Solo and Solomon

By William Forde

In the year 2000, when this book was first published, I wanted to create a book which could be given to a child who was starting school at the age of 5 years and which could be read by them progressively until the age of 13 years when they either moved up to ‘Middle or High School.’ I also wanted to mark their memory of the New Millennium with their own special book.

Because the reading age between all children of between 5 years of age and 13 is so vast, this project naturally involved the writing of a number of stories that catered for children of different chronological ages and reading abilities.

The outcome of this idea was the publication of the book ‘Bes’; which contains four interdependent stories that links in theme. The four stories would concern four types of creatures, a bear (for 5-7 year old readers), an elephant (for 7-9 year old readers), a sheep (for 9-11 year old readers), and a New Millennium spiritual creature called ‘Bes’, who was part bear, part elephant and part sheep in both appearance and disposition( for 9-13 year old reader).

‘Solo and Solomon’ is a story written for the 9-11 years old reader. It is a story about a rebellious sheep who wants to go her own way and uses every opportunity to flout the rules of the flock and instead assert her total independence from the rest of the flock. It is an ideal story to use as a discussion starter with pupils in the classroom. The overall message reminds the reader that just as in every ‘Solomon’ can be found a ‘Solo’ then so it is that in every ‘leader’ can be found a ‘rebel’ and vice versa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Forde
• Release date: Sep 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476234618

William Forde

William Forde was born in Ireland and currently lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire with his wife Sheila. He is the father of five children and the author of over 60 published books and two musical plays. Approximately 20 of his books are suitable for the 7-11 year old readers while the remainder are suitable for young persons and adults. Since 2010, all of his new stories have been written for adults under his 'Tales from Portlaw' series of short stories. His website is www.fordefables.co.uk on which all his miscellaneous writings may be freely read. There are also a number of children's audio stories which can be freely heard.He is unique in the field of contemporary children's authors through the challenging emotional issues and story themes he addresses, preferring to focus upon those emotions that children and adults find most difficult to appropriately express.One of West Yorkshire's most popular children's authors, Between 1990 and 2002 his books were publicly read in over 2,000 Yorkshire school assemblies by over 800 famous names and celebrities from the realms of Royalty, Film, Stage, Screen, Politics, Church, Sport, etc. The late Princess Diana used to read his earlier books to her then young children, William and Harry and Nelson Mandela once telephoned him to praise an African story book he had written. Others who have supported his works have included three Princesses, three Prime Ministers, two Presidents and numerous Bishops of the realm. A former Chief Inspector of Schools for OFSTED described his writing to the press as 'High quality literature.' He has also written books which are suitable for adults along with a number of crossover books that are suitable for teenagers and adults.Forever at the forefront of change, at the age of 18 years, William became the youngest Youth Leader and Trade Union Shop Steward in Great Britain. In 1971, He founded Anger Management in Great Britain and freely gave his courses to the world. Within the next two years, Anger Management courses had mushroomed across the English-speaking world. During the mid-70's, he introduced Relaxation Training into H.M. Prisons and between 1970 and 1995, he worked in West Yorkshire as a Probation Officer specialising in Relaxation Training, Anger Management, Stress Management and Assertive Training Group Work.He retired early on the grounds of ill health in 1995 to further his writing career, which witnessed him working with the Minister of Youth and Culture in Jamaica to establish a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project between 32 primary schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and 32 primary schools in Yorkshire.William was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1995 for his services to West Yorkshire. He has never sought to materially profit from the publication of his books and writings and has allowed all profit from their sales (approx £200,000) to be given to charity. Since 2013, he was diagnosed with CLL; a terminal condition for which he is currently receiving treatment.In 2014, William had his very first 'strictly for adult' reader's novel puiblished called‘Rebecca’s Revenge'. This book was first written over twenty years ago and spans the period between the 1950s and the New Millennium. He initially refrained from having it published because of his ‘children’s author credentials and charity work’. He felt that it would have conflicted too adversely with the image which had taken a decade or more to establish with his audience and young person readership. Now, however as he approaches the final years of his life and cares less about his public image, besides no longer writing for children (only short stories for adults since 2010), he feels the time to be appropriate to publish this ‘strictly for adults only’ novel alongside the remainder of his work.In December 2016 he was diagnosed with skin cancer on his face and two weeks later he was diagnosed with High-grade Lymphoma (Richter’s Transformation from CLL). He was successfully treated during the first half of 2017 and is presently enjoying good health albeit with no effective immune system.

Book preview

‘Solo and Solomon’

(The story content is suitable for 9 to 11-year-old reading age)

Dedicated to Elizabeth Peacock former MP for Batley and Spenborough: 1983-97

by William Forde

Illustration by Joel Stephen Breeze

Copyright December, 2016 by William Forde

Smashwords Edition

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Contents

Author’s Foreword

‘Solo and Solomon’

Author’s Background

Other Books by this Author

For the General Audience

Romantic Drama Strictly for Adults

Connect with William Forde

Author’s Foreword

Solo is an independent sheep who in her early years becomes rebellious and refuses to follow the rules of the flock. The more the flock leader seeks to help Solo, the more rebellious she becomes. Matters come to a head when Solo publicly challenges the flock leader’s rules and is determined to carry on doing what she wants to do. The result is disastrous for Solo, as well as for the rest of the flock. The struggle for leadership of ideas reveals that within body of every leader once lived the heart of a rebel; within every Solomon there once was/is a Solo.

William Forde: January, 2017.

‘Solo and Solomon’

The trouble with Solo, was that she grew up courageous and fearlessly independent. These are fine and admirable qualities in any human, but are entirely bothersome when displayed in a sheep!

Solo! Get back in line with the rest of the flock! Solomon would constantly be bleating. Stop being a rebel and graze over here with the rest of us. I’m fed up of you doing your own thing! Who do you think you are? Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you’re a sheep whose only role in life is to follow the rest of the flock? Get back into the fold now before you get us all into trouble! Solo, did you hear me? Get back here now!

Baa! Solo bleated back in defiance. Baa! Baa! Go boil your head, you silly, old wrinkly! If you think I’m eating that rubbish over there when the grass by this cliff edge is lush and green, you must be bonkers! Stop pestering me and leave me alone, you old killjoy! I’ll eat what I want, where I want and when I want! And if you don’t like it, tough luck, Buster!

Well, I never! bleated one of the adult flock members in utter astonishment to another sheep. Did you hear that? Did you hear the rude way Solo spoke to our illustrious leader, Solomon? I’ve never heard such blatant rudeness come from the mouth of one so young in all my life! The nerve of it! If I was Solomon and she spoke to me like that I’d… I’d knock her block off! Just who does she think she is, talking back to her betters like that? The young whippersnapper! The sooner she has been taken down a peg, taught a lesson and put firmly in her place, the better it will be for all of us. I’ve never heard the like of it in all my life!

Quite right! bleated another sheep in reply. I couldn’t agree with you more. The young ones today don’t know they’re born. Why....... if I had so much as bleated one word of protest to my elders in my youth, they would have thrown me in the sheep dip and washed my mouth out with soap and water! It’s time someone gave that rebellious sheep a good hiding. I’ve never heard the like of it in all my life!

That’s part of the problem, remarked Eli, who was standing nearby. Eli was one of the most respected of flock elders who displayed much wisdom and many qualities of leadership within the flock. "Solomon is too soft and too easily forgiving where Solo is concerned. He’s only got himself to blame! He’s like an over protective and overindulgent parent who won’t let any of us lay a finger on her; just because she’s an orphan. Whenever we tell him about her blatant rudeness or misbehaviour, all he does is try to reassure us that she will improve with age.