NS Blackman

Awards

• Hull Children's Book Award

Organisations

• The Society Of Authors

Details

During visits I often combine whole school assemblies with smaller classroom workshops - inspiring the children to read for pleasure and to develop their creative writing skills.  I have a track record in engaging more reluctant readers, and encouraging boys as well as girls to enjoy reading. The books highlighted here are perfect for enrichment of the dinosaur topic at KS1/ KS2 and the Saxon topic at KS2.  Freedom for Bron (Saxon fiction) also includes themes of migration, friendship and acceptance of others. 

My Visits

My visits are fun, friendly and very interactive.  They include quizzes, role play, group story telling (where the whole class gets involved in telling a dinosaur story), on-the-spot illustrating/showing how my character illustrations developed over time, and of course reading from the books.  However no two visits are exactly the same - I liaise closely with the organising teacher and tailor visits accordingly - this is particularly true if a teacher wants to incorporate work they are already doing on dinosaurs or Saxons, or if they have already used or intend to use the literacy activity sheets that accompany my books. 

You can get a more detailed idea here: NS Blackman school visits

Dinosaur Topic KS1 and KS2 

My Dinotek Adventures series is great for this topic and I often get booked to coincide with the teaching of this.  I can visit just the class/year who are doing this topic or expand my visit to take in a whole school assembly too.

About Me 

When I'm not busy writing, I teach creative writing to adults twice a week.  I love drawing, walking, family time and watching Dr Who!  I visit dozens of schools each year (all areas - last year I took the night train from London to Cornwall to visit schools, it was great!). 

If you'd like me to put you in touch with a school I have recently visited, do let me know.

Contact: nsblackmanauthor@gmail.com

Some recent teacher feedback :

 “An inspirational visit – thank you – the children were so thrilled and will remember this for a long time.”  Catherine Carter (London, June 2018) 

“I read The Secret Dinosaur with my year 3 class and they LOVED it – they made me read the second book and are completely hooked. I discovered Nigel through recommendation on a forum and his visit was fantastic – he was great at engaging the children." Mandy Joslin (Dorset, July 2018)

“The visit was a great success last week - please see below from a happy parent!... “Hi, Both R and E loved the visit from Nigel Blackman. The house is being filled with dinosaur pictures! Please do forward on my thanks and these pictures if possible.”  Jennie Wallace (Bristol, March 2018) 

“We have children of all abilities and today I saw two of our boys in particular focused in a way they have never done before. Thank you!”   Jo Morris (Cornwall, March 2018) 

“I read the first book to my yr3 /4 class and they absolutely loved it. It inspired some fantastic writing even from the most reluctant writers. The children are so excited, thank you!”   Catherine Townshend (London, March 2018)

Some books reviews - please see Amazon for more teacher and parent reviews

The Dinoteks:

“Fast moving; rip roaring adventures …The characters and world building are believable which is no mean feat given the subject of the book!...  A welcome addition.”  The School Librarian Journal

“5* dinosaur fiction …This is a fun and engaging world ... the books are a great fit for the target audience – straightforward, energetic and imaginative.” Bookbag Book Reviews

Freedom for Bron:

“This is an excellently written narrative that really evokes the period, bringing the reader an excellent cast of characters to relish ...the excitement of the period is conveyed really well, to draw in the reader.”  Parents-in-Touch

"A tour de force of accurate history and epic adventure scenes, this is a really great book for Year 5 and 6 children." The School Run

Classroom resources - linked to the text and suitable for KS1 and KS2 (free PDF downloads on TES.com)

The Dinoteks

Freedom for Bron (Anglo Saxon fiction)

Shortlisted for Awards

Freedom for Bron is among titles shortlisted for one of the most respected book awards for children in the UK: the Hull Children's Book Award 2017 for KS2, run by Hull City School Library Service. The shortlist of 5 is drawn up by a panel of teachers and librarians who survey all new titles for children published across the UK over the past year.

Championing literacy, comprehension and a love of stories

I was thrilled and delighted when The Dinoteks - Giants Awake! was selected by Hodder Education to feature in their Literacy Course for primary schools. The course includes fiction by a few selected writers, including Michael Morpurgo and Roald Dahl (and respected educationalist/poet Pie Corbett - who visited my school and taught me in the late 1980's - what great company to be among!). The course book uses the opening of The Dinoteks as an exemplar of how to engage children into a story, encouraging them to read for pleasure.

 

 

Photos

Keywords

ABLE READERS ANGLO SAXON ANIMAL STORIES ASSEMBLIES ASSEMBLY BOOKS FOR BOYS BOYS CHAPTER BOOK CLASS READER CREATIVE WRITING DINOSAUR DINOSAUR TOPIC DINOSAURS EARLY READER FRIENDSHIP GIFTED AND TALENTED HISTORY ILLUSTRATION ILLUSTRATOR IMMIGRATION INFANTS JUNIOR KEY STAGE 1 KEY STAGE 2 KS1 KS1 DINOSAUR TOPIC KS1 DINOSAURS KS2 KS2 ANGLO SAXONS KS2 ANGLO-SAXONS KS2 DINOSAUR TOPIC KS2 DINOSAURS KS2 SAXON TOPIC KS2 SAXONS MIGRATION NURSERY PRIMARY PRIMARY SCHOOL READ ALOUD RECEPTION RELUCTANT READERS ROBOTS SAXON SAXON SAXONS SPECIAL SCHOOL TOLERANCE WHOLE SCHOOL WORKSHOP WORLD BOOK DAY WORLD BOOK DAY 2019 WORLD BOOK WEEK WORLD BOOK WEEK 2019 YEAR 1 DINOSAUR YEAR 1 DINOSAURS YOUNG READERS