Kemp won two awards for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (1997): the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, for the year's best children's book by a British subject, and one from the Children's Rights Workshop. Tyke Tiler was first published by Faber and Faber in 1977 with illustrations by Carolyn Dinan. [30] The illustrations are drawn in such a way that the gender of Tyke remains ambiguous throughout the story. [31] The book was reprinted in 1979, [32] 1994, [33] 2002, [34] 2006, [35] and 2015. [36] Reception [ edit ] An interesting children's book from the 1970s, which succeeds largely on the strength of it's fine grasp of child psychology and language, and its naturalistically rambling, inconclusive plot. I liked it as a child because it felt less like a "story", and more like a slice of life of a real person - albeit an interesting slice. And re-reading it as an adult, I feel much the same way. Makins, Virginia (30 September 1983). "Turbulent Terms". The Times Educational Supplement. No.3509. p.41.

New, innovative activities specifically tailored to support the KS3 Framework for Teaching English and help students to fulfil the Framework objectives. Activities include work on Speaking and Listening, close text analysis, and the structure of playscripts, and act as a springboard As part of a shared reading session, with the pupils completing the written tasks after discussion and analysis of the text as a class or group.Going into this story, I already knew the "reveal" at the end - I think that's what originally piqued my interest, although I don't remember how I happened to hear about it - but it turned out to be irrelevant to my enjoyment of the book, which was just very funny and warm. I'm glad that I requested it. Gene Kemp's 1977 Carnegie Medal winning novel The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler has for me and to me first and foremost been a fun and entertaining school themed tale, and that as such The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler shows a text where especially the setting feels totally and delightfully authentic (and is also not one of those traditional and generally "one size fits all" British boarding school type of stories), is supposedly based on St. Sidwell's Primary School in Exeter where Gene Kemp herself taught from 1963 until 1979, and that Kemp's presented characters for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiker and in particular the schoolchildren and teachers equally feel totally, wonderfully flesh and blood real (booth positively and negatively). And while I actually was already aware what the plot twist at the end of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler would feature before even starting with The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (from prior perusals of some articles on British children's literature I read decades ago, in the early 1990s), well, without that prior knowledge, the revelatory gender surprise at the end of the novel would definitely be totally and also delightfully unexpected. Gene Kemp was born in Wigginton, Staffordshire in 1926. She grew up near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and went to Exeter University. She became a teacher and taught at St Sidwell's School in Exeter in the 1970s.

Brindley, Susan (2005) [First published 1994]. "Girls and literature: Promise and reality". In Brindley, Susan (ed.). Teaching English. London: Routledge. pp.214–222. ISBN 0-203-98751-9. Bittner, Robert (2016). "(Im) Possibility and (in) visibility: Arguing against 'just happens to be' in Young Adult literature". Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture. 1 (2): 199–214. doi: 10.1386/qsmpc.1.2.199_1. ISSN 2055-5695.The book depicts themes which include attitudes towards disability and gender. Throughout the book, Tyke's gender is not explicitly revealed, although the character's attitudes and actions often lead readers to believe that Tyke is a boy. The story ends with the revelation that Tyke is actually a girl. Tyke Tiler was praised by critics and was the recipient of the Carnegie Medal for children's literature in 1977. Gene Kemp was awarded an Honorary MA from Exeter University in 1984. She lived in Exeter and had three children – a daughter, Judith, from her first marriage to Norman Pattison, which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Chantal, and a son, Richard, from her second marriage, to Allan Kemp, who died in 1990. She had three grandchildren and two great-grandsons. [4] Kemp died at the age of 88 on 4 January 2015. [5] Awards [ edit ] One afternoon, Tyke goes to the headteacher's office and overhears some teachers discussing the possibility of Danny going to a special school instead of the local comprehensive. Tyke then decides to help Danny to cheat in the annual verbal reasoning test to ensure they can both attend the same local secondary school, Dawson Comprehensive. Danny scores high enough to avoid being sent to special school, but Tyke accidentally scores too high and the headmaster is keen Tyke to attend prestigious Dorrington School for gifted children, much to the joy of Tyke's mother. Tyke's father, a local councillor campaigning for re-election, is against privilege and is reluctant to send his child there. Tyke tries to reveal the truth about cheating on the test, but gives up after nobody believes her, and realises that she will not have to attend this establishment. a b c Eccleshare, Julia (13 January 2015). "Gene Kemp obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 April 2022. Harlequin: "What family does the gorilla come from? I'm not sure. I've just moved here and I don't know everyone yet."

King, Elizabeth J. (1986). "Children's Writers: 13-Gene Kemp". The School Librarian. 34 (4): 309–13.In the book Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, Mary Cadogan writes how Tyke Tiler "demolishes many accepted ideas about aspirational and experiential differences between boys and girls." [11] Although the novel does challenge gendered stereotypes with its twist reveal at the end, in a chapter on the representation of girls in literature in the book Teaching English, Susan Brindley argues that Tyke Tiler "is, in effect, presenting non-stereotypical girls as abnormal – and as such supports the dominant ideology." Brindley writes that the idea of Tyke's real gender being a revelation reinforces "sexist roles in society". She states how some readers feel that they have been "made fools of" when discovering Tyke's true gender. [12] Kery Mallan in the book Gender Dilemmas in Children’s Fiction calls this discovery a "narrative deceit". [13] Bhagirath Khuman and Madhumita Ghosal write that reactions like these to Tyke Tiler demonstrate the strange notion that "supposedly male characteristics are only suitable to boys' characters and that that is how they should be portrayed." [14] Furthermore, they write that rather than being a "narrative deceit", the revelation of Tyke's gender shows how readers have to challenge their own false beliefs about gender roles. [8] Going beyond cisgender interpretations of Tyke's gender, some analyses of Tyke Tiler interpret the protagonist as transgender or reference the novel in broader critiques of transgender fiction. [15] [16]

Sutherland, Zena (1980). "The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (review)". The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 33 (10): 193. From 1972 she wrote stories for young readers about a pig named Tamworth, named after the town she grew up in. Kemp found inspiration for many of the characters in her books amongst the friends of her children, Chantal and Richard. Each chapter of the text begins with a joke. This is a great way to engage readers and also helps to break up the text up a little. As an additional, ready-made resource to support the study of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler as a Unit of Work / class book.The audience is always kept guessing as the book is written in such a way that we are not aware of Tyke’s gender until the second last chapter. Tyke’s behavior leads us to believe that he is a boy but is that really the case? Cross, Gillian (1979). "Children Are Real People: The Stories of Gene Kemp". Children's Literature in Education. 10 (3): 131–140. doi: 10.1007/BF01146903. S2CID 145100938. I can't agree. Danny Price must be sent to the Russell Dene school they have the facilities to deal with children of that type." A postscript written from the point of view of Tyke's teacher, Mr Merchant, describes how the old bell tower collapsed and Tyke ended up in hospital with a broken arm, a broken ankle, bruising and concussion. In the hospital, Tyke confesses to Mr Merchant about cheating in the verbal reasoning test and tells him all about the final term at school - namely her efforts to help Danny. Mr Merchant enjoys Tyke's story and decides to write it down. Cover of the first edition (1977) of The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, by Gene Kemp. Fair use rationale.