English is fun : July 2021

This is a wonderful book you can use with your students to expose them in a number of cultural issues, to make them aware of what it means to be a refugee and realize that kindness of people can work miracles.

To help you use the book in your English classes in cooperation with our Erasmus+ partners we prepared worksheets for all the book chapters. You can find and feel free to use them in the following link: WORKSHEETS FOR THE BOOK

YOU CAN BUY THE BOOK ONLINE OF FIND IT IN THE BOOKSHOPS

https://www.stcypriansprimaryacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Boy-at-the-Back-of-the-Class-Chapters-1-10.159105156.pdf

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK HERE

Onjali Rauf: ‘My mother said publishing was a white world, but I should always try’

The author’s debut children’s novel was an instant bestseller. She talks about tackling issues such as the refugee crisis in children’s fiction – and the shocking crime in her family that changed everything

Onjali Rauf, winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book prize and Blue Peter Book prize with her debut novel. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

THE COMIC HERO TIN-TIN IS THE PROTAGONIST'S FAVOURITE HERO AND HE IS MENTIONED A LOT IN THE BOOK

Tin Tin

Tintin will soon reach 90 years old, a fact hard to believe. Somehow, ever since January 10 in 1929, the day when together they took the train to the Soviet Union, the renowned reporter and his inseparable side-kick Snowy have surrendered nothing of their timeless appeal. As it is, the Soviets have passed into history but Tintin's adventures retain their same old magnetic power unabated. Reprinted and published in ever greater numbers, the books are a source of inspiration for artists, writers, producers, and directors. Tintin personifies all of the universal values that are a mirror to everyone's own aspirations. Eternally youthful, the indefatigable reporter continues to conquer the world with unflagging, never-failing vitality.

Since 1929, more than 250 million copies have been sold. The Tintin adventures have been translated in more than 110 languages.

The real name of Tintin's creator is Georges Remi. By reversing his initials to R.G. he created his pen name : Hergé.

Tintin explores the moon in 1953, i.e. 16 years before Neil Armstrong.

The Thom(p)sons are not brothers nor identical. We can tell the difference between them by comparing their moustaches.

The first appearance of Captain Haddock: The Crab with Golden Claws (the 9th adventure).

http://en.tintin.com/#

http://en.tintin.com/personnages

Brussels might be best known as the center of European Union bureaucracy and as the namesake for terrible tasting sprouts but it is also a Mecca for comic book lovers. Cartoons are arguably the Belgian national art form and world-renoun characters such as The Smurfs, Asterix, Blake and Mortimer— and, of course, the Farting Pig—have their origins in this tiny country.

The most influential, and perhaps the most famous, of the Belgium comic characters is Tintin, an inexplicably young journalist with an even more inexplicable of hair who, together with his dog Snowy, explores the world sans visa problems solving mysteries and engaging in swashbuckling adventures. He made his debut in the politically-tinged Tintin in the Land of the Soviets in 1929. From there Tintin’s globetrotting took him to such places as Tibet, the Congo and even the moon.

In the summer of 2009 a new museum opened dedicated to Tintin and his creator, Georges Rémi. The appeal of the museum to fans of comics is obvious. For lovers of travel and architecture there’s lots to like too.

The Musée Hergé—named after the moniker under which Rémi’s penned his Tintin books— is outside of the suburban town of Louvain-la-Neuve, about 30km (20 miles) southeast of central Brussels. This location for the museum was chosen because Louvain has a particularly distinct boundary with thick forest on one side and a quaint-esque Walloon town on the other. The museum’s architectural design is supposed to symbolically resemble a ship emerging from the sea of trees and crashing into the town. A large protrusion through the museum represents where the ship “cracked” in the impact.

The exhibits themselves are spread across eight rooms on two floors. Exhibits on the first floor are about Hergé the man. All but the most ardent Tintin fans will be more interested in the comic art displayed on the second floor. Given that you are reading these words on a travel blog chances are that our favorite portion of the museum will be yours too: the “Dreaming of Travel” display in room #6. Here museum visitors will find information about—and beautiful artistic representations of—Tintin and Snowy in all manner of exotic locales.

The museum also has a adequate restaurant and an excellent if overpriced shop on the basement level.

The scale and interior colors of the Musée Hergé is intended to make visitors feel like they are characters in a real life comic. We suggest enhancing this experience by wearing a brown trench coat like the one Tintin often did and spiking up the hair on the top of your head with some gel. But leave Snowy at home—dogs aren’t allowed in the museum.

READ THE COMICS ONLINE IF YOU WISH IN