Books with author Jean Mark

Intended for students and children taking part in speech and drama competitions and exams, this book contains a range of audition speeches. It includes female, male and unisex speeches selected from both plays and children's books. Where relevant the author has indicated how a speech could be shortened for younger children. There is also an introductory section with contributions from Alan Ayckbourn, Carol Schroder (teacher and examiner for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), Richard Carpenter (TV writer) and Ed Wilson (Director of the National Youth Theatre) and senior casting directors for the RSC, TV and film. This edition has been freshly revised to include 10 new speeches from well known recent productions as well as children's books including Harry Potter.'A superb compilation' Amateur Stage

This collection of seven funny stories for teenagers is told entirely in the form of a dialogue between three friends, Maurice, Nazzer and Nina. Although three of the stories have appeared in print before, Jan Mark has written four new stories which take the friends through the school year of their O-level re-sits. Jan Mark is author of "Thunder and Lightnings" and is the winner of the British Library Association's Carnegie Medal (twice), the "Observer" Teenage Fiction Prize, the Penguin/"Guardian" award, and the Angel Award for her short stories. She has just won the Angel Award a second time for her first adult novel "Zeno Was Here" 1987.

Bumpy is a curious 5 year old with an amazing imagination.Camela is a sassy 'Know it All' neighbor and classmate. In the first story, Camela has her whole class frightened over the 'Boogie Man' and Bumpy worried that he didn't 'smell special' enough to avoid a visit from this unknown monster. While in the second story, Bumpy's pool fun is invaded by Camela. Here she insists on V.I.P. treatment since she is a 'Guest' in his home. Bumpy finds himself retreating to his favorite pastime... drawing with his magical glowing pencil. With this pencil and paper, Bumpy puts his imagination to the test and creates entertaining solutions for his dilemmas. With his creativity in full light, he becomes aware that there is always a way to work out anything!

Here are some of the very best short stories written for children over the last 250 years. Compiled by the well-known children's writer and Carnegie Medalist, Jan Mark, this is the first anthology to trace how children's short stories evolved, ranging from the publication of Sarah Fielding's "The Governess" in 1749, to Nadia Wheatley's "Convict Box" in 1992. Anyone who enjoys children's fiction, whether young or old, will find something to savor in The Oxford Book of Children's Stories. Fairy tales, ghost stories, adventures and escapades in and out of school, every genre is included here, peopled by good children and bad, strict parents and kindly aunts, kings and queens, giants and enchanters. Mark includes work by 44 different authors, including well-known figures such as Louisa May Alcott, Christina Rossetti, Rudyard Kipling, Max Beerbohm, and Carl Sandburg, leading modern writers such as Philippa Pearce, Richard Kennedy, Nadia Wheatley, and Jan Mark herself--plus many long-forgotten tales that are still highly entertaining today. Chronologically arranged, the anthology also serves as an introduction to the historical development of the children's short story, providing insights into the way perceptions of childhood and contemporary attitudes have influenced writers of different periods. But as Jan Mark's discriminating selection demonstrates, the ingredients of a good children's story--as well as the fictional tastes of children themselves--have remained remarkably constant, despite changes in style and outlook. This is a collection to divert and surprise: an ideal survey of the children's short story for parents, professionals--and especially for the children themselves.

When Andrew's family moves house, he strikes up an unexpected friendship with his neighbour Victor. There isn't a thing Victor doesn't know about the RAF planes flying overhead and the two boys are soon busy tracking their movements.Then Andrew discovers that Victor's beloved Lightnings are due to be scrapped...Thunder and Lightnings won the Carnegie Medal in 1976.

Isaac is an outsider on the planet Erato - the lone survivor of a disaster elsewhere in the Ennead (a system of nine planets). But he has managed to infiltrate an important family and wields a significant amount of power. Even so, his position is often compromised because he depends on the kindness of others. So when the chance to rescue Eleanor, a girl from another planet, arises - and most importantly, to keep her forever in his debt, he seizes it. But Eleanor brings her own agenda - her own history - which threatens Isaac's position and the very fabric of Erato's society.

Isaac is an outsider on the planet Erato - the lone survivor of a disaster elsewhere in the Ennead (a system of nine planets). But he has managed to infiltrate an important family and wields a significant amount of power. Even so, his position is often compromised because he depends on the kindness of others. So when the chance to rescue Eleanor, a girl from another planet, arises - and most importantly, to keep her forever in his debt, he seizes it. But Eleanor brings her own agenda - her own history - which threatens Isaac's position and the very fabric of Erato's society.

Charlotte has always thought there's something not right about living in Compton Rosehay (aka Stalemate). Perhaps it's the plastic families, the identical rows of houses, or the girls who only talk about diets.When she meets Elaine, Charlotte sees there is life outside her stifling neighbourhood. Together they spot the cracks in the town's exterior, to discover the hidden world of Stalemate.