CHRIS MADELEY

THE CONES AND THEIR AUTHOR, CHRIS MADELEY

Chris has always enjoyed words, books and writing for as long as she can remember. Having been brought up in a family which did not possess a television, she was well used to making her own entertainment and with a very fertile imagination and a preference for her own company, she immersed herself in the world of make-believe and fantasy. Throughout Chris’ school life she developed a great love and respect for the written word and reading and writing featured right at the top of her favourites list.

It is hardly surprising that her career took her into working with English and led her to some very interesting Executive P.A. posts in several major well-known companies.

Chris spent many a long hour on the M1 motorway with her husband Keith as they travelled from their main office in Bradford to their company’s branch office and guess what happened? Yes, they sat in road works surrounded by miles and miles of CONES! Thus, the conecept (no, not a typo!) of Cones coming alive and having adventures was born. The first book introduces readers to the “conecept” that our beloved, Big-foot Traffic Cones really do have a life of their own – something we all suspected, but we now know how and why!

So Meet the Cones : There had to be a beginning, so the magic was introduced. There HAS to be a baddie, so meet Cone Collector (Cones don’t like to be stacked because they can’t go off and have fun!). Meet their three guardians, the good guys : Wise Owl, who is best friends and works with Police Car and lastly the helpful, though rather mischievous, New Moon. The Cones have Cone names and there is a Cone “language.” The first two Cones, Conerad and Conestance, just like children, are never satisfied and want to explore and have adventures.

Book 2, The Cones Make New Friends, introduces Cone-Vera, who is quite knowledgeable, observant and always on a quest to learn more. The three Cones woggle off up the motorway and meet Signboard, a cheery chappy who teaches them about the different coloured cats’ eyes and what junctions are for. It is not long after this they encounter Cone Collector which in turn brings them into “conetact” with Cone number 4 : Conen. He is the wild card of the group with a short “conecentration” span, always looking for new thrills and spills, often careless of others and their feelings but has a great respect for Cone-Vera who sorts him out. If there is trouble, Conen is not far behind!

Now you have met the four friends, each story now stands alone and they learn road and many other safety issues. They learn why Cones are needed and are a force for good, how to have adventures without malice, good manners, the importance of friendship and respecting others but above all, how to behave like good Cones and keep children safe.

So, our four friends are now together ready to go out into the big wide world and have adventures. The stories are to help children to learn to live and play within parameters based on moral and ethical values with safety as a central point. Road safety, safe speed, safety around water, electricity, wet floors, railways, road-building and building sites etc. are all the order of the day for Cones.

Book 3 Cones on the Rails. Always looking for something new, Conerad, Conestance, Cone-Vera and Conen find themselves in a Railway Station where they meet “Conecourse” Conetroller (CC to his friends!). Wow! Look at the space, hear the noise and smell the trains! But, all is not fun and

games as the Cones learn to respect platforms, learn on-board and on-track safety, to say nothing of what happens at an unmanned level crossing! They learn new words and meet new friends as they have an incredible adventure which helps them to be much wiser Cones.

They live by strict rules, the most important of which is : when a human eye looks at a Cone, they are just Cones: no eyes, no hands, no faces, no voices – just Cones. It is only when the human eye looks away that adventures can happen . . . and they do – and to prove it there are another 17 books written with outline plans for many more!

The Cone language helps young writers and readers learn the ever-difficult concept of where do we put the “magic” ‘e’ in a word and how does it affect the previous vowel? So, the Cones are called Conestance, Conerad, Conen and Cone-Vera. Conecept, conetact, conecentration, Conecourse as above, are just a few examples of Cone words. These are explained to children as “our” spelling and “Cone” spelling with a definition of the word.

The young Cones are fascinated by human behaviour and this often gets them into some rather sticky situations, rather like your children, but they are on a learning curve to becoming good Cones,