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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Teacher Characters #5: Mrs Little

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This is the last in my teacher-character series, where I’ve been talking about the various teachers who populate my books. It’s been an interesting experience for me, as I’ve noticed some similarities and also some differences which I hadn’t really stopped and thought about before, and now have ideas for future teacher characters as well.

Who is my teacher character? Mrs LittleRoses are Blue

What book does she appear in? Roses are Blue, a verse novel illustrated by Gabriel Evans and published by Walker Books Australia.

Why is she there? A large proportion of this story is set at school. Amber, the main character, has faced some big changes in her life following her mum’s terrible car accident. Among those changes is a new school, and new friends. As she struggles to come to terms with Mum’s injuries and differences, she also worries about fitting in at her new school.

What role does she play? Although Mrs Little isn’t a major character, it is two of her actions which really drive the story forwards. First, she announces a Mother’s Day high tea, which leads to Amber confronting what her friends will think when they meet her mum, and secondly she has the whole class enter a local art competition, which gives Amber the opportunity to follow something she loves.

What did I learn writing about her? A reminder that not all my teacher characters are me! Mrs Little likes cooking and painting – two things I am really not good at. It was great to give her skills that are not mine.

Favourite Mrs Little moment? It’s not a major part of the story, but I love that Mrs Little encourages Leroy Jamieson, during art time. Amber says:

Mrs Little tells him it is very goodroses toast

(even though it isn’t)

Then suggests he uses some colour

Instead of just his lead pencil.

When he is finished, Amber notes Leroy looks pretty proud. It’s Mrs Little’s encouragement that has given him that sense of pride. She’s a good teacher!

That concludes my series of posts about my teacher characters. If you have a favourite teacher character in a book you’ve read, I’d love for you to comment and tell me.

Roses are Blue, published by Walker Books is available in good bookstores and online.

Teacher Characters #4: Mary MacKillop

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As my series of posts about my teacher characters continues, today I move to a teacher character who is from history.

Who is my teacher character? Mary MacKillopmeet-mary-mackillop

What book does she appear in? Meet Mary MacKillop, part of Random House Australia’s Meet… series.

Why is she there? The book attempts to tell Mary’s story – or at least part of it. I was approached by Random House Australia to contribute to the series, and delighted when they suggested Mary MacKillop as the subject, as she is such an important Australian.

What role does she play? She’s the main character and the topic of the book, which shows how and why she set up her first school in Penola, South Australia. Mary and her sisters had to overcome many obstacles to start their school and ensure children had access to education.

What did I learn writing about her? I thought she was significant because she was Australia’s first saint. What I realised was how amazing she was as a strong woman in a time when women were expected be seen and not heard. Her role in establishing schools throughout Australia was very significant.

Favourite Mary moment? In the book, it’s when she tells the rich lady that although her son is very welcome at the school, he will receive the same treatment as everybody else. In real life, I think my favourite Mary MacKillop moments are when she stood up to Bishops and Priests who tried to dictate to her and treated her very shabbily.

Meet Mary MacKillop, illustrated by Sonia Martinez, and published by Random House Australia is available in good bookstores and online.

 

Teacher Characters #3: Miss Timms

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This is my third post about the teacher characters which appear in my books. If you’re enjoying them, I’d love for you to comment and tell me about your own favourite teacher character.

Who is my teacher character? Miss Timmstoppling

What book does she appear in? Toppling, illustrated by Rhian Nest James and published by Walker Books Australia.

Why is she there? A lot of the action in Toppling takes place at school as John and his mates struggle with the illness of their good friend, Dominic. Because of the number of school scenes, there needs to be a teacher. The way she interacts with her students is really significant to the plot of Toppling.

What role does she play? As the teacher of a class of year 6 students, she see them daily and knows them well. It is Miss Timms who has the job of telling the class that Dom is sick – and who also helps them deal with this. She is a really caring teacher, who seems to know how her students are feeling, and gives good guidance.

What did I learn writing about her? I wrote Toppling soon after I wrote Pearl Verses the World. I needed to be careful that Miss Timms and Miss Bruff were not too similar. I wanted them both to be nice people but not one-dimensional. So I learnt, as I wrote about Miss Timms, the importance of fleshing out a character who has only a few scenes. I show, for example, her impatience when Ky, the bully, is mean.

Favourite Miss Timms moment? The scene where Miss Timms announces that Dom won’t be coming back to school for a while because of his illness. I like it because it shows her efforts to be compassionate and honest, but still her level of uncertainty about how to deal with the situation. Good teachers are willing to show their human side to their students.

I hope you’re enjoying learning more about my teacher characters. Later this week I am going to post about my non-fiction teacher character, Mary MacKillop.John and DOm

Toppling, published by Walker Books Australia is available from good bookstores and online. It is also published in the USA by Candlewick and, under the title John and Dom, by Walker UK.

Teacher Characters # 2: Miss Bruff

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A few days ago I chatted about why I include teacher characters in my books, and introduced you to Stanley and Elizabeth from 1915. Today, I’d like you to meet, if you haven’t already, one of my favourite teacher characters.

Who is my teacher character?  Miss BruffPearl Verses the World

What book does she appear in? Pearl Verses the World

Why is she there? When I started writing about a lonely girl, I knew she was very lonely at school. Setting a large part of the story at school necessitated a teacher, but as soon as I introduced Miss Bruff with ‘her singsong voice’ and her passion for poetry, I knew she would be a major character in Pearl’s story.

What role does she play? For much of the book Miss Bruff seems an antagonist, she wants Pearl (and the rest of the class) to write rhyming poetry. Pearl hates it. She thinks Miss Bruff just doesn’t get her, But, when Pearl has something terrible happen in her life, she realises Miss Bruff is a lot more understanding that she seemed. And Miss Bruff learns from Pearl, too.

What did I learn writing about her? Miss Bruff reminds me a lot of myself as a teacher. Too often I just assume that if I’m enthusiastic about something, then my students will be, too. I learnt to perhaps stop and view things from my pupils’ viewpoints, and to remember that if there are twenty five kids in the class, there will twenty five different experiences.

Favourite Miss Bruff moment? I don’t want to give too much away, in case you haven’t read the story, but I love that Miss Bruff comes to see, after hearing Pearl read her poem outside of school, that poetry doesn’t always have to rhyme.

It is easy to portray teachers as either really nice or really horrible. I hope that readers of Pearl Verses the World, and my other books, can see that teachers can grow and learn, too. My next post in this series will look at Miss Timms from Toppling.Pearl

Pearl Verses the World, illustrated by Heather Potter and published by Walker Books, is available from good bookstores. It is also published in the US by Candlewick Press, and in the UK,under the title Pearl, by Walker UK.

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