LAURA: Alishea, I know you love to present Book Club when Rhys isn't here. But I promise you I will not present Book Club while you and Rhys aren't here. Oh, sorry, Alishea, kkkk, kkkk, you're breaking up, kkkk, I can't hear you, kkkk, kk.
Welcome to Book Club with me, Laura! Let's see what's coming up today. Will I get pooed on by a seagull? Author of "Where Seagulls Dare" and Alex Rider series, Anthony Horowitz, will be the one to decide.
The "Underpants of Chaos" co-authors, Sam Copeland and Jenny Pearson, will be talking all things chaos and evil underpants. But first, we are joined in studio by Alex Falase-Koya and Marta Kissi, who worked with Marcus Rashford on his latest book, "The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence."
LAURA: Welcome to Book Club, Alex and Marta!
ALEX: Hello.
MARTA: Hi.
LAURA: Thank you so much for joining us today. Now here on Book Club, we love a five-word book review. So my challenge to you two, is to give me a five word review of "The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence."
MARTA: Ok, you go first.
ALEX: I-I'll start with adventure.
MARTA: I'd say fun.
ALEX: I'd say mystery.
MARTA: Quirky?
ALEX I'd say spooky.
MARTA: Do we have five?
LAURA: Ooh, yes, that is five.
MARTA: That's a good one.
LAURA: That is a good review, thank you so much. Ok, let's get to know you a bit more. I've got some questions for you here.
LAURA: Ok, so this is for both of you. What was it like to work with Marcus Rashford? How did you work together to come up with the story?
ALEX: Well, Marcus Rashford is, um, such a great guy. He's such a great, um, influence. And it was, so it was an honour to work with him. Um, he came up with a lot of the core ideas and the core themes of the book. And then we kind of just worked on bringing them to life.
MARTA: And it was definitely a team effort. So you know, even though I haven't actually, uh, met in person with Marcus, you know, I knew he was giving me feedback on the illustrations on, on the sketches. So, um, it was really nice to sort of see his opinions.
LAURA: Yeah, a really nice collaboration between everyone.
MARTA: Definitely.
LAURA: Yeah, it's fun to work with everyone like that.
MARTA: Yeah, it's definitely a team effort, for sure.
LAURA: Yes. Ok, let's travel back to when you were ten years old.
ALEX: Oh, right.
LAURA: What was your favourite book when you were ten?
ALEX: Uh, you can go first.
MARTA: Right, can I actually say, I am Polish and all my books were actually very, very Polish. So I don't know Roald Dahl or anything like that.
LAURA: That's actually fine, still tell us the title of your books.
MARTA: Let me just quickly think in English. Uh, it was, um, Mr Inkblot's Academy.
LAURA: Mr Inkblot's?
MARTA: Mr Inkblot's Academy, uh, by Jan Brzechwa. Uh, he's a Polish, he was a Polish, uh, author. Really famous and prominent. Eh, and his stories, actually, um, well, written in the sort of end of Second World War.But is very modern, still. And actually quite similar to, uh, Harry Potter in many ways.
LAURA: Ah, Mr Inkblot's. I was gonna say, does it like, did the character in that inspire you to start drawing? 'Cause it sounds like an illustrator genius behind it.
MARTA: I dream-, yeah, maybe. There's definitely a lot of creativity and a lot of sort of free-spirited approach in that academy. So I think they're definitely, um, well, ring some bells. It was similar to my art, yes.
LAURA: That and a good book we've probably never heard of.MARTA: I know, it's actually been recently translated into English. Uh, it's been translated in many languages before, but not English. ANd I think recently has, so.
LAURA: Exciting.
MARTA: Maybe worth a try.
LAURA: Alex, what about you?
ALEX: Um, "The Witches" by, um, Roald Dahl.
LAURA: Yes.
ALEX: Um, yeah, that was a very, it was actually a very scary book for me as a kid, growing up. But, um, also something that was just really captured my imagination. I really liked thinking about oh, what if the witch is just around the corner?
LAURA: Yeah.
ALEX: Um…
LAURA: I loved the Roald Dahl books as well when I was younger. So exciting, "Matilda" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and stuff.
ALEX: Yeah.
LAURA: So maybe it's a book from your childhood. Or maybe it's a book from now. But if you could be a character from any book, what book character would you be?
MARTA: I, well, you just mentioned Matilda, and I think that'd be m-, that would be my character.
LAURA: The magic.
MARTA: I absolutely, I love this whole moving things with your mind and, uh, that would definitely be my preferred. Can you imagine how many drawings I could do?
LAURA: I know.
MARTA: In a day.
LAURA: Yeah, you could just like, set like, loads of pens up.
MARTA: Doing the work.
LAURA: Loads of canvases up on the wall.
MARTA: Absolutely. That'd be my dream.
LAURA: [laughs] Alex, how about you?
ALEX: Um, I'd be Fantastic Mr Fox from "Fantastic Mr Fox". Um, I, I, whenever I read that book, it was so fun to imagine eating and drinking all of those cool foods. And, um, and just being, I think it would be cool to be something a little bit different from what I am now, so.
LAURA: Yeah, Fantastic Mr Fox is a good character. I actually dressed up as Fantastic Mr Fox for our World Book Day here.
ALEX: Oh wow.
MARTA: Brilliant.
LAURA: It was a good costume.
MARTA: I can imagine.
LAURA: Yeah, I did not want to take it off. I travelled home in it. It's a good character.
MARTA: That's the way to do it.
LAURA: Yeah.
ALEX: Yeah.
LAURA: Ok, now, so we love a mystery here on CBBC. So I've had a, a bit of dabble at creating some mysteries of my own.
ALEX: Ooh.
LAURA: Ok, so, I've got some fictional crimes and I need you to tell me who the literary culprit of these crimes are.
LAURA: Ok, so you can work together.
ALEX: Ok.
MARTA: Ok.
LAURA: Ok, you're ready. So I'm gonna read out my fictional crimes for you.
LAURA: First one, a headmaster has called about a strange goings-on in her office. She thinks it could be one of her students. A glass of water has just moved right across the desk and a newt has been dropped into the glass.The strange thing is, there are no fingerprints. Who is the culprit?
ALEX: Wow. I think I know. We just spoke about this.
MARTA: I think, what, is it Matilda?
ALEX: Matilda.
LAURA: It is Matilda! Yes, it is Matilda. Ok.Crime number two. A picnic in the Forbidden Forest has been ruined. Rock cakes have been crushed by a giant foot. And sandwiches have been slobbered on by what I can only imagine is a great big hound.Ah, a note has been left! It says, sorry about that, H and F. But Who are H and F?
ALEX: Um…
LAURA: Any ideas? Think about the great big hound, slobbering.
ALEX: Is this… is Hagrid one of them?
LAURA: Hagrid is one of them.
ALEX: Yes.
LAURA: Who would Hagrid be with in the Forbidden Forest?
ALEX: That's the thing. I don't remember. He has a dog or something? I can't remember the name of the dog.
LAURA: Yeah, what is it?
LAURA: What would a vampire have?
ALEX: Um, Fang.
LAURA: Fang! Yes.
ALEX: Fang, yes.
LAURA: Hagrid and Fang, well done. Ok.The last one for you here. There are cups, tea pots, and tea everywhere. A hat has been left at the scene of the crime. It looks like there has been some sort of party. Perhaps an un-birthday party.
ALEX: Hmm.
LAURA: Any ideas? Who is that?
ALEX: Is that the Mad Hatter?
LAURA: It is the Mad Hatter! Yes!
MARTA: [unclear]
LAURA: That's great![laughter]
LAURA: Good work, ok. I-I think you're ready for another challenge.
MARTA: Right.
LAURA: Ok, so we've got this, it's called the Emoji Challenge.
MARTA: Ok.
LAURA: I'm gonna give you three emojis, and Alex, you're gonna have to tell a story using those three emojis. And Marta, you're gonna illustrate along.Ok, so, the three emojis are a hill, a magnifying glass, and a phone. Ok, so to inspire you first, I'm gonna give you an example that (Aelza?) has sent into us.Once upon a time, a climber got stuck whilst climbing a big hill. She was climbing and climbing, but she couldn't reach the top. Then she saw something glinting in the light. She looked at it closer with a help of a magnifying glass.It was a phone! She then called mountain rescue. And when she got home, she had a dinner of nice warm sausages.
MARTA: Aw, that's a good story.
LAURA: Isn't that a lovely story?
MARTA: Yes.
LAURA: Ok, so are you two ready? Alex, are you ready to tell your story?
ALEX: Yes, I'm ready.
LAURA: Marta, would you like to get poised by the easel?
MARTA: Absolutely.
LAURA: And you can draw along as Alex tells his story.
ALEX: There was once a detective called Magnifying Glass. And Magnifying Glass, um, was, he really wanted to find a magical butterfly.And so, he used his phone to track this magic butterfly. Um, and tracked it all the way up this giant hill. Where he finally found it. And made friends with it.And, um, the magnifying glass and the butterfly, th-they're friends still to this day.
LAURA: Aww, Marta, how's your drawing going on?
MARTA: Oh, I'm still working on the magnifying, uh, detective. Uh, it's still a bit rough.
LAURA: I like the magnifying detective, he's got a lovely hat.
MARTA: It's got a lovely hat, and a tie. Uh, you know.
LAURA: While Marta carries on drawing, Alex, what do you think the book title would be of that story?
ALEX: The book title of that story could be, um… "The Magnifying Glass and The Butterfly"?
LAURA: "The Magnifying Glass and The Butterfly". I-it says what it is.
ALEX: Hey, it is what it says on the tin, you know?
LAURA: Let's have a look at that drawing. Look at that.
LAURA: Thank you so much.
MARTA: More than welcome. It's very quick.
LAURA: Yeah, I really love the little detective hat. I love objects with little faces on.
MARTA: Yeah.
ALEX: I lo-, I love the hat.
LAURA: That's so good.
MARTA: Thank you.
LAURA: Now Marta, you illustrated "The Breakfast Club Adventures."
MARTA: I did.
LAURA: Do you think you'd be able to show us how we might go about drawing Marcus Rashford?
MARTA: Absolutely, that'd be my pleasure.
LAURA: Ok, come on up to the easel.
MARTA: Right, so there is one I actually did earlier. [fanfare]
LAURA: Oh, wow!
MARTA: Ta-dah!
LAURA: That is such a good drawing. So how might we go about recreating that?
MARTA: Right, it's actually not that hard. It may look complicated, it actually isn't.
MARTA: Um, I think a few things to think about are, um, quite a simple shape for the face. A broccoli hair, so to speak. Um, a simple six for the ear.
LAURA: I like that number six in the ear, because the ears can be quite a complex thing to draw.
MARTA: Indeed.
LAURA: But that just, you know, you get the, you get the idea around it.
MARTA: Absolutely.
MARTA: And then, you know, you can show off you know how to draw ears.
LAURA: Yeah.
MARTA: Without actually having to be very complicated. I would also sort of keep in mind, uh, making sure you draw the little gap in his eyebrows, 'cause I think it's a nice little, um, special feature that he has.
LAURA: That's so good.
LAURA: Alex, Marta, thank you so much for joining us on Book Club today.
MARTA & ALEX: Thank you for having us.
JENNY PEARSON: Tell us about your book and what it's all about.It's about Agatha Topps and Lenny Tuchus, two spy detectives who team up to investigate the strangeness at their school, Little Strangehaven Primary. They have to get to the bottom of things like military grade chickens and walking, talking gargoyles.
SAM COPELAND: Can you explain to us in chicken noises how a military grade chicken would sound like in real life?Bok, bok bok bok bok, bawwwk, bok bok bok bawww! [laughs]
LAURA: Hi, Rhys. Yeah, I'm looking after Book Club for you, don't worry. It's in safe hands. Ooh, sorry Rhys, a seagull's just flown in and won't, won't leave me alone. Oh, I think it's got something to tell me. What's that, seagull?I've got nice hair. Why thank you. Oh, it's trying to tell me something else. What was that? Oh, Anthony Horowitz is waiting to come on. Sorry, Rhys. I've gotta go. Anthony's here for book club.
LAURA: Hello, Anthony! Welcome to Book Club.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: It's a pleasure to be here, Laura. Lovely to see you.
LAURA: Oh, it's our pleasure to have you. Now, could you tell us a bit about your latest book, "Where Seagulls Dare"?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well, this is a return for the Diamond Brothers. Tim Diamond is the worst detective in the whole world, but he's very lucky, 'cause he has a younger brother Nick, who is fourteen and solves all his cases. And this time, they're up against a gang of crazy bikers who want to destroy the entire country.
LAURA: That sounds so exciting. Now because Tim and Nick are the world's worst detectives, I've got some world's worsts for you. And all you've got to do is decide which book character would be best suited to that world's worst title. Ok, did you get it? You ready?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: It sounds tricky.
LAURA: Ok, so, my first world's worst for you is, what book character do you think would be the world's worst chef?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: World's worst chef? I think that would be Augustus Gloop. If you remember him out of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl. And he'd be the world's worst chef because as soon as he'd cooked everything, he'd eat it.
LAURA: Yeah, the world's worst chef is always gotta be someone who's really really hungry. Ok.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Exactly.
LAURA: The next world's worst for you is, what book character do you think would be the world's worst tennis player?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Ooh, tennis player. Oh, tennis is about to start. I'm, I'm, I'm gonna go for "War Horse", Michael Morpurgo, wonderful character, horses are fantastic. But they're not much good at tennis.
LAURA: They're not much good at tennis, no. It needs to be an animal.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: They have to hold the racquet in their mouth.
LAURA: Yeah, or like some kind of dog who [unclear] chase after all the balls. It needs to be someone [ANTHONY: Exactly.] who cannot play the sport, yes. Ok, the next world's worst for you is, what book character do you think would be the world's worst astronaut?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well, he's in some books and in films, I'm gonna go for Darth Vader. Because, you know, Star Wars. Because if he was, well, he is an astronaut in a way, but if he was up in space, he'd destroy us all. He'd blow us all up. So I'm gonna go for him.
LAURA: He would, that would be a horror book. [chuckles] That would be the world's worst astronaut, Darth Vader. Now, one of my favourite bits of Book Club, Anthony, is the questions from our Book Clubbers. So I've got some here for you.MusicalPuppy123 says, did anyone you know inspire the personality of Alex Rider and they are my favourite series.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well that's, first of all, thank you very much. I'm glad you like the Alex Rider books. He was largely inspired by my son, who was twelve at the time I started writing them. But also by James Bond. So he's a little mix of James Bond, the greatest spy in the world. But turned into a teenager like my son.
LAURA: Very good. I can vouch that they are very good books as well. I do agree with MusicalPuppy123. And another question for you here. UnicornStar8 says, what is your favourite book? Now that's a tough question.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well, thank you for the question, UnicornStar8. I suppose my favourite book has got to be Stormbreaker. The first of the Alex Rider books. Those books changed my life. They've sold all over the world. They've got lots of young people into books and into reading. So Stormbreaker was the beginning of a huge adventure for me.
LAURA: Yes, they definitely helped me get into reading when I was younger as well. Uh, Albie says, where did you get the idea to start writing novels?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well, [Albie?], when I was at school, I was no good at anything. I got the worst reports anyone could get. But then I discovered two things. One, the library. I loved reading. And two, I loved telling stories. And that was where I knew at the age of ten I was going to do for the rest of my life. 'Cause it was the only thing I really loved.
LAURA: Telling stories is the best. I love people with imaginations. Um, ok, this person is definitely a budding writer with a username like this, WriteForLife says, what is your favourite book you've written?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Well, WriteForLife, I, I mean, it's so difficult. I mean, I, I sort of love all my books, really. But I guess I have to go for "Where Seagulls Dare", because it's the most recent book. It's the one that's just out now. And I think that's how it is when you're a writer. The book you're writing or the book you've just written is the one that you feel closest to.
LAURA: Yes, absolutely. Now you know, I've got a question for you here. What is your favourite book character ever?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: My favourite book character ever? Tintin. It's the reason why I started writing. I mean, Tintin is a sort of an adventurer. He has lovely friends. He travels all over the world. And he's a writer. And when I was a little boy, I loved Tintin.
LAURA: I think, well, seagulls are interrupting me here, but I think I would look quite good as a Tintin character, if I had to, if I got a nice trench coat and a little dog.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: You have a certain similarity, Laura, I was going to say, with that quiff.
LAURA: [laughs] I've definitely got the hair to play Tintin.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: [laughs]
LAURA: This seagull keeps, uh, popping in and interrupting me. What's it-, what, what do you want, seagull? Oh, the seagull's letting me know it's time for a quiz, Anthony. So I've got some quiz questions for you here. Oh, but hang on, it says here, if Antony gets all the answers wrong, I get pooed on by the seagull.But that's ok, Anthony, I believe in you. Seagull, you're not gonna poo on me, because Anthony's gonna get them all right.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Oh, Laura, you're in trouble. You are in trouble, Laura, I'm not great at quizzes.
LAURA: I'm not in trouble. I believe in you, Anthony. Ok, so question one, how many seagulls are there in the world?
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Oh that's easy, twenty seven million, two hundred thousand, and forty six.
LAURA: Oh, it's incorrect. [buzzer] It's approximately one six billion. [ANTHONY: Ugh.] Ok, well, I've still got two more tries for you. See if you can avoid me getting pooed on by the seagull, Anthony. What is the sixteenth word on page forty-seven of "Where Seagulls Dare" and no cheating. But I believe in you, because you wrote the book.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: [laughs] It's got to be Diamond. Yeah, that's a good guess.
LAURA: Oh, it was chopsticks, Anthony. [buzzer] [ANTHONY: Oh no!] You wrote it! [ANTHONY: No.] Ok, last try. Ok, you'll get this one. You'll get this one. [ANTHONY: Ok.] Anthony, spell seagull backwards.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: LLUGAES.
LAURA: Oh, no, you got it wrong. [buzzer] It's LLUGAESZ, apparently there's a silent Z at the beginning that no one knows about.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: That is just a fib. But still.
LAURA: You've let me down, ANthony, 'cause you know what that means. The seagull's coming over. It's gonna, it's, oh, the seagull pooed on me.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Laura, what can I say? I did my best. I tried. Oh dear, I'm sorry.
LAURA: Thanks, Anthony. Thank you so much for joining us on Book Club today. It's been an absolute pleasure.
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Thanks, Laura. Have a great summer, everyone. Read lots of books. And don't be like Laura. Avoid seagulls.
LAURA: That's it for this month's Book Club, but do get involved. You can find everything on the Book Club webpage on the CBBC website. Eugh, I'm not sticking around. She pooed on me earlier.
In June’s Book Club, Laura meets Alex Falase-Koya & Marta Kissi who discuss what it was like to work with Marcus Rashford on their new book, “The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond The Fence”. They take on the emoji challenge, solve some literary mysteries, and Marta shows how to draw a cartoon version of Marcus Rashford.
Also on the programme is Sam Copeland and Jenny Pearson, talking about their new book, “The Underpants of Chaos”, and Anthony Horowitz discusses his new book, “Where Seagulls Dare: The Diamond Brothers Detectives”.
CBBC Book Club is all about celebrating books and getting children excited about reading! These monthly programmes feature authors, illustrators and celebrities talking about their latest books, stories they loved reading when they were young, the creative ways in which they write/illustrate and most importantly, getting children involved with games, challenges and book reviews.
Teacher notes
“The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond The Fence” was co-written by Marcus Rashford MBE and Alex Falasse-Koya and illustrated by Marta Kissi. The first interview could be used to inspire children to work together on a collaborative piece of writing in groups of three, with different roles for each child: illustrator and co-writers.
Together with Sam Copeland and Jenny Pearson, the above authors/illustrators could be used as an example to discuss teamwork and identify what factors are important when working in a team.
Anthony Horowitz, CBE explains his love of storytelling and how, as a child, Tintin was his favourite character. This could be used as a starting point to explore comic strip books such as Tintin, looking at the differences between them and novels. The children could use the comic strips as an inspiration to draw and write their own.
Suggested follow-up activities
Marcus Rashford campaigned for the government to provide free school meals. He also campaigns against racism and homelessness. This could be used as a starting point to look how the lives of others have been improved by the caring actions of a particular person.
Ask the children to think of how powerful books can be and how they can influence readers on important global topics. How could this inspire them to write about something they are passionate about?
Investigate how people are awarded honours and research children’s authors who have received an honour and the reason they were given it. The children could also look into the history of the honours system.
Marcus Rashford used his experiences as a child at a 'breakfast club' to write his book. Can the children think of any positive experiences in their lives as inspiration for a story?
Ask the children to find out about the football career of Marcus Rashford and write a short biography about him.
Share other illustrated stories with the children and see if any of the illustrations could inspire them to draw in a similar fashion. Ask them to identify what techniques and materials they think have been used.
Choose a child to try oral storytelling and ask the rest of the class to draw illustrations to go with the story or to create a front cover.
Invite the children to write a character description, based around the “world’s worst…”
Play the “World’s worst….” game, matching them with different book characters and explaining why.
Ask the children to work in partners; one to choose words from a dictionary and the other to try spelling the words backwards.
Challenge the children to become detectives and write a secret message using clues to find words in a certain book to compose a sentence.
Look for other novels in the Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz and investigate their titles and how they are similar to other titles – for example ‘The Greek who stole Christmas’ and ‘The Grinch who stole Christmas’. Give a selection of other titles for children to adapt in a similar way.
Curriculum Notes
This programme is suitable for use with pupils aged 7-12. It is designed primarily for use in English lessons with KS2 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with 2nd Level pupils in Scotland.
Related content
Marcus Rashford literacy resources. video
We've partnered with The National Literacy Trust to help primary schools explore Marcus Rashford's book, 'The Breakfast Club Adventures', together in class.
April 2022. video
Dame Jacqueline Wilson answers your questions, plays the Emoji challenge, and tells us all about her awesome new book, which is a modern version of the 'The Magic Faraway Tree' by Enid Blyton. Rhys also meets Lucy Hawking, daughter of legendary theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who tells us all about her new book, 'Princess Olivia Investigates: The Wrong Weather'. Lucy also tells us what it was like to write children’s books with her dad, why a pig featured in their books, and why she was banned from writing about aliens!
May 2022. video
This month's CBBC Book Club is presented by Alishea and she’s joined in Book Club HQ by Sharna Jackson, the author of “The Wrong Turn”, who talks about writing mysteries, how she was inspired by an American girl-scout leader called Josephine Holloway, and what it’s like to live and write on a boat! Alishea also meets comedian and horror writer Bec Hill to discuss her new book, “Now Live: Streaming”, a story all about swapping lives with a famous influencer.
