Once Upon a Slime

52 fun ways to get writing … fast!

Have you ever wondered where ideas come from and how stories are made?
Would you like to know the true stories behind some of Andy’s books and characters?
Are you a teacher looking for simple, practical and inspiring writing activities for your next creative writing class?
Would you like to discover 52 great ways to have fun with words and pictures?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions then this is definitely the right book for you!

Designed for teachers, students and young aspiring writers, Once Upon a Slime contains 52 fun writing and storytelling activities, such as lists, instructions, cartoons, letters, personal stories, poems and pocket books.

Examples from Andy and Terry’s books are used throughout to demonstrate techniques and to inspire readers to have as much fun playing with ideas, words and pictures as Andy and Terry do when they get together to create their crazy books.

Reviews

Who knew that a creative writing manual could be so entertaining and inspiring? Andy G's lastest offering, engagingly illustrated by TD explains how to write and draw the AG/TD way. Readers are enouraged to create stories, poems, diagrams, lists, comics and maps, and to have fun with words and pictures in general. Griffiths strongly conveys his love of writing, and his enthusiasm is infectious. You get the sense that creative writing is both entirely doable and enormously enjoyable. He discusses his creative process, how he and D collaborate, where ideas sometimes start and how they can be developed. He also includes some examples of his own childhood writing and offers hundreds of ideas for writing tasks. There's enough seriousness for this book to be informative and enough silliness for children to want to keep reading. It is bound to inspire kids to write, create and draw for no other reason than for the pure love of it.

Readings Magazine

The phrase 'Once Upon a Slime' conjures up all kinds images. For those who are partial to all things gross the title is yet another clever marketing tool in the package that is Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton.

In this latest addition from the dynamic duo Andy returns to his teaching roots and educates those who want an insight into his writing technique.

Once Upon a Slime is packed with a plethora of writing activities, there are 45 in total. Andy describes different scenarios such as; explosions, do's and don'ts, crazy machines and inventions and map-making. The list goes on and on. Best of all Andy provides the tools and encouragement for the reader to step into his shoes.

Each exercise is made easy with clever references to chapters and/or books from Andy's award winning library. Even his rhyming books do not escape his scrutiny.

The reader is taken step by step through each exercise. If one option seems a little difficult Andy offer us another way round, in the end achieving the same result but leaving the reader in charge of his or her own choices.

The award winning Terry Denton also imparts his wisdom offering plenty of drawing exercises throughout the book to give an all-round Griffiths/Denton lesson in 'Writing for children 101'.

This is a book where we are clearly reminded that writing is fun! Let's face it when you are in the thick of a story a light at the end of the tunnel can seem like an eternity away.

It doesn't matter whether you are writing for children or you are child writer. This is the book to get the creative juices flowing and whip your imagination into a frenzy.

I particularly enjoyed the 'Random idea generator' near the end of the book; it’s a great starting point.

It doesn't matter whether you read the book from front to back or mix it up in between. Each chapter is unique in its teachings and can be used when creating certain scenes within your work.

With that said, Andy would be very disappointed if you didn’t read his full list of credits at the end.

The only next best thing from this book would be sitting with Andy himself. Enjoy!

Reviewed by Georgie Donaghey for Creative Kids' Tales

Need writing inspiration for kids? Need to make it fun? Who better to inspire than the kid-lit master, Andy Griffiths - whose ethos is pretty much Fun Personified.

In Once Upon a Slime, Andy and his partner in lit-crime, Terry Denton, offer 45 fantabulous ways to get kids writing - FAST! And what I love about the content of this book is that it's written FOR the kids, not the teacher (although the teacher, and indeed, the writer, could also glean a heck of a lot from its content, regardless of intended market audience).

A quasi-biography in parts, Andy takes kids through his own writing journey (and a fascinating one, at that) with sneak peeks at his own early work - and even a photo of an old typewriter he bought at a primary school fete. Andy used this olden-day contraption to produce an independent school magazine called Popcorn, which was full of jokes and funny news articles - a sort of precursor to his own very successful books.

Along with highly-entertaining illustrations and snippets from past books, Andy's tips for writing inspiration run the full imagination gamut, from diary-construction and fast-writing techniques through to map-making, quizzes and tests, instructions and guides, and much more - making the daunting task of writing user-friendly to many types of kids, with varying interests and capabilities.

The entries are light but extremely clever - and most importantly - TOTALLY kid-friendly. Both boys and girls will love flicking through to find inspiration.

Only Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton could combine consummate humour with the 'task' of writing. I love how the rules of this book support the theory of 'no rules' - and frankly, giving children that complete and utter creative license and freedom? I urge you to find a better way to encourage them to write with gusto and commitment.

Rules come later - for now, Once Upon a Slime is both the rule breaker and the pen-inspirer. Brilliant.

Warning: this book will not please literary stalwarts (not that it's meant to).

Reviewed by Tania McCartney for Kids Book Review

It’s not surprising to learn that a young Andy Griffiths was inspired by Der Struwwelpeter, discovering in those comically horrific German cautionary tales that reading can be exciting, surprising—and fun. With Once Upon a Slime, Griffiths passes the spark of inspiration and creativity to his own readers. This how-to writing book takes the mystery out of storytelling with 45 practical lessons on where ideas come from and how to put them on paper, while introducing a range of narrative techniques. Though aimed at junior readers, aspiring writers of all ages take note—this is one of the most useful books on the market. One of its biggest strengths is that it adopts a broad definition of storytelling—words and pictures being crucial to Griffiths’ own work—covering the basics of joke-telling, cartooning, poetry, parody and more traditional narrative forms, and appealing to readers of varying skill levels and interests. Filled with Griffiths’ and illustrator Terry Denton’s trademark energetic humour, it’s wildly entertaining in its own right and an obvious choice for budding authors. But it’s also a brilliant resource for teaching creative writing and textual analysis, giving readers the tools and confidence to transform storytelling from a passive into an active art.

Meredith Lewin is a Sydney-based freelance proofreader and reviewer who has worked for a children’s publisher

Reviewed by Meredith Lewin for Bookseller and Publisher

Copyright © 2013 | Andy Griffiths