| The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler | |
|---|---|
First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Gene Kemp |
| Illustrator | Carolyn Dinan (1977) Kenny McKendry (1994) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Cricklepit School |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Faber |
| Publication date | 7 February 1977 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback; Paperback) |
| Pages | 118 pp (first edition hardback) |
| Followed by | Gowie Corby Plays Chicken |
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler is a children's novel by Gene Kemp, first published in 1977. It takes place at Cricklepit Combined School, a primary school for ages 4 to 12 in southern England which is the setting for several other of Kemp's stories. The novel won the Carnegie Medal and the Children's Rights Workshop Other Award.[1]
Contents |
The book tells the story of its main characters' final term at Cricklepit Combined School. It is principally narrated by 'Tyke' Tiler, a bold and athletic twelve-year-old with the reputation of being a troublemaker. Tyke's best friend Danny Price has a speech defect, which means Tyke often has to translate for him. Danny has a helpless air which leads him to depend on his often exasperated friend. When Tyke overhears some teachers discussing the possibility of Danny going to a special school next year, the only option seems to be to help Danny to cheat in the assessment test – a plan which naturally backfires.
When Tyke is off sick, Danny is accused of stealing a gold watch and runs away. It is up to Tyke to persuade the headmaster that Martin and Kevin are the guilty ones, and to find Danny.
On the last day of school, Tyke decides to emulate Thomas Tiler, a relative, in climbing up the outside of the school and ringing the school bell, which has been silent for thirty years. When this ends in disaster the headmaster says: "That child has always appeared to me to be on the brink of wrecking this school, and as far as I can see, has, at last, succeeded."
Up to the end of the penultimate chapter the narrative is written without revealing the protagonist's gender, and the daring nature of Tyke's exploits often leads readers to assume Tyke is a boy. The story ends with the revelation that Tyke is female and her full name Theodora.
Pupils
Staff
Family
Each chapter ends with a suitably juvenile joke, such as:
For the play script version Gene Kemp created a comic character, Harlequin the Joker, to tell the jokes.
In addition to the children's real-world adventures there is an emphasis throughout the book on chivalry and heroism. A student teacher reads T.H. White's The Once and Future King to the class, which they perform as a pantomime play, and they later re-enact a local battle between Saxons and Normans which appears to be the 1068 siege of Exeter. Both main characters are excited by the stories; Danny in particular is pleased to be compared to Sir Galahad: "His strength was as the strength of ten, because his heart was pure," and he resolves to live up to the comparison.
Mary Cadogan in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers referred to the book as "truly innovatory" and giving new dimensions to the day-school story. She added: "The exactly appropriate first person narrative is punctuated by consciously dire playground rhymes and jokes which sharpen its pacy succinctness."[2]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thunder and Lightnings |
Carnegie Medal recipient 1977 |
Succeeded by The Exeter Blitz |