* Yo u n g A u t h o r ’s C l u b * Yo u n g A u t h o r ’s C l u b *
Storyland Adventure
Kenrick Lam
Storyland Adventure
Written and illustrated by Kenrick Lam
I dedicate this book to my mother who wanted me to attend the class and to write 100 words a day.
Chapter 1 Once upon a time ...... in a world far, far away......... there was a library. Not those tiny, twitchy ones we have here, but those humongous ones that are t went y storeys high. A par ticular man owned this fabulous, magnificent librar y. He was M r. Readalot, a fat, bespectacled man. He always treasured his book bag and was never ever seen without it. M r. R eadalot also had a pet owl. He was in charge of time keeping. His name was Archimedes. He is a ‘highly educated owl’, sor t of. I visited Mr. Readalot before and he told me a story. This is how it went. O n e d ay, M r. R e a d a l o t wa s t r y i n g to t i d y u p t h e l i b ra r y. “ These terrible books of mine!” roared M r. Readalot. “ This librar y is a pigsty!!!” “Squawk! Get filing cabinets! Squawk! Get filing cabinets!” squawked Archimedes. Mr. Readalot thought it was a brilliant idea. He came back puffing and panting like a mad thing. He was carr ying a truck full of filing cabinets. He had bought them from a magician who said they would transport the user to Storyland. S to r y l a n d i s a f a n t a s y p l a ce w h e re s to r y b o o k c h a ra c te r s come to life. You have to help the good characters and defeat the evil in order to get out of Storyland. That same day, Mr. Readalot’s owl poured a heap of books into the filing cabinets. UH OH! They were plunged into Storyland.........
Chapter 2 Everything went blank. Suddenly, M r. Readalot and Archimedes saw all the k ing’s horses and the entire king’s men rushing past. Mr. Readalot asked them what was going on. “It’s Humpty Dumpty again! He has fallen off the wall!” replied all the k ing’s horses and all the k ing’s men. A n d t h e y d a s h e d o f f a g a i n . M r. R e a d a l o t h i r e d a c a r r i a g e a n d followed in pursuit. At the accident site, it was a mess! M ashed up egg was spewed all over! The wall was yellow with egg yolk. But where was poor Humpty?
Oh!
He was ever ywhere! “ We must find a way to
sto p Hu mpt y ’s falling problem!” sighed the k ing’s men. k ing’s men picked up Humpty ’s pieces.
All the
I t was like a giant jigsaw
puzzle. The k ing’s men cracked their brains and finally glued the p u z z l e t o g e t h e r. T h e i r e n d p ro d u c t w a s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s t u c k f i n g e r s ! Ac tually, they didn’t really solve the puzzle, they glued up their fingers instead. M r. R e a d a l o t e n d e d u p p u t t i n g H u m p t y t o g e t h e r a g a i n , a s s a i d i n t h e r h y m e o f H u m p t y D u m p t y. W h e n H u m p t y w a s back in one piece, he thanked ever ybody and went on his way. M r. Readalot had a brainwave......... He k new how to fix Humpty ’s falling problem. “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.” The trap was set. Humpty Dumpty was right on schedule.
He was strolling along a path through the forest. He was humming a happy tune. Suddenly, Humpty Dumpty fell through a hole in the floor and into a pot of boiling water. Humpty screamed and screamed. Ever ybody held his ears. It was so loud - almost a thousand decibels! W h e n M r. R e a d a l o t t h o u g h t t h a t H u m p t y D u m p t y w a s boiled, he fished him out with a fishing rod. Archimedes pecked Humpt y Dumpt y on the head but he did not crack . He did not fall to pieces!
Hey Presto!
All the King’s horses and all the King’s
men started cheering. H u m p t y ’s p r o b l e m w a s s o l v e d .
Yo u s e e, M r. R e a d a l o t ’s
plan was to boil Humpty Dumpty so as to make him a hard-boiled egg so that he would not crack so easily. With ever yone’s thanks ringing in his ears, Mr. Readalot set off again.
Chapter 3 M r. Readalot came across a giant castle with towers that pierced the sky. There seemed to be the sound of music coming from inside the castle.
The doors were wide open so he walked
in. The k ing of the castle, Old King Cole, welcomed Mr. Readalot to join ever yone in the dancing. Suddenly, three fiddlers holding their fiddles parachuted down through the window. They had been holding a concer t at Little Jack Horner ’s corner just now so they were delayed by half an hour. The fiddlers star ted waltzing and singing in front of Old King Cole. Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he. He called for his pipe, And he called for his pole, And he called for his fiddlers three. Every fiddler had a fiddle so fine, And a very fine fiddle had he. It’s not so rare when one can compare, With King Cole’s fiddlers three. W h e n t h e y we re d o n e, t h e y b o we d a n d we n t a w a y. M r. R e a d a l o t s m e l l e d t h e d e l i c i o u s a ro m a o f p i e s co m i n g f ro m t h e castle k itchen. The cook inside the k itchen beckoned to him to come inside too.
When Mr. Readalot entered, he was told that a
surprise was planned for Old King Cole. Ten minutes later, a gigantic pie was dragged into the royal dining room. When the pie was cut open, twenty-four black birds
flew out and perched themselves on ever ybody ’s head. Suddenly, they started singing. Sing a song of six pence, A pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was open, The birds began to sing. Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before a king! “ S q u i s h ! ” T h e b l a c k b i r d s w e r e p o o p i n g o n e v e r y b o d y ’s head. There was a mad scramble for the royal toilets. When every head had been cleaned, everyone was settling down eating his pie. “Munch, much, munch” that was the only sound heard, until the Old King Cole let out a big belch. Soon, the Royal dining room was beginning to clear. The k ing offered Mr. Readalot a room to stay for the night. At ten o’clock in the night, Mr. Readalot was flossing and brushing his teeth. He lay down his head on the fluffy white pillow and dozed off. “ Z z z z , Z z z z . . .” M r. R e a d a l o t d re a m e d a s t ra n g e d re a m . I t was about a horrible wizard who was k nown as M r. Nohear t. He had a whole army of bad, bad baddies. He was attempting to take over Stor yland and rule over it with his baddies.
Somehow, M r.
R e a d a l o t ’s d re a m wa s re a l a n d t h e f ate o f Sto r y l a n d wa s i n h i s hands.
Chapter 4 Wi t h h i s t u m m y f u l l w i t h r o y a l b r e a k f a s t , M r. R e a d a l o t set off on his journey again.
Soon M r. Readalot and Archimedes
spotted a small cottage in the woods.
The door was wide open
but he still knocked. Suddenly, a little bear cub grabbed his hand and led him into the cottage. There, in the house were three bears. M r. Readalot ’s teeth were clattering. “Are they going to eat me?” he thought. Instead they greeted him in a friendly way and invited him to stay for a few days. And what was for lunch? Yes, you guessed it, PORRIDGE!!! They were the greatest porridge fans in the world, the three bears. After lunch (porridge), Mr. Readalot played “bears and ladders” with Baby Bear. Archimedes was having fun amusing M ama and Papa B ear with his witt y jokes. Time flew and it was time for dinner before anyone k new it. Mama Bear did not even have time to make another pot of porridge! “Ring, ring!” I t was the doorbell. Who could it be?
I t was
Goldilocks, Baby Bear ’s friend. She had come for a sleepover (and porridge). Soon, Mama Bear whipped up another batch of porridge and they ate heartily. Suddenly the telephone rang. It was Little Red Riding Hood. She said that a wolf had eaten up her Granny and she did not know what to do.
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear and M r. Readalot,
Archimedes and Goldilocks came to Red Riding Hood’s rescue. M r. R eadalot had an idea. He was going to use slime to make the wolf vomit Granny out. On the wall next to the chimney, the three bears, Goldilocks, Archimedes and Mr. Readalot made a living ladder up to the chimney top.
M r. Readalot had a bucket
of slime ready. L i t t l e R e d R i d i n g H o o d e n te re d h e r G r a n ny ’s h o u s e a n d t r e a t e d t h e w o l f l i k e h e r o w n G r a n ny. T h e w o l f w e l c o m e d h e r into the house with a great big smile and thought that she would make a good meal so he prepared a pot of hot stew at the fireplace. “Slop!” M r. Readalot, from the roof, dumped one gallon of slime into the pot of disgustingly smelly children bones. Suddenly, there was a splintering crash and Mr. Readalot tumbled to the ground. All because Baby Bear could not hold up Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Goldilocks and Archimedes. Mr. Readalot crawled out quietly from the heap of bears, a girl and a bird. The wolf was intending to cook a pot of children bones stew to have as an appetizer. For the main course, he was hoping to fr y Little Red Riding Hood for his favourite dish of all - “Fried Kid-Steak in a Pan”. Th e wo l f wa s h e d t h e c u t l e r y, b ro u g ht o u t t h e s o u p a n d laid the napkin and ever ything he could think of, on the table for his feast. He pounced on Little Red Riding Hood and prepared to eat her.
Little Red Riding Hood told the wolf, “ You should drink
your soup first, I am your main course!” The wolf tied her up and drank his soup. The slime had taken its effect. “ Yuck!” The wolf vomited and vomited all his breakfasts that he ate last week. Under what remained of the wolf ’s food, Granny crawled out of the mess and took an axe and chopped up the wolf. She then cooked wolf stew for supper and made ten bottles of wolf essence to sell. Mr. Readalot laughed merrily and star ted dancing a jig with the three bears, Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood.
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Chapter 5 M r. Readalot woke up to the delicious smell of porridge. He had his fill and went on his way again. He was told that there was a county fair held at the nearby Baker ’s Town famous for its irresistible muffins. There was a shop that was owned by the Muffin Man and he was giving away free muffins today. Mr. Readalot was delighted and so was Archimedes. Their favourite food was muffins. Blueberr y, chocolate chips, macadamia, oatmeal raisin and any kind of muffin that was ever created. Arc h i m e d e s a nd M r. R eadalot used to crave for muffins back in their library. They were enjoying the fair until one of the people shouted, “ The baddies are coming!” Mr. Readalot had another idea. He knew how to prevent the baddies from hur ting any of the town folks. The strongest of the town folks placed a giant table in the middle of the road and waited. The baddies roared into Baker ’s Town holding all sor ts of h o r r i b l e we a p o n s - a xe s, s wo rd s a n d s t i n k b o m b s ( b e c a u s e t h e odour of stink bombs make people faint so the baddies can easily s l a y t h e i r v i c t i m s ) . S u r p r i s i n g l y, t h e y c o u l d n o t f i n d a n y t h i n g but the table and lots of good food. The baddies star ted gobbling down the Turkey Surprise, Scrambled Egg Super de Duper, mashed chicken livers and mostly muffins contributed by the Muffin Man. Bottles of soda pops were fizzing all over the place, but little did they know that the drinks were poisoned. The baddies were having a wonder ful time when their leader fainted. S oon all the baddies star ted chok ing and fell to the ground. From their hiding places, the people ran out and took 11
the biggest cauldron that they could borrow from the Witch from Hansel and Gretel. She had given up eating children; she now eats rabbits and fat pigs. Th e Bak er ’s Town folks began throwing the baddies into the cauldron of fire. One by one, the baddies regained their consciousness and took off like rockets into the clear blue sky and exploded like fire crackers. What a beautiful sight! The mayor threw a celebration par t y for M r. R eadalot in his honour of defeating the bad, bad baddies. M r. Readalot was enjoying himself ver y much.
He was one step closer to getting
out of Stor yland. Archimedes was missing his little birdcage in the library at their cozy home. They both were very homesick.
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Chapter 6 M e a n w h i l e , a t M r. N o h e a r t ’s c a s t l e , M r. N o h e a r t w a s threatening his new baddies (the baddies you read ear lier were poisoned and died, so Mr. Noheart employed new baddies). “If you do not fulfill my requests, I shall exterminate you, you and you! All of you!!!” He roared. All the new bad, bad, baddies screamed and ran far, far away and never came back .
M r. Nohear t stormed off
to telephone his niece to help him take over parts of Storyland. M r. N o h e a r t ’s n i e c e, S h r i e k y, l e f t f r o m h e r U p t o n o g o o d cottage by magic carpet.
S h e b ro u g h t h e r s e r v a n t a l o n g.
He
always gets sick when he rides on magic carpets. He has no name but ever yone calls him Beastly, like his personality. Apar t from his name, he always makes mistakes and is too smart for other people. Shrieky is exactly the same but is proud and boastful. She tortures Beastly, most of all; she makes him wash her smelly socks (even smellier than the wolf’s children bones stew, Pee Yew!) Now where was I? Ah... yes... Mr. Nohear t ’s niece left her Uptonogood cottage by magic carpet and her name was Shriek y. Shrieky was not helping her uncle; she was planning to destroy her uncle instead. She wanted to take over his castle and his remaining spelling books, so that she would always get hundred percent in her spelling tests. She had plans. Big plans. M r. N o h e a r t w a s w a i t i n g a t t h e d o o r. S h r i e k y w a s n o t walking in. She was trying to get into the castle through the loose tiles on the roof. She fell through all five floors of the castle and onto her uncle’s head. It made him faint so Shieky cast a sleeping spell that would make her uncle sleep forever. Her spell could only be broken if somebody whacked him on the head with a rolling 13
pin which was ten centimetres in diameter and one metre long. Shrieky cast the spell because nobody would be craz y enough to create such a gigantic rolling pin and no one would want to whack her uncle (he had a very bad reputation as an evil sorcerer). Unfor tunately for Shriek y, M r. Readalot came by and saw Mr. Noheart snoring loudly at the castle gate. Mr. Readalot thought M r. Nohear t was guarding the castle and was asleep on the job. Then, he took out a rolling pin ten centimetres in diameter and one metre long, and thwacked him hard on the head, squashing his pointed hat. Mr. Noheart woke up and demanded to know what Mr. Readalot was doing with the gigantic rolling pin. He pointed at his squashed hat and started yelling at the top of his voice. Archimedes thought he was a bad-tempered guard and started pecking him on the head. Poor Mr. Noheart, he was having an unlucky day. B eastly told Shriek y, “I don’t think your spell is work ing, I think you should tr y a new trick before he turns us into frogs.” Shrieky was ver y quick to reply, “Shut up, Beastly, I need to think. I k now, I think I should tr y a new tr ick before he tur ns us into frogs.” “Urgh,” Beastly sighed.
Shriek y was always like that, she
always copies Beastly’s ideas so that other people would think she’s smarter. (I think that is a stupid idea.) M r. Nohear t turns his attention to Shriek y.
Suddenly, his
face turned red and smoke was coming out of his nostrils. His eyes popped out. When he retracted his eyes, he yelled at Shrieky, “How could you do that to me?
You are now grounded for ten years!”
S h r i e k y j u s t re p l i e d r u d e l y, “. . . i n yo u r d re a m s.” Po o f, a n d b o t h Beastly and Shrieky vanished into thin air. M r. Nohear t said to M r. Readalot, “I think she’s tr ying to destroy me. I think I should become a good wizard and teach her 14
a lesson. Will you help me?” M r. R e a d a l o t s a i d p o i n t l e s s l y, “ I f yo u w a n t m e to h e l p, just fix those loose tiles on the castle roof.” (I think that is rather pointless, don’t you?) Fi r s t , M r. N o h e a r t s t a r t e d t e a c h i n g M r. R e a d a l o t s o m e magic tr icks. S oon, M r. R eadalot k new how to build a wall out of his books with magic.
Even later, he k new how to summon
characters out of stories. S o o n , M r. R e a d a l o t a n d M r. N o h e a r t h a d a s s e m b l e d a n army of k nights from ‘King Ar thur and the Knights of the Round Table’. As they prepare to attack Uptonogood cottage, Mr. Noheart gave M r. Readalot a stone, not just an ordinar y stone - it was a magical stone.
I t will glow when you have completed your task
i n S to r y l a n d. M r. R e a d a l o t s t a r te d p l e a d i n g w i t h t h e s to n e, a s he wanted to return home. Unfor tunately, the stone refused to glow. Mr. Readalot sighed, it seems like there is more work to be done.
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Chapter 7 The operation to destroy Shrieky and Beastly was a success. They were trampled to death by the iron-clad warriors of the S q u a r e Ta b l e ( K i n g A r t h u r c h a n g e d h i s m i n d a b o u t t h e r o u n d table. He decided to get a square one to seat more people. Maybe next time, he would change it to a triangular one). Shrieky and Beastly were as flat as pancakes. Mr. Readalot p i c k e d t h e m u p and flung them far away, towards the trees on the mountain. They were flying like Frisbees. Beastly struck a tree and upset a bird’s nest.
A boy walk ing along a path thought he
was a balloon and star ted inflating him. Soon, Beastly was on his feet again. Shrieky was not so lucky. A cat was passing by when Shrieky hit another tree. was fur ious.
She upset another bird’s nest. The mother bird
She star ted peck ing Shr iek y on the face.
The cat
that saw ever ything that had happened thought Shrieky might be a good scratching post. Soon, Shrieky was shredded to pieces. The ver y same boy thought that Shr iek y was another balloon, only with holes, and started repairing her. This time, the boy did not blow her up like B eastly, but blew her up too much that she floated up into the sky. A speeding Swift saw Shrieky in its flight path but took no notice. Suddenly, there was a big bang. Shrieky just exploded. The bird must have pecked right through her.
Beastly was delighted,
he was finally rid of Shrieky. Beastly decided to turn over an old leaf and become what he was, like last time. Mr. Readalot had helped another person. Mr. Readalot took 16
out his stone and looked at it. It did not seem to glow. Mr. Readalot said to the stone “Am I done yet? I want to go home, can I?” Still the stone said nothing. Beastly wondered. “Is he mad? He is talk ing to a stone. I am stupid but not as stupid as that!”
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Chapter 8 Mr. Readalot was walk ing along in the middle of nowhere and whistling his favourite tune from the theme of ‘ The Bear Who Went Over The Mountain’, when he spotted a cave in his path. He could not venture into the cave because there was a weather-beaten rock blocking the entrance. Mr. Readalot thought, “ This sounds like the story of Ali Baba and the For ty Thieves.
Let me tr y the password. “Open Sesame!”
In an instant, the boulder split open and cracked into a thousand pieces.
The thieves must have used the boulder too of ten.
Readalot did not suspec t anything and entered the cave. end of the cave, he saw a terrible sight. Baba’s brother.
M r.
At the
I t was K assim Baba, Ali
He had been hacked into twenty pieces.
Beside
the corpse, there were many gem stones and all sor ts of treasures stolen by the thieves. After he exited the cave, Mr. Readalot sealed the entrance with another big rock that he found. Mr. Readalot headed southwest, to the Sesame Town known fo r t h e i r d e l i c i o u s f r a gr a n t S e s a m e o i l a n d a s k e d a ro u n d i f A l i Baba stayed there. Sure enough, Ali Baba lived in a palace as said in the book. Mr. Readalot asked Ali Baba, “Did you k now that the forty thieves are after you? They will hide in oil jars and the leader will pretend to be an oil merchant and tr y to execute you.” M r. Readalot also told Ali Baba the direction to the secret cave filled with treasures and told him to be aware of the thieves. Ali Baba sent his strongest ser vants to push the rock away and load the treasures into a wagon and bring them to him. If by chance the ser vants could k ill the thieves, the thieves should be dumped into the lake. Sadly, none of them returned. 18
Ali Baba was very worried. He was considering if he should go alone to retrieve the stolen treasures. Mr. Readalot decided to accompany Ali Baba in case the thieves return to the cave. T h a t n i g h t , A l i B a b a a n d M r. R e a d a l o t s l i p p e d i n t o t h e cave. Nobody moved a muscle, when Ali Baba heard the sound of hooves cloppity clopping coming from outside, in the wilderness. When the robbers did enter the cave, M r. Readalot and Ali Baba sneaked out and Mr. Readalot built a wall out of books to contain the thieves inside the cave until the Royal army arrived. Ali Baba was surprised at what Mr. Readalot could do. He thought M r. Readalot was a wizard.
M r. Readalot explained that
he had learnt these magic tricks from his friend, Mr. Nohear t. Ali Baba thanked Mr. Readalot repeatedly, after the thieves had been slain by the swords of the Sesame Town Royal army. Ali Baba offered M r. Readalot some food and lodging for as long as he wished.
Archimedes thought that the bed that Ali
Baba owned was more comfortable than Papa Bear ’s hard bed. Mr. Readalot brushed and flossed his teeth as usual and fell asleep. Suddenly, M r. Readalot heard M r. Nohear t say, “ Wake up, wake up! Ali Baba’s wife is trying to kill you. She was jealous when he let you sleep in her room and made her sleep in the ser vant ’s ro o m .
Th e re’s o n l y o n e c h a ra c te r t h at wo u l d b e u s e f u l a g a i n s t
her... the Genie of the Lamp. I n a f l a s h , a n e n c h a nte d l a m p a p p e a re d o n t h e b e d s i d e t a b l e.
I t w a s c l e a n , n o t l i k e i n t h e s t o r y.
A l a d d i n m u s t h ave
polished it before use. Soon, a blue mist began flowing out of the lamp. A genie dressed in holiday clothes and sunglasses formed out of the mist. 19
S u d d e n l y, t h e g e n i e s a i d , “ S o r r y, f o l k s , a b o u t t h e b a d dressing.
I just came back from the Bahamas. Let ’s see, what do
you want? Rubber ducky? Sunglasses?” Mr. Readalot explained the situation. said to the genie, “Get us out of here!!!” Poof, and they were gone in a puff of smoke.
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Finally, Mr. Nohear t
Chapter 9 Zap! “Hey, what ’s going on?” Mr. Readalot exclaimed. The three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty were battling Shrieky, and they were on the losing end. Shr iek y did not explode ear lier.
She cast a spell on the
bird and made it explode instead. Shrieky floated safely back down t o t h e g ro u n d, u n n o t i c e d. Fl o r a , Fa u n a a n d M e r r y we a t h e r ( t h e three good fairies) screamed. The witches from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty had joined forces with Shriek y and were casting spells madly. M r. R e a d a l o t t h o u g h t i t w a s t i m e t o t a k e a c t i o n .
He
summoned all his good charac ters in his books and the witches revived the Forty Thieves and fought back. Mr. Noheart was thinking of a plan to stop Shrieky, for she was the mastermind of this war. She was tr ying to conquer Stor yland. Soon af ter, Maleficent (the witch from Sleeping Beaut y), ordered her evil helpers who were hideous monsters, to help her fight the war. Soldiers were falling on both sides (the Evil and the Good). Mr. Noheart’s new baddies, riding on dragons (again, he employed new ones) started throwing stink bombs on the enemies. Soon, Shrieky fainted and Mr. Nohear t ordered his baddies to the Punishment Room to spank her.
The sk y was almost dark
a n d b o t h s i d e s s e t u p c a m p s o n e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e b a t t l e f i e l d. The nex t day, they star ted fighting again.
This went on for t wo
weeks until the evil forces began being dismantled by the Genie in bulldozer form. U n fo r t u n a t e l y, M a l e f i c e n t k e p t o n c r e a t i n g e v i l h e l p e r s w i t h h e r m a gi c a l p owe r s. Th e re wa s n o te l l i n g w h o wo u l d w i n . This went on for another two weeks and Maleficent ’s powers were 21
running out and so were Snozberries (the only food that baddies eat). There was no shortage of food in Mr. Readalot’s camp as the three bears sent ten tons of porridge to the camp for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Both the witches controlling the army decided to make a run for it and make their evil helpers fight for them.
Unfor tunately, before they could escape, Mr. Readalot cast
a p ro te c t i ve s h i e ld to prevent anybody from getting out. fo o d a n d we a p o n s d e l i ve r y we re a l l owe d to p a s s t h ro u g h . Readalot always played this game ver y fair.
Only M r.
Soon the evil forces
were destroyed and victory was in Mr. Readalot’s hands. Both the witches were sent to the Punishment Room to be spanked and their evil helpers were free to go. So that’s how the war in Storyland ended. Everybody from Stor yland had a great celebration par ty and ate porridge cooked by the three bears. In the middle of their feast, there is a bright light coming out of M r. Readalot ’s pocket. M r. Readalot took out his stone and a magical portal opened in front of everyone. M r. Readalot had fulfilled his task and now it is the time for him to return home. So, he asked Mama bear to pack up his p o r r i d g e a n d h e s a i d “G o o d - b ye, e ve r y b o d y ! ” M r. R e a d a l o t a n d Archimedes walked through the portal and disappeared. Meanwhile, back in the library, Mr. Readalot and Archimedes kept the magic file cabinet in the storeroom. They did not want to use it again. As they turned to leave the room the magic cabinet fell onto M r. Readalot and the books that Archimedes had taken out from the filing cabinet dropped back into the drawer. “UH OH! Not again!” shouted M r. Readalot.
Look like that will not be the
end of the story. Good luck, Mr. Readalot and Archimedes. THE END.... Maybe not .... 22
What is The
Young Authors’ Scheme?
Origin The first of its kind in Singapore, the Young Authors’ Scheme began in 2003, with a class of 50 students from four primary schools, all wanting to express their ideas in words but are limited to compositions and letter writing. It took an innovative-thinking English Head of Department from Anderson Primary to hit upon a novel approach to spur them on: write a book! But it was to be no ordinary book; it had to be good enough to be published. The cluster called upon the expertise of Catherine Khoo. Could she help these students develop their potential? Never one to refuse a challenge, she dived into the project and stolidly hand-held them into penning their very own creation: a well-crafted story of at least 3,000 words. A mere three years later, 200 young authors have persevered and seen their works in print. 42 have had their stories published under the Young Author’s Club.
Objectives Children have a wealth of emotions. How do you draw them out? At the same time, how can they learn as they are sharing? Storytelling is at once therapeutic and fulfilling. The chance to create opens a whole new world to them. Putting them into words allows them to draw on their imagination, learn new words and enjoy the process of writing.
Milestones 28 February 2004 • First Young Author Awards held. • Special Achievement Award to Aditi from Naval Base Primary School who penned a 21,000 word fantasy, The Chain of Tears. 22 July 2005 • Launch of The Young Author’s Club, a series of of excellent works from the Young Author’s Scheme. The series comprises four titles: Tales of Magic & Fantasy, Tales of Ghosts and Ghouls, Tales of Aliens and Angels and Tales To Warm Your Heart. Held at the Library@Orchard, the event had an over-capacity audience of 200 young authors, parents, teachers and principals. 10 September 2005 • First Young Author’s Club event held at Popular Books, United Square. It was hosted by Catherine Khoo, Creator of the Young Author’s Scheme, with guest appearances by three young authors, Thia Shan Zhi, 13, Norman Aziz, 13, and Jennifer Yip, 12, who gamely signed autographs and awarded specially crafted bookmarks. All four titles were sold out within an hour. 28 November 2005... • The Advanced Young Author’s Scheme had its first intake of Sec 1 to Sec 3 boys from Catholic High School. The boys had to write a 10,000 word nouvella. They exceeded expectations, with Song Dilong, 13, penning a 62,000-word sc-fi thriller, EAGP and Chean Yufei, 15, with his 40,000 fantasy, Eclipse of the Rising Sun. To find out more about the Young Author’s Scheme, contact Experiences & Experiments, Tel/Fax 6336-8985, or visit www.catherinekhoo.sg
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Do you read rhymes? Fairytales? No? Then, this is the book for you! It is about books, books and more books! Mr Readalot and Archimedes (his owl) fall through a portal into storyland. Together, they battle the forces of evil to save Storybook characters from eternal doom. Mr Readalot’s big brain un-sticks him from the sticky situations. Want to find out how Mr Readalot helps Humpty Dumpty? Just read on and enjoy!
I am Kenrick. I have a flair for reading and writing and will read whenever I am free. Sometimes at midnight I will read until the next day and not feel sleepy at all. I do not choose books to read, I will read all of them. I write very often too, like twice a week.
An Experiences & Experiments Imprint ISBN No. 978-981-4254-08-3
Ph / Fax 6336-8985
www.catherinekhoo.sg