Mysterious Beasts workshop
June 7th, 2012
It’s school holidays in Tasmania, and yesterday I ran a workshop at the Rosny library. The workshop was called ‘Mysterious Beasts’, and children were invited to come along, hear a bit about brizzlehounds, slommerkins and slaughterbirds, then invent their own strange and outlandish beast.
We got some wonderful results. I took photos, which I will paste below with a bit about each beast. Perhaps they will inspire you to invent your own mysterious beast.
An Ogd, by Sian. The Ogd lives in a castle, and has claws that grow and shrink.
The Nolio, by Alison, lives in trees, eats snakes and is terrified of butterflies.
This exotic creature is a Prort, and was invented by Jack. It can fly, and also swim underwater.
Kate's Eleaphant has six eyes and two-and-a-half ears. It eats meat, vegetables and fruit, and is scared of ants.
This is a Pindo, and it was invented by Georgia. It eats coral and has two feathers on its head. (I suspect it's rather shy.)
This is a Ksakkkssa, and it was invented by Sam. I don't know anything else about it, but its name is enough to make me love it.
This jewel-like creature is the seldom seen Phroxz. It is brought to us by Rose, who also did the next picture.
Useful information about the Phroxz (in case you want to go looking for one).
Here is Jack's Zonkey, which looks wild and clever.
This is a Quertain, by Amy. This elegant creature is immortal, and lives in the attics of supermarkets.
This isn't a beast exactly, but the colours in it are so beautiful that I wanted to include it. Amy made it.
This creature by Aidan doesn't have a name. Probably just as well - it's terrifying enough without one.
And last, but certainly not least, is the mysterious Great Bright Rashic, by Luke. The GBR can walk through electricity, and not breathe for ten hours.
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About Lian
Lian Tanner has been dynamited while scuba diving and arrested while busking. She once spent a week in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, hunting for a Japanese soldier left over from the Second World War. Nowadays she lives by the beach in southern Tasmania.
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What wonderful imagination and creativity these children demonstrate!!
As an aspiring author of children’s literature (even in my senior years) my course instructor says read…read…read. I discovered your books in the library and am delighted with the uniqueness and twists of plot, the fascinating characters and their fascinating names.
Thank you for your enjoyable stories.
Judy Podlesney
Virginia, USA
The pictures are gorgeous, aren’t they, Judy? It was a terrific workshop. And thanks so much for your kind comments about my books. I do hope your own writing goes well – it’s never too late to start these things. I agree totally with your course instructor – the books are so different now from what they were when we were children, and one has to come to terms with that. But kids still like adventures and mystery and danger in their reading – I don’t think this will ever change.