The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler

Product Information

Mallan, Kerry (2009). Gender Dilemmas in Children's Fiction. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-24455-9. I have created a set of 10 comprehension exercises which cover all 14 chapters (and postscript) of this classic book about life in a primary school. Also included are answer sheets which can be photocopied for pupils’ use or used on the whiteboard for all class marking. Kemp, Gene (1988). The TV Script of The turbulent term of Tyke Tiler. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. ISBN 9780435230036. As an additional, ready-made resource to support the study of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler as a Unit of Work / class book.

Up to the end of the penultimate chapter the narrative is written without directly revealing the protagonist's sex - although the characteristics suggest that Tyke is a boy. The story ends with the revelation that Tyke is a girl, her full name being Theodora Tiler. [2] Themes [ edit ] Gender [ edit ]Motivating activities focusing on performance, close text analysis, language and structure, together with varied creative tasks Bittner, Robert (2016). "(Im) Possibility and (in) visibility: Arguing against 'just happens to be' in Young Adult literature". Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture. 1 (2): 199–214. doi: 10.1386/qsmpc.1.2.199_1. ISSN 2055-5695. Watson, Victor (1993). "Multi-Layered Texts and Multi-Layered Readers". Cambridge Journal of Education. 23 (1): 15–24. doi: 10.1080/0305764930230102. After discovering Tyke's gender, the reader is – as Victor Watson comments in his article on multi-layered texts – "in the know", and thus the book warrants re-reading. Furthermore, he writes how the illustrations throughout the book add to this new perspective as the reader now knows the images depict a girl character. [17] Disability [ edit ] And yes, for Gene Kemp's presented narrative in The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, while my inner child has found her story fun, diverting and Tyke and Danny's friendship cheering and wish-fulfilling, in particular because Tyke Tiler (well actually, Theodora Tiler as is revealed at the end of the novel) will do basically pretty much anything to help out Dan Price (including fighting and cheating so that she will not be separated from Danny whom his teachers want to send away to a "special" type of school), my adult self also totally appreciates just how much there is below the surface of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler and that Gene Kemp textually proceeds in a pretty contemporary and forward thinking manner for 1977 regarding gender and disability issues.

Tyke tells Danny that this will be our secret room for all our secrets and adventures and for hiding in while Danny insists on leaving because he doesn't like this place. An interesting children's book from the 1970s, which succeeds largely on the strength of it's fine grasp of child psychology and language, and its naturalistically rambling, inconclusive plot. I liked it as a child because it felt less like a "story", and more like a slice of life of a real person - albeit an interesting slice. And re-reading it as an adult, I feel much the same way.Jones, Terry (1984). "The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (review)". Children's Literature in Education. 15 (3): 159. One afternoon, Tyke goes to the headteacher's office and overhears some teachers discussing the possibility of Danny going to a special school instead of the local comprehensive. Tyke then decides to help Danny to cheat in the annual verbal reasoning test to ensure they can both attend the same local secondary school, Dawson Comprehensive. Danny scores high enough to avoid being sent to special school, but Tyke accidentally scores too high and the headmaster is keen Tyke to attend prestigious Dorrington School for gifted children, much to the joy of Tyke's mother. Tyke's father, a local councillor campaigning for re-election, is against privilege and is reluctant to send his child there. Tyke tries to reveal the truth about cheating on the test, but gives up after nobody believes her, and realises that she will not have to attend this establishment.

A postscript written from the point of view of Tyke's teacher, Mr Merchant, describes how the old bell tower collapsed and Tyke ended up in hospital with a broken arm, a broken ankle, bruising and concussion. In the hospital, Tyke confesses to Mr Merchant about cheating in the verbal reasoning test and tells him all about the final term at school - namely her efforts to help Danny. Mr Merchant enjoys Tyke's story and decides to write it down. Gene Kemp was awarded an Honorary MA from Exeter University in 1984. She lived in Exeter and had three children – a daughter, Judith, from her first marriage to Norman Pattison, which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Chantal, and a son, Richard, from her second marriage, to Allan Kemp, who died in 1990. She had three grandchildren and two great-grandsons. [4] Kemp died at the age of 88 on 4 January 2015. [5] Awards [ edit ] The book is written in first person and predominantly narrated by Tyke. It is really interesting to note that Tyke's gender is not revealed until the very end of the book. This is a really fascinating move by Gene Kemp and helps to highlight to the reader how important it is to avoid gender stereotyping. It is very likely that most readers will assume Tyke is male as she gets up to a lot of mischief and engages in activities that are more commonly associated with boys. It is great to see a book that, despite its age (published 1977), attempts to challenge expected gender roles. That said, it was different in feel from what I was expecting. For some reason I thought that Tyke and Danny were going to be younger and a little more "Dennis the Menace" in sensibility - not that Tyke and Dennis aren't kin! - and that Danny was the POV character. The book is actually written in the first person from Tyke's POV, with a little more gravitas underlying the hi-jinks, and they're supposed to be about 12. Gene Kemp's 1977 Carnegie Medal winning novel The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler has for me and to me first and foremost been a fun and entertaining school themed tale, and that as such The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler shows a text where especially the setting feels totally and delightfully authentic (and is also not one of those traditional and generally "one size fits all" British boarding school type of stories), is supposedly based on St. Sidwell's Primary School in Exeter where Gene Kemp herself taught from 1963 until 1979, and that Kemp's presented characters for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiker and in particular the schoolchildren and teachers equally feel totally, wonderfully flesh and blood real (booth positively and negatively). And while I actually was already aware what the plot twist at the end of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler would feature before even starting with The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (from prior perusals of some articles on British children's literature I read decades ago, in the early 1990s), well, without that prior knowledge, the revelatory gender surprise at the end of the novel would definitely be totally and also delightfully unexpected.

Davies, Andrew (18 January 1980). "Sweet Sixteen and Never...?". The Times Educational Supplement. No.3319. Gene Kemp was awarded an Honorary MA from Exeter University in 1984. She lived in Exeter and had three children – a daughter, Judith, from her first marriage to Norman Pattison, which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Chantal, and a son, Richard, from her second marriage, to Allan Kemp, who died in 1990. She had three grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Kemp died at the age of 88 on 4 January 2015.