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To Serve Our Planet
Chaos in the Cosmos is a children’s fantasy book that illustrates climate’s impact on Earth how we should respect nature. What were some sources that informed this book’s development?
Our greatest power, gifted to us all, is that of respect, not only to each other but also respect to the very precious globe we call Earth … the very ground we tread on daily throughout our lives.
So many adults around our world have not, seemingly, learned this concept of respect, preferring to remain on the side of inattention and inaction, and possibly of ignorance, wishing to demonstrate their power in a different way.
If, we as adults, fail to develop an awareness, how are the young minds of our children to be given the opportunity to fully understand worldly problems?
How are they going to take a grip on some of the more complex problematic world events, and even fully concern themselves with what certain threats will bring in the future years ahead?
How can young children be shown the best path forward to serve our planet and each other with the much-desired respect required?
If we take literature as a tool of learning, how best do children enjoy their learning?
I believe that for generations, children’s literature has formed memorable concepts in children’s minds, and has not always succeeded in the form of serious literature, but sometimes concepts can emerge from reading Fantasy stories of a light-hearted nature with a ring of desired fun to them.
In fact, that is precisely the effect I aimed for within the pages of ‘Chaos in the Cosmos.’ A light fast-paced story form, a story to giggle over and have fun with. A tale to hopefully bring together how the abuse of power, when used with inconsideration, can even rapidly destroy our world as we know it.
So, behind the lighter read is a thought process.
How do we answer our problems on Planet Earth?
Can the planet really suffer from something called Global Warming?
What is it? Why? How? When? So, what must each of us learn to do to play our part?
Here we are in 2021, in the middle of a Global Pandemic, which has scared kids and adults, kept children isolated indoors, not allowed them peer play. They have endured loss…possibly of close family members, grandparents, siblings, and even parents maybe. The cultural riches we all took for granted have been denied us… no parties, services, and so on. And so in the middle of this world’s ill health, there emerges chaos. Thus these are the days we are living through.
Plus we have a further world event crisis of Global Warming evolving on a daily basis.
Another real feature to our present-day is our discovery and probing of the Red Planet, Mars.
The section of the Mars visit is part of the adventure to learning, and it can be a matter of trend and future development within the classroom, as in the same way Global Warming can become a topic in its own right. I advise anyone who is searching for more suggestions for group discussions to enter Magic Islands via my web address at
https://cgofwales.co.uk for worksheet and pointers.
I have listed many ideas class teachers and parents can discuss with children. The discussions will bring out serious and fun issues in relation to the second book, Chaos in the Cosmos, from rights, wrongs and values, facts and fiction, questions and answers, tolerance and intolerance, the use of power, the funny, ridiculous, dangerous, imaginary. The need to separate fantasy from truths. The story can be used as a foothold …a matchlight to ignite the burning issues surrounding environmental and personal awareness. So if required it can become a tool from which laughter and mainstream learning can evolve.
This seemed like it was a very fun book to write. What was your favorite scene to write for?
One could say ‘Chaos in the Cosmos’ chose its time to be born, but, yes, it emerged during a time of grief and sadness, and therefore needed to sparkle in a comic way to lift the mood of the day.
In contrast to ‘Magic Islands, Book One’ where the magical powers of the Purple Wizards demonstrated an evil in them, a fearsome greed, whereby they wanted to achieve everything for themselves without respect for anyone or anything thing else. In Book Two, ‘Chaos in the Cosmos,’ I have tried to illustrate the other side of the Purple Wizards characters. I needed the story to show they were stupid, foolish, ignorant, lacking understanding or knowledge, and no better than a bunch of fools. If one gives power to foolishness, even if it is based on magical power, are fools ever really going to use their given powers with any respect?
The fun is found in words and deeds. These characters are now seen as the ‘Goons’ or ‘Mindless’ who follow and mimic their crazy leader, Izzy Odorous.
Perhaps, the Wizards’ depiction is both overwhelming and annoying. Characters with such silly behavioral patterns would be, I agree. It may be said that only a fool would deliberately be proactive towards leading the planet towards the extinction of its species.
So, now we understand a little more about the spectrum of the personalities of the Purple Wizards
Moving from the Purple Wizards, I enjoyed writing about the Baby Hook-Eyed Monster, Scratchit, who, as you say, becomes Stefan’s secret and whose lack of magical knowledge leads both Stefan and Megan on a terrifying journey to the Magic Islands. It is, in fact, Scratchit who raises the alarm of the heating seas, when he reports to the children that Global Warming is destroying the sea creatures and all marine life. I reckon children will love baby Scratchit.
I enjoyed writing this fun book for children, mainly because I knew there was a gap in the market, and a lack of light reading material on the subject for 7/8-11 years.
This book explores climate and nature in an interesting and engaging way. Why do you think this is important for children to learn?
Our world is changing rapidly. Young children are moving forward into a new era. It is important that they become aware of what their future will bring. If children are to grow and live in a future clean environment during their lifetime, the work towards that awareness must start now…Today.
Will you continue your Magic Islands stories in a third book?
The third book ‘The Kingdom of Now and Then’ continues with an invitation into a world of extinction where we will meet the once extinct and imaginary beasts as they jump off the pages of storybooks, legends, and the time of ‘Then.’ The Purple Wizards and the children are still involved in the magic of it all. In this book, there are more sides to the personality spectrum of the wizards as they try to adapt to a different vision. #amwriting.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website
In ‘Chaos in the Cosmos’ the fun and games of the wicked Purple Wizards’ tricks and their wrong doings are taken too far, resulting in an urgency to save Planet Earth from disaster before time runs out for the planet.
The story illustrates the way nature can hit out when not heeded or respected, and it shows the impact climate change can have on our planet in extreme temperatures.
It sets the scene for young readers to learn and understand the effects of a warmer chaotic world, and aims at promoting such concepts through storytelling and adventure, thus exposing some of the global issues surrounding planetary warming, as narrated and visualized through the eyes of magic and fantasy.
Written with much lyrical fun in mind for children, there is, of course, some serious underlying elements… those of fostering climatic awareness, and the realisation our planet is very precious to us all.
There are obvious links to the first book in the series ‘Magic Islands’, and in this second book we meet again many of our familiar characters.
The story begins when the “Magic” happens, and the Purple Wizards are sent spinning from the Magic Islands to the Red Planet, Mars, where they experience a Space adventure on the mystic planet and its hidden Underworld.
In order to escape from the Underworld and from Planet Mars, Izzy Odorous and his gang of Purple Wizards are faced with having to regain their own powerful magical strengths. With newly regained powers, they mischievously venture out on a magical mystery tour and later threaten danger to the well-being of the entire Planet Earth.
Scratchit is the much feared, adorable, baby Hook-Eyed Cyclops Monster, who creates havoc by way of his very own busy magical mischief, as he whisks the children, Stefan and Megan, on a terrifying journey to the Magic Islands.
But when the children are confronted with the impending perils of global warming, they are also faced with having to help the magical inhabitants of the Magic Islands in their fight for survival during a rapidly changing climatic crisis.
Chaos in the Cosmos: A Magic Islands story
Stefan has quite a secret, and it is a secret like no other. His secret revolves around a strange being to which he is growing attached. Stefan’s secret is Scratchit. Little Scratchit is not only a Cyclops, but he is a Hook-Eyed Monster. Keeping him under wraps will be difficult, but that is Stefan’s plan–if only it will work. When Stefan and his classmates set out on a day trip, the secret he carries in his backpack weighs heavily on his mind. When Scratchit has other plans, the trip soon turns into more than any of them could have envisioned.
Chaos in the Cosmos: A Magic Islands Story, written by Irene Edwards, is the continuation of the story set forth in Edwards’s book, Magic Islands. Stefan and his friends, one of the focuses of the first book, appear again in Chaos in the Cosmos and provide readers with a highly entertaining string of events that lead them on an adventure like no other. This fantasy by Irene Edwards reads as much like a science fiction story as it does a fantasy for older elementary and middle school students. The parallel storyline involving the banished Purple Wizards picks up where it left off in Edwards’s first book.
Though integral to the plot, I found the Purple Wizards storyline to be a little scattered at times. While it is incredibly engaging, filled with fascinating characters, and also lends itself well to the adventure genre, this part of the plot addresses many aspects at one time and feels a bit overwhelming.
Edwards has done a phenomenal job of attacking changes in climate in a unique way that may be more interesting and meaningful for younger readers. I can say, as a teacher, that we truly do lack engaging materials that help us explain weather patterns, climate, and the impact we have on our environment. This, along with the stand-out characters she has created, is one of Edwards’s true strong suits.
I would recommend Chaos in the Cosmos to any upper elementary or middle school student who enjoys science fiction and is looking to branch out into a new series. In addition, teachers who are seeking to spice up science instruction and add a read aloud to their arsenal will benefit from checking out Irene Edwards’s most recent addition to the Magic Islands series.
Pages: 276 | ISBN: 1838075216
Irene Edwards Author Interview
Magic Islands follows a group of children who must work together to solve problems and return their island to peace. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Initially, my writing started in a very quiet fashion. I had always written odds and ends, but one day I saw an advert for a rather attractive competition. I entered a child’s story, written in verse. The Competition was named the ‘Brit Writers Award, London.’2010. I didn’t actually win the top prize but I did win an invitation to the Awards Ceremony in London, and my husband and I made our way to the 02 for a Gala Evening of presentations and enjoyment.
It was exciting to watch it all. The late Terry Pratchett gave a small talk and numerous others too. On the evening of the Awards, I, fortunately, bumped into some strangers who have become my lifelong friends, and thereafter, we have often discussed my work.
Within a really short time afterwards, I developed a serious illness. I didn’t know at that time whether I was going to survive the hospital treatment or not, so it was pretty scary. I needed to occupy I myself with something to do, and take my mind to a happier place…an imaginary world which I could fly away to with my thoughts… a magical land where life could be contoured into many shapes and forms, and where I could move away from the reality of illness. (I feel shy to discuss my illness further, other than to say, I am well and perfectly recovered from those threatening days.)
So the egg hatched, so to speak. I began to write. I sat up until the early morning hours, and I finally returned to bed feeling satisfied, contented and gratified. My London friends regularly emailed me and I regularly unfolded my writing thoughts to them. I give credit to the support they gave to me. Because I became so involved with my writing, I clean forgot my fears of whether I would survive my illness because I was determined to snap out of the bad times. I became a happy person and recovered because I had found an aspect of interest in life(writing) which gave me all the courage and thrust I needed to do better.
I had previously taught Primary children, and later during my career moved to teach deaf children (from early childhood to Secondary level teens.) To my joy, I also became a grandmother. I now had a new grandson, named Stefan. I decided to bring Stefan into the story I was busy writing at the time, and to include the fictional characters of the children, Trevor and Megan. Trevor was brought into the story in order to enlighten the village children in Whitestone, Wales, on certain aspects/events as they had happened in his home town in the USA. He was, as you say, the popular ‘fun to be with a guy.’ Megan represented a rural lifestyle model of a farmer’s child in the Welsh hills.
The story needed to become magical in every way. I wanted it to be fast-moving with twists and turns. I wanted to begin the series with an observation of ‘rubbish’ and ‘recycling’, of ‘morals’, ‘manners’, to show how the problems related to giving false information, and I wanted the magical situations in the plot to observe change; become dark or difficult for the children, become amazing or wonderous in form.
The quotations are interesting. When children reach a certain age, they need to know what would their idols/ other writers have to say about magic, the main theme of the story.
I enjoyed the fantastic sketches in the book. What was the collaboration process like with the illustrators on your team?
There were several artists featured in the pages of the book. Robert Brown, a world-class animator who designed the cover to ‘Magic Islands,'( Book 1) also contributed to quite a few pages in the book. As I believe in sharing and teamwork I also asked Tony Paultyn, watercolour artist to draw a good share of the images, and I also asked my son who is also a qualified artist. I wanted to share out the work. Actually, it turned out to be a fair idea.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Themes…Magic obviously, Global Warming…a theme continued into the next book ‘Chaos in the Cosmos’ ( Book 2). ..published November 2020 … by Cambria Publishing. I’ve tried to build up worldly problems and include them in a fantasy world, in which younger children will remember the many crazy events, relate to/and understand them. The final statement in the book is “Believe it or not.” This is the final pointer. What is really happening to our world? What is pure fiction? What is fantasy? What is Magic? I have accompanied the 2 newly published books with Free Worksheets for educators/ parent/teachers to download if they want to work at the books at home during the Covid lockdown. The web is loaded with ideas to carry the themes further for discussion or activities or research for the young mind. Most of the trends appear here on my new website at; https://cgofwales.co.uk.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The next book ‘Chaos in the Cosmos’ has already been written and the publication is also brand new approx Nov 2020. 6×9 size. Paperback. ‘Magic Islands’ was revised into a 6×9 version for Nov. (Paperback) There is a larger A4 version with a large print. It is slightly different. At the moment it is still available for partially sighted, but I’m wondering whether to phase it out. But perhaps not. (Paperback) My third book is work in progress and will emerge, possibly at the end of 2021/ January 2022.
About a week or so following the publication of both 6×9 books, I was received and contracted by Brighti’s Educational Consultancy in Coventry, and I signed over to them the use of the material of the books for KS2 Curriculum Studies and for English resources for schools in England. The consultancy has many wonderful books appearing daily on their lists. Some are for library/classroom reading. My books are being used for school resources and this is all work in progress in preparation for classes when ready. About 2 weeks ago the book was used for a Zoom lesson during the lockdown. ( See Kala Williams, of the agency)
Magda Olchawska, (whose magical quotation is within ‘Magic Islands’ is also a film director/producer of Indie Films. (Medium Magazine Online). She has made a video for me of the ‘Magic Islands Books’ and this also deals with the main points of themes. Please find the attachment below.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
When a magical wish on a Conch shell whisks Stefan and Megan away from their Welsh coastline beach to the Magic Islands, the children feel lost and are quite unsure of their new environment. They have become marooned. Stefan and Megan follow two witches, Mogul and Drot to Wish-What Castle. They meet Nester the Jester, his strange pet – a dragon named Vanhalen, Ambrosious, the Wizard of the magical Enchanted Forest, Eglador, their guide, the Aliens of the Heavens known as the Purple Wizards, Gorad the teacher, and the Valendor Elves.
Trouble strikes the island when the witches arrive and when the Purple Wizards become shipwrecked on the islands’ coastal beach. The Magic Islands become overpowered by wicked magical powers and mischief which the children witness and they are asked to solve the islands problems, capture the wizards and return the islands to peace.
Magic Islands
![Magic Islands by [Irene Edwards, Robert Brown, Tony Paultyn, Gareth Edwards]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-XcLgBGNL.jpg)
Trevor is not known for being serious. In fact, he is best known for the tall tales he spins. He is new in Wales, living with his grandparents, and making friends has been easy. His personality is one that lends itself to laughter, jokes, and many a light-hearted moment between friends. When Trevor and his pals are exploring the beach one day, something happens that changes all of their lives, and Trevor’s love of a good joke is getting in the way of his ability to communicate with the adults around him. When no one believes what you say, how do you tell them your friends disappeared before your very eyes?
Magic Islands, by Irene Edwards, is a fantasy adventure centered around magic, wizardry, and adventure. The imagery painted by Edwards is absolutely stunning and contributes to the beauty of a well-crafted fantasy. Edwards’s young characters are relatable and full of life. The humor woven throughout this novel makes it not only more appealing but serves to create a fun read aloud for classrooms, as well.
As a fan of fantasy adventures and a teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed Edwards’s work. It is a light-hearted adventure based on the wonder of magic. There aren’t many young readers out there who don’t become enthralled in stories of the impossible, and Edwards has more than successfully tapped into that demographic. Her young characters are bold and just the right mix of the real world and fantasy.
The wizards and witches in Edwards’s work transport readers to a fabulously designed land of spells, castles, and absurdly fantastic beings. Page after page, the dragons and monsters continue to keep the story new and refreshing. Combined with the witty exchanges between characters, the wide array of character types makes this an all-around fantastic read for young readers.
From cover to cover, Edwards enchants young readers, pulls them into a fantasy like no other. In addition to the wonderfully engaging storyline and humor peppered throughout, Edwards includes famous names and well-known pop culture references that further serve to hook readers. I would be remiss if I did not mention the marvelous sketches by the team of illustrators, Robert Brown, Tony Paultyn, and Gareth Edwards. I highly recommend Magic Islands to anyone looking for an engaging story for young fans of fantasy and wizardry. Teachers in grades 3-6, this one’s definitely for you!
Pages: 211 | ASIN: B07ZRYY8LX
LITERARY TITAN 