Norris has always had a passion for writing, some would say it’s in his lead. He has come from a long line of writers: his Mum – Beryl the whiteboard pen - who works in the local primary school; his Dad – Parker the fountain pen – chief editor of the local newspaper; and not forgetting Grandad Quill, the infamous Shakespearean writer. All of his family were skilled writers, and Norris longed to follow in their footsteps. So along with Shreddy the sharpener, Norris prepared himself for the bravest thing he had done in his lifetime – leave the comforts of his pencil case and hope that someone would pick him up and allow him to embark on his learning journey.

Before long, Norris had been passed between pockets, hand bags and drawers, before he finally reached the public library. This was a  place Norris had heard his Mum talk about. He spent time there, reading a range of books and texts, helping him understand the different genres of writing and how each of these would require him to think about the different features and purposes. This must be what Grandad Quill meant when he said that different pieces of writing need different features! He couldn’t wait to tell him that he now knew how to write to: entertain, inform, persuade and discuss! He was engrossed in his favourite book, ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ when he was suddenly snatched away and stuffed inside someone’s back pocket.

He woke to blinding studio lights and the sound of the ‘countdown’ clock! Before he could even register what was going on, he was being used in a panicked manner, scribbling down jumbled up letters and trying to turn these into words. He had to concentrate really hard to make sure the letters were in the right order to make sure the words were spelt correctly. Mum Beryl was right, spellings really are important!

Exhausted from his 15 minutes of fame, he fell into a deep sleep and when he awoke, he was no longer being used in the only way he thought pencils should be. He was being flung through the air in the hands of a small child, almost colliding with a strange green pen in an apparent ‘lightsaber’ battle. Finally, he was flung to one side and could catch his breath. The green pen introduced herself as Vic the Bic – Queen of editing - and reassured Norris, explaining that she is always used in these imaginative ways and that it really helps the children’s writing.  She told him of her editing skills and the way she is used when children need to correct a mistake or make their writing EVEN better!

Whilst busy chatting, they looked down at their new surroundings and noticed some strange paper filled with a mixture of red and grey lines that looked like railway tracks. They were immediately introduced to Hannah the handwriting pen who told them all about how to form letters correctly and join them together in wonderful patterns. Norris vowed from then on to always make sure his handwriting looked as beautiful.

Just when Norris thought he knew everything there was to know about writing, he looked up and saw a keyboard on the desk. With his inquisitive nature, Norris couldn’t resist going for a closer look. A keyboard of letters and funny symbols greeted him. ‘What are all of these symbols and shapes on the keyboard?’ he asked. Keith the keyboard informed him that these are different examples of punctuation that have to be used in our writing so it makes sense. Norris loved practising drawing all of these!

Norris and Shreddy knew that their writing adventure had to come to an end. It was time to return home once more and tell the rest of his pencil case family all that he had learnt about: genre, purpose, imagineering, handwriting, editing and punctuation. Norris knew that to be a confident writer he would always need to remind himself of all of these things.