Teachers Notes OMNIBUS BOOKS OMNIBUS BOOKS Category Title Author Illustrator Junior Fiction Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of the Really, REALLY Scary Things Michael Gerard Bauer Joe Bauer Publication date February 2015 Format Extent Binding Printing 190 x 160 mm 128 pp Paperback Mono ISBN 978 1 74299 066 8 Previous publications Michael Gerard Bauer Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel (Omnibus Books, 2011) Just a Dog (Omnibus Books, 2010) Dinosaur Knights (Omnibus Books, 2009) Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs (Omnibus Books, 2007) Don t Call Me Ishmael! (Omnibus Books, 2006) The Running Man (Omnibus Books, 2004) Michael Gerard Bauer & Joe Bauer Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of Animals Behaving Really, Really Badly (Omnibus Books, 2014) Eric Vale Off the Rails (Omnibus Books, 2013) Eric Vale Super Male (Omnibus Books, 2013) Eric Vale Epic Fail (Omnibus Books, 2012) Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of the Really, REALLY Scary Things Written by Michael Gerard Bauer Illustrated by Joe Bauer Contents Teachers Notes by Rae Carlyle Introduction... 2 About the Author.. 2 About the Illustrator. 2 Before Reading the Text. 3 Reading the Text.. 3 After Reading the Text... 7 Extension Activities... 8 OMNIBUS BOOKS PreviousBrown and Ben Wood) Give Me a Home a
Introduction Secret Agent Derek Dale first made an appearance in the Eric Vale books, where he was the main character in an ongoing story that Eric was writing in his free (and sometimes not so free) time. Here, in The Case of the Really, REALLY Scary Things, Derek is starring in his second solo adventure, and it is as action-packed and filled with impossible conundrums for him to solve as the first. Derek saves a pool full of children from a giant squid, tracks down and battles the reprehensible Doctor Evil MacEvilness, and most terrifyingly of all, faces down his own childhood fears. The over-the-top cast of stereotypically villainous henchmen, goons, and their mastermind don t stand a chance against a hero as impervious to fear, and incapable of keeping his shirt on, as Derek. From the first page to the last, Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of the Really, REALLY Scary Things is a fun-filled foray into a world where the bad guys simply don t stand a chance, in spite of their constant stream of seemingly foolproof plans. No matter the peril, Derek is bound to win through. After all, Danger is his middle name. About the Author Michael Gerard Bauer was born in Brisbane. He taught at schools before resigning in 2000 to pursue his dream of being a published writer. His first novel The Running Man won the CBCA s Book of the Year (Older Readers) Award in 2005 and he has since garnered many other honours including international awards. His other books include Don t Call Me Ishmael!, Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs, Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel, Dinosaur Knights, You Turkeys!, Just a Dog, Eric Vale Epic Fail, Eric Vale Super Male, Eric Vale Off the Rails, and Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of Animals Behaving Really, REALLY Badly. Many of Michael s books have been published in other countries and in different languages. Michael blogs at http://michaelgerardbauer.wordpress.com and has an author page on Facebook. About the Illustrator Joe Bauer is a young filmmaker whose recent film The Killage has enjoyed international critical success. In addition to making comedy films, Joe has been drawing since childhood. He is the creator of the original covers for his father Michael s first two Ishmael books, and has illustrated the Eric Vale series as well as the two Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale books. He is working on the third book in the series. 2
Before Reading the Text While it is not necessary to have already read the Eric Vale books, or the first Derek Dale adventure, mentioning that Derek was originally the creation of another fictional character, and that this is the second book starring Derek, would be of value. Ideas for questions to prompt discussion include: 1) Who has read any of the Eric Vale series? 2) What happened in the books? 3) What do you know about Derek Dale and his adventures from the Eric Vale books? 4) Who has read the first Derek Dale book? 5) What happened in the first book, and what do we know about Derek Dale from his adventures in it? 6) If you have read any books with Derek in them before, what sort of format would you predict that Secret Agent Derek Danger Dale and the Case of the Really, REALLY Scary Things has (e.g. novel, graphics, layout, writing style)? 7) Looking at the cover art, what are some of the things that you think Derek might encounter in the story? What does it look like he is doing on the cover, and what does he seem to be battling? Reading the Text Part 1 After reading the opening scene, discuss your initial impressions of the story and characters. Some points to consider are: What impression does the opening sentence give of the setting? How does the first sentence contrast to the place listed in the chapter heading? What would you predict of the scene based on the opening sentences, and were your predictions met? How do the pictures enhance our understanding of the action? What can we tell about the two characters introduced in the opening scene (Derek Dale and Archibald Boss)? 3
Group Research Task Secret Agent Derek Dale is a humorous book. The author and illustrator use several different techniques to make it funny. These techniques include: - Stereotypical characterisation. - Overblown, unrealistic and highly dramatic events and actions. - Characters misunderstanding events and descriptions. - Unexpected outcomes/statements/interpretations. - Exaggerated facial expressions in the illustrations. 1) As a class, discuss which parts of the first chapter you find funny, and look at what the author or illustrator has done that makes the segment amusing. In small groups, reread pages 1 to 7, and for each page discuss: - Is the section funny? - What is funny about it? - What techniques have the author and illustrator used to make it amusing? (Remember, a single paragraph might feature more than one technique, and a single page might have several amusing segments.) 2) Have each group choose (or be assigned) one or two pages to focus on. As a group, write a brief analysis of the humour used in your chosen pages. Remember to address the points for discussion that you looked at in part one of the exercise. 3) Individual groups present their analysis to the class as a whole. 4) As a class discuss the types of humorous writing and artwork that you identified in the first chapter. Extension Activities As a class, look at different ways to display your findings from the Group Research Task. You might want to create a graph, or table, or write a summary paragraph. You can include pictorial representations, or use your own set of symbols with a key. Remember to indicate areas where there was not whole-class or whole-group consensus; after all, not everyone finds the same things funny! Literary Component Reread the scene on pages 3 and 4, where Archibald Boss asks Derek Dale how long he has been on vacation. In this scene Dale responds to the question by firstly using a cliché, When you re on island time, you lose track of the days, and then requesting confirmation of the date before going through what appears to be a fairly complicated process of calculations, only to eventually answer that he has been there for 27 minutes. This is a clear example of the author creating expectations for the reader that are then seen to be wildly wrong. Individually, write a short story of your own that uses this specific technique to create humour in your writing. 4
Part 2 After reading the story, as a class discuss the cartoon-strip format of the illustrations, and how the visual narrative contributes to your opinion and enjoyment of the story. Some points to consider are: Why might the illustrator have chosen a cartoon-strip format for his artwork? Are the written narrative and visual narrative telling exactly the same story as each other, or are there minor differences? If so, why do you think the author and illustrator chose to not have them match exactly? What do the illustrations add to your understanding of the action of the story that you didn t get from reading the words alone? How closely do you think the author and illustrator had to work together to create this book? Why do you think this? Could they have created this novel without working in close collaboration? Small Group Task 1) Individually, write a short story of your own, featuring a superhero who defeats an evil villain. Using the Derek Dale story for inspiration, make your characters as ridiculously heroic and villainously evil as possible, and make their adventure as exciting as you can imagine. Remember to use a setting-complication-resolution format for your plot development and narrative structure. 2) In pairs, collaborate with another student, and illustrate each other s stories. Before starting to draw, share with each other your ideas about which part of the scene should be illustrated, and what the illustrations should show. Use a cartoon-strip format like the one in the book, and start with black and white line drawings, only adding colour later. You will have to work closely with each other, confirming that the pictures reflect the action of the story accurately. Literary Component Individually, write a brief piece reflecting on your experience of creating an illustrated story in your dual roles of author and illustrator. Some points you might like to address in your reflection are: - What were the challenging parts of the task? - Which parts did you find easy? - How does the experience of illustrating someone else s story differ from the experience of illustrating your own? - What is it like as the author to have someone else illustrating your work? What does it feel like, and what are your responsibilities as author? - How did you overcome any problems you encountered? - Which parts of the task are you proudest of? 5
Part 3 In the story, the street names, suburbs, and place names are all very closely related to the nature of the establishments that are located there. For instance, Derek s spy headquarters is located at 16 Espionage Lane, Spyville, while Doctor Evil MacEvilness has his workshop at 1009 Lawbreaker St, Criminal Industrial Estate, Underworld City. These addresses may seem at first glance to be somewhat ridiculous, but in reality there are a lot of streets, towns, and areas that have taken their names from the industries and trades that historically could be found there. As a class discuss street and suburb names that you may have heard of, that could be said to fit this pattern. Real names that you are used to using will probably be as ordinary-seeming as Baker Street or Smith Street, so you will have to really think about the origins of them. A good place to start might be to consider the different trades that were common a hundred years ago, such as tanner, chandler, baker, blacksmith, scribe, potter etc. Some things you might want to consider in your discussion are: Where do street names come from? Why do we name streets? What other conventions exist when it comes to naming streets? Make a list of the different categories for street names that you can think of. When people first settle an area and a town starts to grow, how do you think they might decide what to name the streets? Do suburbs have naming conventions attached to them as well? What about towns and cities? How might these differ from street names? Research Task Individually, looking at your own home address, classify your street name into one of the categories discussed earlier. Is your street someone s name, the name of a geographical feature, the name of a trade, or does it fit some other category? It might even seem to fit into two or more categories! Online or in the library, research to see if you can find any information about how your street got its name. If you have classmates who live on the same street as you do, you might want to work together for this. As a class, create a table that shows the names of streets where students live, and the category of naming convention that seems to apply to the street name. Remember to leave individual students names off the chart, to protect their privacy. Display your results in graph format. As a class, write a brief explanation of your research and your findings to accompany your graph. In your explanation remember to state what the most common convention was, the least common, and how many streets you couldn t find definitive answers for and so fit into the unknown convention category. 6
Extension Activities Individually, draw a map of a fictional town and name the streets and suburbs using the same convention and style as the places found in Derek Dale. Be as imaginative as possible in your naming, using synonyms and foreign words if you can to make the addresses as complete and as varied as possible. Some of the types of places you might want to include in your fictional town are: Schools. Libraries. Places where people work in offices. Places where people build things. Places where people buy and sell things. Places where people go to eat. Recreational areas or sports fields. Literary Component Write and illustrate a story set in your fictional town. It might be an adventure, a mystery, science fiction or a fantasy quest. Have your characters move through the town during the course of the action, and mention the places that they go to. Use your map as the main illustration for your story, though you might want to include other illustrations of the places and characters as well. After Reading the Text Discuss what your overall impressions of the story were. Some points to talk about are: What did you enjoy about the story? Were there any parts that you found challenging or confusing? What was your favourite scene, and why? Who do you think is the silliest character? What was the funniest part of the story and what did the author and illustrator do to help make it amusing? Who is Derek s new study buddy going to be and how do we know this? (Hint, think about what is happening in the final illustration) Literary Component The reader never does find out how Derek finally removes the giant squid from his leg. Write the missing scene describing how he convinces the squid to let go of his leg. Try to write using the same sort of style as in the novel, and be as imaginative and innovative in your solution as possible. Remember, the story is highly dramatic, so your solution will have to be dramatic as well! 7
Extension Activities 1) Derek Dale is known for mysteriously losing his shirt or at least, he seems to somehow never be wearing one. Make a list of all the possible ways that you can think of that an Agent like Derek might lose his shirt in the course of the action. Think of as many as you can and make them as funny and ridiculous as possible while still being just barely believable! 2) Derek is first told that M.T. Head spells his name with a silent T, but then that is changed to an invisible T. How many words can you think of that are spelt with silent letters? In pairs make a list of as many as you can, and then as a class combine your lists to make a master class list. 10 words is good, 15 excellent, and 20 is amazing! Do invisible letters actually exist in English? Why do you think this is the case? Try to think of a word that has a sound in it that is not represented by any of the letters used to spell it. 3) FANGLE is an acronym, a word formed by using the first letters of each word in a phrase or sentence. Think of a gadget that an arch-villain like MacEvilness might invent, and make up a name for it that can be turned into a cool acronym. For a challenge, see if your acronym can also be a real word! 4) One of Derek s four childhood fears was a monster made out of Brussels sprouts, which he defeated with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of salt before eating. Think of your least favourite food or vegetable, and create a monster based on it. Make a poster showing your monster, and write captions that explain all its evil features and behaviours. Be sure to write a caption explaining how to defeat it as well though! 5) I.T. Head always keeps salt and lemon handy to protect himself from butterflies, but never explains how it works. Write a short story featuring an evil mutant butterfly that you, the hero, manage somehow to defeat using salt and lemon. 6) In small groups, choose a scene from the story, and then act it out for the class. You might want to perform some of the funnier scenes at your next school assembly! 7) Make a leaflet advertising Derek s Nuclear Ninjarator toy for sale. Include the descriptions from the story in your advertisement remember to look at the picture as well for extra information about it and use your imagination for all the features that aren t mentioned but that you think the ultimate super-hero action-figure should have. 8) In the very first scene Derek talks into his Emergency Wrist Communicator. Draw a picture of the sort of Emergency Wrist Communicator that you would want to have if you were a secret agent. Remember, label all the different parts of your gadget to let people know what they do, and don t be limited by the features mentioned in the book add as many of your own to the gadget as you can! 9) As a class make a wall display showcasing the book. Individually draw or paint pictures of a character, event, monster, or gadget from the story, and write a review of the novel to accompany your picture. Arrange the artwork and reviews around a copy of the front cover of the book. 8