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Nina Bawden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nina Bawden (born January 19, 1925, London) is a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.

When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, South Wales during term time.

Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter. A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.

She currently lives in London and Nauplion, Greece

You might want to find out about Nina Bawden's other books. 'Carrie's War' is popular

back (Reading Progress Questions doc.)	1. Design a title page for this novel in your book. On this page you could design a new cover for the novel, or show scenes from the novel.
	2. As you read the novel, collect from magazines, pictures of people that look like how you imagine the characters in the book would look. Paste these pictures in your book and write the character's name under each. (For about seven characters, the three main children in the book and the four main adult characters.)
	3. Explain in your book what each of the following things are, or paste in and label in your book a small picture of each. a) Turret p7, b) Dune p7, c) Jetty p7, d) Anchor p8, e) Gangplank p8, f) Steamer p8, g) Loch p12 , h) Mantlepiece p15 http://dictionary.reference.com/
	4. Find in the novel any sentences, where the author is describing the setting or scenery on the Island of Skua. Make a collection of these sentences and write them out in your book. For example: "On one side the sea thundered, throwing up spray like white lace. Inland, the wet sand of low tide...." See page 7 and 18 Leave a page empty in your book after you start this question, so you can add more descriptive sentences from the novel as you read them.
5. Read again the description of the kitchen on page 12. a) How would you describe the atmosphere in the kitchen? How does the author create this atmosphere? b) Imagine and make up in your own mind what Pedita's bedroom would be like. Describe her bedroom and try to make it as interesting as the description of the kitchen.
6. How is Perdita different to the other children in the town?
7. How would you describe Tim, not his physical appearance, but his personality or character. Include in your answers some examples from the novel. You might find some on pages 30 and 42.
8. Explain the meaning of the following words a) impatient b) trudging c) Stagger d) Pathetic e) Compensate f) Nourish g) Transparent
9. "...her face set and fierce, her eyes glinting like chips of green glass...". Read again the descriptions of some of the characters in the novel. Now make up and describe your own character. Use a thesaurus to find some interesting words to use. http://thesaurus.reference.com/
10. Read again the last three pages of the novel. Do you think this is a good ending for the novel? Explain your answer.
11. Compare and contrast two characters in the story. For example Tim's father and Mr. Smith, or the woman who looks after Perdita, and the wife of the man who owns the Hotel. (Compare emphasizes the similarities between things; contrast emphasizes the differences.)
12. Make a travel brochure advertising the setting of the story. Use Microsoft Publisher if you have it. Make it a double sided brochure that you can fold in. Surf the net for sites about the Scottish Islands to get some ideas. For example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/nature/scotlandthewild/content/birds/index.shtml?bird=skua
13. a) Do some research on a topic brought up in this novel. OR b) Draw a comic-book page, complete with bubble-style conversations showing an incident in the novel.
14. Use a journalistic style and write a news story about something that happened in the novel. Fist look at some newspaper stories to see the journalistic style they use.
15. Write a scene that could have happened in the book but didn't.
16. Make a test for The Witch's Daughter. Include 5 true-false and 5 multiple choice questions. If you want to, you can use a program that will make a multiple choice quiz for you, such as: http://school.discovery.com/cgi-bin/wcmultchoice.cgi?T=mc for multiple choice. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/larrc/myntf1a.html for True/False.
The last seven questions were based on suggestions found in Free Teacher-2-Teacher Services contributor Kim Robb and "Hildebrand" cited by http://www.teachnet.com
Nina Bawden From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nina Bawden (born January 19, 1925, London) is a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine. When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, South Wales during term time. Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter. A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed. She currently lives in London and Nauplion, Greece You might want to find out about Nina Bawden's other books. 'Carrie's War' is popular
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