Coot Club

William: a chocolate-loving dog who proves to be a hero, even though he barks at every bird he sees.

Death and Glories: three pirates – Joe, a tiller man and rat lover; Pete, the observer and telescope owner; Bill an intrepid rower and cyclist.

What is the name of the Society the strange boy talks about to Dick?
What does Tom tell the Death and Glories to do in the village to stop the Hullabaloos from accusing them? Does it work?
What made the watcher at Acle ill?
How did Dick steer when Titmouse and Teasel slipped downstream from the moored cruiser Margoletta?
Dorothea was pleased to discover four men playing cards. Who were they?
What was the man doing with the reddish lump on the end of his fishing line?
Who was a hero and travelled between Teasel and Titmouse in the Breydon mud?
What did Joe, Bill and Pete give up?
How many boats did Port and Starboard have to take to catch up with Teasel?
Did Tom say sorry for what he did?

Lots of different varieties of boat are featured in Coot Club. Can you remember which type each of these is? And do you know their different characteristics?

Teasel
Titmouse
Dreadnought
Flash
Margoletta
Sir Garnet
Come Along
Welcome of Rochester

Lots of birds are spotted by Dick in the novel – including herons, kestrels, coots, waterhens, crested grebes, snipe, reed pheasants, bitterns, redshanks, warblers, reed buntings, curlews, greenshanks, sandpipers and spoonbills! Have you ever seen (or heard) any of the birds that Dick spots? Can you name any birds that come into your garden or that you see in the park? Next time you’re outside, count how many different species you can see!

Arthur Ransome spent a lot of time during his holidays on the Broads sketching. Why don’t you try sketching your favourite bird?

Before you begin, it’s important to observe and take note of the important characteristics of the different species. This is a good way to help identify which bird you’ve spotted too – once you’ve made your notes, look them up! The RSPB website has a very useful A–Z of bird varieties with pictures, as well as lots more hints and tips on how to enjoy watching birds. Visit www.rspb.org.uk

Size: how big is the bird? Can you estimate?
Shape: does the bird remind you of any particular species you are familiar with? Pay special attention to the bill (the bird’s beak) – is it long or short? And what about its feet – are they webbed?
Colour: what is the main colour of the bird? Are there any different colours on its head, wings or feet?

Try sketching out in pencil before you begin to ink it in. As you go over the pencil lines in ink, you can make improvements, and rub out the pencil lines when you’re happy. Don’t worry if you make mistakes as these can be adjusted with colours or correcting fluid when you are finished. Remember, Arthur Ransome himself was not the most gifted drawer but as far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter if his picture wasn’t lovely to look at. He preferred accuracy when it came to characteristics and details. Try to be as accurate as possible in your picture.

In Coot Club some of the characters feed chocolate to William the dog. In actual fact chocolate is poisonous to dogs. It contains a chemical, that although harmless to humans, can make dogs seriously unwell and can even result in death. So whatever you do, never feed chocolate to a dog!

Bird Protection Society
Yes it does work. He tells them to do some weeding in the village and to be seen doing it so that everyone will know they had no hand in Tom’s plan
Bananas
He used his feet
Real wreckers
Babbing (catching eels with a ball of worms)
William the pug dog
Being pirates – they became salvage men instead
Three – Sir Garnet, Come Along and Welcome of Rochester
Yes

Yacht
Dinghy
Punt
Racing yacht
Cruiser
Wherry
Tug
Barge

To learn more about the books and the author visit the fantastic Arthur Ransome websites: