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Young Writers in Action: My Alien Friend

Posted on February 2, 2017July 25, 2025 by Alphabet Soup

My alien friend

by Anouksha, 10, VIC

Today at school we had art. The teacher said that you could draw anything you wanted to draw. I drew a spotty alien with four arms, two tentacles and an eye. Behind it in the background was planet Mars with a beautiful starry night sky to go with it. We were allowed to take our artwork home so I took it home and stuck it on my bedroom door.

The next day I woke up to a rustling sound. I looked everywhere but all I could see was my very own room with nothing unusual. That was strange. Then I kept on looking for the mystery sound. Wait a minute, suddenly my alien artwork I did at art yesterday caught my eye. It was MOVING!!! Suddenly out popped an ALIEN!!! It popped out from my alien artwork. I screamed and then mum came in. I pointed my finger straight at the alien but then it vanished! I told mum there was an alien before but it vanished. Mum took no notice of it and said I was daydreaming but I wasn’t.

Just when Mum left, the alien reappeared! I didn’t scream again because I’m pretty sure the alien would vanish again. Suddenly the alien started talking in a really weird language that I did not understand. I gave a puzzled look in return. Well, I guess the alien understood because the alien gave me a pair of headphones. I put it on my head and when the alien spoke, it would translate into English. “That is so cool” I said.

The alien said: “My name is Zing Zang. I have been transported to earth by your wonderful alien drawing, but I can’t find my way back to Mars. Can you help me?”
“Sure,” I replied. “Tomorrow we can camp outside in tents so we might be able to find Mars,” I suggested.
“Ok,” said Zing Zang.

It was nearly night. We set our tents up and we were now gazing into the stars. Stars. Photo from pexels.com

“All I can see is billions and billions of stars,” said Zing Zang. After a few minutes I heard Zing Zang shout out “Spaceship,spaceship,spaceship!”
“Zing Zang did you find Mars?” I asked surprised.

“No, but I found a spaceship that was a spaceship from Mars,” Replied Zing Zang. “Now all we have to do to get their attention is turn around 3 times, jump two times and clap,” said Zing Zang.

So we turned around 3 times, jumped 2 times and clapped. Suddenly a big shiny spaceship landed on our garden. Our garden was big enough for the spaceship to land. The spaceship landed and signalled something to Zing Zang. I gave Zing Zang a great big hug even though he was pretty slimy! Zing Zang walked into the spaceship and then I waved goodbye. The spaceship zoomed away into the starry night sky. In the sky the Spaceship was as small as a speck of dust.
“Oh no, I forgot to give Zing Zang the headphones,” I said. At least I could keep it to remember Zing Zang.

“Anouksha, Anouksha,” said someone. Tap, Tap! I woke up and saw my mum tapping on my shoulder and saying wake up. So all this was a dream?
“Awww” I moaned. I wish it was real. When my mum left I heard a rustling sound. “Maybe this wasn’t a dream after all.”

This is Anouksha’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

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Book review: Ungifted

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 12, WA

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Ungifted by Gordon Korman, HarperCollins, ISBN 9780061742668

Joseph borrowed this book from his public library.

Gordon Korman wrote one of my favourite books (I Want to Go Home), and when I found this at the library I knew I wanted to read it. I thought it wasn’t as funny as some of Korman’s other books, but it had a great plot and kept me engaged.

Because of a mistake, Donovan is sent to an academy of selective distinction. He know’s he’s not gifted enough to be there but he decides to try to stay because he’s hiding out from the principal at his old school. (He skipped detention and managed to destroy the gym.)

All the kids at the academy suspect there was a mistake, so he has to do his best to blend in. Unfortunately he has a history of getting into trouble. I like how Korman links so many events in the story and keeps you guessing. Most readers aged 11+ would enjoy this humorous book. It involves lots of modern technology and the vocabulary suits advanced readers.

Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of The Island of Dr Libris. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

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Young Writers in Action: FRIENDS FOREVER

Posted on January 6, 2017July 25, 2025 by Alphabet Soup

Friends Forever
by Anishka, 7, QLD

On a nice winter afternoon, I was running down my school path and suddenly I stopped! I saw someone that I liked. She had black hair, brown skin, brown eyes, red lips and a bandage on her arm.

I asked what her name was, she looked back at me and said, “My name is Rida”.

She asked my name and I answered “Anishka”, then we wore a great big smile on our faces.

Surprisingly, she was living near to our suburb. We started carpooling. I went in her car in the morning and my dad picked us up in the afternoon, and we never missed a single day. We had great fun. We started going to each others houses during weekends and we enjoyed each other’s company a lot. In Grade 1, we were in same class. Rida and I were best friends.

One day, she told me that she was going to leave her house and school because her father got a job which is at the other end of the town. It was four more days and she will be going to her new house. I felt sorry but the lucky thing was, it wasn’t today. In our class, we had a farewell party for Rida and it was a free dress day. This is how the party started. Everybody were hiding under their desks. When Rida and I came to the class, everyone shouted surprise and me and Rida got surprised.

I knew it was fun but finally she left the school and moved to her new house. She was telling me, she will have fun in her new school. Now, I am going to school alone. When I am at the drop off zone at my school, I have no friends to talk with me and I feel very lonely and sad. I was playing alone in the playground. I wish Rida would come back soon but it is not possible. I hope Rida will get a new friend in her new school, but still we are best friends.

Anishka has been published at Alphabet Soup many times — you can read all her earlier work here.

If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

poetry

Young writers in action: NIGHTMARES

Posted on January 3, 2017July 25, 2025 by Alphabet Soup

Nightmares
by Jin Xiang, 10, VIC

Nightmares (artwork by Jin Xiang)

This will not be fun,
As your deepest fears,
Each and every one,
Brings out more tears.

They have come, they are here,
To haunt your life,
To grow your fear,
Cutting you like a knife.

Tearing you apart,
Your life has been shattered,
Breaking your heart,
Until nothing else mattered.

Suddenly you hear it, you do,
That ringing beep,
That saves you,
That wakes you from your sleep.

We’ve published Jin Xiang at Alphabet Soup previously — you can see her work here. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

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Pass the Book Baton: Wendy Orr

Posted on December 23, 2016December 22, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Every week we’ve featured a book creator who answered one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.) This is our last Pass the Book Baton post for 2016 but — after a summer break — we’ll be continuing with the series in 2017.

Today the book baton is passed to author Wendy Orr. Wendy’s books have been published in 25 countries and languages and have won awards in Australia and overseas. Her Nim’s Island books were made into movies. Wendy Orr’s latest book is Dragonfly Song. (You can read an excerpt if you go to the publisher’s site.)

Here are some of Wendy Orr’s book covers:

Albie May recommends RAINBOW STREET PETS by Wendy Orr

Last week Anna Ciddor asked:
I love to find out how other authors work. There are two parts to my question. Firstly, do you plan the whole book, including the end, before you begin (like I do), or are you one of those authors who start writing without knowing the ending? And secondly, once you begin writing, do you slow yourself down with research and re-writing (like I do), or are you one of those amazing authors who can work fast?

Wendy answers:
I agree with Anna Ciddor that it’s fascinating to find out how other authors work! It always seems to bear out the Somerset Maugham quote that there are three rules for writing a novel, but nobody knows what they are. I’m also intrigued — or depressed, depending on the day — that as soon as I figure out my own rules, I start a new book and the rules change. However, I always need to know several things before I start the book — the first scene and first line, a climactic scene, and the ending. Details about the ending sometimes change, but I have to know where it’s heading. And in general, I seem to be planning more now than I used to. For Dragonfly Song, when my editor asked if the first deadline was achievable, I made a list of all the scenes from where I was till the end. It was amazingly helpful (who knew!). Of course there were still surprises and aha! moments of insight, but I stuck to it fairly closely. Admittedly the book had been freewheeling in my head for the previous year.

As for speed — how I envy those fast writers! I’m very slow. It’s true I’ve got a huge list of books, but I’ve been writing for 30 years, and many of my early books were small. Dragonfly Song took 22 months, (ignoring several false starts over the previous 5 years) without working on anything else. I rewrite obsessively — and oh yes, the research! The two main problems are that I don’t always know what I need till I find it, and conversely, sometimes some little fact really has to be clarified before I can continue with the story. Then down the rabbit hole I go … And then have to rewrite again because there was too much research showing, and sometimes obscure facts have to be bent to suit the story! But what a feeling when I work something out to suit the story, thinking I’ve purely made it up — and then find the research that says my theory is right!

But all I really care about once a book finished is that the reader enjoys it and believes in it while they’re reading.

Happy reading!

Wendy

www.wendyorr.com

And now Wendy Orr passes the baton to the next visitor — Michael Gerard Bauer. Michael is an award-winning author who writes humorous books for children and young adults.

Wendy asks:
I’m curious whether, like me, you draw on different parts of yourself to create your characters (even if other people might not be able to see that ‘seed’ that started the process.) Do you use any techniques to find these beginnings, or does the character appear to grow spontaneously, and you only recognise later the bit that sparked its creation?

The series will be taking a break over the summer school holidays. We’ll leave Michael Gerard Bauer with some thinking music while he considers Wendy’s question …

And Pass the Book Baton will resume in 2017 with his answer.

See you next year! (While you’re waiting, you can check out all the book creators who have had the baton so far.)

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Pass the book baton: Anna Ciddor

Posted on December 16, 2016December 15, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Every week Alphabet Soup features a book creator who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

Today the book baton is passed to author and illustrator, Anna Ciddor. Anna has written and illustrated over fifty books on topics as diverse as Vikings, Australia, goldfish, and tournaments. Her most recent book is The Family with Two Front Doors — a true story about a family of nine children who lived in Poland in the 1920s.

You might recognise some of these books:

Last week Meg McKinlay asked:
You’re a writer and an illustrator — good grief! Do you feel equally comfortable doing both, or does one come more naturally to you?

Anna answers:
Well, to tell the truth, even though I have been a full-time author and illustrator for nearly thirty years, I don’t find either writing or illustrating quick and easy! For me, they both need lots and LOTS of drafts and research and planning. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how I wrote and illustrated The Family with Two Front Doors so you can see what I mean.

Step 1 Planning and research
The Family with Two Front Doors is based on stories my late Nana told me about her childhood. I planned each chapter of the book, including the ending, then sat down to bring the first scene to life in my head. I quickly discovered I had a problem. Nana never told me what clothes she wore as a child and, sadly, she was no longer around to help. If I can’t picture a scene, I can’t write it, so I had to stop and research the types of clothes worn by religious Jewish children in 1920s Poland. All through the book there were delays while I researched details before I could picture each scene.

Step 2 The Writing
When I write, I constantly ask myself, ‘Does this word give the best picture of what I am trying to say?’ For example, in one sentence I wrote ‘Yakov ran through the door,’ but then I realised I needed a more descriptive word than ran. Maybe burst would be better? Or scampered? Which word gave the best picture of what Yakov was doing? As you can imagine, this makes the writing process extremely slow. It took me four years to research and write The Family with Two Front Doors!

Step 3 The editing
When I deliver a book to the publishers, it is very exciting and scary, waiting to find out if they like it. Luckily, they loved The Family with Two Front Doors but it took me a few months to write the few changes they suggested because I am so slow!

Step 4 Illustrating
For me, this is the last step. Even though The Family with Two Front Doors was going to have tiny black and white illustrations, I wanted them to be perfect. I drew them over and over again. The faces of the characters had to be exactly the way I imagined them, and their clothes, and details, such as the sewing machine, had to be historically accurate. Those few tiny illustrations took me months!

Visit Anna Ciddor’s site for more about her and her books!

And now Anna Ciddor passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Wendy Orr. Wendy’s books have been published in 25 countries and languages and have won awards in Australia and overseas. Her Nim’s Island books were made into movies. Wendy Orr’s latest book is Dragonfly Song.

Anna asks:
I love to find out how other authors work. There are two parts to my question. Firstly, do you plan the whole book, including the end, before you begin (like I do), or are you one of those authors who start writing without knowing the ending? And secondly, once you begin writing, do you slow yourself down with research and re-writing (like I do), or are you one of those amazing authors who can work fast?
..
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators.
..
See you next week!

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authors, Pass the Book Baton

Pass the Book Baton: Meg McKinlay

Posted on December 9, 2016December 8, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

Meg McKinlay -- photo courtesy Fremantle Press It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Every week Alphabet Soup features a book creator who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

Today the book baton is passed to writer Meg McKinlay. She writes picture books, novels and poetry, and lives near the ocean in Western Australia. Meg’s most recent books are Bella and the Wandering House and A Single Stone (which won the 2016 Prime Minister’s Literary Award in the young adult category).

You might recognise some of these books:

Bella and the wandering house by Meg McKinlay

Tess recommends SURFACE TENSION by Meg McKinlay.

Last week Norman Jorgensen asked:

Having now won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, as well as just about every other award in Australia for A Single Stone, do you have a new book in mind … or are you creating several projects at the same time?

Meg answers:
What is it that politicians love to say: I reject the premise of the question? 🙂 It’s true that I’ve been very fortunate with A Single Stone, but my dear friend Norman is stretching the truth just a little with his “just about every other award in Australia” line.

Now that we’ve cleared that up … the answer is i) yes and also ii) yes.

I most definitely have a new book in mind. The problem is that by now it should be well and truly out of my mind and onto the page. I’m working on a novel set in 1979 when the world’s first space station — Skylab — was falling to earth. It’s the story of a girl named Frankie who lives in the Southwest of WA, and her science-obsessed little brother Newt, who becomes fixated on Skylab for spoilferific reasons I must not divulge at this time. This book is fully formed in my brain and just needs to make it to my typing fingers. I’m hoping to have it done very soon.

And I am also creating several other projects. I have three picture books in various stages of the production line:

Once Upon a Small Rhinoceros, which I am gleeful about, will be out in August next year. It’s about a small rhinoceros who sets out to sail the world, and will be illustrated by Leila Rudge.

Drawn Onward, which is unlike anything I’ve ever done before — a book about perception and optimism which relies on an unusual structure and will be aimed at older readers — is being illustrated by Bunbury artist Andrew Frazer, and will be out in October-ish.

And finally … Duck! (because everyone knows the world can never have too many books about ducks) is in the early stages of illustration by Nathaniel Eckstrom. This is going to be a barrel of fun and I can’t wait to read it to kids.

Stop by Meg McKinlay’s website for more about her and her books.

And now Meg McKinlay passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Anna Ciddor. Anna is the author of 56 books and is the illustrator for most of them, too. Her most recent book is The Family with Two Front Doors.

Meg asks:
You’re a writer and an illustrator — good grief! Do you feel equally comfortable doing both, or does one come more naturally to you?
..
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators.
..
See you next week!

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authors, Pass the Book Baton

Pass the book baton: Norman Jorgensen

Posted on December 2, 2016November 28, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

Norman Jorgensen in Northumberland. (Photo © Jan Nicholls.) It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

Norman Jorgensen takes the book baton today. Norman is the award-winning author of many adventure-filled books. His books are inspired by travelling, old movies and old books. His latest book is The Smuggler’s Curse.

You might recognise some of these page-turners:

If you love a good swashbuckling adventure you can read a sample chapter of The Smuggler’s Curse thanks to Fremantle Press.

Last week Catherine Carvell asked Norman a question:

Your latest book The Smugglers Curse was released in October and what an adventure! My question to you is, have you based any of The Smugglers Curse on real life? And if so, which bits are real?

Norman answers:

That’s an interesting question. The Smuggler’s Curse is high adventure, and a lot of the action is total fantasy, however, it is grounded in real history, and the locations are very real. I visited all the places mentioned in the story and then had to imagine what they would have been like back in 1895 when the story is set. Sometimes it was easy. The headhunters’ long house in Sumatra did not look like it had changed at all in 120 years. To my surprise and concern, there were still skulls hanging from the rafters.

Looking at old photographs, Broome and Albany and Cossack, and even Fremantle, were much the same now as back then, except for paved roads and cars, of course. I expect, too, they now smell a lot better, no longer having open sewers and outside dunnies, and no open drains in the streets, or mountains of horse manure that would have littered the roadways. Modern Singapore, on the other hand, bears no comparison with Colonial Singapore. It is a rich, bustling city where once it was a sleepy mosquito-infested outpost.

I set the book in first-person, pretending I was Red, the hero, and he is a bit like me in that he is scared of all sorts of things. We both hate heights, sharks, soldiers with bayonets trying to skewer him, and falling from the masthead, but Red tries to be brave no matter what the circumstances.

The skipper of the Black Dragon schooner — Captain Black Bowen, the notorious smuggler — I based on movie star called Errol Flynn who was a swashbuckling hero back in the days of black and white movies. I loved his movies Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk and many others. Real life? Probably not, though he was a famous adventurer in real life.

The sailing scenes are definitely real. When I was about 12 years old, my father and I made a dinghy, and we used to go sailing together on the Swan River, and sometimes the Indian Ocean. Like the Black Dragon in the Andaman Sea, we were once caught in a fierce storm, washed way out to sea and nearly killed. The excitement and terror I wrote about Red feeling on the deck of the Dragon were based on that experience.

I hope you enjoy reading about Red’s adventures and imagining all the places he gets taken while on board the Black Dragon.

Happy reading,

Norman

You can read earlier interviews with Norman Jorgensen here and here.

And now Norman Jorgensen passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Meg McKinlay. Meg is the author of many books including A Single Stone, Ten Tiny Things, and Duck for a Day.

Norman asks:

Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators.

See you next week!

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poetry

Young Writers in Action: I love to dance

Posted on December 1, 2016July 25, 2025 by Alphabet Soup

Photo of dancers from pexels.com

I LOVE TO DANCE
by Anishka, 7, QLD

I love to dance.
The music gets me on my feet,
I follow the music with fifteen merry steps.

The melody is sweeter than the butterfly,
That’s flapping its wings,
It takes me round and round being careful,
Not to get dizzy and fall.

But I have fun,
Felt just like an angel.
Off I go, twirling and spinning,
Just like tingling, as I love dancing.

Anishka has been published at Alphabet Soup many times — you can read all her earlier work here.

If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

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Author: Alphabet Soup

Young Writers in Action: My Alien Friend

Book review: Ungifted

Young Writers in Action: FRIENDS FOREVER

Young writers in action: NIGHTMARES

Pass the Book Baton: Wendy Orr

Pass the book baton: Anna Ciddor

Pass the Book Baton: Meg McKinlay

Pass the book baton: Norman Jorgensen

Young Writers in Action: I love to dance

TOP READS: November 2016