East Meets West - A Richard III Extravaganza

We have created a Richard III extravaganza. Last week we gave our first performance as part of Leicester's ArtBeat Festival and I'm delighted to say that it was very well received.

Nimisha Parmer showed us the story of the Battle of Bosworth using the ancient Indian dance style of Bharat Natyan. Her son, Aayush, accompanied her on the drums.

I took to the floor next, performing a rather tongue-in-cheek interview between a modern day reporter and the Witch of Daneshill. It's all in my book if you'd like to buy one - The Children's Book of Richard III. I went on to explain how a King's body came to be under a car park in Leicester.

Me playing the part of the Witch of Daneshill

Our grand finale was Richard Buckley, head of Archaeology at Leicester University, the man who led the dig that discovered Richard III's body. He gave us a fascinating insight into what the dig was like and then produced a 'King' in full period armour with sword, dagger, halberd, the lot. It was not only the kids who were excited. We were all fascinated by this King-cum-knight in almost shiny armour.

Richard Buckley on the left with a halberd

Richard Buckley demonstrating how a dagger was thrust through Richard III's skull
(as you can see he didn't really do it!)

There are plans for repeat performances so if you missed this one then watch this space for the announcement of our next Richard III extravaganza.

Countdown to a Royal Event

Five things you may not know about Leicester Cathedral:

One of the side chapels

1.  A King is about to be laid to rest there. 

2.  It used to be the Parish Church of St Martins. 

3.  Workmen are preparing for the reinterment of Richard III and it’s looking good. 

4.  It has that calm ambience that invites you to pop in, sit down and think; something that I can never resist doing when I'm passing. 

5.  My Children’s Book of Richard III is doing a roaring trade in their bookshop.

It is only 26 days until the reinterment of Richard III.

They’ve just published the programme for the week’s events. Here is the full timetable.

Last week, as a guest of Leicester’s Interfaith Group, I was invited to a reception at the Richard III Visitor Centre.  We were given a full tour of the Centre and, as is often the case, I got a lot more out of the visit with an official guide than ever I did on my own. We were welcomed into the Cathedral and the Canon explained exactly what would be happening during that week. The coffin will be received into the Cathedral on the evening of Sunday 22^nd March and it will be there for the public to pay their respects each day until the burial on Thursday 26^th.

As for the sale of my Children’s Book of Richard III, we hope to be visiting quite a few more schools over the next couple of weeks and during the week of the reinterment we will have a stall on Leicester Market. I’ll be there every lunchtime signings books so if you want to pop along and say ‘hi’, I’ll be only too pleased to meet with you… and, of course, to sign your copy of the Children’s Book of Richard III.

Me and Richard III

We've Been Visiting Schools

For the last few weeks Richard III has been escorting me into local schools. I've been mainly talking to Year 4 and 5 classes (ages 9 to 11). My publisher, Lynn Moore from The Reading Shop has been coming with me too. We have an excellent partnership. I talk about The Children's Book of Richard III and she sells it.

Every school is different. Some have the children waiting in rows with pre-prepared questions. Others just slot me into their busy schedule.

Every class of children is different too. They each want to know about different aspects of the book. Today's children were really fascinated by the Princes in the Tower. Last week the children were more interested in the fact that Richard's body had been found beneath a Leicester City car park. The week before, I was quizzed about how I'd written the book and how it had been produced.

The children's questions are fascinating and funny in equal measure. Last week I was asked if I remember when Richard III was alive! The teacher assured me she would do some more work on maths awareness. This week I was asked if I personally believed Richard III to be a good or a bad King. Good question. I sat on the fence, as I have done in the book, but then admitted that, because I'd spent so much time writing about him, I had become really fond of him and was prepared to believe that all the bad press had come from Henry VII and the Tudors.

This was me this afternoon at a small village school just outside Leicester:

I'm pleased to say that the children do have one thing in common, they all want to buy a book.

If you'd like to buy a copy then please visit The Reading Shop website or if you're in the Leicester area then why not pop into the shop and support a local children's independent bookshop. It's on The Parade in Oadby.

Leicester Through a Visitor's Eyes

It’s been yet another busy week but this time it wasn’t about work. My sister came to stay which is a rare treat as Sister is even more anxious than I am about travelling. This was our first proper visit together since our Mum died. Mum was greatly missed but it also meant that we had time to do some shopping and touristy things that we’ve not really done together since she left Leicester about 30 years ago.

Our Tourist Schedule:

Curve Theatre to see Barnum

Sister was surprised by the vast, bulging building that is our Curve theatre.  She reminisced about the days of The Haymarket Theatre. Sadly that theatre now stands empty. What a waste of a resource! Barnum was a bit slow in the first half, or maybe our expectations were too high, but we enjoyed our evening together and Sister went home with photographs to help her remember. (Like that children’s TV programme character, Mr Benn!)

Richard III

Leicester’s Medieval Area

Sister was amazed by all the preparations for Richard III’s reburial. Where there was once ordinary side street paving and a non-descript front to the Cathedral, the workmen are now creating tiled walkways between the Richard III Visitors’ Centre and the Cathedral and a landscaped garden complete with modern sculpture and statue of Richard III. The biggest change even shocked me. We went into the Cathedral for a quiet sit down only to find that the workmen have boarded off the Cathedral side chapels and the Choir while they excavate Richard’s final resting place. Sister went home with more photographs to help her remember.

Leicester’s High Cross Shopping Centre

Sister lives in a very small town on the South coast. It has only a few shops for ‘essentials only’. High Cross, therefore, provided a confusion as well as profusion of shops. Consequently, Sister went home with less money than she had when she arrived!

Singing and Chatting

We caterwauled our way through The Last Night of the Proms and it reminded me of when we were little. We used to make our Grandma and Great Aunts sit through ‘concerts’ every time we visited. They were very patient. And we chatted for hours about life and stuff. It’s good having a sister.

Down Side to the Visit

Many weeks ago, in order to make Sister’s journey a little easier, we said we would pick her up from Birmingham’s New Street Station. That wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn’t been for The Letter that we received only days before her arrival. The Letter was from the DVLA telling Mr A that they would not be renewing his driving licence due to eyesight issues. Before you ask, yes I can drive, but have you ever tried driving into Central Birmingham when you haven’t a clue where you’re going? It wasn’t a good experience… but I did it and, what’s more, I’m proud of myself!

Collecting Happy Memories

We've just spent a bit of quality time with our amazing grandkids. I have to admit that I am now exhausted but it was lovely to see them and I've gathered up lots of happy memories while we were there. We saw monkeys in the monkey forest playing and chasing each other. We played on the swings in the local park and I plucked up the courage to swing high, like when I was a kid. Then there were the stories that we read together and the games that we created whilst crawling on the floor. The best memories are the hugs and kisses and the words, "I love you, Grandma Ros and Grandpa Rod".

Those happy memories will keep me going for a little while until we can meet up again. (Why can't families all live round the corner from each other like in the olden days or am I wearing those tinted specs again?) But I came away from our visit with more than happy memories. I came away with a wise piece of advice from my son. (Don't you love it when your kids become wiser than you?!) On our last evening there he put little grandson to bed and came down saying, "I always like to leave him with a happy thought to take with him as he goes off to sleep. Tonight he chose the baby monkeys playing in the forest."

A lot of life is about what's in our heads, isn't it. We can think about something lovely and smile or we can think about something awful and grimace. It sounds like an obvious choice and if it was as easy as that then we'd all spend all our time thinking lovely thoughts. For me the hardest times are those hours in the middle of the night, but maybe I can turn that around if I listen to my son's advice and take a happy thought with me when I go to sleep. (If you're reading this, Son, and I know that you often do, then thanks. I'll certainly give it a go.)

Daughter update: I'm so pleased to report that my daughter is recovering well following major surgery earlier in the summer. She's hoping to get back to work after the Bank Holiday week. Thanks to everyone who sent her get well wishes.

Children's Book of Richard III update: We have almost sold out of the first print run. Because there were one or two small changes required, this next print run has become a 2nd edition. Apologies if you wanted to order a copy this week. The 2nd edition will be available either online or in person from The Reading Shop in about two weeks' time.

*New Release* The Children's Book of Richard III

I'm proud to announce that

The Children's Book of Richard III 

is now published and available for you to buy. 

Here's my copy...

When I started writing this book the plan was to explain the last years of the Wars of the Roses in easy terms. As I progressed through the story of his life I became more involved with Richard, his life, the way that his name was treated after his death and the excitement of the archaeological dig.  Consequently this book has become much more than my original plans for it. To give you a taster of what's in the book here is a photo of the Contents Page and aren't Alice Povey's illustrations amazing!

The most exciting bits to write were... well, all of it really, but I did enjoy writing the interview with the Witch of Daneshill. She was said to see Richard riding out to the Battle of Bosworth. His foot hit the side of Bow Bridge and she predicted that the next time he crossed that bridge it would be his head that knocked against the side... and she was right! I also loved writing about the science and archaeology aspects of the search for his body.

(Update posted on Friday 4th July: Apologies if PayPal tried to add £10 shipping on top of the p&p. This has now been resolved. We will be including payment by credit and debit card very soon. )

If you'd like to buy a copy, you can get one at The Reading Shop either online or phone through your order on 0116 2717077 and it will be posted to you. Alternatively you can pop into the shop on The Parade, Oadby, Leicester.

Note for teachers:

 I will be visiting schools next term to talk about Richard III and the book, which covers a range of Key Stage 2 areas in addition to history. If you are interested in booking a school visit then please email me on rosalind.kathryn@gmail.com

Daughter update: Thanks to all those of you who have sent your kind messages to my Daughter. She is starting the slow post-op recovery and, yes, I'll still be Nurse Mum for at least another week.

Richard III and Fancy Headstones

A blog post of two halves:

Richard III

The other day I went along with Lynn, my publisher, to the printers, Soar Valley Press to do a final, final check of The Children’s Book of Richard III. I found myself discussing gutter marks and bleed lines. I’m learning so much! Here is a preparatory version of the complete outside cover; back, spine and front.

Everything was good with the proofs so now the printers are printing and binding while I sit back and sip tea… I wish! We have two launches to arrange; a media launch and a private launch. We have promotion to do; schools, retail outlets, anyone who will listen and I’m proposing to do school visits next term.

The school visits are going to be fascinating. The contents of the book are relevant to a number of areas of the curriculum, not only history, and we hope that this element proves to be an additional selling point. It’ll be strange standing up in front of children again, a bit like being a grandma. I can have lots of fun, drawing on skills that I honed when I was younger, and then I can hand them back at the end of the session.

Fancy Headstones

For those of you who are getting fed up of me rabbiting on about Richard III, I thought I’d tell you a bit more about the cemetery project. This week I’ve been working on an article about headstone embellishments. It was researched and written up by one of my team and I’m sorting out photos to illustrate it and preparing it for uploading onto the project website.

In modern Jewish cemeteries it’s customary to have plain headstones, usually with just a Star of David embellishment on them but in the early 1900s the designs in our cemetery were quite elaborate and very similar to the headstones in the non-Jewish part of the cemetery. A recurring theme among the earlier headstones is ivy adornments, ivy being a symbol of immortality. One of the most fascinating headstones has a cut down tree, representing a life cut short and probably a reference to the ‘tree of life’ mentioned in Genesis.

I seem to be learning something new every day at the moment. Steep learning curves are exciting but just a little tiring. Maybe I will sit back and sip tea after all.

Have you experienced any kind of learning curve recently?

Exclusive Front Cover Reveal

These last few weeks have been a frenetic time of checking and rechecking final proofs for my Children’s Book of Richard III. I am relieved to say that, at just gone midnight last night the book finally went off to our local printing firm, Soar Valley Press. I’ve used them before and so I know that they are four friendly, accommodating, award-winning printers. They hope to get the books to us in three weeks’ time.

Here is an exclusive peep at the front cover:

I'm so pleased with Alice's illustrations and design work. She has turned my book into something very special. You can see more of her work on her website, Alice Povey Illustrations.

So far, Independent Publishing has not been as scary as I had expected. I mentioned in an earlier post about the disparity of heading styles. I've certainly learnt a lesson from that, but this last week has been full of insecurities over spellings, word usages, spacing on the pages; all those small things that can make such a big difference. For example, on one page I’d put battle field as two words even though I know that it’s one word. On another page I’d repeated a word three times in one sentence. It was easily corrected but what amazes me is that five people have proof read this and I’ve proof read it many, many times. I suppose there will still be the odd mistake hiding amongst all those words but if you buy a copy and find one of them, I don’t think I want to know about it… ok, ok, you can tell me but please be gentle!

If you want to order an advanced copy please contact Lynn Moore at The Reading Shop. Lynn Moore is not only my publisher; she is also the owner of one of the few Independent Children’s Bookshops left in the UK. 

Quite soon there will be launch parties to arrange and school visits to plan but before all that happens I have to get back to working on my Cemetery Research Project. I’ve fallen seriously behind schedule… but it’s been worth it.

For those who didn't catch the announcement, the High Court Judges have ruled that Richard III will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral in Spring 2015.

The Tricks of Time

Time is a strange concept. We can't stop it and yet sometimes it seems to be hardly moving at all. We can't stretch it and yet sometimes it feels as if that would be the only way to get things done.

An excellent example is the Cemetery Research Project. The Heritage Lottery have allowed one year to complete it. A year is a long time, right? Wrong! There's so much work still to do and it must be done by October. Not that I'm complaining too much because the work is fascinating. I've just finished documenting the travels of a Jewish gentleman who, during the late 1890s to the 1920s, moved with his family from Turkey to Egypt to Germany. With the rise of Nazi Germany, they moved on to Paris, then to Clacton-on-Sea, London, Littlethorpe and finally Leicester. It was a privilege to record this story and it's one of many. You'll be able to read them in full when the Website is completed which can't be long because, as I said, I'm running out of time.

Time is playing its tricks with my Children's Book of Richard III. I couldn't believe the day would arrive when I would hold the pages, with their beautiful full-colour illustrations, in my hands but yesterday I did just that. We're now working on last minute corrections, tweaks and alterations - we being myself (the author) Alice Povey (illustrator and book designer) and Lynn Moore (editor and publisher). We'll soon be ready to go to print BUT why is it taking so much time for the High Court Judges to make their decision over where Richard III will be reinterred? We may have to publish without waiting for their decision, which is fine because my book tells a satisfying story even without the reinterment, and there's always the 2nd edition!

If these were the only demands on my time, then time would be almost manageable, but there have been hospital appointments too and it's common knowledge that waiting around in hospitals can make time grind to an almost halt. Mr A has just completed his regular two days of tests at the National Amyloidosis Centre in London's Royal Free Hospital. They're so pleased with his progress that they don't want to see him for a whole year. You see! Suddenly a year feels like a good and long time. But my daughter is waiting for an operation. Because of her severe endometriosis, she's going to have to have a hysterectomy. There are just over four more weeks to wait and the time is going slower than a snail.

Do you see what I mean about time being a strange concept? If we knew the true meaning of time, I suspect we'd have discovered the true meaning of life, but I don't have the time to think about it right now. Maybe later, when I've time to spare... or maybe not!

What are your thoughts about time?

Independent Publishing and a Preview of Richard III

They say it keeps you young to learn new things but I think it batters your brain! Producing the text for The Children's Story of Richard III ready for publishing has been packed with new experiences and I now realise how daunting Independent Publishing can be.

It's not always the big things that catch you out. For me it's the little things like creating the Title Page.  I'd never thought about the Title Page inside the cover of a book. It's something that is just there. Fortunately Alice Povey is doing the Book Design as well as the illustrations and she came to my rescue. I'd never thought about the wording on the spine of the book either but again, Alice has got it sorted. As for the Acknowledgments Page, there is quite a lot of legal speak that we've had to include to cover copyright permissions from other people for images used and copyright claims on behalf of ourselves, not to mention acknowledging support and advice.

A preview of Richard III

One of the scariest 'almost mistakes' that I made was to not be consistent with my side heading styles.  I am eternally grateful to my publisher, Lynn Moore from The Reading Shop, for spotting this. Some of the side headings had initial capitals. Some just had a capital for the first word of the heading. Of course, I know how important it is to be consistent but I hadn't noticed the inconsistencies. So, how many more mistakes will I find before the book is out?

The illustrations have almost been completed by the amazing Alice Povey. I then get a penultimate opportunity to proof read. I'm feeling slightly sick at the thought of reading those words again but it has to be done! The final chance will be when the Printers, Soar Valley Press, produce their draft book. Once we say 'Yes' to that, there'll be no turning back. People keep reassuring me that even the most prestigious of publications have little errors but I so don't want that to happen to my book.

If that were all I was doing right now, then I wouldn't be feeling so brain battered but there's the small matter of continuing to catalogue the local cemetery and create a Website for Ancestry Research. Thankfully I have an expert in database building working with me but it's down to me to write the content of the Website text pages. This has meant a crash course in HTML coding and website design. Enough said!

So excuse me while I pop off and work out which letter to put in-between < and > to make things happen in HTML. It's all good stuff... I think!

Well, aren't you the cat's whiskers...

...which means, you think you're pretty amazing.
 
And I'm sure you are amazing but this post isn't really about you, it's about cats and it's about my ruminations on why there are so many sayings that use cats to put the message across. Here are just a few by way of illustration:-

• cat on a hot tin roof
• raining cats and dogs
• cat nap
• weak as a kitten
• scaredy cat
• like herding cats
• fat cats
• grinning like a Cheshire cat

I could go on. In fact, I will:-

• copy cat
• cool cat
• cat walk 
• a catty person
• cats' eyes in the road
• cat-in-hell's chance
• cat got your tongue
• cats whiskers radios (It wasn't really a whisker. It was a fine wire that looked like a whisker.)

"So why all this talk about cat words?" I hear you ask.

Well, I was watching our two cats wash their faces after their supper yesterday and I couldn't help admiring their whiskers. Mabel's are black and shiny. Charlie's are white and bushy. Both sets are fine examples of cats' whiskers and both cats are quite convinced that they're the cats' whiskers!

Mabel

Charlie

And anyway, I needed a break from Richard III and Cemetery cataloging and it was a perfect excuse to post up photos of my two furry girls :-)

The Children's Book of Richard III Update: The illustrator, Alice Povey, has started the colour work. It's looking amazing. The front cover will be completed for viewing very soon and you'll be among the first to see it. Watch This Space!

Introducing Alice Povey

This week I am about to embark on an exciting new venture. I’m going to be working with a very talented illustrator to turn my text about Richard III into a highly illustrated children’s book. Firstly I’d like to introduce you to the illustrator. Her name is Alice Povey and you can see examples of her work on her website at Alice Povey's Portfolio. 

Good, isn't she!

Secondly I'd like to explain how we met. To all those people who still think that Twitter is a waste of time, I got to know about Alice through my Twitter discussions with her mother @Richard1483. As you can guess from her Twitter name, she's even more enthusiastic about 'everything Richard III' than I am. That was how we got talking. She mentioned her daughter. I looked at Alice's website and we were 'in business'. Don't you just love Twitter!

Back to Alice and the book, we're about to have our first meeting to discuss the project. I've never before had the opportunity to work so closely with an illustrator and I'm really looking forward to viewing my work through an artist's eyes. The text follows Richard's life, from when he was a young boy, through the confusions of the Wars of the Roses, to his rule as Richard III, his death at the Battle of Bosworth and his subsequent rediscovery under the tarmac of a Leicester City Council car park, including a bit about the science that was used to properly identify his remains.

The proposed publication date for the book is Summer 2014 which brings me to the only negative point in this blog post, the disagreement about where Richard's final resting place should be. The case was taken to the High Court in London last November but was adjourned because there were issues to be resolved. The next hearing will not be until 13th March 2014. I won't go into all the politics about where he should be buried. I'll just say that I hope they rule in favour of keeping him here in Leicester. It would mean a lot to us Leicester folk and I must admit that I have already written the final page of the book. I do hope I don't have to rewrite it!

Digging for a King - Richard III Part II

The Leicester University Archaeology Department are digging under a Leicester City Council Car Park to search for the bones of Richard III. I blogged in more detail about it last week.

They were pretty certain that this was the site of The Grey Friars, a Franciscan Friary and Church which had been destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16^th Century. Sure enough they unearthed evidence and this weekend we, the public, were invited to see it for ourselves.

We had to queue...

But the sun was shining, people were chatty and excited and before we knew it we were in. This was our very own Archaeologist for the visit.

He showed us the trenches and explained what they were able to deduce from their findings...

They had, as yet, found no bones but they had found some floor tiles... 

...and the imprint of where those tiles would have been...

They've unearthed the foundations of narrow passages which would have been the cloister and of a wall with a buttress which was the Church. We had to use lots of imagination. No doubt when the report is shown on the TV there’ll be stunning projections of what the Friary would have looked like, but for me that won’t be anywhere near as exciting as being on the site, seeing the process and speaking with one of the archaeologists. It made it feel even more real than any TV projection possibly could.

It will be great if they do find Richard III’s bones but the dig isn’t quite over yet so... watch this space!

Digging for a King

The history beneath our feet never fails to fascinate me. Archaeologists from Leicester University are, as I type these words, digging up Leicester’s Grey Friars Car Park. A few days ago they found what they believe to be a section of wall from Grey Friars, a Franciscan Friary where it is thought that Richard III's body may have been buried. They are continuing the dig in the hope of finding his remains.

Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field which is only a few miles from Leicester. Over the centuries there has been much speculation as to what happened to his body. Some say he was buried in Grey Friars. Others say his body was thrown into the River Soar. Now we may be about to find out the truth.

In my book, The Children’s History of Leicester, I talked about the Witch of Daneshill. They say that she was among the crowd who watched the King ride into battle on 21^st August, 1485. Richard had stayed overnight in the White Boar Inn near Leicester’s River Soar. As he rode off over the river his foot knocked against the cornerstone of Bow Bridge. The Witch of Daneshill called out,

    “When next he comes over that bridge it will be his head that knocks the cornerstone!”

They say that her prediction came true. His body was carried back, thrown across a horse, and his head knocked against that very same stone. 

Bow Bridge is still there. It’s now part of a busy thoroughfare and only a few streets away from the archaeological dig. This area of ground has never before been excavated as it had been private gardens for many centuries and then a car park. I can’t wait to see what secrets it’s about to reveal.

Are there any historical mysteries beneath the ground in your area?

If you want to keep up with the news of the dig as it breaks then you can find the latest on The Leicester Mercury site.