It was a surprise bestseller about a forgotten piece of World War Two history with an improbable title. Now The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is coming to a screen near you. It tells the story of the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands — the only part of the British Isles to … Continue reading “Guernsey, a Book Club and German Occupation”
There are lots of interesting online resources on Mary Shelley and Frankenstein to help you celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of her iconic novel. Here’s a selection. Why not start a sequence on Frankenstein with our downloadable “Who Am I?” quiz about Frankenstein’s monster? (Right-click once the link opens and choose “Save As” … Continue reading “Frankenstein Online”
Frankenstein was published in 1818, written by a very unconventional young woman. Its genesis is as intriguing as its lasting influence. Without a volcanic eruption, Frankenstein and the vampire fiction genre may never have seen the day. In 1815 Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted violently, in the largest and most deadly eruption recorded anywhere in … Continue reading “Frankenstein at 200”
2018 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein, a novel which has gone on to occupy a unique place in the collective imagination. In this A2+ article, your pupils will discover Mary Shelley, the teenage author who lived an exceptional life. These documents about Mary Shelley could be part of a larger … Continue reading “Mother of Frankenstein”
On the occasion of Frederick Douglass’s Bicentennial, there are lots of online resources to help you introduce this major figure of the abolition movement to your pupils. This section on Frederick Douglass from the Library of Congress children’s site is suitable from A2. It’s not a very detailed biography but has an excellent quote from … Continue reading “Frederick Douglass on the Web”
2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the most important figures in the fight for the abolition of slavery in the U.S.A: Frederick Douglass. Yet he is often unknown outside of America. Douglass was born in February 1818. He was born Frederick Bailey, a slave, in Maryland, but before the end … Continue reading “Frederick Douglass: Civil Rights Pioneer”
Scots celebrate their national poet, Robert Burns, on 25 January each year. These ebooks are useful for classroom work about the poet and the event. To find out more about Burns Night, check out Visitscotland’s ebook “Hold Your Own Burns Supper”, which includes recipes, information about the poet and a great video of traditional ceilidh … Continue reading “Robert Burns Digital Resources”
As the latest film adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic Murder on the Orient Express hits our screens, Alison Bouhmid investigates women thriller-writers’ works, spanning a century of mystery writing. It is undeniable that British women writers have consistently been attracted to and excelled in detective fiction (though the genre was invented by a man, … Continue reading “Murder in the Bookshops”
The 2017 Man Booker Prize, the UK’s most prestigious literary award, has been awarded to a first novel by American short-story writer George Saunders for Lincoln in the Bardo. Saunders is a veteran author but up till now he has specialised in short stories – Time magazine declared him the best short-story writer alive today. … Continue reading “Experimental Novel about Abraham Lincoln Wins 2017 Booker Prize”
The 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to British-Japanese novelist Kazuo Ishiguro whose work includes The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. A more conventional choice than the 2016 winner, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Ishiguro, 62, was born in Nagasaki, Japan, but arrived in Britain at the age of five. His … Continue reading “Nobel Prize for Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro”