‘Attention! Up straight, soldiers.’ Matt Porter’s new chapter book for ages 7+, Mr Sergeant and the Dodgeballs of Doom, is the first book in the CRT: Crazy Relief Teachers.
In Mr Sergeant and the Dodgeballs of Doom, military madman, Mr Sergeant, taking charge of Grade 6B at Outback Creek Primary School. Push-ups and other military style punishments are the order of the day as Mr Sergeant trains his charges for a dodgeball battle versus a pack of super-competitive dads.
Matt talks about his books
The idea for the Crazy Relief Teachers series was hatched when I read a newspaper article declaring that a rural school didn’t have enough teachers. The solution? They were considering hiring people from other jobs. I thought ‘What would happen if these people taught in-line with their previous profession?’ I brainstormed ideas and came up with Mr Sergeant training students for a dodgeball battle as if they were soldiers.
I researched everything about the army, soldiers and training methods. This included watching movies, reading books and internet searches. My next task was to take the information I had learnt about the army and place it into a school setting. Hopefully this achieved a lot of humour as students can relate to the thrill or dread of a casual relief teacher and Mr Sergeant is definitely a crazy relief teacher! He orders the students to complete an obstacle course while their classmates hurl dodgeballs at them, divides the class into squadrons and formulates a battle plan to defeat the dads.
Mr Sergeant and the Dodgeballs of Doom can be purchased from the Celapene Press website at:
http://www.celapenepress.com.au/bookshop.html
The second book in the series, Ms Law and the Corn-fusing Case of the Broken Window, is out now and can also be bought from Celapene Press.
Matt’s Writing Activity
Here’s a fun, free writing activity from Matt.
Don’t forget to enter our writing competition. Find out more here http://writingclassesforkids.com/competitions-2/
About Dee White
Had the pleasure of listening to Matt speak at last year’s CYA conference. Very entertaining. His books are brilliant examples of how re life situations can spawn some of the most hilarious ideas for stories. Thanks Dee.
I would like to enroll my daughter in writing classes. Do you teach any in the Lancaster Pa area?
Hi Dalecia,
Thanks for your enquiry. It’s always great to hear about enthusiastic young writers.
I live in Australia and don’t run international classes except online. Or I can do online mentoring, but writers need to be very self-motivated and enthusiastic to take up these options because they involve fun but also persistence and hard work.
In a few weeks I will be bringing out a kid’s e-book on writing which will contain tips and activities. It will be the first in a series and will cost 99c. I intend to keep all my e-books at that price to keep them affordable for writers.
If you are looking for local classes, you could contact your local branch of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and they might be able to put you in touch with someone who teaches writing in your area.
Good luck.
Dee