Malamander (An Eerie-on-Sea Mystery)

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The overall plot was engaging and I could see my previous class (now moving into year 5) enjoying this book simply for the story itself. Your class will look deeper into the illustrations and question why certain objects, colours and styles have been used, and what deductions they can make in regards to the story and theme. Write so that the reader feels like they are inside in the story. You do this by showing the reader what’s happening, not simply telling them what’s going on.

I found Malamander to be a wonderful read with rich storytelling throughout. I have every intention of using passages from this book as models when teaching writing this year (for my Year 4s).

You can also complete the second activity that encourages your class to use the appropriate words to complete the sentences. At the moment I want to read a lot more Middle Grade fiction, as I’ve fallen behind and there’s so much great new work out there. However, the Mermonkey wouldn’t give me what I want, he would give me what I need. And what I need right now is hard for me to say. However, if I did throw a coin in the Mermonkey’s hat right now, I suspect I’d get a book about the importance of living in the moment. Or about not eating too many biscuits. Really, it could go either way.

Herbie says, “I need to get some work done, or Mollusc will have me stewed and served up as today’s special.” Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Lady Kraken calls Herbie an “incorrigible dunderbrain.” She also asks if he has “cloth for brains.”Author Thomas Taylor talks to Ian Eagleton about his new book Malamander, Greek myths, mysteries and monsters, and his exciting plans for a sequel… You can find out more about Thomas Taylor and his work here! The legend of the malamander is central to the story. According to the townspeople’s beliefs, “It’s a monstrous creature — half man, half fish, half goodness-knows-what” with “rows of quivering spines.” The creature lays a “magical egg” once a year. The egg’s abilities are described as the “grants-you-your-dearest-wish kind.” Twelve-year-old Herbert Lemon lives and works in the Grand Nautilus Hotel in the strange and frequently foggy seaside town of Eerie-on-Sea. The hotel’s ‘lost and founder’, he’s tasked with cataloguing lost things and trying to find their owners. But his newest ‘lost’ item is rather different: an enigmatic girl called Violet Parma. The egg can vaguely communicate telepathically with its holder. “In the captain’s wondering mind, a thousand voices seemed to whisper as one: I can make your dreams come true.” If you do ever find yourself in Eerie-on-Sea I would highly recommend a visit to the Eerie Book Dispensary where the magical mermonkey will happily choose a book for you (for a small fee of course). “It may not necessarily the book you want or the book you were expecting but possibly the book you need.” A visit to Mrs. Fossil’s ‘Flotsamporium’ would definitely be worth a visit too! She has all manner of weird and wonderful things for you to see that she has collected from her beach combing exploits. And when you’re hungry, head out onto the pier and pay a visit to Seegol’s Diner for a steaming plate of fish and chips.

This is the first book in a series (but only the first two have been published). I just finished reading the first one and I feel very excited with this series. A man has a “large iron boat hook, ending in a long gleaming spike” for a hand. He is called “Boat Hook Man.” Violet tells Herbie that “a fork bounced off the wall behind [her]” when she ran out of the hotel kitchen, where she was not supposed to be. Herbie knows that these were the actions of the head chef who “guards his kitchen like a fortress.” It has taken me way too long to get around to reading Malamander. It has been sitting in my ‘To Be Read’ pile for a while and having heard so many brilliant things about it and its sequel, Gargantis, I felt compelled to take action. This is a fantastic fantasy mystery that is both thrilling and creepy in equal measure. Herbie explains that the rumor is that the diner owner “came here as a young man and saw a mermaid from the end of the pier. Heard her sing. No one ever recovers from that.”

Your KS2 class must rewrite the following paragraph, adding in all the correct punctuation. They will need to use capital letters, full stops, commas, inverted commas, apostrophes and question marks. I'm reviewing this book because it was our class book and we have come to the end of the story. This is an interesting book written by Thomas Taylor. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma's parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger... About This Edition ISBN: Violet’s history becomes a large part of the story. She was “found abandoned” as a baby. Her parents left behind only “two pairs of shoes . . . left neatly on the harbor wall.” There were also “footprints in the sand, leading from the harbor wall to the sea.” You will read out the sentences to your class and they will add in the missing words, focusing on the spelling.