Your very own drama course in a book! Have you always wanted to perform in a play, to direct your own movie, or to create dazzling special effects? Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom show you how to do all this and more, in this fun and informative book from their School Series.

About the Author

Mick Manning grew up in Haworth, West Yorkshire and studied Illustration at the Royal College of Art in London. He has written and illustrated over 60 books, mostly with his partner Brita Granstrom.Their distinctive books have won many awards. Their first book, The World is Full of Babies, won the Smarties Silver Prize in 1996. Mick and Brita have four sons and live in the north east of England. Their other books with Frances Lincoln include the critically acclaimed Fly on the Wall series: Roman Fort, PharaohA's Egypt, Viking Longship and Greek Hero. Both Roman Fort and Viking Longship were shortlisted for the English Association 4-11 Awards. Snap! is the follow-up to Yuck! which was a regional winner of the Highland Book Awards 2006. Recently Mick and Brita donated the entire body of work created for their book Fly on the Wall: Greek Hero to Seven Stories, the centre for children's books To visit the website of Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom click here Brita Granstrom grew up on a Swedish farm and has an MFA in Fine Art from Konstfack, Stockholm. She and Mick Manning have four sons and live in Northumberland. Their first book together, The World is Full of Babies won the Smarties Silver Award in 1996 and their second book, What's Under the Bed? took the TES Junior Information Book Award in 1997. Yum Yum and How Did I Begin? were 2 of the 6 children's books shortlisted for the Rhone Poulene Prize in 1998. Science School made the shortlist in the following year. In 2000, Wash, Scrub, Brush! won the English Association's non-fiction award for the best picture book, with Let's Party making the shortlist in 2001. Brita won both Parenting Magazine's Book of the Year and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award 2000 with her illustrations for Judy Hindley's Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes. To visit the website of Brita Granstrom and Mick Manning click here

Prizes

Clear, step-by-step instructions to very achievable projects Award-winning author/illustrator team Part of a successful series with Art School, Science School and Nature School Lively, funny illustrations Helpful tips on every page and useful glossary at the back Very methodical approach to many, many different drama forms and techniques

Reviews

Gr 3-5 A large-format book that gives ideas for putting on a show, complete with lots of drawings in bright colors. Unfortunately, each topic is covered in a scant two-page spread. For some subjects, brevity might be the soul of wit, but for complex topics such as stage combat and mime, a three- or four-sentence discussion may confuse readers with no knowledge of theater. The layout is cluttered. Large pictures of children engaged in the activities overwhelm the text, which is set in small blocks around and among the photos. Additional "drama tips" are listed in sidebars, and while the suggested projects are good ones, the directions are often so specific as to stifle true creativity. Drama School might work as a resource for adults to use with children. With the lack of depth in the coverage, however, most youngsters will need to look elsewhere for substantive information. Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

This practical guide to acting and creating theatricals is easy to follow and brightly illustrated, with lots of fun projects to develop all kinds of stage skills. Northern Echo Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom have a recognisable style which does not inhibit the content of their amazing sequence of informative books on all sorts of subjects. Drama School is subtitled ' All You Need to Put on a Show' and is exactly that with music, and movement, puppets, plays and comedy all easily presented. School Librarian