Saturday, 9 August 2014

Shivering in Shirebrook

Shirebrook Library
Wednesday 6th August
a shake, a stamp and a shiver,
a hope, a joke and a quiver, 
but what was the tale 
these children told?






Derbyshire Myths and Legends artist: Debi Hedderwick
Thanks to the athletes of Shirebrook for all their leaping about 
and wriggling and telling stories with their feet in the air!

Friday, 8 August 2014

Bravery in Borrowash


Kandugal Kingdom
revealed at 
Borrowash Library
Wednesday 6th August 2014





As our Derbyshire Myths and Legends project unfolds, while our artists tell stories of old Derbyshire and hope that the children we work with may help us tell new ones, totally unpredictable adventures are becoming the standard.


So, somewhere near Borrowash - or beyond it - or behind it - there is a land called Kandugal Kingdom where evil goblins lived in a forest.





The goblins drank far too much pachoodle juice which is made from creeping ivy, turquoise berries and the souls of dragons. There was just one young warrior girl who lived alone with her dragon who was brave enough to confront the goblins.  She joined forces with the strange half skeleton/half snake people who would help her defeat them. These strange creatures could eat evil.

The goblins set anyone who enters the forest a set of riddles before they were allowed through.

These were the riddles:

What gets wetter the more you dry? 
(A towel.)

What has 4 legs in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 3 in the evening? 
( A human  - a baby crawls on all fours, an adult walks on 2 legs, an elderly person uses a stick)

What gets bigger the more you take away? 
(A hole.)

What am I describing? The person who makes it doesn't need it, the person who buys it doesn't need it and the person who uses it doesn't know they need it?  
(A coffin.)


These riddles were supplied by the children and their parents: riddles passed down quietly from one Borrowasher to another: preparation for the unfortunate day when they might stumble into Kandugal Kingdom


Derbyshire Myths and Legends artist: Maria Whatton
Thanks to all our riddlers, storytellers, artists and audience at Borrowash


Strange tales from Sandiacre

Sandiacre Library
Wednesday 6th August 2014


A set of strange images were found by a group of children foraging in the labyrinth of the fiction section.
Smudged, barely legible, they suggest a palace, a goblin, danger, mazes  and marvels




We await a report from the young adventurers but there has been no word not even a bookmark, since they slipped through the pages of an encyclopedia



Derbyshire Myths and Legends artist: Maria Whatton
Thanks to all our Sandiacre crew of artists, 
storymakers, audience and occasional monsters

Liveliness in Long Eaton

Long Eaton Library
Tuesday 5th August
princesses and wizards, pet dragons, dancing unicorns and more....
here are a few pictures to whet your appetites
preparing for action!

a cast unfolds around fingers, scissors, glue and pens

an orchestra takes shape

planning stories happens as we make characters

unicorn

two unicorns

dragon!

Spotty Dog

a princess waits for her cue

a story is told of princesses, and their pets

four princesses danced in a beautiful castle 
- there more pictures and poems to follow

Sunday, 3 August 2014

A Story In Staveley


The Staveley Story
Staveley Library,
August 2nd
Staveley library's Summer Reading Challenge wall!

 Climb the old rocks with their stagurous shapes,
Climb on and up, a dark cave waits,
A steep hill,
A long passage,
And that magical cave.
Squeeze through the rocks
And unveil
The mysterious world of Cresswell Crags
a caveboy from Creswell Crags
 Go on, go on!
There is a rock like a skull
And a small house with a
Small door and a
Small window
And a tramp will open a door for you
To a dining room where a
Body lies on the table
 
a dubious character
Run home.
Down the long dark lane
Under the tall dark cave
Through the dark shadows
Sprawling like bodies across your path
a golden bird
Derbyshire Myths and Legends artist: Gordon MacLellan
with many thanks to all our Staveley storymakers

Adventures in Eckington


An Eckington Adventure
















Through the woods, a building waits,
Army barracks?
Abandoned mill?
Old pumping station,
Who knows?

But a friendly fairy with rainbow wings lives there in the trees and
Sparkling,
She shows the way.


Under the empty rooms,
A secret passageway opens.
Over in the gardens,
Past the hedgerows and the fountains,
A secret passageway opens.
Up the stairs where the stone skull, watches
Through the cracked window in the cracked wall.

Past watchful statues
One wrong step
On one wrong square will open
Metal eyes and release metal hands.
A secret waits, a treasure for princesses, for girls, for dogs,
A treasure for friends,
For freeing families,
For breaking spells and
Dissolving curses,
A treasure to set trapped parents free.
But in the shadows Cepiralense waits, watches,
Spinning his coils of enchantment and hypnosis,
Waiting for his moment and a weak will.

Derbyshire Myths and Legends artist: Gordon MacLellan
Eckington Library, Saturday 2nd August: 
many thanks to our adventurers!

Adventures in Ashbourne

Wednesday 30th July

a library in Ashbourne

a magical landscape of the dancing Mer King, a bird of paradise, mermaids, monsters, dead trees and glowing forests