Le Tour continues...
May has been exciting. First of all the Tour de Schools Show has been out and about travelling around Yorkshire Schools and getting lots of laughs and enthusiastic responses from children and teachers. It would be good to have some photos but, despite asking several times, no one ever sends us any! In the mean time here's me with my yellow jersey and Chris Froome's helmet from his 2013 Tour de France win.
The bike is the same model used by naughty Lance Armstrong
The Silly Book launches
I had a fun time at Amotherby Primary School launching The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff. I dedicated the book to the staff and children of my excellent local school and they were delighted. BBC Radio York did a very good piece about it, interviewing six children. About 70 children bought the book and they've been enjoying it since. I love this photo - a rare non-posed one - taken by a local press photographer:
How it should be...
The Silly Book is published by Bloomsbury and you can buy it for less than £5 from various places including tax-paying shops and Amazon.
In case you don't know it's a collection of funny facts about silly people, inventions, animals and more, along with silly jokes and poems. Perfect for ages 8-14.
Oh, and CBBC presenter Hacker reviewed the book at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/faq/book-club-silly
The first time I've been reviewed by a mutt!
AND there's a taste of the book on Buzzfeed: http://www.buzzfeed.com/bloomsburypublishing/9-silly-british-laws-from-bygone-days-fmox
The Anti-Boredom Book is coming
The Silly Book has a sister, published in August, also by the lovely Bloomsbury. The Anti-Boredom Book of Brilliant Things to Do is full of amusing games to play, puzzles, fun quizzes, interesting things to do on long journeys and excellent ways to pass the time. The cover has just been released and it's top quality:
Out in August
Pre-order this fab book from your local indie store or from you-know-where here.
All Teachers Book 3 paperback
The popular 'All Teachers' trilogy of memoirs about my days as a young village school teacher in the Yorkshire Dales back in the 1980s is now complete with the imminent release on 5th June of the third paperback: All Teachers Bright and Beautiful. I'm talking to the Yorkshire Post about the book tomorrow and will be doing a signing at the very good White Rose Bookshop in Thirsk on Saturday 7th June from 10.30-11.30am.
The final book in the series
If you like a good true story, enjoy a laugh and a bit of Yorkshire nostalgia, don't miss this book. Amazon are selling it here but buy it from your local shop, do.
Lavtastic
Finally, Mike Barfield and I have been to some wonderful Primary Schools for our Tour de France already: Riccall and South Milford last week were lovely, friendly places, but Northfield Primary in South Kirkby near Pontefract deserves a special mention: not only is the headteacher Liz Bradley a total superstar but this school has the most amazing staff bogs in the history of education. Eee, it's all changed since I were a teacher...
