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I was very interested to read on various news websites today that a special ceremony has taken place in Scotland as part of the repatriation of aboriginal human remains. As I've probably mentioned before I hope to write a book set in Australia with a theme based around Aborigine dreamtime myths. A lot of museums have been debating both the sensitivity of displaying human remains and the returning of exhibits. National Museums Scotland held six skulls while Edinburgh Museum held an ear bone. As Dr Midas works in a museum this suggests a reason for his visiting the country, and from there I could work a plot involving a trip into the past. On Monday four members of the Ngarrindjeri in traditional dress took part in a 'smoking ceremony' where they burned eucalyptus leaves to cleanse the remains for their journey. National Museums of Scotland's website explains: "The six remains were given to National Museums Scotland in the 19th century by collectors, but as the museum collecting climate was different at that time, there is little information on the remains apart from the country they came from. "The remains will initially be returned to the National Museum of Australia, but in light of the limited information on them, the Australian Government intends to work with the National Museum of Australia and the indigenous communities to carry out further research to determine the origin of the remains." National Museums Scotland has also agreed to repatriate a Tasmanian skull to the Australian Government. They will also return four Maori skulls and two mandibles to the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa and four tattooed Maori heads already on long-term loan there. Dr John Scally, Directo, University of Edinburgh Collections, said: "We are very happy that through returning these remains we are able to build a new relationship with the indigenous people of Australia."

I'm very proud of my Dr Midas website as I put it together myself through trial and error with overwritten templates and copy and pasted designs. However I know it is really basic compared to some author websites out there. So I've enrolled on a web design course starting in September where I will learn all about Dreamweaver and HTML coding and hopefully from there I can go on to Flash animation. I've been looking for some ideas and found some great author websites on a link at bloomsbury.com. I'd love to have some cool icons like on Celia Rees' Pirates! or simple animations like the burning flames on Powder Monkey. But if I could steal any website it would be those belonging to Justin Richards - www.justinrichards.co.uk - for (museum-set) The Death Collector and The Chaos Code where you can scroll over a desk and artefacts and uncover bits of information. My website is also limited to ten buttons/ pages so it would be great to expand from that and get away from lots of scrolling. I wonder if I'll need another domain name? I would ideally like to be able to add lots of the information I have gathered for my second Dr Midas book. I have lots of photographs ready to use too of Peruvian animals and artefacts including owl monkeys, llamas and the Peruvian mummy I saw at Bolton Museum. Speaking of which I've also set my Sky+ machine for a documentary on the History Channel tonight. It's all about the conquistadors and how they conquered the Incas. I'll be making lots of notes especially about the clothing in case there's anything I need to clarify when I re-edit my book. Don't forget you can tell me about your blogs and websites - just tack the information onto a comment.

I have to admit, I had never heard of sijo, a traditional Korean verse form, until we received a review copy of Linda Sue Park’s gorgeous little book Tap Dancing on the Roof. What a wonderful partnership the poems and Istvan Banyai’s adorably quirky illustrations make!

A sijo is typically divided into three lines of fourteen to sixteen syllables each – though apparently in English they are sometimes divided up into six lines. Unlike their sister genre, the haiku, they can be about anything and they usually have a twist/ joke at the end. It is amazing how much can be conveyed in those few, succinct sound bites! With poems like these, there’s no excuse for missing out on that bedtime story. A beginning, a middle and an end are conjured up in less than a minute.

I would love to quote some of these sijo here at length but obviously that is not possible for copyright reasons. I will content myself with this tantalising beginning of the last gem in the book entitled “Wish”:

For someone to read a poem
again, and again, and then,

Now you must all rush out and buy/ pester your libraries to get hold of a copy so you can find out the rest of it – and read the others - both for yourselves and with the young people in your lives.

I know I’m slightly behind the times on this – several blogs have already waved the flag, including A Year of Reading, PACL Kids and Three Silly Chicks – I do like their conclusion that

It’s the book equivalent of a hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top.

Hmm. I’m sure there’s a sijo in there somewhere! Anyway, it’s definitely one of those books worth making a noise about – with or without the dancing shoes.

We are including Tap Dancing on the Roof in our choices for the PaperTigers Reading Challenge (have you made your mind up yet?). I can’t wait to see if my boys will start writing some sijo of their own. And if you do, please do add them on here so we can all read them.

Mentor Texts, Read Alouds and More is the gathering place for this week’s Poetry Friday… see you there!