𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

This powerful prose was written by a 14-year-old; “I’m Dara, a boy, an acorn. Mum used to call me lon dubh (which is Irish for blackbird) when I was baby, and sometimes she still does. I have the heart of a naturalist, the head of a would-be scientist, and bones of someone who is already wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world.”

𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 Dara McAnulty’s book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, which chronicles a year in his life, from one spring to the next, won him the 2020 Wainwright Prize. Remarkably, it was a diary that he completed on his 15th birthday.

𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 “I’m Dara, a boy, an acorn. Mum used to call me lon dubh (which is Irish for blackbird) when I was a baby, and sometimes she still does. I have the heart of a naturalist, the head of a would-be scientist, and bones of someone who is already wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world.” Caroline Sanderson of The Bookseller wrote; “the fanfare is wholly justified: this is an astonishingly assured book for one so young.”

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 More than just a wonderful book to read, this is a book to inspire pupils. McAnulty raises the bar for young writers, demonstrating what is possible. Creative writing is a key component of many schools’ entrance assessments. Pupils preparing for entrance examinations would be wise to read McAnulty’s book and to learn from his creativity and originality.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚 𝐓𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐂𝐄), 𝐈𝐆𝐂𝐒𝐄, 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 / 𝐈𝐁𝐃𝐏 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲-𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝. For details of how we can help your child, please contact Valerie Weston on: Email: valerie.weston@minervatuition.com Phone: +852 6156 5705. We would be delighted to hear from you.