National Portrait Gallery

FREE FAMILY FUN AT THE
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
THIS SUMMER
The National Portrait Gallery have joined forces with award winning, picture book illustrator Tim Hopgood to create a free Family Trail to encourage children and their families to engage
with and get excited about portraiture this summer.
These free activities are part of the BP Portrait Award 2010 exhibition which runs from 24th June - 19th September with a special Moving Family Portraits event on Saturday 17th July.
Hopgood has been commissioned to create a set of original children’s characters that will appear at the entrance to the exhibition and on labels around the show highlighting paintings that are of particular interest to children. The twin characters are central to the Gallery’s free Family Trail which features a series of specially designed games and tours of the exhibition.
The Gallery has also asked Hopgood and two supporting animators to run the Gallery’s Moving Family Portraits event on Saturday 17th July, where children visiting the exhibition will be invited to experiment with drawing, painting or collage to create their own self portrait. The images will then be animated so that each portrait blends seamlessly with the next to create a film of continually changing faces of everyone who takes part on the day. The animation will be shown on the Gallery’s big screen at the end of the day.
Hopgood came to the attention of the gallery following the publication of his award-winning,
richly illustrated children’s books including, OUR BIG BLUE SOFA, A DOG CALLED ROD’
HERE COMES FRANKIE, WOW! SAID THE OWL and most recently TIP TAP WENT THE CRAB.
Jan Cullen, Family Programmes Manager at the National Portrait Gallery said: “We chose Tim Hopgood as we felt his style of illustration was fresh and appealing and would be a huge success with our target audience. We were impressed with his ideas on how families might engage with portraiture. He has been fantastic to work with and the results are amazing” Hopgood's unique illustrative style has bought a fresh approach to children’s picture books.
He has won numerous awards and accolades for his work including the coveted Booktrust Emerging Illustrator Award in 2008. Hopgood’s characters are being developed for a collection of merchandise, including badges and bags, for the Gallery. These, along with a collection of Hopgood’s children’s books, will be on sale during the exhibition.

Carnegie and Greenaway Medals

Neil Gaiman yesterday became the first author to win the Carnegie/Newbery Medal double - the awards are the most prestigious for children's books in the UK and US respectively, and both are judged by librarians - when he took the Carnegie for The Graveyard Book (Bloomsbury). Freya Blackwood won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration, for Harry and Hopper (written by Margaret Wise, and published by Scholastic). You can read an interview with Freya Blackwood in the autumn edition of Carousel.

Comments

There will be a slight delay between your comment being typed and appearing on the comments section of this blog. This is because some idiots have used the comments for daft things and so all comments come now to me to press the yes or no button! enid stephenson

Bookshops: your recommendations

From Book Notes in the current edition of Carousel:

Many of you will have a favourite local bookshop, whether independent or part of a chain. But the whole trade is facing extraordinary challenges. Customers have got used to quite ridiculous price cuts where the latest best-selling title is sold for half the price printed on the jacket and whilst, in the short term, this leads to good sales for the few the effect on the whole trade is the very opposite...The Booksellers Association state that two independent bookshops closed per week during 2009. We would love to know about your own neighbourhood bookshop. Record shops have almost completely vanished and it would be appalling if bookshops followed suit. There are some excellent shops out there, so let's pass the word round. Please click on the comment button and let us know your favourite shop, and why. Thanks.

Libraries: your comments

From Book Notes in the current issue of Carousel:

In March the Government published their long-awaited "Modernisation Review" of public libraries. The Society of Chief Librarians also published their manifesto entitled "The Numbers". It appears that overall borrowings are down and there are increased mutterings about libraries being community centres, decreasing their book stock and increasing other non-book items. Tim Coates, formerly of Waterstones and now a vocal library campaigner says "All the thinking and all the immense power in the public library service is in the hands of people who are more interested in the mechanisms and agendas of national and local government than they are in books and reading". Libraries are changing, and need to change but it does seem that some of the changes are ill thought through. In our local Suffolk library, for instance, there is no need to ever talk to a librarian. Books can be ordered online (which I welcome), then you take them off the reserved shelf, check it out and indeed check it back in. What is your experience? Do let us know.

Top Puffin

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl has been voted Puffin of Puffins in a nationwide poll, in which more than 10,000 votes were cast. It won 68% of the online vote, while Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came in second with just 13%. The poll marked Puffin's 70th birthday and the relaunch of Puffin Modern Classics.

Libraries

Former poet laureate and chair of the MLA Sir Andrew Motion has described any move to cut library spending as "foolhardy". Concerns have grown over the future of library funding in the run up to the budget announcement on 22nd June, which is likely to include swingeing cuts across sectors in a bid to reduce some of the country's deficit.
While Motion acknowledged there was no "harm in society periodically asking itself which services should be publicly funded, and how they should be run", and that the sector was already planning to deliver "quality library services with less money", he stressed its overriding value.
There was a report on the Today Programme on 8 June about KPMG Consultancy's blueprint of how the public sector could be reformed. A spokesman for KPMG said that whilst libraries are hugely important in the national psyche - we all think libraries are important - there is a problem with libraries, they are not very much used and they are very expensive to run...we are not suggesting in this report that libraries should be closed down what we are saying is that libraries and other community facilities might be better off if they were run by the communities that value them rather than by the state.
Tim Coates on Newsnight (9 June) supporting libraries seemed to hint that there was too much management in the service...at least I think that was what he said.
I guess the KPMG report was meant to be controversial. Tim Coates did address their not much used line with this statistic "260 million books sold in bookshop and on line whereas 320 million are borrowed from public libraries". The main groups who used libraries were, surprise, surprise small children, young people with families and school children.

Joel Stewart

Award-winning illustrator and author Joel Stewart has been approached by Ragdoll Productions (In the Night Garden, Teletubbies) to develop a project for CBeebies.
Ragdoll Productions contacted Joel after apparently being enchanted by the 'filmic' feel of his work, which includes Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie and Have You Ever Seen a Sneep.
Still at a developmental stage, Abney & Teal, which centres on two friends, is a pre-school series aimed at children aged three and four.
The 52 x 11 mins animations combine CGI with real illustrations and puppets to recreate the handmade feel of traditional animation.
Stewart's latest book, Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie on the Road, will be published by Random House Children's Books in June.

Manchester Children's Books Festival

Manchester will host the Children’s Book Festival for the first time this summer from 1st-4th July, in partnership with local schools and libraries.
Michael Rosen will be joined by other authors and illustrators who will be introduced by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
For more information go to http://www.manchesterchildrensbookfestival.co.uk/

Nottingham and Angus Awards

The Nottingham Children's Book Award for 3-5yr olds has been won by Nick Sharratt with Foggy Foggy Forest

Angus Book Award 2010 the winner is Rachel Ward, for her novel Numbers published by Chicken House. Pupils, librarians, teachers and the four shortlisted authors gathered in Kirriemuir town hall on 18 May to present Rachel with her trophy, a replica of the Aberlemno Serpent Stone, and £500.

2010 Red House Children's Book Award

The gripping and imaginative futuristic thriller The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has won the Red House Children's Book Award 2010.
Voted for solely by young readers from a shortlist drawn up by children'sbook groups across Britain, the award is celebrating its 30th birthday thisyear and is recognised by authors, parents and librarians as a key indicatorof which books are popular with children.
The Hunger Games (Scholastic) won both the older readers' category and overall prizes in the award, which is owned and coordinated by the Federation of Children's Book Groups.
Suzanne Collins's victory was announced at an awards luncheon held at theBirmingham Botanical Gardens, attended by 200 people, including more than 80children from across the country, all of whom were involved in the voting.Unfortunately, Suzanne was not able to attend the ceremony, but she sent the following statement:
"I'm thrilled that The Hunger Games has won the Red House Children's BookAward.The fact that The Hunger Games was chosen as a favourite among more than a thousand titles by young readers means a great deal to me, and it's an honour to accept this award, especially upon its 30th anniversary.Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favour."
Two other category winners in the 30th annual award were also announced:Jeanne Willis and Adam Stower's laugh-out-loud funny picture book BottomsUp! (Puffin Books) has won the category for younger children, while Tanya Landman's fast-paced mystery story Mondays are Murder (Walker Books) hasclinched the younger readers' category.
An incredible 140,481 votes were cast by children and young adults all over the UK.

William Mayne

There has now appeared (20.5.10) an obit in The Independent by Nicholas Tucker which is very well worth reading. (see March blog entry)

Meet the Authors

Meet Our Authors is an exclusive series of authors’ events streamed live over the internet to provide young people, parents and teachers with the chance to get up close and personal with some of the world’s leading children’s writers. The programme is the first of its kind in the UK. Anyone can sign up to watch and it is completely free.
On 26 May at 11am, Julia Donaldson will talk to a live audience while being filmed and broadcast simultaneously over the internet to tens of thousands of viewers across Scotland. An astounding 65,000 children in more than 800 schools have already signed up to the event, which is supported by digital media including Facebook and YouTube featuring event information and exclusive video clips.
Julia Donaldson said: “I am terribly excited about this very special event! Not only will I be talking to a live audience in Glasgow, but I am also going to be interacting with tens of thousands of other children across Scotland who will be tuned in on their computers - either watching from their school or at home - and who will have opportunities to ask me questions directly. I have spoken to large audiences in the past but never to that many people so this will definitely be a memorable experience for me too!”
The series of live events forms the centrepiece of a two-year long programme that will feature household names including Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer, Charlie Higson and Jacqueline Wilson. The first live broadcast took place on World Book Day in March with former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen, to which over 100,000 children logged on.
Jasmine Fassl, of the Scottish Book Trust, commented: “Julia has written many well-loved and best-selling children’s books and The Gruffalo has become something of a national institution for today’s young readers. Those logging on to see Julia in action are in for a big treat and will be taking part in an event that will shape the way in which authors interact with their readers in the future.”
Neil Lovatt, sales and marketing director of Scottish Friendly, sponsor of Meet Our Authors, said: “The phenomenal demand for this event is evidence that the passion for reading at an early age is as strong as ever. Scottish Friendly has worked closely with Scottish Book Trust for over 11 years to ensure that children even in the most rural areas have equal access to the work of leading authors. We’re excited to bring to life the world of reading and writing to thousands more children in a revolutionary and interactive way.”
Full details on ‘Meet Our Authors’, including forthcoming events and information on Twitter and YouTube links can be found at www.facebook.com/meetourauthors
To watch a preview of Julia Donaldson’s event go to www.facebook.com/meetourauthors
As part of the campaign, parents have the opportunity to win a Gruffalo trunki full of fantastic Gruffalo goodies. Competition details can be found at www.facebook.com/meetourauthors

Gruffalo at the Seaside

A Fairytale Holiday Camp with fancy dress, magical moments and family friendly mayhem! THE AWARD WINNINGCAMP BESTIVAL (30th, 31st July & 1st August 2010, Lulworth Castle, Dorset) A starry-eyed Rob da Bank says: 'Anyone with a child younger than 4 or 5 will know the story of The Gruffalo. We are over the moon to be able to announce that The Gruffalo, recently voted most beloved bedtime story by BBC Radio 2 listeners is coming to Camp Bestival! Adapted from Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s best selling book and performed by Tall Stories whose unique brand of physical story theatre has taken them around the world, the show will bring to life the amazing story of the clever Mouse’s journey through the forest as he beguiles the creatures who’d like to eat him with tales of his friend the Gruffalo’s terrible tusks and terrible claws, until he encounters the Gruffalo’s terrible teeth in his terrible jaws for himself. With two shows over the weekend, one on the main stage and another in the Little Big Top, you definitely don’t want to miss this irresistibly magical musical take on a classic that has sold out on tours across the UK and even on Broadway and is the perfect family entertainment. One not to miss! Bestival has already sold out and tickets are flying for Camp Bestival so make sure you get it together and come and join us at a fairytale castle by the sea for a weekend of magical mayhem and family fun! For all the latest news remember to keep checking www.campbestival.net -- Full Line Up So Far: Featuring: English National Ballet /// River Cottage Café /// Mr Tumble /// The East Lulworth Literary Institute /// Zippo's Festival Circus /// The House of Fairytales /// Let's Go Crazy /// Son et Lumiere /// Boutique Babysitting /// Freestyle Sports Park /// The Hip-Hop Shakespeare

The illustrations sold out within a few minutes of going on line ... but you can still see the exhibition in London, see earlier post.

BRANFORD BOASE AWARD: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The 2010 shortlist for the Branford Boase Award is announced. The Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.
The books on the shortlist are:
Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda, edited by Lindsey Heaven (Puffin)
Stolen by Lucy Christopher, edited by Imogen Cooper (Chicken House)
Life, Interrupted by Damian Kelleher, edited by Anne Clark (Piccadilly Press)
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera, edited by Shannon Park (Puffin)
Big and Clever by Dan Tunstall, edited by Ross Bradshaw (Five Leaves)
Numbers by Rachel Ward, edited by Imogen Copper (Chicken House)
Paradise Barn by Victor Watson, edited by Leonie Pratt (Catnip)
The Branford Boase Award was set up to encourage new writers and is given each year to the most promising work of fiction for children by a first time novelist. The Branford Boase also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.
The Branford Boase judging panel has an uncanny ability to pick future best-selling and critically acclaimed authors. Previous shortlisted and winning writers include Marcus Sedgwick, Meg Rosoff, Philip Reeve, Cathy Cassidy, Kevin Brooks, William Nicholson, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Mal Peet and Bali Rai.
So, the pressure is on for this year’s eminent judging panel: Helen Boyle, editor of tBk magazine, Tricia Adams, executive director of the School Library Association, John Newman, children’s buyer at the Newham Bookshop and Chair of the Booksellers Association’s Children’s Bookselling Group and B R Collins, author of The Traitor Game, winner of last year’s Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s books editor of The Guardian.
Julia Eccleshare says: “This year’s shortlist has really impressed the judges. These engaging and accomplished novels are full of integrity and superb story telling. It is going to be difficult to pick a final winner.”
The winner of the award will be announced on July 14th at a ceremony in London. The winning author receives a cheque for £1,000 and both author and editor receive a unique, hand-crafted silver-inlaid box.

Just Read Campaign

"The objective of the Just Read Campaign is for every child in the UK to become a reader. This campaign is not about making children functionally literate. It goes beyond that. All the research shows that the child that reads for pleasure is more likely to achieve. Unfortunately, both the government’s own statistics and international research show that reading standards are not improving in the UK and that enjoyment of reading is declining.
Not every child comes from a reading home. Sometimes, these children are denied the cognitive, social and cultural advantages that reading for pleasure provides because their schools do not have a reading culture either.
These children are doubly let down."
For the full statement and to sign the petition go to www.justreadcampaign.co.uk
Carousel urges everyone to sign this petition and join this extremely worthwhile campaign.

Hackney Schools’ Short Novel Awards

Photograph taken on 12th May - Frank Cottrell Boyce with students from Petchey Academy in Hackney, London who won the best student presentation prize in the Hackney Schools’ Short Novel Awards for a detailed and original response to short novel published by Barrington Stoke. The event was organised to celebrate achievements of students taking part in a pioneering programme run by the Learning Trust in Hackney.

Winning readers – students from five secondary schools in Hackney have been taking part in ‘Literacy Intervention Toolkit’ (LIT), a pioneering programme, run by the Learning Trust, created to tackle low levels of literacy and to encourage reading for pleasure. By the end of the year most had read five Barrington Stoke short novels. The purpose of the event was to provide low level readers with the same opportunities as Gifted and Talented students. Petchey Academy won the prize for the best student presentation for their detailed and original response to Joanna Kenrick’s ’Mindset.’ They won cinema tickets for the Vue in the Angel.

At the end of the day the students voted for the book they wanted to win the Hackney Schools’ Short Novel Award. The winner was the gory Night Hunger by Alan Gibbons, followed closely by Frank Cottrell Boyce’s comedy read, Desirable.

Alan Gibbons comments:
"I am delighted to win this award. Anyone who can help young people develop the Reading habit is giving them a precious gift. Thanks to the young people of Hackney for this recognition."
Jodie Warner from The Learning Trust adds:
“The first Hackney Schools’ Short Novel Awards event has exceeded expectations, taking a group of students who have not often had a positive experience of reading and creating amongst them an excited buzz about books.”
Many thanks to Linklaters and Get Hackney Reading, whose support has provided each school with a set of books as well as the gift of a book to each student, personally signed to them by the author.

SUMMER HALF TERM FUN AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY

SUMMER HALF TERM Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 June
For children aged 2 to 5 Magic Carpet storytelling 11.30am Join us and fly away on the magic carpet, which comes to land in front of a different painting each day. Storytelling sessions last half an hour.
For families with children aged 5 to 11 Free practical two-hour art workshops. 11am, repeated 2pm We’re going on a boar hunt (we’re not scared)!11am, repeated 2pm
The hunter in Diego Velázquez’s painting ‘La Tela Real’ is actually King Philip IV of Spain. With the help of artist ThomasGosebruch we will make a picture book about the big event. For all ages
Family Walk and Talk12.30–1.30pm Join us on a journey through the Gallery where we will walk, talk and bring paintings alive!
DON’T FORGET OUR FREE FAMILY SUNDAYS!
JUNE 2010 All sessions are free Every Sunday is Family Sunday at the National Gallery. Join us for a range of activities designed especially for families to enjoy and learn together.
For families with children aged 5 to 11 Free hands-on art workshops at 11am, repeated 2pm, every Sunday. Meet in the Education Centre Foyer (Orange Street entrance). Workshops last two hours.
Spectacular Journeys 20 June Travel into the distance and gain a new perspective in this drawing and paper construction workshop with artist Harriet Hill.
A World Within a World 13 June Join artist Sarah Tombs to discover a wonderful world within a painting – then create your own.
Marvellous Blooms 27 June Take a closer look at a fantastic floral painting in the National Gallery and make a colourful collage with artist Viyki Turnbull.
Colourful Perspectives 6 June Explore the excitement of colour and new perspectives for making your own art with artist Robin-Lee Hall.
For under-5s Magic Carpet storytelling Fly away on the magic carpet, which comes to land in front of a different painting each day. Each story ties in with the four workshop themes for this season. Suitable for children aged 2–5 years.10.30–11am and11.30am–12 noon every Sunday Meet in the Education Centre Foyer
More Gallery fun for all ages Family Walk and Talk 6 June12.30–1.30pm Meet in the Education Centre Foyer Join us on a journey through the collection where we will walk, talk and bring paintings alive!
Trails and audio tours Print out a trail from www.nationalgallery.org.uk/families and explore the Gallery, or discover more with a family audio tour (available every day from the Audio Guide Desks).
No need to book for workshops, talks or storytelling, but places are limited and allocated on arrival. Children must be accompanied by an adult to all events. For more information on National Gallery family events, please visit www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what or telephone 020 7747 2894/2885.

Gruffalo Exhibition

The Gruffalo and Friends
an exhibition of artwork by the internationally acclaimed children’s book illustrator, Axel Scheffler.
Wednesday 26th May – Sunday 6th June 2010. Free entry.
Daunt Bookshop, 83 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4QW

Axel will be dropping in to sign books on Sat 29th May from 10.30am – 12.30pm and 2.30pm – 4.30pm.

Featuring over 60 illustrations from books published throughout his career including; The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Stick Man, Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, Tabby McTat, and many others; this is the first time so much of Axel’s original artwork will be on display and available for purchase.
Further information from www.imagesofdelight.com

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Just Macbeth

Just Macbeth
By Andy Griffiths
Bell Shakespeare’s Just Macbeth, directed by Wayne Harrison (Tap Dogs), is a really silly version of Shakespeare’s great big gory tragedy. It has got six funny but tragic actors, a garden gnome and a severed head that talks Shakespearean. Plus, there are witches, Wizz Fizz, ghosts, girl germs and weird Elizabethan things like soliloquies and sharp words and other things beginning with S.

An hilarious and irreverent take on one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays.

This family show is recommended for 7plus. It runs from Saturday 7 August to Sunday 29 August at 11am and lasts 90mins. Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street, Edinburgh. Box Office 0131 623 3030 http://www.assemblyfestival.com/

Anthony Browne on the Scottish Friendly Book Tour

Children’s Laureate and internationally celebrated author, Anthony Browne, will inspire primary school children from Fife to Moray during Scottish Book Trust’s forthcoming Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour.

The tour, which will take place from 9-14 May, begins with an exclusive family event held at the National Galleries in Edinburgh. Anthony will lead an interactive workshop where children will be encouraged to use their eyes, ears and imagination to create pictures and play his famous Shape Game.

The Children’s Laureate will then embark on a tour across Fife, Angus, Aberdeenshire and Moray to spread the wonders of reading, writing and drawing to local school children.

Anthony has penned nearly 40 titles including the visually stunning Gorilla (1983) and Voices in the Park (1998). Anthony has won numerous awards including the Kate Greenaway Medal twice as well as the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000, which he was the first British illustrator to ever win.

The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour is run by Scottish Book Trust, Scotland’s leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing. The tour aims to give children across Scotland, even those in the most rural and remote areas, access to the best UK children’s authors. A dedicated Facebook page has been set up to keep fans up to date with the latest authors’ news and tours at www.facebook.com/Meet-Our-Authors

Authors against SATS

We are children’s authors and illustrators opposed to the SAT tests. Our campaign was founded in 1993. We believe that children’s understanding, empathy, imagination and creativity are developed best by reading whole books, not by doing comprehension exercises on short excerpts and not from ticking boxes or giving one word answers. It is our view that reading for pleasure is being squeezed by the relentless pressure of testing and we are particularly concerned that the SATs and the preparation for them are creating an atmosphere of anxiety around the reading of literature. Resources now being channelled into testing could and should be redirected towards libraries, the training of librarians and book provision.We support the boycott called by head teachers in the NUT and NAHT unions. There are no SAT tests in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. We deplore Government threats to use legal action against a form of action which will give children more time to learn and will not disrupt their education in any way.
Signatories:Michael Rosen, Alan Gibbons, Roger McGough, Cathy Cassidy, Bali Rai, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Darren Shan, Geraldine McCaughrean, Beverley Naidoo, Robert Swindells, Linda Newbery, Tom Palmer, Jean Ure, Mary Hooper, Tim Bowler, Sally Nicholls, Paul Geraghty, Lucy Coats, Fiona Dunbar, Tanya Landman, Bernard Ashley, Pippa Goodhart, Tony Mitton, Phiip Ardagh, Eleanor Updale, Malcolm Rose, Alan Corkish, Charlie Butler, Helena Pielichaty, Mary Hoffman, John Shelley, Sam Mills, ‘Mr Read’, Keren David, Tommy Donbavand, Jamila Gavin, Catherine Johnson, Jon Mayhew, Cliff McNish, Anne Cassidy, Jan Dean, Caroline Pitcher, Tabitha Suzuma, Ellen Renner, Elizabeth Kay, Anna Perera, Steve and Sue Weatherill, Nicola Morgan, Ann Bryant, Dennis Hamley, David Calcutt, Jane Ray, Chrissie Gittins, Tony Lindsay, Ros Asquith, Katy Evans-Bush, Heather Butler, Ronda Armitage, Cathy Cunning, Wendy French, Charles Lambert, Eva Salzman, Helena Nelson, John Hartley William, Ros Barber, Gwen Grant, John Siddique, Katherine Gallagher, Antony Dunn, Andrew Strong, Elizabeth Baines, Andy Seed, Isobel Dixon, R V Bailey, Frances Leviston, Anthony Williams, Christopher Reid, Philip Wells, Steve Skidmore, Anne Rouse, Naomi Foyle, Richard Rose, Pat Thomson, Steve Barlow, Yvonne Luna, Anne Cottringer. Contact Authors Against Sats organizer Alan Gibbons:aagibbons@blueyonder.co.uk

Summer Half Term at National Gallery

All sessions are free. Children must be accompanied to all events. No need to book, but places are limited and allocated on arrival.
For under-5s Magic Carpet storytellingTuesday 1 to Saturday 5 June 2010, 11.30am Meet in the Education Centre Foyer Join us and fly away on the magic carpet, which comes to land in front of a different painting each day. Storytelling sessions last half an hour and are suitable for children from 2 to 5 years old.
For families with children aged 5 to 11 Free hands-on art workshops for families. Meet in the Education Centre Foyer. We’re going on a boar hunt (we’re not scared)! Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 June 2010 11am, repeated 2pm. Workshops last two hours.
The hunter in Diego Velazquez's painting ‘La Tela Real’ is actually King Philip IV of Spain. With the help of artist Thomas Gosebruch we will make a picture book about the big event. For all ages
Family Walk and TalkTuesday 1 to Saturday 5 June 2010 12.30–1.30pm Meet in the Education Centre Foyer Join us on a journey through the Gallery where we will walk, talk and bring paintings alive!
Don’t forget our regular Family Sundays. Join us for free activities or learn more about paintings with a range of family audio tours.
During workshops a picnic room is available for families in the Education Centre. For more information on National Gallery Family events, please visit www.nationalgallery.org.uk or telephone 020 7747 2894/2885. Rail: Charing Cross Tube: Charing Cross and Leicester Square Buses to Trafalgar Square: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 53, 88, 91, 139, 159, 176, 453 The National Gallery Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN

Greenaway/Carnegie Shortlists

Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell's The Graveyard Book has become the first book in 30 years to be shortlisted for both of the most prestigious awards in children's publishing, the CILIP Carnegie Medal (children’s book) and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal (illustrated book). It follows Peter Dickinson and Michael Foreman's City of Gold (1980), which went on to win the Carnegie. The Dave McKean-illustrated Crazy Hair, a second title with text by Gaiman, is also a Greenaway contender.

The full shortlists are:

CILIP Carnegie Medal

Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Bloomsbury)
Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (illustrations by Chris Riddell, Bloomsbury)
Helen Grant, The Vanishing of Katerina Linden (Puffin)
Julie Hearn, Rowan the Strange (OUP)
Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer (Walker)
Terry Pratchett, Nation (Corgi)
Philip Reeve, Fever Crumb (Scholastic)
Marcus Sedgwick, Revolver (Orion)

CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

Grahame Baker-Smith, Leon and the Place Between (Templar)
Freya Blackwood, Harry and Hopper (text by Margaret Wild, Scholastic)
Oliver Jeffers, The Great Paper Caper (HarperCollins)
Satoshi Kitamura, Millie's Marvellous Hat (Andersen)
Dave McKean, Crazy Hair (text by Neil Gaiman, Bloomsbury)
Chris Riddell, The Graveyard Book (text by Neil Gaiman, Bloomsbury)
David Roberts, The Dunderheads (text by Paul Fleischman, Walker)
Viviane Schwarz, There Are Cats in This Book (Walker)

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at BAFTA in central London on Thursday 24 June.

Scottish Book Trust Searches for Young Writing Talent

Scottish Book Trust is currently on the lookout for three enthusiastic young writers to take part in the Young Writers Awards.
Young people aged between 14 and 17 can apply for a rare opportunity to be mentored by award winning novelist and Scottish Book Trust’s Virtual Writer in Residence Catherine Forde (Sugarcoated, SKAARS, Firestarter) as well as to meet industry professionals, including a literary agent and London publisher Scholastic, who publish Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials Trilogy amongst others.
They will also have the chance to get their work published in a book alongside other Scottish writers in early 2011.
The budding authors need to submit a 2,000 word story by May 31st in order to be selected. Details on how to apply can be found at www.scottishbooktrust.com

Inappropriate books

Do visit this delicious website
http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/
to find recommended inappropriate books for kids

Brian Wildsmith Exhibition

The Master of Colour – Brian Wildsmith at 80. 24 March – 24 April 2010 The Illustrated Cupboard is delighted to host an exceptional exhibition of original artwork by one of the most influential book illustrators of the modern era. Brian Wildsmith changed the way picture books were produced and paved the way for much of the modern era of book illustration. This exhibition of his original published paintings and drawings is the first of its kind, with work on show for the very first time.Brian Wildsmith will be at the gallery on Tuesday 13th April signing books, and the exhibition runs until 24th April.

A warm welcome is extended to all. Original artwork from £1500
Limited signed giclée editions produced by Brian Wildsmith from £250

Signed books from £5.99
Preview and purchase on www.illustrationcupboard.com

The Illustration Cupboard LLPwww.illustrationcupboard.com +44 (0)207 976 172722 Bury StLondonSW1Y 6AL

Green Park Tube is nearby and if you are in London this is a treat not to be missed.

e books

The Booksellers Association is expressing concern that e books will be freely available through the library service. The gist of their argument is the lack of need to visit an actual library and the difficulty of securing the perminent downloading of the e book. I can't see why I should need to read an e book unless I was back packing somewhere...but I can see that this could be yet a further nail in both libaries and bookshops coffin.

William Mayne

I received an email from Val Bierman today asking if we had heard of the death of William Mayne. I hadn't and on checking via google found a Times death announcement today from the undertakers and a full account in The Darlington and Stockton Times on 25 March. This said that "An award-winning children's writer whose career was ruined (2004) when he was jailed for sex attacks on children has been found dead at his home in the Yorkshire Dales. William Mayne who was 82 was the author of more than 100 books and regarded as one of the leading children's authors of the 20th century".

I remember the Archbishop of Canterbury defending his books (if not the man) at the Oxford Literary Festival in 2005. And I also remember an author who knew him well feeling that the accusation was unsound. I know nothing of him other than his books but find it extraordinary that his death should be so roundly ignored by the national press.
enid stephenson

Hans Christian Andersen Award

The national committee of British IBBY announced that author David Almond from the United Kingdom and illustrator Jutta Bauer from Germany have been announced as winners of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Presented biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People, the awards are recognised as the most prestigious prizes in the children’s book world. They are awarded for the entire body of an author and illustrator’s work.

David and Jutta will receive their medals and diplomas at the international IBBY congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in September.Each of IBBY’s national sections is allowed to nominate a single name for each of the awards and the winners were chosen by an international jury from nominations from twenty eight countries. Our nomination for the illustrator award was Michael Foreman.

David Almond is only the third British author to receive the Award in the more than fifty years that it has been presented. His predecessors were Eleanor Farjeon in 1956 and Aidan Chambers in 2002. He joins an illustrious roll-call of some of best known names of modern children’s literature from across the world, including Tove Jansson, Astrid Lindgren, Virginia Hamilton, Patricia Wrightson, Martin Waddell and Margaret Mahy.

David Almond has already won many awards in the United Kingdom and, the United States, including the Whitbread Children’s Book Award and the Carnegie Medal for Skellig, his first children’s book. He lives in Northeast England and many of his books are set in and around Felling, in Gateshead, where he grew up. In making the Award, the IBBY international jury recognised his "unique voice as a creator of magic realism"; and his sophisticated use of language that has a wide appeal and, "captures his young readers’ imagination" encouraging children "to read, think and be critical".

IBBY also awarded its biennial IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Awards, for projects run by groups judged to be making a lasting contribution to reading promotion for young people. Two organizations won the award this year: the Osu Children's Library Fund of Ghana, a Canadian-based charity that has built and stocked libraries in Ghana's capital and in more than 150 schools and villages in the country; and the Convenio de Cooperatión al Plan de Lectura de Medellín, Colombia, for its reading activities within the four poorest municipalities of that city.

Details of all the nominees for the Awards and the shortlists are available at http://www.ibby.org/t_blank. Further details of British IBBY from the Chair: Ann Lazim, annlazim@googlemail.com

Details of David Almond at http://www.davidalmond.com/

Muddle Earth on CBBC

In a landmark occasion for the channel, CBBC is to unveil its first ever in-house long-form animation series, Muddle Earth.
The 13x11 minute series follows the adventures of Randalf the wizard and his human apprentice Newt as they attempt to thwart the devious attempts of Dr Cuddles, an evil blue teddy bear, from taking over the land.
Aimed at six to nine year olds, the comedy-fantasy series features the vocal magic of Sir David Jason (Randalf), and music performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – another first for the Channel.
Muddle Earth is based on Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's much-loved children's novel of the same name. An affectionate nod to Lord Of The Rings, it takes the heart of the eponymous world and runs with it in a series of hilarious epic adventures.
Complete with inept wizards, goblins, talking clocks, elves, sarcastic budgies and scheming fairies, the upside down world of Muddle Earth will transport the audience to an astonishing fantasy world they won't want to come back from.
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The series will be broadcast Monday to Friday, 3.50pm, BBC One until March 31.
A second 13x11 minute series is in production for broadcast in September 2010.

2010 Red House Children's Book Award

The full shortlist for the 2010 Red House Children's Book Award is as follows:
Books for Younger Children
A Very Strange Creature - Ronda Armitage and Layn Marlow (Orchard Books)Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch! - Paul Bright and Mike Terry (Little TigerPress) The Baby Dragon-Tamer - Jan Fearnley (Egmont Books) Bottoms Up! -Jeanne Willis and Adam Stower (Puffin Books)

Books for Younger ReadersAngel Cake - Cathy Cassidy (Puffin Books) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The LastStraw - Jeff Kinney (Puffin Books) Mondays are Murder - Tanya Landman(Walker Books)

Books for Older ReadersThe Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Children's Books) Ausländer -Paul Dowswell (Bloomsbury Children's Books) Love, Aubrey - Suzanne LaFleur(Puffin Books)

This Award is run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups.

Queen of Teen

Queen of Teen is now inviting nominations for this year's award, which will be presented at a glittering award ceremony in September 2010. Between 12th April and 14th June 2010, readers can nominate any female author for the award, and a shortlist based on these nominations will be announced on 21st June. Fans of each of the shortlisted authors will be invited to the awardceremony - held in the grounds of Queen of Teen HQ in leafy Surrey - wherethey will be able to mingle with their favourite writers, invitedjournalists and other special guests.

see their website at www.queenofteen.co.uk

Blue Peter Book of the Year

Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes (OUP), has been named Blue Peter Book of the Year at this year's Blue Peter Book Awards. The novel, winner in the Book I Couldn't Put Down category, saw off competition from Dinkin Dings and Frightening Things by Guy Bass and Pete Williamson (Stripes - Most Fun Story with Pictures) and Why Eating Bogeys Is Good for You by Mitchell Symons (Red Fox - Best Book with Facts).

I'm really delighted that Frozen in Time has won...this is what I said in issue 41 of Carousel


Frozen in Time written by Ali Sparkes, OUP 978-0-19-272755-8 £5.99
Ben and Rachel are resigned to a quiet and dull summer spent with their absent minded uncle Jerome whilst their parents are off on tour. So in the best Enid Blyton tradition there are no interfering adults to spoil the fun. Whilst fooling around in the overgrown garden they find a hidden vault containing (wait for it) the frozen bodies of a girl and a boy. Rachel accidentally hits a button and the excitement begins. The story is mainly set in 2009 but with flashbacks to 1956 and 2007. Plots galore: spies, scientists and secrets. But this book is something more than an exciting read. The two frozen children, Polly and Freddy, wake up and have to face life in 2009 and Ali Sparkes cleverly shows the changes over fifty odd years in both speech and styles. This book will undoubtedly appeal to children but I think adults who were children during the fifties will find it fascinating too. enid stephenson

Virtual Authors at Scottish Book Trust

An astounding 90,000 children in 1,000 schools across the UK and overseas have already signed up to Scottish Book Trust’s ‘Meet Our Authors’ programme. Scottish Book Trust, Scotland’s leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing, created the programme to allow children, young people, parents and teachers across the world to get up close and personal with some of the world’s leading children’s authors, free of charge, with support from the Scottish Arts Council’s National Lottery Fund.

The programme consists of:
Children’s author events broadcast live over the internet, in conjunction with the BBC Digital resource of quality content about children’s authors, including Facebook and YouTube campaigns featuring exclusive clips of children’s authors, in conjunction with Scottish Friendly Assurance Competitions for parents to win exclusive prizes related to the work of the UK’s finest children’s authors, in conjunction with Scottish Friendly Assurance

The series of live events is the centrepiece of the programme and will feature household names such as Michael Rosen (March 4th), Julia Donaldson (May 6th), Eoin Colfer (October 7th), Philip Pullman (December 9th) and Jacqueline Wilson (January 27th, 2011) who will talk to a live audience whilst being filmed and broadcast simultaneously over the internet. The first live broadcast will take place on World Book Day, Thursday 4th March, with former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen who will be doing two events - one for primary schools and one for secondary schools.

Michael Rosen commented: “I'm really looking forward to this event. I think it's the first time I've ever done a live performance that can be watched by thousands of children in their schools. I've heard that kids all across Britain are going to tune in. And more than that - there are schools abroad joining us too. One thing that excites me is thinking that this is really a brand new kind of television. It's a new way for us to entertain and talk to each other. So thanks a million to Scottish Book Trust for inventing this day, and I'm going to do my best to give you a great show. Oh yes!”

www.scottishbooktrust.com

Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2010

Début author Katie Davies­ has been announced as the winner of the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize for her book, The Great Hamster Massacre (Simon & Schuster). The book won over nine other titles, with Waterstone's describing it as the "closest competition" in the prize's six-year history.The title was revealed as the winner of the prize by Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne in an evening ceremony at Waterstone’s Piccadilly. Browne described the book as "a funny and touching story told very convincingly and honestly from the point of view of a young girl". Many congratulations...it is a really enjoyable children's book with splendid illustrations.

if:book

Chris Meade, Director of if:book, with students and staff from Queensbridge School Birmingham at the launch of HOTBOOK, a ground breaking and free digital resource for teaching English in secondary schools, on 2nd February at the Free Word Centre, London. Nearly 350 schools have already registered to receive HOTBOOK, which has been piloted in four schools.
Ellie Clarke, Head of English at Queensbridge School said:‘These are a fantastically creative set of multi modal resources with which to deliver the rich experience of both language and literature at the heart of the revised curriculum at Key Stage 3.’

Easter Potter Exhibition and more

Beatrix Potter Exhibition 8th March – 12th April
A 1903 edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit will go on display in the Selfridges’ book department, as part of a special collection of Beatrix Potter original art, books and toys selected from the Frederick Warne & Co. archive. This is a wonderful opportunity to see unique items including a 1905 Steiff Peter Rabbit doll, together with an original Beatrix Potter pen-and-ink illustration of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-duck. Featuring 36 selected items, the exhibition includes: Early editions of all 23 Original Tales, Beatrix Potter title page illustration for The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, Bookplate design for the 1st Trade Ed. of The Roly Poly Pudding and the 1925 Farnell Jemima Puddle-duck doll Peter Rabbit™

Easter Events Friday 2nd – Monday 5th April Mischievous Peter Rabbit will be hopping along to Selfridges every day during the Easter long weekend. Peter Rabbit will be making special appearances in the Selfridges’ book department during daily story-telling performances of The Tale of Peter Rabbit at 12pm, 1.30pm, 3pm and 4.30pm. Events are free for the whole family to enjoy, however spaces are limited.

Selfridges Department Store is in Oxford Street, London nearest tube Bond Street.

News from the Reading Agency

New chance to take Chatterbooks into schools

If you work in or with primary schools how about using our Chatterbooks network of reading groups to inspire more children in their reading for pleasure? This month, building on the major success of Chatterbooks groups in public libraries, we are launching Chatterbooks into schools. The scheme supports key aspects of your school improvement plan, including attainment, SEAL, transition and creativity, as well as extended school services. It helps you offer year round book talking activities. More information and subscription details on our brand new Chatterbooks microsite at www.chatterbooks.org.uk.


New volunteering pilot linked to Summer Reading Challenge

We are keen to spread reading through volunteer helpers because we've seen how powerful this can be. So we are thrilled to announce that V (the national youth volunteering charity) and Laing Integrated Services have agreed to fund a pilot Summer Reading Challenge volunteering programme for 16 to 25 year olds during 2010. Our vision is to encourage all library services to offer youth volunteering through the Challenge by 2012. We've had a huge response, and will be working with a focus group of 20 pilot library services which we'll be announcing shortly. All libraries will have access to our new volunteer guidance pack, so we hope lots of them will have a go. www.readingagency.org.uk/young/volunteering

Edinburgh Carry a Poem campaign

Introducing Edinburgh's Carry a Poem reading campaign, due to launch on 1st February 2010 with thousands of free books and poetry pocketcards, and a whole month of special events.
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Check out our animated Carry a Poem teaser and tell us the poem you carry with you and why at www.carryapoem.com <http://www.carryapoem.com> .

Write Away Annual Conference 21 May

A one day conference at the Wellcome Conference Centre, Euston Rd, London on the new curriulum and literacy teaching. It looks a packed and stimulating day with authors, illustrators and educationalists. Early bird rate available until the end of February. Details www.writeaway.org.uk

Dictionary of National Biography

I hadn't realised until now that you can access the new entries online free by just tapping in your library card number on the site www.oxforddnb.com . Amongst the entries is one by Chris Stephenson on JAN MARK (a fine writer who also reviewed for Carousel) , and there are also entries on Philippa Pearce and Ursula Moray Williams.

Imagine Children's Festival, South Bank, London

Thursday 11 February – Monday 1 March
MICHAEL ROSEN’S A-Z OF POETRY Thursday 11 February, Purcell Room, 11.30am; Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children), school discounts available Launching Imagine with some of the brightest names in children’s writing, Michael Rosen, Francesca Beard and John Hegley read their poetry to mark the publication of the A-Z of Poetry anthology edited by Michael Rosen. The audience will get the chance to meet the writers after the show.

JAMES CAMPBELL’S COMEDY & SONGS FOR KIDSSaturday 13 & Monday 15 February, Purcell Room, 2.30pm, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)James Campbell, an Imagine festival favourite, returns with a brilliant new show that combines the best of his stand-up comedy with a series of fantastically funny new songs for kids. James’ jokes make fun of everything from couscous to credit cards, creating a unique comedy environment for children and their parents. Suitable for ages six and over.

TOMORROW’S WARRIORS, JAZZPLORATION Saturday 13 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, from 1pm – 6pm, Admission Free Tomorrow’s Warriors is proud to present an exciting afternoon of performances and participatory workshops that will combine jazz, traditional story-telling and performance poetry. The day’s events will be led by band leaders Gary Crosby OBE and New Orleans trumpet player, Abram Wilson. Jazzploration features: Mango Spice 1pm – 2pm A musical journey to the Caribbean for all the family, learning some of the most popular folksongs and ring games from the region. Swing and Sing 2pm – 3pmAn open vocal improvisation workshop using rhythm and words to conjure up a world of scat and swing. If Music be the Food of Love… 3pm – 4pm One of the UK’s youngest jazz bands, the Teenie Warriors, debut new material and perform with young budding poets using the theme of love as their inspiration.Slam Jam/Jazzoetry 4pm – 5pm A performance poetry workshop in which young members of the audience will have the opportunity to perform their poems supported by Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra.Mass Jazz Jam 5pm – 6pmOpen to all ages and abilities, Tomorrow’s Warriors invites aspiring musicians to bring their instruments and participate in an open jam session, culminating in a mass jazz jam finale. Those who wish to participate in Mango Spice and Poetry Jazz Jam need to sign up by coming to the registration desk on The Clore Ballroom 1 hour before each workshop as numbers are limited.

THE BIG BASH WITH COLIN CURRIEMonday 15 February, Purcell Room, 11.30am, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)Percussion maestro Colin Currie has created an amazing musical world especially for Imagine, featuring marimba, xylophones, coconuts and drums. Including the music of Steve Reich, one of the world’s greatest living composers, this show is a sonic sensation which is thrilling and fun for both children and adults. Suitable for ages seven and over.

BOOKWORM BABIES Monday 15 – Wednesday 17 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 10.30am, Admission freeImagine Children’s Festival encourages very young children to get into poetry. Tiny poets and baby bards are invited to come into The Clore Ballroom to explore stories and poems. Suitable for ages 6 months – two years.

THE 9 ½ COMMANDMENTS OF AISLE16 Monday 15 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 4pm, Admission Free Award-winning live poetry collective Aisle16 present their first show for younger audiences. The 9½ Commandments of Aisle16 uses the group's trademark mix of comedy, poetry and diagrams to present a step-by-step guide to writing and enjoying poetry. Featuring a poetic analysis of bullies, a look at God’s rejected prototypes for fish, and A Portrait of the Yeti as a Young Man. Commissioned by the British Council, the show debuted in Athens in January 2009. Its UK debut features brand new collaborations with illustrators such as Laura Dockrill and Mercy. Aisle16 features Luke Wright, Ross Sutherland, Joel Stickley and Chris Hicks. Suitable for ages eight and over.

THE SCRIBE WHO WOULDN’T SCRIBBLETuesday 16 February, Purcell Room, 2.30pm, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)This show journeys into the wonderful world of words with puppets, music and adventure. When the townsfolk of Kfar Milim open their new synagogue, they want their legendary scribe, Rav Katav, to write their new Torah scroll. But an incident in his past led Rav Katav to swear he’d never write again. Can the townsfolk persuade him to forget about it and pick up a quill once more? Only the letters can help them now. Suitable for ages five and over. In association with Jammy Doughnut Productions.

ILLUSTRATE A BACKDROP FOR GLUEMOUTHTuesday 16 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 12noon – 2pm Admission FreeIn the lead up to Laura Dockrill’s performance of Gluemouth in the Purcell Room on 17 February, children are invited to come to The Clore Ballroom and help Laura draw the backdrop for her show and make the set. Suitable for ages five and over.

LAURA DOCKRILL: GLUEMOUTHWednesday 17 February, Purcell Room, 2.30pm, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)Laura Dockrill and her mini Word Orchestra bring a poetry show like no other, including poems and stories of lions that watch TV, little boys that think they are vampires and dark tales from the forest. All performed by an outstanding group of fun, energetic performers in front of a set made by the audience. WARNING: This show contains contents for CHILDREN only and is not suitable for boring, grumpy or unimaginative adults. Suitable for ages seven and over.

POETRY HOPSCOTCH Wednesday 17 – Thursday 18 February, Southbank Centre Square, 12noon & 3pm, Admission freeWord Migrants (Dzifa Benson and Naomi Woddis) invite audiences to play Poetry Hopscotch, a magical game where children of all ages can write short poems in coloured chalk on a giant hopscotch and then exclaim these on the special Poetry Hopscotch megaphone. The 12noon session is suitable for children aged five to seven and their families, the 3pm session is suitable for children aged eight to 12 and their families.

JASON BRADBURY: DOT ROBOTThursday 18 February, Purcell Room, 11.30am, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)Jason Bradbury, presenter of Channel 5’s The Gadget Show and author of the amazing Dot Robot techno-thrillers presents his Dot Robot Roadshow and reads from Atomic Swarm featuring Jackson Farley, the 12 year-old digital genius who has a case to crack when a mysterious explosion blows up a nuclear reactor. Suitable for ages ten and over.

BRIGITTE APHRODITE THE URBAN FAIRY Thursday 18 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 12noon, Admission freeMusical comedy poet Brigitte Aphrodite performs a rainbow of magical songs and fairytale comic-poems of urban life with guitar glitter and pasta shapes stuck on. Brigitte ignites a firework of imagination and the glitter and memories will stay with the audience for days. Suitable for ages five to eight.

PAUL KIEVE’S MAGICAL SHOWFriday 19 February, Purcell Room, 11.30am, Tickets £8 (adults) £4 (children)Paul Kieve is a magician and author who makes magic happen on the Harry Potter films. In this magical show he tells the history of magicians and performs magic tricks, together with other magicians and illusionists who join him on stage. Audiences can learn all about magic and meet Paul after the show. Suitable for ages eight and over.

IMAGINE A STORY FAMILY WORKSHOP Friday 19 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 11.30am – 3pm Admission freeVisual artist Laura X Carle leads a family workshop exploring storytelling, adding the audience’ stories to a giant book. Suitable for ages five and over. This event is BSL interpreted.

BEATBOX CONCERTO FOR KIDS FEATURING SHLOMO Saturday 20 February, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 11am, Tickets £9Southbank Centre Artist in Residence and beatboxer Shlomo creates a special show for Imagine with composer Anna Meredith and poet Caroline Bird, featuring the new work Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra – an exciting mix of beatboxing and contemporary classical music. This family-friendly show offers a fun introduction to the magic of music and collaboration and some members of the audience will get the chance to try beatboxing with Shlomo. Suitable for ages six and over.

JULIAN HEPPLE’S STORY TIME Saturday 20 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 3pm, Admission free Story Time is magical party and a narrated adventure, featuring a surround sound symphony orchestra, ballet, a big band, animation and loads more. Award-winning composer Julian Hepple, reworks the tale of Goldilocks, Cinderella and many other stories. With a cast of 45 and music ranging from Elgar to electro, Story Time is like no other family show. Suitable for all the family. This event is BSL interpreted.

KATHAK STANZASSunday 21 February, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 11am & 3pm Admission free Southbank Centre Artist in Residence, Gauri Sharma Tripathi celebrates the voice-in-dance, with this imaginative workshop that combines words and traditional South Asian kathak dance. Audiences are asked to bring their voice, feet and a little imagination.Suitable for all the family.

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER Saturday 27, Sunday 28 February & Monday 1 March, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 2.30pm (Saturday and Sunday), 11am and 1.15pm (Monday); Tickets £ £8 (adults) £4 (children), Schools discount for Monday performances: £2.50 per pupil‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy…’ Storms and icebergs. Sea shanties and dead mariners. An albatross shot down. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s fantastical story of a man’s voyage through nature and his own mind comes to life in a striking new production with original music by Southbank Centre Artists in Residence Bellowhead and a community choir of children, teenagers and adults. Developed from the 2009 outdoor co-production by Southbank Centre and the Young Vic based on an original idea by Shân Maclennan and Keith Shadwick. Most suitable for ages 8 and over.

THE BIBLIOMANCER’S DREAM Saturday 6 February – Tuesday 2 March, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, 10am – 11pm, The Foyer at Queen Elizabeth Hall, one hour before and after each Imagine performance, Admission free The Bibliomancer’s Dream returns to Imagine. Bibliomancy is an ancient ritual that involves the random selection of a book and then a line or verse within that book to learn a truth, or inspire the imagination of the holder. Visitors to the magical library can delve into hundreds of books that reveal the answer to their secret question as if by magic. Suitable for ages five and over.

POETRY LIBRARY Saison Poetry Library, Level 5, Royal Festival Hall, Admission free In the Poetry Library visitors can find riddles, stories, nonsense, picture books, pop-ups, recordings and also pick up a poetry trail that will help them to discover poetry all around them – at Southbank Centre and beyond. There is also a nursery rhyme reading area for children and parents with books, audio tapes and games as well as an exhibition of nursery rhyme posters and postcards. Visitors can create their own nursery rhyme postcard to upload to the GPS website.

GLOBAL POETRY SYSTEM PRESENTS POETRY JUKEBOXTo celebrate Imagine Children’s Festival, Southbank Centre invites parents and children to map their favourite poem from childhood – the poem they learned at school, a nursery rhyme their granny taught them or a favourite playground chant – on Global Poetry System (GPS). GPS is a user-generated world map of poetry. Poems uploaded by 31 January 2010 could be featured in a specially commissioned piece for the Imagine festival. Or there is a GPS station set up in the Poetry Library during the festival where visitors can record and upload their poems. Put your poetry on the map at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

The shame of children held in UK detention centres

PADDINGTON BEAR has joined more than sixty leading children’s authors and illustrators in condemning the government’s arrest and detention of asylum seeking children in prison-like conditions. Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen and Julia Donaldson are among more than sixty writers and illustrators who have signed a letter to the Prime Minister condemning the detention policy and supporting calls by leading doctors for its immediate cessation. ‘I call on every single person who hears of what's going on with the detention of asylum-seeking children to write, petition and demonstrate against it,’ said former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen. Internationally acclaimed writer Beverley Naidoo and illustrator Karin Littlewood visited children locked up in Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre on Monday. They performed a workshop for 14 children aged 5 to 16. After the visit, Karin Littlewood said: ‘Usually at our workshops children ask, “Can I take this home with me?” None of these children asked me that. It made me think – where is home for these children?’ She added: ‘You only have to think, what would you feel if that was your family, your sister, your daughter or nephew, being locked up?’
Beverley Naidoo said: ‘We spent a morning with delightful, thoughtful young people, which brings home the fact that our government should not be asking Serco to lock up innocent children. It is done in our name and we should say a loud No.’ Michael Bond sent a message from Paddington Bear: ‘Whenever I hear about children from foreign countries being put into detention centres, I think how lucky I am to be living at number 32 Windsor Gardens with such nice people as Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Bird, who looks after the Browns, says if she had her way she would set the children free and lock up a few politicians in their place to see how they liked it!’ Notes to editorsThe UK Border Agency arrests and detains between 1000 and 2000 asylum-seeking children every year, although there is no evidence that families with young children abscond. Dave Wood, UKBA Director of Criminality and Detention, told a Parliamentary Committee in September 2009: ‘Whilst issues are raised about absconding, that is not our biggest issue. It does happen but it is not terribly easy for a family unit to abscond.’Source: Hansard http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/970/09091604.htm <http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/970/09091604.htm>
Medical establishment’s protestThe Royal Colleges of Paediatrics and Child Health, General Practitioners and Psychiatrists and the Faculty of Public Health on Wednesday issued a joint statement condemning the Government’s detention policy and calling for it to end ‘without delay’.
The Lorek report NHS paediatricians and psychologists, Lorek et al, reported in the international peer-reviewed journal, Child Abuse & Neglect, (October 2009) that children locked up at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre were ‘clearly vulnerable, marginalized, and at risk of mental and physical harm as a result of state sanctioned neglect.’ The doctors recorded children’s ‘sexualised behaviour’, older children’s tendency to wet their beds and soil their pants, the ‘increased fear due to being suddenly placed in a facility resembling a prison’, the ‘abrupt loss of home, school, friends and all that was familiar to them.’ www.childrenssociety.org.uk/resources/documents/media/18565_full.pdf
Parliamentary Motion94 MPs have signed Chris Mullin MP’s parliamentary motion EDM1982 urging the Government to stop detaining children:http://communicatoremail.com/In/3720007/0/jRX8sdagTA8flbe0iFZPFh-kL5yf3D14/
On-line petitionIn only two months, more than 2500 people including hundreds of health professionals, lawyers, teachers & social workers, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster, dozens of leading writers, plus Emma Thompson and Colin Firth signed a petition calling on the Government to stop detaining children. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NoChildDetention <http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NoChildDetention>
WOMEN FOR REFUGEE WOMEN arranged Naidoo & Littlewood’s visitContact: Natasha Walter020 7065 0772
END CHILD DETENTION NOW coordinated the author letter Contact Esmé MadillMobile 0777 3350018

Dear Mr Brown,
As writers and illustrators of books for children, we urge you to stop detaining children whose families have sought asylum in the UK.We strongly support those doctors represented by the Royal Colleges of Paediatrics & Child Health, General Practitioners and Psychiatrists, the Faculty of Public Health and the Children’s Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley-Green, in the concerns they have expressed about the trauma being experienced by children whose families have sought asylum in the UK.
These children have already had their worlds torn apart and witnessed their parents in turmoil and in stress. No wonder that paediatricians and psychologists report that child detainees are confused, fearful, unable to sleep, suffer headaches, tummy pains and weight loss and exhibit severe emotional and behavioural problems (Child Abuse and Neglect 2009; 33: 573 - http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/resources/documents/Campaigns/19432.html.) <http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/resources/documents/Campaigns/19432.html.)> .
The UK Border Agency asserts that ‘Treating children with care and compassion is a priority’, but it continues with the policy of child detention which has been shown to harm children. The Government must end child detention, now.

Beverley Naidoo
Michael Rosen
Jacqueline Wilson
Michael Morpurgo
Quentin Blake
Carol Ann Duffy
Michael Bond
Benjamin Zephaniah
Philip Pullman
Jackie Kay
David Almond
Jamila Gavin
Lynne Reid Banks
Tim Bowler
Meg Rosoff
Francesca Simon
Elizabeth Laird
Jeremy Strong
Louisa Young (Zizou Corder)
Mary Hoffman
Linda Newbery
Gillian Cross
Julia Donaldson
Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Bernard Ashley
Tony Bradman
Catherine Johnson
Celia Rees
Ifeoma Onyefulu
Karin Littlewood
Niki Daly
Chris Cleave
Bali Rai
Eleanor Updale
Prodeepta Das
Debjani Chatterjee
Moira Munro
Anne Rooney
Elen Caldecott
Frances Thomas
Gwen Grant
John Dougherty
Julia Green
Karen King
Katherine Langrish
Leila Rasheed
Leslie Wilson
Mary Hooper
Ann Harries
Ann Turnbull
Rosemary Stones
Shereen Pandit
Nicki Cornwell
Valerie Bloom
Anna Perera
Maya Naidoo
Graham Gardner
Alan Gibbons
Jan Needle
Anthony McGowan
Paul Stewart
Chris Riddell
Katharine QuarmbyAlly Kennen
ENDS

Adrian Mitchell Celebration

It is hard to imagine a more fitting or joyous evening to celebrate the talents of Adrian Mitchell than yesterday evening (9 December) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The platform full of poets and musicians, the stage decked with bunting and the tone of the evening from the very outset fitting for the man. The evening began with music in the auditorium whilst we took our seats then the performers wandered on to the stage, chairs being moved, Clive Rowe appealing to us in the cheaper seats and then Michael Rosen calling the proceedings to order in the nicest and best possible way. Carol Ann Duffy showed why she is such an exciting Poet Laureate and the list of names continued with all the poets reading a poem of their own and one of Adrian's - the musicians playing and (mostly) his daughters - all blessed with wonderful voices - singing his songs.

To name names and to make all of you jealous the line up was (in no particular order) Michael Rosen, Brian Patten, Jackie Kay, John Hegley, Michael Horovitz, Patience Agbabi, John Agard, John Berger, Andrew Marr, Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochead, Roger Lloyd Pack, Roger McGough, Jonathan Pryce, Pete Moser, Mike and Kate Westbrook, Andy Roberts, Joanna Macgregor, Clive Rowe, Caitlin Stubbs, Beattie Mitchell, Sasha Mitchell and a whole further wonderful line up of musicians and singers.

The poems and the music was in turn humourous and reflective. And best of all no one hogged the limelight. The evening was filmed but whether this was purely for their own record I don't know, but it would make a great DVD.

All performances were greeted with tremendous applause, but none more so than the fine song Victor Jara of Chile sung by Beattie Mitchell and accompanied by Andy Roberts on guitar. Andrew Marr mentioned that Adrian's play Jubilee Singers where you can hear this moving song will be on Radio 4 sometime next year.

The evening over-ran but didn't feel a second to long and was bought to a close by his wife, Celia, and a rousing rendering of Marie Lloyd from Mind your head.

What did feel too long was the grid-lock on the A13 because LimeHouse Tunnel was closed for some reason - but arriving back in Suffolk in the early hours was a small price to pay.

The last collection of Adrian Mitchell's poems Tell me lies has just been published by Bloodaxe, illustrated by Ralph Steadman and available for just £10.95 direct from the publisher if you don't have a local friendly bookshop sales@bloodaxebooks.com and his last children's collection Umpteen Pockets from Orchard Books and wonderfully illustrated by Tony Ross plus Shapeshifters with extraordinary illustrations by Alan Lee is published by Frances Lincoln.

You can read the interview with Adrian Mitchell on the Carousel website under issue 30 - this took place during the summer of 05 and as Adrian had admired Chris's blue jacket he wore it at the celebration last night.

Postman Pat live at a theatre near you!

Premier Stage Productions are bringing Postman Pat and his brand new live show ‘A Very Royal Mission’ to theatres across the UK from February 2010. The tour will play 150 dates in over 90 venues across the country, opening at Epsom Playhouse on 13 February. For further tour details see below and also visit the new dedicated tour website www.postmanpatlive.com where new dates will be announced.

Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books

John Fardell, Lari Don and Keith Gray have been named as this year’s winners for the 2009 Royal Mail Awards, Scotland’s largest children’s Book Prize which is voted for exclusively by Scottish children themselves.

Author/Illustrator John Fardell won the Early Years category (0-7) for his first picture book Manfred the Baddie (Quercus), Lari Don won the Younger Readers category (8-11) for her first book First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts (Floris Books) and best-selling teenage fiction author Keith Gray won the Older Readers category (12-16) for the acclaimed Ostrich Boys (Random House). They will each receive £3,000 and a prize presented to them by Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early Years who commented:
"These awards play a valuable part in helping children to discover the joy and pleasure of reading a great story. Nearly 30,000 children have been reading from the selected lists and voting for their favourite books and it's impressive that so many have been involved. That's why I am delighted to be at the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books and help hand out the prizes to these worthy winners!"

Record numbers of children took part in the voting process this year, with nearly 30,000 children from all over Scotland actively involved in the awards compared to 18,000 in 2008 and just over 10,000 in 2007.

Skellig on the London stage over Christmas

Live on stage at the Bloomsbury Theatre!14th December - 23rd January 2010 Based on the Whitbread award-winning book by David Almond, this spellbinding adaptation comes to the Bloomsbury Theatre following a sell-out run at the Shaw Theatre last autumn. promises to be a truly unique treat this Christmas! Watch the trailer online at http://www.birminghamstage.net/shows/skellig Ages 7+ Tickets:Full Price £17.50Concessions £13.50Children £12.50Family of Four £54 (not available on line)School rate £9.50, teachers go free (call for details)Group discounts available for bookings of ten or more. Box Office: 020 7388 8822www.thebloomsbury.com

BookTrust Teenage Prize 2009

Neil Gaiman is winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2009.

The Graveyard Book tells the story of Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens, a child abandoned in a graveyard after the vicious murder of his parents and sister by The Man Jack. Raised and educated by the ghosts that live there, Bod encounters terrible and unexpected menaces in the horror of the pit of the Sleer and the city of Ghouls. It is in the land of the living that the real danger lies as The Man Jack is determined to find Bod and finish him off.

Neil Gaiman is listed as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. He is the creator of the iconic DC comic series The Sandman, the only comic to ever make the New York Times Bestseller list. His books have been adapted for a number of successful films, most recently the animated adventure Coraline.

In his acceptance speech, Neil paid credit to the authors that had inspired him: ‘Sometimes when we look big, and seem to see further, it's because we are standing on the shoulders of giants. The field of children’s literature has seen many giants, and those of us who toil in the field make our contributions using what we've learned from those who came first. ‘I'm proud of The Graveyard Book. But I know I got to stand on the shoulders of giants in order to write it. There were two writers of children's fiction who influenced The Graveyard Book. Foremost, obviously, Rudyard Kipling, and his short story collection The Jungle Book; less obviously Pamela "P.L" Travers, and her Mary Poppins stories. And everyone else: the writers I learned from as a young reader, and the writers I've learned from as a writer: a host of other craftsmen and women I learned, or borrowed, or stole from, to build The Graveyard Book.

This year’s shortlist was: Auslander by Paul Dowswell (Bloomsbury)The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)Ostrich Boy by Keith Gray (Definitions)The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant (Puffin)The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (Walker)

Perform a Poem website

Michael Rosen launched Perform-a-Poem, the first e-safe site for children's poetry performances, at the National Theatre on 3rd November.He said:“I’m hoping that Perform-a-Poem will give an opportunity for children and teachers to experiment and play with poetry in an exciting way. All poems have a voice; sometimes this voice is best heard silently, but most poems enjoy being spoken and performed, because this is how we get to feel a poem.”
Perform-a-Poem, a unique poetry performance website for primary school children, encourages children to write, choose, perform, film and edit poems. Their poetry video performances can then be uploaded by their teachers, and browsed and enjoyed by children in other schools as well as families and friends.
To browse the site log on to www.performapoem.lgfl.net <http://www.performapoem.lgfl.net>

Illustrated Children's Books

A copy of this beautifully produced book published by Black Dog Publishing arrived yesterday when I was sweeping up leaves. At first glance the book looks splendid, but that was before reading the text. Review follows shortly on the review section of this blog. enid stephenson

Mal Peet and The Guardian Award

The popular writer for young adults has won the Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction with his novel Exposure, the third book featuring cynical sports journalist Paul Faustino


Walker Books congratulates Mal Peet on his recent award success for his blistering account of celebrity and the power of the media in making and breaking people’s lives. Mal Peet is no stranger to awards success, having won the Carnegie Medal for his novel Tamar and the Branford Boase and Smarties Award for Keeper, his first Paul Faustino novel. Inspired by Othello, Exposure is an engrossing, revealing read for older teenagers and adults, tackling issues of race, fame, poverty and greed. Mal Peet's writing appeals to a wide audience, but it has been particularly praised for its ability to appeal to male teenagers. Believing that writing for teenagers does not necessarily mean writing about teenagers, Mal's cast of characters are primarily adult. The quiet star at the centre of this novel, as with his previous books Keeper and Penalty, is Paul Faustino (who some might say bears a few similarities to the author himself!).

On his recent Guardian award win, Mal says,

“I’m totally thrilled to win the Guardian prize. I’ve been buying the newspaper for 35 years, so I’ve worked for it! In fact, if you subtract the prize money from what I’ve spent at the newsagents, the Guardian is way ahead on the deal! I don’t mind – the Guardian prize is very special. It’s judged by other writers so it’s pretty likely that if you win it, you deserve it.”The announcement of the award coincided with a rather exciting week for Mal. He says, “It’s turned out to be a great week. I just delivered my new book to Walker. Always a nervous event, it’s called Life: An Exploded Diagram and is about a teenage love affair, nuclear missiles, mad families and explosions. Life doesn’t get much better than when you finish a novel and win the Guardian prize in the same week as your birthday and your wedding anniversary. I pass people in the street and hear them mutter, ‘who’s that grinning loon?’.”

Crossover Books

I enjoyed listening to John Connolly on R4's Today programme this morning, Friday 9 October. You can catch him on Listen Again - push the timer along to about 2.47 mins into the programme. He was talking with John Humphries about his latest book and then the dreaded word Crossover happened and here is a rough transcription of what was said:

John H: Crossover books are meant to appeal to both children and adults

John C: That's a word if any author used they should be beaten with a big stick. It is a marketing exercise...cynicism...books that are aimed to draw in an adult readership and to do that you have to wink over the shoulder of the children to the adults.

John H: You patronise the adults or you go over the head of the child

John C: You patronise both. You infantalise the adult and you patronise the child so everyone loses out.

Guo Yue during a spell binding performance to a full house of school children at The Purcell Room, London on 8th October. Guo Yue and his wife Clare Farrow told the story of Little Leap Forward (published by Barefoot Books) with photographs, traditional Chinese Music (Guo Yue is a professional musician), kites and much more. The story is Guo Yue’s own story about how one little boy made a gesture, in the middle of a Revolution, that asserted his individuality and compassion, and belief in freedom. Guo Yue and Clare Farrow are also doing workshops in schools and have three more performances – The People’s Theatre, Newscastle (9 October) and two performances on 4th November at the Library Theatre in Manchester.The Children’s Bookshow is a national tour of the best children’s writer’s and illustrators which takes place in the autumn and presents a brilliant line up of writers in theatres across England. For more information see http://www.childrensbookshow.com/

London Children's Film Festival

Lucky London children being able to easily attend this excellent 8 day festival - 21-29 November - based mainly at the Barbican. Authors Michael Rosen and Frank Cottrell Boyce will be there, a whole range of British and international films, workshops and a retro tv treat from the 80s including Count Duckula and Dangermouse (what happy memories!). www.lcff.org.uk

SLA School Librarian of the year 2009

Congratulations to Lucy Bakewell of Hill West Primary School In SuttonColdfield - the SLA School Librarian of the Year 2009.
Photograph by Philip Paul .

Virtual writer in residence

Catherine Forde, the best-selling author of such acclaimed teen novels as Fat Boy Swim, Sugarcoated and most recently Bad Wedding, is Scottish Book Trust’s second Virtual Writer in Residence. She will be following in the successful footsteps of Keith Gray who inaugurated the role last year, and took up the post on Monday 5 October. You can see her first creative writing tips and tasks at www.scottishbooktrust.com/children-and-young-people/online-writer-in-residence

Quentin Blake at the National Theatre

Quentin Blake will be appearing on stage at the National Theatre in two platform events over the coming weeks.

Saturday 3rd October 2009 at 10.30am Roald Dahl Day To celebrate the fourth annual Roald Dahl Day, his principal illustrator Quentin Blake will draw live on stage, in the company of actors who read from Dahl’s ever-popular books.
This platform is followed by a book signing, but please note that Quentin will only be able to sign one book per person.

Friday 13th November 2009 at 6pm Quentin Blake and David Walliams Little Britain’s David Walliams is joined by his illustrator to talk about his new children’s book, Mr Stink, a hilarious tale of family secrers….and a tramp in a shed.
Followed by a book signing.
Tickets are £3.50, or £2.50 for concessions.

To book please contact the National Theatre Box Office on 020 7452 3000 or go to www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Bath Children's Literature Festival

　
The Festival opened on September 18th with a hugely successful discussion between Lorna Bradbury (Deputy Literature Editor of the Daily Telegraph) and Malorie Blackman. She captivated her audience by telling them about Double Cross the fourth book in the Noughts and Crosses trilogy!!
Carousel were delighted to sponsor a session in the Guildhall for families and young children. With an audience of about one hundred excited readers they learnt how Annette and Nick Butterworth created their wonderfully warm and reassuring stories about Jake, the well meaning dog who enjoys life but gets into lots of scrapes. Enthusiastic child artists joined in the game of Squiggles and left with their creations rolled up under their arm.
Bathed in sunshine, it was a pleasure to walk between the different venues for a packed programme of events for children of all ages. The Festival’s final weekend is February 26th – 27th. For details of events visit www.bathkidslitfest.co.uk

Book Trust Teenage Prize Shortlist

Auslander by Paul Dowswell (Bloomsbury)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray (Definitions)
The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant (Puffin)
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (Walker)

Writer in Residence, Book Trust

Ghanaian performance poet becomes Booktrust’s second online writer in residence
www.booktrust.org.uk
　
The Ghanaian author and performance poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes has been announced as the second author to take on the role of Booktrust online writer in residence. As well as performing his unique brand of poetry on major stages across the globe, Nii Parkes is an established author of poetry and fiction for both children and adults – he has had his poem ‘Wrong Side’ memorised by pupils across the UK and his poem ‘Tin Roof’ was featured by the ‘Poems on the Underground’ initiative in June 2007. A socio-cultural commentator who has sat on broadcast panels with literary heavyweights such as Margaret Atwood and A.S. Byatt, he is the author of the novel Tail of the Blue Bird and the co-founder and Senior Editor of flipped eye publishing.
Nii takes over from the Booktrust Teenage Prize winner Patrick Ness, who during his time in post wrote a much fêted exclusive addition to the award-winning The Knife of Never Letting Go. The writer in residence programme will run for two years, with a new author taking up the position every six months.
Nii will take up his tenure from today, Monday 14 September 2009.
During his time in the post, Nii will contribute one new poem to be published on the Booktrust website, a fortnightly blog, a video interview by schoolchildren, writing tips and advice on getting published, as well as hosting a special poetry event.
Nii Parkes commented:
"I am delighted and honoured to be Booktrust’s second-ever online writer in residence, taking the virtual baton from the excellent Patrick Ness. Every writer is (or should be) a reader first, and Booktrust does more to get people reading than any organisation I know (my nine-month-old daughter has already devoured eleven books endorsed by Booktrust). I am particularly looking forward to the opportunity that this residency offers
to interact with readers, to share my experience, to explore the nuances of translation as people consume stories - for stories are only the starting point; the real tale lives in the contemplation the stories trigger, the dialogue they generate after the last page is closed."
Nikesh Shukla, Booktrust Website Editor:"Nii Parkes is the Freddie Flintoff of publishing: a true all-rounder- he’s a performance poet, an author, a publisher, an editor and the hardest working man in the biz. He was an obvious choice to take over from Patrick Ness as our new writer in residence, and we’ve scored a century by getting him. Nii’s self-made career has given him a wealth of knowledge of the publishing industry and he will be a huge inspiration to aspiring writers. As someone who is immersed in technology and social networking media too, it’ll be great to collaborate with him on new and exciting multimedia online projects for Booktrust."

Handa's Hen

going on tour! It opens at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon on 26 September and ends at The Albany Theatre in Deptford on 27 December - calling at 12 other venues, in and out of London.Details can be found:-
on the Little Angel website http://www.littleangeltheatre.com/(click on What's On) and the Walker Books website http://www.walker.co.uk/ (click on What's On) Two actresses, fifty-five puppets, movement and song are combined in this production. Come to Handa's Kenyan village where Mondi the hen has gone missing. Handa and her friend, Akeyo look everywhere. They find lizards, frogs, spoonbills and lots of other animals. But where is Mondi - and what's her secret?

Writing Competition

To celebrate the publication of Wishing for Tomorrow, Hodder Children’s Books are running a writing competition judged by Hilary McKay. Two lucky winners will receive a beautiful Victorian writing set and a signed copy of Wishing for Tomorrow. Four runners-up will receive a signed copy of the book.
To enter, choose ONE of the writing scenarios below. Send your entry (maximum one side of an A4 sheet) to:
Wishing for Tomorrow Competition
Hodder Children’s Books
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Closing date: 31st October 2009
1. In Wishing for Tomorrow. Ermengarde desperately misses her best friend, Sara Crewe. Alice, the maid, encourages her to write to her absent friend to tell her about life at the school.
Imagine you are writing to Sara Crewe describing a typical day at your school.
2. In A Little Princess there is a poor hungry rat called Melchesidec who befriends Sara when she is banished to the attic. In Wishing for Tomorrow, Ermengarde looks after him when Sara has gone, and also makes friends with Bosco, next door’s pampered cat.
Imagine you are an animal who befriends a schoolgirl. Write a diary entry about a typical day spent with her at her school. Remember that you are writing from the point of view of the animal!
　

Second Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture

Photograph from left to right:Morag Styles, Reader in Children's Literature and Education at Homerton College, Cambridge/ Michael Rosen / Philippa's Pearce's daughter - Sally Christie and her son. Outside Homerton College where Michael Rosen delivered the second Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture - What is children's poetry for? : towards a new, but child-specific, 'Apologie for Poetrie' (Sir Philip Sidney, 1595). The 2010 lecture will be given by Michael Morpurgo at Seven Stories, The Centre for Children’s Books and the 2011 lecture by Philip Pullman, at Homerton College. For more details visit http://www.pearcelecture.com/

An excellent lecture - Michael Rosen overcame the poor microphone sound which gave a disconcerting hiss...

Booktrust Roald Dahl Funny Prize Shortlist

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under:

The Great Dog Bottom Swop by Peter Bently illus Mei Matsucka - Andersen
Octopus Socktopus by Nick Sharratt - Alison Green Books
Elephant and Joe is a Spaceman by David Wojtowycx - Alison Green
Crocodiles are the best animals of all by Sean Taylor illus Hannah Shaw - Frances Lincoln
Mr Pusskins best in show by Sam Lloyd - Orchard
The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg ilus Bruce Ingman - Walker

The Funniest Book for Children aged Seven to Fourteen:

The Galloping Ghost by Hilda Offen - Catnip
Eating things on sticks by Anne Fine illus Kate Aldous - Doubleday
Grubtown Tales: Stinking rich and just plan stinky by Philip Ardagh illus Jim Paillot - Faber
The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams illus Quentin Blake - HarperCollins
Purple Class and the half-eaten sweater by Sean Taylor illus Helen Bate - Francis Lincoln
Ribblestrop by Andy Mulligan - Simon & Schuster

Bill Bailey, one of the judges, comments: It was great fun judging the prize, mainly because the standard of the books was so high...it's so hard to choose between them, and at one point it got so tense we got through a whole plate of chocolate brownies..it's tough this judging lark.

Write Aways Second Conference

All Join In: Participation and Inclusion in Literacy a one day conference at the Leeds Hilton 23 October 09 from 9.30 - 4.00 for teachers and librarians. Details on www.writeaway.org.uk/index.php Reduced fee booking until the end of September.

Just Read Campaign

The initial meeting of the "Just Read" Campaign took place in early June. Stimulated by the BBC4 documentary, Just Read, which featured Michael Rosen working with a school in Cardiff, a group of authors, illustrators, retailers, teachers, literary agents, librarians, publishers and national literacy organisations gathered to discuss how a campaign could help all schools become book-loving schools.

Michael Rosen led the first session by asking "How can we defend reading for pleasure". Amongst the positives were that it creates empathy and understanding; provides fun; improves communication skills; stimulates the imagination. The meeting was against the overuse of extracts/worksheetsp; a negative or unenthusiastic attitude to books in class; judging children's reading; lack of communication between teachers/librarians and the industry.

It was agreed that a plan with clear steps that can be taken by groups and individuals should be created.

Further information about the campaign will be given on this blog as and when we hear of it!

And no this is not a late post...I've simply been waiting for a contact address for the campaign which has now arrived. So if interested contact justread@scholastic.co.uk