David McKee: Mr Benn, Elmer and Me

This informative and utterly delightful short film, under 4 minutes, can be accessed from the Guardian web site
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/audioslideshow/2012/mar/15/david-mckee-elmer

Dundee Children's Festival

This lively Children's Festival takes place at Dundee Rep from 2-12 April. Full details on www.dundeerep.co.uk

Hurry to Leith Gallery

Artist, Marie Louise Wrightson is having a solo exhibition at the Leith Gallery, 65 The Shore, Edinburgh EH6 6RA from 3rd to 31st March.

Marie when asked about her inspiration said,

"Like many people, I have been influenced and inspired by fairy tales, cartoons, films and children’s books; especially the Alice in Wonderland stories. With cautionary messages and wonderful worlds in which to escape, little Alice, the Mad Hatter and The Queen of Hearts have always created an endless fascination and curiosity of wonder for me."

Marie is joined by sculptors Robert Ellis and James Coplestone of Robert James Workshop with their sculptures of various characters from the book.
Local stained glass artist, Emma Butler-Cole Aitken has produced some Mimsy Borogoves and a Cheshire Cat especially for the exhibition.


Cheshire Cat by Emma Butler-Cole Aitken
Hatter's Tea Party by Marie Louise Wrightson

Big Book Challenge

With recent reading initiatives to encourage children to read, including World Book Day in March, The Children’s Trust is re-launching its Big Book Challenge. Children of all ages are invited to take part in this special challenge to read as many books as possible over the next few months and, through sponsorship from family and friends, raise money for children with disabilities. Every penny raised will help to enhance the lives of some very special children at The Children’s Trust, who receive care, education and therapy, including children with an acquired brain injury.

Every child, who takes part in the Big Book Challenge, will receive a special certificate. In addition, each child who raises over £50, will receive a copy of ‘The Bestest Ever Bear’ poetry book, a delightful collection of bear poems. For more information visit: www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/bigbookchallenge or call Sherene on 01737 365017.

Blue Peter Awards

The nation’s children have voted Diary of a Wimpy Kid by American author Jeff Kinney as Blue Peter’s Best Children’s Book of the Last 10 Years, beating J K Rowling’s boy wizard to the top spot in a special online vote.

South London author Gareth P Jones will also be howling with excitement to learn that his werewolf mystery The Considine Curse has triumphed to win the accolade of Blue Peter Book of the Year.

Blue Peter Editor Tim Levell comments on the winners:
‘I am delighted with our two winning books. They are very different in terms of subject matter: one about school life, one about a creepy family with a secret. But they're both funny, well-observed and well-written books that do exactly what Blue Peter tries to do: treat children as grown-ups. The awards even contained a bit of a shock, with Diary of a Wimpy Kid beating hot favourite and top-seller Harry Potter. The accident-prone American upstart has snatched a bit of the boy wizard's
magic.’

The shortlist for the Best Children’s Book of the Last 10 years (in title order) was:
Alex Rider Mission 3: Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz (Walker Books, 2002)
Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Random House Children’s
Books, 2006)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Puffin, 2008)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling (Bloomsbury, 2003)
Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Orion
Children’s Books, 2006)
Mr Stink by David Walliams, illustrated by Quentin Blake (HarperCollins Children’s Books,
2009)
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2003)
The Series of Unfortunate Events: Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket (Egmont Books,
2002)
Theodore Boone by John Grisham (Hodder & Stoughton, 2010)
Young Bond: SilverFin ─ A James Bond Adventure by Charlie Higson (Puffin, 2005)

·The shortlist for the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2012 was:
Discover the Extreme World by Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon,
Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele (Miles Kelly)
The Official Countdown to the London 2012 Games by Simon Hart (Carlton Books)
The Considine Curse by Gareth P Jones (Bloomsbury)
A Year without Autumn by Liz Kessler (Orion Children’s Books)

·
·booktrust.org.uk/bluepeter
·

Foyles Young Poets of the Year

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award opens for entries
Open for Submissions: 12 March
Deadline: 31st July 2012
Judges: Helen Mort and Christopher Reid
www.foyleyoungpoets.org

Campaign for the Book: Lobby 13 March

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey is giving evidence to the Culture, Sport and Media Select Committee on the same day, March 13th as the Speak Up for Libraries coalition, supported by the Campaign for the Book, holds a rally and lobby of parliament in support of the public library service.

We need your support to highlight the threat to our libraries.

Hundreds face the withdrawal of local authority funding. Full time library staff are being made redundant at a worrying rate. Annie Mauger, chief executive of CILIP, put the figure of jobs lost at 20% of the total.
*Attend the march and lobby. So that we have an idea of numbers please leave a comment confirming you can attend on the Speak Up for Libraries Facebook page. (See below).

*Among the speakers confirmed are Kate Mosse, author, Dan Jarvis MP, Shadow Culture Minister, Ruth Bond (National Federation of Women’s Institutes), Dave Prentis (Unison), Mar Dixon, Andrew Coburn and Laura Swaffield (The Library Campaign), Alan
Gibbons (Campaign for the Book). Further speakers including those from CILIP and Voices for the Library will be announced soon.

Lobby your MP on 13 March

During the lobby of Parliament, on 13 March, we want local library users, campaigners and staff to help us highlight the importance of libraries in providing access to learning and as a vital lifeline for many communities.

Library services have borne the considerable brunt of public spending cuts since the Coalition government took office in 2010. Of the 4,612 libraries in the UK, an estimated 10% are currently either closed or under threat of closure.

The number of paid staff in libraries has fallen by 4% over the past year, whilst the number of volunteers has increased by 22%.

Local campaigns are happening all over the UK to counter threats to library services, but at the lobby we will join together to send a clear message to MPs.

Public libraries and staff have a long and proud tradition of providing open access to information and promoting literacy, and during times of recession they are more vital than ever.

We are calling on MPs to take action to ensure library services are sustained and developed into the 21st century.

Join the rally and lobby

1. Come and attend the rally and hear high profile speakers entertainment and films all telling the same story - libraries are a valued and vital resource.

2. Visit the 'pop up' library and see for yourself the many faces a modern library.

3. Arrange to meet with your MP and tell them now is the time to act to protect libraries. Email your MP to arrange to meet them.

4. Support the campaign, and let us know if you are coming to the lobby.

The rally will take place from 11.30am at Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH. The lobby of Parliament will start at 2.30pm.

More here:

http://www.speakupforlibraries.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Up-For-Libraries/

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Scottish Children's Book Awards

Ross Collins, Ross MacKenzie and Nicola Morgan have been named as this year’s winners of the 2011 SCOTTISH CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS, Scotland’s largest Children’s Book Prize (each winner receives £3,000 ) which is voted for exclusively by Scottish children themselves. The winners were announced yesterday during a special ceremony at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, attended by 600 young people from all over
Scotland.

Originally set up by the Scottish Arts Council in 1999, the Scottish Children’s Book Awards are now run by Scottish Book Trust in partnership with Creative Scotland.
Record numbers of children took part in the awards in 2011, with over 23,000 children from all over Scotland voting for their favourite books – a staggering 40% more than last year - and over a quarter of all Scottish schools registering to take part. Votes were cast from every single Scottish education authority, from Dumfries
and Galloway to Shetland, in schools, libraries and nurseries.

Award-winning author Ross Collins won the Bookbug Readers Category (0-7 Years) for his picture book Dear Vampa (published by Hodder). Ross said:
“I am delighted and honoured to win the Bookbug Category of the Scottish Children’s Book Awards 2011 for ‘Dear Vampa’. I’d like to thank all the schools and children who participated this year. I only wish that I could bite each one of them personally.”

Debut young-fiction author Ross MacKenzie won the Younger Readers Category (8-11 Years) for his first novel, Zac and the Dream Pirates (published by Chicken House). He said: “I'm delighted (and stunned!) to hear that ‘Zac and the Dream Pirates’ has won the Younger Readers category of the Scottish Children's Book Awards 2011. Knowing that thousands of children across Scotland have enjoyed my book enough to vote for it is incredible. Perhaps it's fitting that the story is about dreams – I can't help thinking I'm going to wake from this one at any minute!”

Popular teenage fiction author Nicola Morgan won the Older Readers Category (12-16 Years) for Wasted (published by Walker). Nicola commented:
“I am overwhelmed and still can't quite believe it. ‘Wasted’ was a risky book to write, because it's unusual - well, ok, weird - and that meant it was really hard to predict whether readers would respond well. But the risk paid off and I'm utterly thrilled and incredibly grateful to all the readers who voted and the adults who worked so hard toorganise the awards.”

The total prize fund is £12,000, with the shortlisted authors and illustrators receiving £500 per book, and the winning authors and illustrators winning £3,000 per book at the award ceremony. Last year’s winning Bookbug Readers Category title, What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson, was also gifted to all primary 1 children in
Scotland in November 2011.