Shaman by name and shaman by nature – Billy just hasn’t found his magic … yet. His selfish, globetrotting parents abandon him for yet another summer in Charles Darwin’s strange, museum-like house, where Billy stumbles across a 200-year-old giant talking tortoise named Charles Darwin, by the famous man himself. Charles D, the tortoise, knows every inch of the house and every artefact in it, and he’s keen to help Billy realise his powers and set him on the path to adventure.
A beautifully carved Inuit ivory necklace is the first object that whisks him back in time to the shrieking chaos of an Arctic blizzard to meet its rightful owner, a girl called Ahnah, her shape-shifting grandmother and the mysterious explorer Pytheas.
The Rage of the Sea Witch combines science and history in an intriguing adventure through time. Unusual artefacts and characters who challenge what we believe about the past will prompt childern to think more deeply about the world. They’ll discover the joy of exploring and discovering the unknown right along with Billy.
Develop this wonder and curiosity further with a drama activity. Show children a collection of intriguing objects that could be from the past. Arrange them in a museum exhibit style. Choose one and model a discussion about the object with the children: What is it? Where was it found? Who used it? How was it lost? What time period could it be from? What is the most interesting thing about this object?
Put children into groups. Prompt them to select an object and tell its story. They may use storytelling, acting, hot seating or any other method of their choice. Encourage them to stay in role and use what they know about the past to come up with a creative story about how the object ended up in this museum.
Roland Chambers is an author and illustrator who lives on a tumbledown farm with his family near Dartmoor. He is the prize-winning writer of The Last Englishman, a biography of Arthur Ransome (Faber 2009) for adults. Roland is Writer in Residence for First Story, England’s leading creative writing charity for young people. Book 2, The War of the Heavenly Horses set in China will be published in September 2023.
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