1

The Wardstone Chroniclesby Joseph Delaney  

Mylène VILLOT – Licence Pro Littérature et Documentation Jeunesse – 2011 / 2012

2

PLAN

I. QuizzII. VocabularyIII.Main plot & Covers IV.CharactersV. The author VI.The filmVII.Answers to the quizzVIII.References

3

I. Quizz

What is the name of the main character?

Who is Alice?

How many witches' families there are in the series?

What is the title of the series in french?

What prizes did The Spook's Apprentice win ?

4

II. Vocabulary

Translation : An apprentice : un apprenti The county : le comté Unbroken : intact Running water : eau courante A beast : une bête

What it means : The Benign : les bénines The Malevolent : les malveillantes The Unaware : les inconscientes The Falsely Accused : les faussement accusées

The Spook : désigne un épouvanteur The Fiend (also call « the dark ») : désigne le Malin ou le Diable

A boggart : désigne une espèce de nain dans le folklore britanique

5

III. Main plot

The story revolves around Tom Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son in an unbroken male line.

He is the apprentice of John Gregory, the Spook, in order to learn how to combat the servants of "The Dark" and defend the County.

6

IV. French covers

7

IV. English covers

8

IV. American covers

9

V. Characters : Key figures

Tom Ward : The apprentice of John Gregory, the

County Spook. Is the seventh son of a seventh son. His mother is actually the original Lamia

from Greece. Has a friendship with Alice Deane, a

witch. Is the County's greatest hope.

10

V. Characters : Key figures

John Gregory : Is one of the most prolific Spooks and

has a mysterious history. Originally trained to be a priest but he

decided instead to become a Spook. Is a strict mentor.

11

V. Characters : Key figures

Alice Deane : Is the daughter of Bony Lizzie and the

Fiend, and the grand-grandaughter of Mother Malkin.

Seems to become a benign. Cares about Tom though not so much

about the Spook.  Seems to have feelings for Tom.

12

V. Characters : The Antagonists

Witches Kinds of witches▪ The Benign : witches who use their power to help other

people.▪ The Malevolent : witches who use blood, bone, or familiar

magic for evil.▪ The Unaware : witches who don't know what they are.▪ The Falsely Accused : women who are unjustly accused of

being witches and consequently put to death. Ways to defeat a witch :▪ Salt and iron ▪ A stick made in wood ▪ A silver chain▪ Running water

13

V. Characters : The Antagonists

The Malkin Clan ▪ Leader of the Malkin clan : Anne Malkin

The Deane Clan ▪ Leader of the Deane : Florence Deane

The Mouldheel Clan▪ Leader of Mouldheel clan : Mab Mouldheel

Other enemies of the Spook : Demons, The Old Gods, Beasts, Elemental and Spirits.

14

VI. The author : Joseph Delaney Joseph Delaney is a British fantasy

author. He began his career with « Mercer’s Whore » published under the pseudonym of J.K. Haderack, and then wrote the series “Wardstone Chronicles” (which is known in the USA as “The Last Apprentice” and in France as “L’apprenti Epouvanteur”)

He is a retired English teacher living in Lancashire.

Most of the places in the Spook's books are based on real places in Lancashire. And the inspiration behind the stories often comes from local ghost stories and legends.

15

VI. The author : His rewards

The Spook's Apprentice is the winner of both the Sefton Super Reads Award and the Hampshire Book Award in 2006.

The Hampshire Book Award is an annual award given to works of children's literature.

The Sefton Super Reads Award is Organised by school librarians and Sefton Council's library service, the award highlights recently published fiction aimed at secondary school pupils. 

16

VII. The film : “The Seventh Son” A film adaption for the series has been

announced, entitled "The Seventh Son". The film is to be produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

The story of the film : “The seventh son of a seventh son learns how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches, and bind boggarts in the 1700s.”

Director : Sergey Bodrov Casting : Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Alicia

Vikander and Ben Barnes

17

VIII. Answers to the quizz

What is the name of the main character? The main character is Tom Ward.

Who is Alice? She’s a witch but also the friend of Tom.

How many witches' families there are in the series?

There are three clans : Malkin, Deane, Mouldheel. What is the title of the series in french?

The French title is “L’apprenti épouvanteur”. What prizes did The Spook's Apprentice win?

This book is the winner of both the Sefton Book Award and the Hampshire Book Award.

18

IX. References

Wardstone Chronicles Official Site : http://www.spooksbooks.com/

Wikipedia’s page

Joseph Delaney’s biography : http://sfbook.com/joseph-delaney.htm

19

Thank you for your attention !