard as she could, and
it was good as new! You could see the stitches but there was no more blood and the fingers seemed to be
working fine.
”You will be OK,„ Mr Tall told her. ”The stitches will fall out after a couple of days. It will be fine after
that.„
”Maybe that‘s not good enough!„ someone shouted, and a big red-faced man stepped forward. ”I‘m her
husband,„ he said, ”and I say we should go to a doctor and then the police! You can‘t let a wild animal like that
out into a crowd! What if he‘d bitten her head off?„
”Then she would be dead,„ Mr Tall said calmly.
”Listen, buster,„ the husband began, but Mr Tall interrupted. ”Tell me, sir,„ Mr Tall said, ”where were you
when the wolfman was attacking?„ ...
STEVE STIFFENED as soon as the spider bit him. His yells stopped dead in his throat, his lips turned blue,
his eyes snapped wide open. For what seemed an eternity (though it couldn‘t have been more than three or four
seconds, he tottered on his feet. Then he crumpled to the floor like a scarecrow.
The fall saved him. As with the goat at the Cirque Du Freak show, Madam Octa‘s first bite knocked Steve
out, but didn‘t kill him straight off. I saw her moving along his neck before he fell, searching for the right spot,
preparing for the second, killer bite.
The fall disturbed her. She slipped from Steve‘s neck and it took her a few seconds to climb back up.
Those seconds were all I needed.
I was in a state of shock, but the sight of her emerging over his shoulder like some terrible arachnid sunrise
spurred me into life. I stooped for the flute, jammed it almost through the back of my throat, and blew the
loudest note of my entire life.
”STOP!„ I screamed inside my head, and Madam Octa leapt about half a metre into the air.
”Back inside the cage!„ I commanded, and she hopped down from Steve‘s body and sped across the floor.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 10
Name ______________________
Date _____________________
Fears
A phobia is a word that describes a fear e.g., lots of
people are afraid of spiders, this is called arachnophobia.
Personal Fear
I am afraid of _________________________ because ____________________
and also _________________________________________________________
I cope with this fear by _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Another method I use is _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Family Fear
I know that my _____________________ is afraid of
________________. The evidence for this is that ___________
__________________________________________________
and that __________________________________________.
When ______________________ is scared, I help them by _______________
_______________________________________________________________
World Concern
It concerns me that ________________________________________________
___________________________________ ____________________________,
because _________________________________________________________
I think we should __________________________________________________
______________________ if not the consequence might be ________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
Extension :- Find out the correct words that describe other
fears and phobias. Make a list of these in your literacy books
with their meanings.
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 11
Spooky poems
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 12
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 13
MRS MATHER
Scared stiff.
Courage flown.
On that doorstep all alone.
Cold sweat.
State of shock.
Lift my trembling hand and knock.
The Elf and the Dormouse
Under a toadstool
Crept a wee Elf,
Out of the rain
To shelter himself.
Under the toadstool,
Sound asleep,
Sat a big Dormouse
All in a heap.
Thumping heart.
Chilled with fear.
I hear the witch's feet draw near.
Rasping bolts.
Rusty locks.
Shake down to my cotton socks.
Hinges creaking.
Waft of mould.
A groan that makes my blood run cold.
Cracking voice.
Knocking knees.
‘Can I have my ball back, please?’
Anon
The Bogeyman
In the desolate depths of a perilous place
the bogeyman lurks, with a snarl on his face.
Never dare, never dare to approach his dark lair
for he’s waiting ... just waiting ... to get you.
He skulks in the shadows, relentless and wild
in his search for a tender, delectable child.
With his steely sharp claws and his slavering jaws
oh he's waiting ... just waiting ... to get you.
Many have entered his dreary domain
but not even one has been heard from again.
They no doubt made a feast for the butchering beast
and he's waiting ... just waiting ... to get you.
In that sulphurous, sunless and sinister place
he'll crumple your bones in his bogey embrace.
Never never go near if you hold your life dear,
for oh! ... what he'll do ... when. he gets you!
Jack Prelutsky
Trembled the wee Elf,
Frightened, and yet
Fearing to fly away
Lest he get wet.
To the next shelter
Maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee Elf
Smiled a wee smile,
Tugged till the toadstool
Toppled in two.
Holding it over him
Gaily he flew.
Soon he was safe home
Dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse
“Good gracious me!
Where is my toadstool?”
Loud he lamented.
- And that's how umbrellas
First were invented.
Oliver Herford
The Troll
Be wary of the loathsome troll
that slyly lies in wait
to drag you to his dingy hole
and put you on his plate.
His blood is black and boiling hot,
he gurgles ghastly groans.
He'll cook you in his dinner pot,
your skin, your flesh, your bones.
He'll catch your arms and clutch your legs
and grind you to a pulp,
then swallow you like scrambled eggs gobble! gobble! gulp!
So watch your steps when next you go
upon a pleasant stroll,
or you might end in the pit below
as supper for the troll.
Jack Prelutsky
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 14
Test - soft c and g
Choose c or g to finish each of these words.
When the letter c is
followed by e, i or y,
it makes an s sound.
When the letter g is
followed by e, i or y,
it makes a j sound.
a prince with a genie
1.
___ity
2.
stran ___e
3.
___entle
4.
dan ___e
5.
___entre
6.
pen___e
7.
___iant
8.
avera___e
9.
___enerous
10.
differen___e
11.
___ertain
12.
intelli ___ent
13.
___ircus
14.
medi___ine
15.
ener___gy
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 15
Cirque du Freak - pp 140-3
... You will guard me while I sleep. You will find food for me if it is scarce. You will take my clothes to the
laundry. You will polish my shoes. You will look after Madam Octa. In short, you will see to my every need.
In return, I will teach you the ways of the vampires.„
”Do I have to become a vampire?„ I asked.
”Eventually,„ he said. ”At first you will only have vampire powers. I will make you a half-vampire. That
means you will be able to move about during the day. You will not need much blood to keep you ticking over.
You will have certain powers but not all. And you will only age at a fifth the regular rate, instead of the full
vampire‘s tenth.„
”What does that mean?„ I asked, confused.
”Vampires do not live forever,„ he explained, ”but we do live far longer than humans. We age about
one-tenth the regular rate. Which means, for every ten years that pass, we age one. As a half-vampire, you will
age one year for every five.„
”You mean, for every five years that pass, I‘ll only be one year older?„ I asked.
”That is right.„
”I dunno,„ I muttered. ”It sounds dodgy to me.„
”It is your choice,„ he said. ”I cannot force you to become my assistant. If you decide it is not to your liking,
you are free to leave.„
”But Steve will die if I do that!„ I cried.
”Yes,„ he agreed. ”It is your assistance or his life.„
”That‘s not much of a choice,„ I grumbled.
”No,„ he admitted, ”it is not. But it is the only one on offer. Do you accept?„
I thought it over. I wanted to say no, run away and never return. But if I did, Steve would die. Was he worth
such a deal? Did I feel guilty enough to offer my life for his? The answer was:
Yes.
”OK,„ I sighed. ”I don‘t like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance
to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I‘ll take it. You‘ll never be able to trust me.„
”Fair enough,„ he said.
”I mean it,„ I warned him.
”I know you do,„ he said. ”That is why I want you. A vampire‘s assistant must have spirit. Your fighting
quality is exactly what drew me to you. You will be a dangerous lad to have around, I am sure, but in a fight,
when the chips are down, I am just as sure you will be a worthy ally.„
I took a deep breath. ”How do we do it?„ I asked.
He stood and pushed the table aside. Stepped forward until he was about half a metre away. He seemed tall
as a building. There was a foul smell to him that I hadn‘t noticed before, the smell of blood.
He raised his right hand and showed me the back of it. His nails weren‘t especially long but they looked
sharp. He raised his left hand and pressed the nails of the right into the fleshy tips of his left-hand fingers. Then
he used his other set of nails to mark the right-hand fingers in the same way. He winced as he did it.
”Lift your hands,„ he grunted. I was watching the blood drip from his fingers and didn‘t obey the command.
”Now!„ he yelled, grabbing my hands and jerking them up.
He dug his nails into the soft tips of my fingers, all ten of them at once. I cried out with pain and fell back,
tucking my hands in at my sides, rubbing them against my jacket.
”Do not be such a baby,„ he jeered, tugging my hands free.
”It hurts!„ I howled.
”Of course it does,„ he laughed. ”It hurt me too. Did you think becoming a vampire was easy? Get used
to the pain. Much of it lies ahead.„
He put a couple of my fingers in his mouth and sucked some blood out. I watched as he rolled it around his
mouth, testing it. Finally he nodded and swallowed. ”It is good blood,„ he said. ”We can proceed.„
He pressed his fingers against mine, wound to wound. For a few seconds there was a numb feeling at the
ends of my arms. Then I felt a gushing sensation and realised my blood was moving from my body to his
through my left hand, while his blood was entering mine through my right.
It was a strange, tingling feeling. I felt his blood travel up my right arm, then down the side of my body and
over to the left. When it reached my heart there was a stabbing pain and I nearly collapsed. The same thing was
happening to Mr Crepsley and I could see him grinding his teeth and sweating.
The pain lasted until Mr Crepsley‘s blood crept down my left arm and started flowing back into his body.
We remained joined a couple more seconds, until he broke free with a shout. I fell backwards to the floor. I
was dizzy and felt sick.
”Give me your forgers,„ Mr Crepsley said. I looked across and saw him licking his. ”My spit will heal the
wounds. You will lose all your blood and die otherwise.„
I glanced down at my hands and saw blood leaking out. Stretching them forth, I let the vampire put them in
his mouth and run his rough tongue over the tips.
When he released them, the flow had stopped. I wiped the leftover blood off on a rag. I studied my fingers
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 16
and noted they now had ten tiny scars running across them.
”That is how you recognise a vampire,„ Mr Crepsley told me. ”There are other ways to change a human but
the forgers are the simplest and least painful method.„
”Is that it?„ I asked. ”Am I a half-vampire now?„ ”Yes,„ he said.
”I don‘t feel any different;‘ I told him.
”It will take a few days for the effects to become apparent,„ he said. ”There is always a period of adjustment.
The shock would be too great otherwise.„
”How do you become a full vampire?„ I asked.
”The same way,„ he said, ”only you stay joined longer, so more of the vampire‘s blood enters your body.„
”What will I be able to do with my new powers?„ I asked. ”Will I be able to change into a bat?„
His laughter rocked the room. ”A bat!„ he shrieked. ”You do not believe those silly stories, do you? How
on Earth could somebody the size of you or I turn into a tiny flying rat? Use your brain, boy. We can no more
turn into bats, rats or fog than we can turn into ships, planes or monkeys!„
”So what can we do?„ I asked.
He scratched his chin. ”There is too much to explain right now,„ he said. ”We must tend to your friend.
If he does not get the antidote before tomorrow morning, the serum will not work. Besides, we have plenty of
time to discuss secret powers.„ He grinned. ”You could say we have all the time in the world.„
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 17
Title of book: _______________________________________________________
Author: __________________________________________________________
Publisher: _______________________________ I.S.B.N. __________________
Summary of book: ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
What I most liked about the book: ______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
These are other titles by the same author: ________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Name: _______________________________________
Date: ________________________________________
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 18
BOOK REPORT
Name of book: ________________________________________________
Author: _____________________________________________________
Summary of book: _____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
What I liked most about the book: _________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
What I didn't like about the book: _________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Will you read other books by the same author? ________
Why? ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Name: ________________________________
Date: _________________________________
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 19
ChildrenŶs work
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
High
Middle
Middle-lower
Top-middle
Top
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 20
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Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 22
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Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 25
’this is the key to the castle긔
by Dave Calder
this is the key to the castle
this is the damp and dirty hall
with peeling paper on its mouldy wall
this is the box
where the black rat runs with yellow teeth
with rusty locks
sharp as sorrow and long as grief,
that holds the key to the castle
at the top of the stair that crumbles and creaks
where every small steps moans and squeaks,
this is the spider, huge and fat,
that leads up from the cellar, cold and bare,
who wove her web and sat and sat
dark as the grave, with nobody there
on the top of the box
except the spider, huge and fat,
with rusty locks
who wove her web and sat and sat
that holds the key to the castle
on top of the box
with rusty locks
this is the cellar, cold and bare,
that holds the key to the castle
dark as a grave, with nothing there
except the spider, huge and fat,
this is the ghost with rattling bones
who wove her web and sat and sat
carrying his head, whose horrid groans
on top of the box
fill the damp and dirty hall
with rusty locks
with peeling paper on its mouldy wall
that holds the key to the castle
where the black rat with yellow teeth
sharp as sorrow and long as grief,
this is the stair that rumbles and creaks
runs to the stair that crumbles and creaks
where every small step moans and squeaks,
where every small steps moans and squeaks
that leads to the cellar, cold and bare,
that leads to the cellar, cold and bare
dark as the grave, with nobody there
and dark as the grave, with nobody there
except the spider, huge and fat
except the spider, huge and fat,
who wove her web and sat and sat
who wove her web and sat and sat
on top of the box
on top of the box
with the rusty locks
with rusty locks
that holds the key to the castle
this is the child who came to play
this is the rat wih yellow teeth,
on a rainy, windy, nasty day
sharp as sorrow and long as grief,
who ran up the creaking crumbling stair,
and said BOO to the ghost who groaned in the hall
up from the cellar, cold and bare,
and SCAT to the rat by the mouldy wall
dark as the grave, with nobody there
and went down the creaking crumbling stair
except the spider, huge and fat,
into the cellar, cold and bare,
who wove her web and sat and sat
and laughed at the spider, huge and fat,
on top of the box
and brushed off the web where it sat and sat
with rusty locks
and opened the box
that holds the key to the castle
with the rusty locks
and took the key to the castle.
in Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar, compiled by John Foster, Oxford, 0-19276-092-0, pp 52-4
Heath & Robinson, Cirque du Freak, 26