Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship

---

Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship by Duncan Ball Illustrated by Craig Smith Synopses This is the eighth book in the series of short stories about the adventures of Emily Eyefinger, a little girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger. The books, and the stories in them, can be read in any order. The plots of the six stories in Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship are as follows: “Emily at the Circus” The circus has come to town and Emily and her best friend, Janey, befriend another little girl, Harriet. Harriet is a trapeze artist and the only person in the world who, aided by her trapeze artist parents, can execute the famous “triple snake and flip”. The girls watch breathlessly as Harriet successfully does her act in practice. But something is terribly wrong: every time there is an audience Harriet’s act doesn’t work and she falls into the net below. Can Emily save the day? “Emily and the Mystery of the Missing Pets” A secret agent from Interpet visits Emily to ask her for help. Pets everywhere are being stolen and Interpet thinks they know who is doing it but they can’t find her, or the stolen pets. When Emily agrees to help, she is made up to look like a rare species of monkey. She is put in an animal cage and allowed to be stolen. What will happen to Emily? “Emily and the Mammoth Mice” Emily accompanies Professor Mousefinder and his son, Malcolm, on a hunt for the Mammoth Mice who live in Faraway Canyon. In order to lure these elusive mice out of hiding, Malcolm’s father has him dress up in a mouse costume. The costume is so convincing that an eagle swoops down and carries Malcolm up to a high ledge. Emily climbs down a rope from above to rescue Malcolm but there’s a problem: the two kids are too heavy for the professor to pull up and Malcolm is too weak to climb a rope on his own. What ingenuity can Emily come up with to save them both? “Emily and Elme” The class bully, Terry Meaney, has found a tortoise. Emily is concerned that Terry is mistreating it and also that it may be someone else’s lost pet. Emily tries to get Terry to tell her where he’s found the tortoise but Terry refuses to tell her. He has named the tortoise Elme because it has the letters ELME scrawled on its back. Emily realises that there are also some other---barely readable—letters and that someone has written HELP ME on the tortoise. What is the mystery of the message? “Emily and Janey’s Christmas Play” The Eyefinger’s neighbour, Mrs Bright, has put Christmas lights all over her house, attracting people from all over. Emily wants to do something too. Mr Eyefinger builds a puppet theatre and Emily and Janey perform their own, very popular, puppet play every evening. The girls then get a nasty note warning them to stop putting on their show. Can Emily solve the mystery of the note and the reason behind it? “Emily and the Ghost Ship” Emily and her parents are staying on an island and she befriends a boy called Danny. Danny tells her that he’s seen a ghost ship through the fog that morning. Emily doesn’t know what to think. Later she is walking to the end of a point of land in the fog when she meets the boy again. They talk about the story of a ghost ship and that island. Suddenly, out of the mist, the ship appears. It’s moving slowly but heading for the fishing boats moored in the port. What or who is on this mysterious ship?

Writing style The Emily Eyefinger stories are intended for children from approximately six to ten years of age. They are designed either to be read aloud in the classroom or at home, or for newly independent or less

confident readers. Each story is short enough to be read at one sitting and has a very clear and definite resolution. The vocabulary is simple, the sentences short and linear, and the stories are plot driven. Equally important there is a gentle humour to the stories designed to work on both the level of the child and that of an adult. In each of the six short stories in this book Emily Eyefinger uses her eyefinger plus lateral thinking and her very rational approach to problem solving to solve mysteries or otherwise save people from harm. She is brave and both socially responsible and independent, encouraging others to show understanding, friendship and honesty. Author inspiration The idea for Emily came from a conversation I had with my wife, Jill. She was telling me about when her Year 2 teacher had asked the class where they would like to have a third eye if they could have one. Most of the kids said that they’d like to have one in the middle of their foreheads or on the backs of their heads. Eventually the teacher suggested that a very useful place to have an extra eye would be on the end of a finger. (You might try this exercise out on your class before reading the book.) As soon as I heard about the eye on the finger I said, “What a good idea for a character.” What would her name be? Emily Eyefinger---why not? (You’ll notice that many of the characters in the Emily books---e.g. Ms Plump, her slightly overweight teacher--- resemble their names. From email and letters from Emily Eyefinger readers, I’ve been surprised how much delight the kids have got from this “nominal determinism” and intend to carry it on in future Emily books. The eye on the finger idea more or less dictated the age level of the stories. I had been casting about for an idea for a series of books for very young readers. I’d written picture books for non-readers and the Selby books for better readers, but I’d written very little for emerging readers in lower to middle primary school. When I was the editor of the School Magazine, a children’s literary magazine published by the then Department of Education of New South Wales, I got a lot of experience in writing for different reading and interest levels. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of writing at this young age level. I was very pleased when Craig Smith agreed to illustrate the Emily Eyefinger books. As with any good drawings, his illustrations add another dimension to the reading experience. Editorial comment I think that at this young age children like neatly resolved stories and happy endings. I have been conscious of this when writing about Emily. There’s a belief in the children’s book world that kids won’t be able to relate to a character who is a goody-goody. I’ve never believed this and, in developing Emily, over eight books and many short stories, I’ve tried as much as possible to make her not perfect but very very good. And if the reaction of Emily’s readers is any indication, it’s worked a treat. I love writing about her. Study Notes The book---along with other books in the Emily Eyefinger series---are filled with social and ethical dilemmas as well as pure adventure. Many of these lend themselves to possible class discussion: In what ways would an eye on the end of your finger be a disability? (Bearing in mind Emily’s father has made her a protective bubble to put over it when she’s washing her hair etc.) Could you still play a musical instrument? Which one? How important to you are your fingers? (And hands? and arms?) If you met Emily Eyefinger and noticed her eyefinger, how would you react? Would you ask her about it? What would you say? Or would you just be quiet until she mentioned it? What would you do if you found a lost pet? (As in “Emily and Elme.) In the story “Emily and Janey’s Christmas Play” the girls don’t tell anyone about the warning notes. Was that the right thing to do? What would you have done? In the story “Emily and the Ghost Ship” did Emily do the right thing in climbing aboard the ship? Would you have done the same if you were she? In “Emily and the Mammoth Mice” did Professor Mousefinder do the right thing in getting his son, Malcolm to put on the mouse costume? In “Emily and the Mystery of the Missing Pets”, the international pet thief, Mrs Stikke, wants to steal every pet because she wasn’t allowed to have a pet when she was a child. Do you think that having all these pet has made her happy? How many pets would you like to have? For more information about the Emily Eyefinger books go to: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/Selby/Emily/about.cfm For and education unit, including worksheets, on Emily Eyefinger go to the following page and scroll down to the links to the unit and worksheets: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/Selby/Education/teachingnotes.cfm