A guide to Spark Island, its characters and places

Introduction - Spark Park - Sparklantis - Sparkopolis

When we started Spark Learning, we wanted to ensure that the interactive educational activities we published were not just educationally sound, but also great fun to do. We soon realised that the best way to do this was to create a complete world for children, populated by weird and wonderful characters.

This idea became Spark Island - a world in which you not only find educational activities, but get to play them in interesting places with specially created characters. These people and creatures have personalities, voices and relationships with each other and the children who visit. Our aims are to offer children a more exploratory and open-ended way of finding our activities, to give them an experience of exploring a "virtual environment", and to fire their imaginations with the world we have created, perhaps inspiring further learning through story-writing or art.

Spark Island is divided into three parts, as follows:

Spark Park, the fun park best suited to 3-5 year olds.
Sparklantis, the underwater world aimed at 6-8 year-olds.
Sparkopolis, the funky city ideal for 9-11 year-olds.

If you haven't already taken out a free trial to www.sparkisland.com, you can visit these three interactive cartoon worlds! Whilst the activities can be played over any standard modem connection, we recommend that you have a broadband (ISDN2 at 128K or better) connection to the internet before visiting the three animated areas of the Island.

If you haven't already, click to register for a free trial as a family or a school.

The rest of this document describes the different areas of the island, and the characters you can meet there, in more detail. We hope that you enjoy reading about Spark Island as much as we have enjoyed creating it! If you or your children have any questions about any aspect of Spark Island or our company, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@sparklearning.com .

The Spark Island Team.

Spark Park

Spark Park was originally a Rumtum settlement, but is now a kind of market town for the surrounding countryside. It has been improved and extended with the help of the Wizards (sometimes called Elders), but tends to revert to the ramshackle. Inhabited or visited by Rumtums, Wizards, Yaboos, Carapods and Yaks.

Spark Park characters

RUMTUMS

These hedgehog-like creatures are rural farmers and you can find them on the Spark Park Farm. They are sociable and good-natured and love all food especially chocolate. They are basically easy-going, sensible and have a great sense of humour.

CARAPODS

These scuttling, crab-like creatures are friendly and patient and you can find them working in the factory. Their one weakness is that they are prone to falling asleep at the drop of a hat and snore incredibly loudly.

YABOOS

They are obsessive practical jokers with a rather simple sense of humour. Despite their short legs, they can move surprisingly fast (in any direction) and jump several feet into the air when excited. Find a Yaboo in the forest clearing.

YAKS

Happy-go-lucky herd animals, that graze the high prairies above Spark Park and congregate in caves to make music. They are benign, laid-back and a bit dozy. They are terrified of Turtles (in the way that some people are terrified of spiders). Find them down on the Farm in Spark Park.

WIZARDS (sometimes known as ELDERS)

Wizards came to Spark Island 10 years ago. Wizards ride and fly about on unicycles. They love animals and have their own Spark Park zoo. Visit the Wizard's castle to see their magic sparkler machine.

TURTLES

They are docile, dozy creatures that live in ponds in Spark Park. They are terrified of Crocs (even though they're harmless). You can meet Myrtle the turtle in the forest clearing of Spark Park.

CROCS

These are friendly crocodiles that live in the rivers around Spark Park. They love food and especially love huge breakfasts, which they guzzle with their long tongues. You can meet Cooper the Crocodile in the Forest clearing of Spark Park.

Sparklantis

Sparklantis is a submerged city which sank beneath the waves after the last explosion of The Great Spark (the island's only volcano) some 10,000 years ago. Largely unknown to the island's terrestrial inhabitants, it is the home of the Atlanteans, but shared by the Drips, the Clamps, and a range of weird and wonderful fish. It is visited by Sharks and Dolphins, and more recently by Wizards and Malvos.

Sparklantis characters

HAIR CARE BUNCH

The Hair Care bunch consists of a group of mullets, a pike and a plaice. The ancestors of these fish were once normal fish who were transformed into fish with hair when a tanker sank off the coast of Spark Island causing an environmental disaster. They've fitted out a cave as a very comfortable hair-salon-cum-home. Most of the residents of Sparklantis think they're mad but they've made friends with two Atlanteans - Piska and Pod, who visit them regularly.

SIDNEY SHARK

Sidney is not like most sharks; he's vegetarian! He is, however, not entirely to be trusted and has a habit of taking advantage of the other residents of Sparklantis. You might bump into him all round Sparklantis.

The DRIPS

The drips are a race of creatures made entirely from water. They live and work in an area of Sparklantis called the Drip Drainpipe. They are afraid of Sidney the Shark but unfortunately love a form of seaweed found only in shark-infested waters.

The ATLANTEANS

The Atlanteans were originally a human race but over the millennia, since the old city of Sparklantis was submerged by the sea, they have evolved fish-like heads with gills, so that they can now breathe underwater. They live in the Atlantean suburb of Sparklantis and are ruled by the Atlantean King and Queen. The King and Queen have two children, Piska and Pod, who are rather more adventurous than other, traditionally conservative, Atlanteans. Piska and Pod are illustrated.

THE CLAMPS

These are the largest creatures in Sparklantis; they are also the most spiritual beings. Their spirituality is often mistaken for mischievousness, they open their jaws to reveal a long tongue, holding whatever it is that their passing prey most desires. If he or she is foolish enough to make a grab for it, the jaws snap shut and the victim is held fast until he can answer a riddle.

Sparkopolis

Sparkopolis, capital city of Spark Island, was designed by the Elders and built by a workforce of Rumtums and Worms. It is in a state of constant expansion. The Elders have an innovative approach to construction and love playing with architecture and as a result, the city is filled with weird and wonderful buildings, some of which have no obvious practical use. The libraries have pride of place: some are for public use, and some strictly for Elders. The biggest building is the Sparkanon, a huge complex where Lixir is extracted from Lixite and converted (by a Wizzatron) into electricity and other, more mysterious forms of energy. The city is increasingly inhabited by Malvos, Spironauts, Crombies and Spydrax and visited by Yaboos, Xybok and Phliplids. Worms occasionally pop up from the tube system. The most recent arrivals are the Gang.

THE GANG

The Gang - Strat, Zeb, Dotty, Nina and Milo - are orphans who escaped from Grunge Hall, Dame Drusilla's Home For Deserving Orphans on the island of Draconia. They arrive on Spark Island in a rowing -boat after two weeks at sea and are taken in by the Wizards who give them their own house (Visit the Gang's House)

Strat

The self-appointed gang leader. Likes to think he's cool and street-wise and works hard to maintain this image.

Zeb

A know-all and book-worm with an encyclopaedic brain - he really does know most of it and sometimes surprises even the Wizards.

Dotty

Scatty, eccentric and dreamy. She tends to see things differently from other people.

Nina

Outgoing, bright and cheerful. Sensible but also adventurous and quite tough

Milo

The baby of the group and takes advantage of it when it suits him by playing the spoilt brat.

ELDERS (or WIZARDS)

The Elders arrived in Sparkopolis ten years ago and set about developing it into an amazing city. They designed the weird and wonderful buildings of Sparkopolis and live in the Sparkanon. They ride and fly about on magic unicycles, powered by Lixir.

CROMBIES

They are very tall, gangly creatures, who came from the mountains years ago when they heard about the Elders' new city. They gradually crept nearer to Sparkopolis, attracted by the libraries. They are studious, serious and shy. Unknown to most people, they are also telepathic.

MALVOS

Malvos are the baddies of the island. They are cunning con-men, who have devious ways of getting what they want. They love plotting and sabotaging and enjoy others' misfortunes. Visit the Malvo hangout in Sparkopolis and watch out for them in the future - they are sure to be up to mischief!

SPIRONAUTS

They are only 6 inches high, but are very noisy and powered by jet-packs. No-one knows their history - they fell out of the sky 5 years ago in a gigantic hail storm. See them feeding raspberries to Xybok on the Sparkopolis plains and visit their house on Blackspark Road.

XYBOK

Xybok are large docile grazing animals who have been on the island since time began. They like eating gooseberries and raspberries. You can see them on the Sparkopolis plains and also in the stadium being raced by Spironauts.