Glasgow Feb Half-Term 2020

BOOKSTORE
Text © D J Williams 2020
Bookstore
This year’s World Book Day, the annual celebration of children’s books, is
on 5 March. As always, every child will receive a £1 book token that can
be exchanged for special £1 books, or put towards a full price book. Here
are some great reads you might like to consider.
Star
Read
The Cure for a Crime
Roopa Farooki (Oxford, £6.99)
Twins Ali and Tulip don’t like their
mum’s new boyfriend, Sturgeon. He
seems to want to be in charge and
ever since he moved in their mum
has been acting strangely — as if
she is always sleep walking. As would-be detectives
with medical knowledge, they set out to find out what
Attack of the Smart Speakers
Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and
Brilliant Girls (Usborne Hb, £12.99)
In general girls don’t get a very good PR in fairy tales. Yes,
they are usually pretty and nice but a bit dull, don’t do a lot
and usually rely on a strong (handsome) male to save them.
Except the evil ones who, let’s face it, are often the more
interesting characters. This confused me when I was young, I
wanted to be a heroine, but the nasty ones seemed to have
stronger characters and be more in control. This is just the way
the stories were deliberately chosen to reflect the views of societies in the past,
however. Look back to the origins and you will find some very feisty, strong minded
females. This collection has brought together 8 of them in the original stories. They
each take care of, and think for, themselves, go on adventures, and even rescue the
odd prince! All very inspiring in a beautifully presented book with lovely illustrations.
Well worth sharing – I would love to see some of these turned into shows or
pantomimes!
Dinosaurs vs Humans - Matt Robertson
S Indicates a book is part of a series
Debbie
his secret is, especially when the teachers at their school start showing
similar signs of sleepiness after his visit. Their initial detecting efforts are
thwarted by Nan Nan who is somehow always able to track them down.
As time goes on they realise there is more to her than meets the eye.
Also surprising is the way finding out more about their nemesis twins, Zac
and Jay, change their opinion of them. As things start to escalate and past
rivalries and a revenge plot is revealed, drastic action is required and the
two sets of twins are determined to solve the mystery. This is a dramatic,
fast paced first story in a new series with interesting, endearing main
characters. It is full of plot twists and surprises to keep you gripped to the
end. Full length novel.
Tom McLaughlin (Oxford, £6.99)
You would think that science loving super geeks Ashley, Dylan
and Tyler would be overjoyed when their school starts using smart
speakers to teach them. They might have, except the speakers,
called ‘Nova’, dismiss science and maths instead making dance and
exercise compulsory. The speakers are proving to be very popular,
the whole town seems to be buying multiple copies of them. At
first the Novas are very helpful, but once they know everything
about everyone they change and start giving orders. They get ever more demanding,
develop legs and start crawling around becoming very dangerous with a plan to
enslave humanity. Will the geeky friends be able to save humanity? Help is needed
and could come from a very unexpected source. This funny, exciting story could
make you look twice at the gadgets you use and how much information you give
out. Large print and some pictures encourage readers onto medium length novels
(Orchard Hb, £12.99)
It is no wonder Humans and Dinosaurs didn’t get along. The
dinosaurs teased humans with silly songs while humans
played tricks on dinosaurs. But one human Pearl, and
Dexter the dinosaur hated all the fighting. They went for a
walk to get away from it all and bumped into each other.
Much to their surprise they realised they had a lot in common and
became the best of friends, to the disgust of the rest of their tribes who tried to
keep them apart. So they found a new place to play which was great until the
ground split and they fell into a pit. Both tribes ran to their rescue, but neither
could reach them, until Pearl and Dexter suggested humans and dinosaurs
work together to rescue them. This made them all realise each tribe wasn’t
that bad, in fact they all got on rather well! A touching, inspirational story full
of funny, expressive illustrations with a couple of rhyming sentences on each
page to help beginner readers.
S
21 Feb - 2 May
East Ayrshire Schools
Exhibition
Dick Institute KA1 3BU
www.eastayrshireleisure.com
This annual exhibition celebrates
some of the best examples of
art, design, imagination and
creativity from all East Ayrshire
secondary schools.
22 Feb
Paintballs
Gallery of Modern Art G1 3AH
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
10.30am Andy Goldsworthy used
clay to create six clay snowballs.
Experiment with a number of
techniques to make your own
colourful paintballs.
T: 0141 287 3050
22 Feb
The 4 for February
Glasgow Museums Resource
Centre G53 7NN
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm Keep warm inside
GMRC while creating a card and
string winter scene gesso panel,
inspired by the Macdonald
sisters. T: 0141 276 9300
22 Feb
Winter Walk
RSPB Baron’s Haugh Nature
Reserve ML1 2PZ
www.rspb.org.uk
10am Find out how wildlife
survives winter and what special
species we only see at this
time of year. Cost £4 adults, £2
children. Booking essential. T:
07872 814911
22 & 29 Feb
Custom Stories While You
Wait
Plaza Shopping Centre PA1 1EL
www.paisleybookfest.com
10am Luke Winter writes stories
for strangers on a typewriter,
and he’d like to write for you. All
he needs is a title or subject, and
away his imagination will go,
creating a unique story that will
be yours to take home.
22 Feb - 23 Feb
Four Go To China - Finger-
Puppet Fantasy
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
Museum G3 8AG
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm The Four: Mackintosh,
MacNair, MacDonald and
Macdonald go on an imaginary
time-travelling journey to the
fantasy world of Pouring in China.
Inter-active storytelling and liquid
art. T: 0141 276 9599
22 Feb - 23 Feb
Animals at Riverside
Riverside Museum G3 8RS
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm Which animals can you
spot in the museum? We are going
to use a selection of arts and crafts
materials to make our animals.
T: 0141 287 2720
23 Feb
The Greatest Mess - Blantyre
TACT Community Hall G72 9EF
www.messarounduk.com
10.30am Roll up, Roll up! Join the
travelling circus at our Greatest
Mess party! Be mesmerised as
your little ones transform into the
ringmaster at our circus themed
messy play. T: 07783 245182
29 Feb
Water-colour
Gallery of Modern Art G1 3AH
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
10.30am Water is vital for life and
it is also quite important for artists!
Come and find out more about
water and create a watercolour
painting to take away. T: 0141 287
3050
29 Feb
Fantastic Flyers
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
G53 7NN
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm Free drop in session for all
the family. T: 0141 276 9300
29 Feb - 1 Mar
Trace it!
Riverside Museum G3 8RS
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm Come along and get
inspired by the technical drawings
of objects in our museum. We
will use pens, pencils, and tracing
paper to make our own drawings.
T: 0141 287 2720
29 Feb - 1 Mar
Make a Slide Whistle
Scotland Street School Museum
G5 8QB
www.glasgowlife.org.uk
1.30pm Charlie Mack’s Playtime
Orchestra invites you and your
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Primary Times february half-term 2020 Issue
www.primarytimes.co.uk/glasgow