ReadWriteThink: June 15, 2009: Brian Jacques, author of the <i>Redwall</i> series, was born in 1939.

June 15, 2009

		Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England, on June 15, 1939. Since the age of 15, Jacques has held a variety of jobs including merchant sailor, firefighter, dock worker, truck driver, boxer, and even stand-up comedian! The first in his Redwall series was published in 1986, after a childhood teacher showed the story to a publisher without telling Jacques. Today, the series boasts 17 books and a number of related titles including two Tribes of Redwall books. Image courtesy of Penguin Putnam

Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, was born in 1939.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

After your students have read one of Brian Jacques’ Redwall stories, or another fantasy novel, create a class newspaper based on the story.

First, have students complete a story map using this story map handout or the ReadWriteThink interactive Story Map tool.
As a whole class, brainstorm a list of the most interesting or significant story events and characters from the novel.
Have students work in small groups to write a newspaper story based on a specific character or event from the story. They should describe the scene or character in the style of a news article and write a descriptive headline, such as “Redwall Inhabitants in Struggle of Good vs. Evil!” (You can review the elements of a newspaper article with your students using the Creating a Classroom Newspaper lesson.)
After all the groups have finished writing their articles, have students use the ReadWriteThink Printing Press to create their newspaper.

Lesson Plans

Genre Study: A Collaborative Approach
This lesson has students in grades 3–5 explore genre by identifying literary elements. Use one or more of Jacques’ Redwall titles to explore fantasy.

Travel Brochures: Highlighting the Setting of a Story
This lesson for grades 6–8 asks students to create a travel brochure for a location in a text that they have read. Adapt this lesson to focus on the settings in the Redwall series.

Inferring How and Why Characters Change
In this lesson, elementary students explore how a character changes over the course of a text. Have students examine how characters from the Redwall series change throughout the series.

Web Links

Redwall Abbey
This is the official website of children’s author Brian Jacques. Included is information about the Redwall series, Jacques’ biography, puzzles, and more.

Brian Jacques Biography
Penguin Publishing offers this biography of Jacques. The page also features links to an author interview and a booklist.

Brian Jacques
This Kidsreads.com page includes a biography of and interview with Jacques, along with reviews of books in the series.

The Legend Continues: Brian Jacques
This site, from Random House, U.K., offers a biography of and interview with Jacques, as well as a Readers Club, recipes, and other resources on the Redwall series.

Texts

Jacques, Brian. 1998. Redwall. Ace Books.
Don’t miss the first title in this best-selling children’s fantasy series. The classic elements of magic, legend, and good vs. evil are all found in Jacques’ series.

Jacques, Brian. 2004. A Redwall Winter’s Tale. Puffin.
This Redwall title for younger readers is the perfect introduction to the original series.

Jacques, Brian. 2001. Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. Philomel Books.
In a departure from the Redwall series, Jacques’ young adult adventure story features a hero who, after he’s given the gift of eternal life, travels through time aiding those in need.