grandfather s pencil - carbeile junior school

Grandfather’s Pencil

and the Room of Stories

By Michael Foreman

The boy finished his letter to his father.

He put down his pencil and climbed into bed.

He kissed his mother goodnight.

All was quiet.

The house slept in the moonlight. The boy dreamed in his bed.

The pencil lay on the paper.

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Then there was a scratchy, scribbly sound. The pencil was writing.

“I remember,” wrote the pencil, “I remember when I first came to this house.

I was in a box with friends. We were all different colours. We were a presentfor the boy.”

“I remember the shop where we were bought. The shelves were full ofbottles of ink and boxes of paints in sets like soldiers.

And paper – so many kinds of paper – smooth, rough, thick, thin. Papersfrom all over the world. Oh, the stories they told, in the night, in the dark!

I remember the forest where we lived before we were pencils. I was part ofa very tall tree. In my dreams I still feel the sway of the treetop in the wind.”

In the boy’s room a slight breeze ruffled the paper.


“Yes,” sighed the paper, “I also remember the wind and the forest.”

The pencil wrote as the paper told its tale.

“I also remember when the men came and many trees were cut down. Iremember the dragging of the logs and the thrilling journey down the river,”said the paper.

“Do you remember those early days in the forest?” squeaked the door as itslowly opened. “Our hopes and dreams? Would we stay safe in the forest ortravel the world? We have come a long way, but the boy has far to go.”

The boy stirred in his bed. A pool of moonlight lay on the floorboards of theroom.


“We have come furtherthan any of you,” croakedthe floorboards.“Long before this housewas built we were part ofa great ship with creamsails and a black flag.

We lived on tar and saltand loved every pitching,rolling minute of the windin the rigging and theswish of the sea. Oh, tofeel the wind again!”

“You will!” cried the old wooden window as it flew open.

The night wind whirled madly into the room.

The boy sat up, his eyes wild with excitement. The door danced on itshinges, the pencil rolled off the table and dropped into the pool of moonlightand the paper flew out of the window.


Out, over and beyond the city, tumbling and swooping in the sky until it wascaught and held in the top most branches of a tree in the forest. And thesetales of the pencil, the paper, the door and the floor were torn by the wind.

Birds wove the tatteredtales into their nestsand sang the stories totheir young. All theanimals of the forestlistened, and so thestories spread from thehighest leaf to thedeepest root. Thestories had come hometo the forest.

And the boy? The boy who had far to go?

He grew up and sailed the oceans of the world.


When he grew too old to sail he lived in a wooden house by the sea andtold his stories to his grandson, Jack. At night he slept in a sea of dreams.

Then, one day, he told Jack of the night, long, long ago, when his boyhoodroom had filled with the night wind, and the door danced and a pencil stoodon its point before it plunged into a pool of moonlight and disappeared.

“It was in your room, Jack. In your house in the city.”

When Jack got back to the city he rushed straight to his room.

He lay down and peered into the cracks between the floorboards.

He couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black.


Jack straightened a wirecoathanger and trawled upand down between theboards. He found severalthings of his own which hehad lost and half forgotten.Then, finally, he hooked out anold pencil!

He tried it on his note pad. Itmade a lovely soft line. Jackwrote a ‘thank you for a lovelyholiday’ letter to hisGrandfather and added: ‘P.S. Ihave found the pencil!’

His mother came and kissed him goodnight, and he went to sleep.

The pencil lay on the paper.

All was quiet.

Scritch, scratch. The pencil began to write…

“For many years I have lain in the dark. My companions have been a bentpin, an old gold coin and a whale bone button. Oh, the tales they told! Thewhale bone button remembered when it was part of a great whale and…”

But that is another story.


‘ The house slept in the moonlight.’ (page 1)

What does this tell you about the setting?

Tick one.

It was peaceful.

It was long ago.

It was far away.

It was indoors.

2

Which words tell you the sound the pencil made when it first started to write? (page 2)

Tick one.

thick, thin

smooth, rough

slight breeze

scratchy, scribbly

3

Why did the pencil live in a forest before it became a pencil? (page 2)

______________________________________________________________

4


Look at page 4.

The wind blew into the room.

Why was this important to what happened next?

Tick two.

It blew the paper out of the window.

It blew the ships at sea.

It reminded the pencil of the shop.

It made the pencil fall on the floor.

It made the boy remember.

5

Why had the floorboards travelled further than any of the other things? (page 4)

______________________________________________________________

6

Find and copy three words about how things moved in the wind. (pages 4 and 5)

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

7

What did the boy do when he grew up? (page 5)

______________________________________________________________

8

Look at the paragraph on page 6 beginning: "It was in your room..."

Find and copy one word that means to move quickly.

_______________________________

9


Why did Jack write to his grandfather? (page 7)

Give two reasons.

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

10

This question is about the whole story.

When does this story begin?

Tick one.

in the future

a year ago

many years ago

now

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Mark schemes

Content domain: 1d – Make inferences from the text.

It was peacefull. It was long ago.

It was far away. It was indoors.

1 mark

2

Content domain: 1a – Draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts.

thick, thin smooth, rough

slight breeze scratchy, scribbly

1 mark

3

Content domain: 1b – Identify / explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction texts, such ascharacters, events, titles and information.

Because it used to be a tree.

Because the pencil is made out of wood.

1 mark

4

Content domain: 1d – Make inferences from the text.

It blew the paper out of the window.

It blew the ships at sea.

It reminded the pencil of the shop.

It made the pencil fall on the floor.

It made the boy remember.

Both ticked correctly for 1 mark3 correct = 2 marks

Up to 2 marks

5



They were (part of) a great ship/boat.They had travelled the sea.They were first floorboards for a great ship.

1 mark

6


Accept minor spelling errors and extra phrases.

Pitching.Rolling.Whirled.Danced.Tumbling.Swooping.Rolled.Dropped.Flew.

Also accept:Swish.Madly.

Do not accept: Whole copied out sentences, eg:The night wind whirled madly into the room.

2 correct = 1 mark1 correct = 0 marks

Up to 2 marks

7


He sailed the oceans/seas.He became a sailor/traveller.

Also accept: He told stories (to his grandson).He lived in a house by the sea.

1 mark

8


Rushed.

1 mark

9



Award 1 mark for each reason.

To say thank you (for his holiday).To say that he had a good time.Because he had found the pencil.To use the same pencil his grandfather had told him about.To tell him about the other things beneath the floorboards.

Also accept: For the holiday.

Do not accept: Because he liked writing letters.Because he lived far away.Because he missed/loved him.Because he was on holiday.

Up to 2 marks

10


in the future a year ago

many years ago now

1 mark

11


grandfather s pencil - carbeile junior school

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