Trying to trace the name of an old English textbook from the 80/90's

DAgent

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Ok, this one probably won't ring any bells with anyone who didn't take part in the English education system around 1989-1992, but if like me you were in an English middle school around that time you might recall an English textbook we had to work from back then which I'm trying to trace. I've not had any luck. It was probably key stage 3 or the equivalent of it back then. A google search brings up LOTS of different book covers but nothing that matches what I'm looking for.

I've no idea what it was called but it gave various exercises on creative writing, one in particular was right up our alley in that you had to write a fantasy piece. It gave you various characters, a wizard, a ranger type, a dwarf and a halfling and various setups as to what each story with them had to be about. You were otherwise free to do what you liked in each tale.

Two of those setups that I can recall were as follows:

First you had to have them cross a river in a small rowboat that could only take the weight of two people at a time, I think at this point you had enough gear and loot that they weighed the same as an average person. There may have been other dangers to the situation but you first had to figure out how they were going to manage crossing over.

Second, there was an enchanted Forrest they had to go through which prevented the wizard using magic at all. It may have been home to an evil wizard.
 
I think, could be wrong as I can't find it anywhere online, but that it was written by or had a heavy contribution by Ted Hughes. We did it in about 1988.

I still haven't forgiven it, or Ted Hughes, for the dead fish exercise but I do vaguely remember the one that you mention.
 
Hey now you mention it , it rings some vague bells with me. It's amazing what can b forgotten or remembered. My only memory of it was that it was in was something we studied in English at secondary school (there was no split at that level between lit and language). And that there may have been dire wolves involved?
 
Hey now you mention it , it rings some vague bells with me. It's amazing what can b forgotten or remembered. My only memory of it was that it was in was something we studied in English at secondary school (there was no split at that level between lit and language). And that there may have been dire wolves involved?
I wouldn't be surprised if there were dire wolves showing up in it, I just wish I could recall more about it, but it's literally all I can remember.
 
is the wolf thing a variant of this?

or this

I think the dire wolves, if present at all, were just an impending threat rather than something that needed to cross over in the boat as well.

That said I think the setup of getting the hero's and their gear over would be more in keeping with the wolf, goat and cabbage problem, simply because the hero's all start off on the same side, unlike the two boys puzzle.
 

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