The Stone Book Quartet
Introduction | Subjects | Genesis

Subjects

ENGLISH
Each story in The Stone Book Quartet is instantly accessible. It has a deceptively simple structure, with layers of subtlety waiting to be to be discovered by the perceptive reader. As Alan Garner has said, ‘An onion can be peeled down through its layers, but it is always, at every layer, an onion, whole in itself. I try to write onions.’ 1

In the outermost skin of each story are the experiences of one child during one day in one place, Alderley Edge in Cheshire; some of these experiences are physical and potentially dangerous, while others draw on the inner courage of the child. At a deeper layer, the child protagonist in each story is tested and earns the right, and the responsibility, to become the guardian, for his or her generation, of an aspect of the culture of the community. For each child the day constitutes a ‘rite of passage’, which is also a celebration of the ‘craft and masterness’ 2 of a family proud of its craftsmanship.

When used cumulatively, the English resources build up into a detailed investigation of the text, and provide a model for the pupils’ own writing. The scheme of work suggest one way of peeling the onion, but teachers should be aware that their pupils might find other ways. The ultimate aim is to encourage each pupil to become a creative reader.

GEOGRAPHY
The Geography scheme of work focuses on the National Curriculum for Geography Order themes of Settlement and Population. The resources provide a guided enquiry for teachers and pupils to follow. Opportunities for the development of map, graph and photograph interpretation skills within the context of a settlement study of Alderley Edge at the time of ‘Tom Fobbles Day’ and ‘The Aimer Gate’ are provided.

Materials supporting the development of thinking skills, especially information processing and reasoning, are also provided through a range of ‘thinking skills’ strategies such as ‘living graphs’ and ‘Venn diagrams’.

Cross curricular links with English and history are made explicit. There are a number of opportunities for pupils to carry out extended writing and/or speaking tasks using materials from the DfES’ training folder ‘Literacy across the Curriculum’.

The geography scheme of work draws on the extensive Alderley Archive created by The Manchester Museum; documents, photographs, maps and an oral record.

Although the scheme of work and associated resources can be used by teachers ‘as they stand’ they may also be used as a ‘model’ or ‘template’ from which teachers can devise their own materials for other ‘place’ studies, past or present.

HISTORY
The History units span the period of The Stone Book Quartet, which follows a family from the 1860s to the 1940s.

They use the archive collected by the Alderley Edge Landscape Project, which includes a great wealth of oral memories from the people of Alderley, whose recollections of events and situations bring History to life. Analysis of interpretations and sources are explicitly addressed, together with the skills of historical enquiry. This work encourages the development of thinking skills, especially information processing, reasoning and enquiry.

1 & 2 From The Voice That Thunders. Alan Garner. The Harvill Press.