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.