Mischief and mayhem at the RSC: Roald Dahl’s daughter plus very special musical guests celebrate eighth annual Roald Dahl Day

In celebration of the eighth annual Roald Dahl Day, Puffin is to host Roald Dahl Day Puffin Virtually Live, an interactive webcast streamed live on Friday 13th September at 2pm from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon where the multi award-winning production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical premiered before transferring to London and New York.

This year’s Roald Dahl Day celebrations pay tribute to the MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM within the work of the world’s number one storyteller. We all love Roald Dahl’s more villainous characters, whether it’s the terrifying Trunchbull, currently wowing audiences in the glorious Matilda The Musical at London’s Cambridge Theatre, or the Grand High Witch – about to be immortalised in a new audiobook read by Miranda Richardson. And when it comes to MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM, nobody does it with more aplomb than Mr Willy Wonka, whether in the original book or played by Doug Hodge in the smash-hit musical which has just opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

So what mischief and mayhem will take place at the RSC on the 13th September?

Hosted by Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate and author of children’s biography Fantastic Mr Dahl, Michael will be in conversation with Roald Dahl’s daughter, Lucy Dahl, the inspiration for Matilda, finding out about the mischief and mayhem her father got up to at home and in the writing of his work.

There will be a live performance of “Naughty” from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical by one of the four young actresses who share the much-coveted title role at the Cambridge Theatre in London.

Cherry and Jerry, the unforgettable news reporters from the spectacular new musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, present an EXCLUSIVE video that provides eye-opening video interviews and behind the scenes insights that will guide pupils through the incredible creative process of this gigantic production!

Behind the scenes footage of all the fun sound technicians had making the sound effects for Puffin’s brand new Roald Dahl audiobook recordings at the world famous Pinewood Film Studios will be aired for the first time.

Viewers will also have the opportunity to put their questions to Michael and Lucy and to send in their stories and anecdotes of mischief and mayhem to be read out during the course of the event.

Francesca Dow, MD of Penguin Children’s, said, ‘Puffin’s programme of Virtually Live events demonstrate our desire and our ability to reach hundreds of thousands of children worldwide with rich and varied content from some of our greatest authors and illustrators. We are extremely proud of our multi-platform events programme which aims to connect as many kids globally as possible to the authors and illustrators and help bring stories alive.’

Registration is now open at www.puffinvirtuallylive.co.uk and Roald Dahl fans from across the globe are invited to join in this exclusive webcast. Last year’s PUFFIN VIRTUALLY LIVE reached a quarter of a million young people all over the globe, from Ipswich to India; from Huddersfield to Hong Kong.

‘Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk’ (Book 3)
By Curtis Jobling
Published by Puffin
RRP £6.99
ISBN 978141340494
Reviewed by Lynsey Evans

I haven’t abandoned everything and sat and read a book since the final Harry Potter book was released, this is how much I was looking forward to reading the next instalment of the Wereworld series!

‘Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk’ picks up from where ‘Wereworld: Rage of the Lions’ left off – Drew has been captured by Kesslar and is trapped on his slave ship bound for distant lands; Gretchen and Whitley are who knows where; Trent Ferran is working with the Bastians to track Drew and want to kill his brother to avenge the death of his parents, which he wrongly believes was at Drew’s hand; Hector’s cursed with the Vile of his dead brother Vincent and is travelling with Vega, the Shark Lord pirate, Drew’s mother Queen Amelie and Manfred the stag lord – all desperately searching for Drew, the rightful King of Highcliffe and the last Grey Wolf.

This book is absolutely packed full of action from the off! War has broken out in Lyssia on land and sea. We meet new therain species from were-crocodiles and walruses, to werehawks and mammoths. We share in Drew’s misery and his courage as he’s put to work fighting gladiators and other werecreatures for the Lizardlords amusement in the fiery land of Scorcia – the arena in a volcanic pit called ‘the furnace’. We watch as Hector’s necromancy and dark magick slowly strips away the boarlord we met in ‘Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf – his struggle with trust and his quest for power, showing us a sinister side to this once-gentle man. We see friendships bloom and others ripped into tatters. We see villains fall, unlikely heroes rise and in the midst of this brave Drew battles on in every sense for what is right, true and just.

A terrific page-turner – the plot has twists and turns throughout; the characters are fantastic in name, description and in action. I have to say, I haven’t got into a book this much in a long time, I’m totally hooked on Wereworld! It’s the next great teen fiction series to sit up there with Harry Potter and Twilight. It’s a crime if Wereworld doesn’t get made into a film, it lends itself to it so, so well. If you haven’t read Wereworld yet – why??? Get yourself off to the bookshop or library pronto and get reading!

Very highly recommended for readers aged 12+ (book does contain violent scenes.)