thisisDevon : Western Morning News : News : BOOK BY FARMER'S WIFE IS A LITERARY
"Demand for a novel written by a farmer's wife from Cornwall has reached as far afield as Australia, with copies of the book fetching up to ?1,000. Lucy Cockcroft reports A FARMER'S wife turned author has fast become a literary phenomenon with her first novel changing hands at more than ?1,000 a copy, prompting major publishers to bid for her work."
see also this Sunday Times news report
BBC Radio 4 - Factual - Desert Island Discs -Judith Kerr
Sunday 29 February
Repeated
Friday 5 March
This week Sue?s castaway is Judith Kerr - a writer and illustrator known to generations of children both for her charming Mog picture-books and for her careful rendering of the life of a Jewish child fleeing Nazi Germany.
Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week
The Sprog Owner's Manual by Babette Cole
"Illustrated with Cole's typically energetic caricatures and full of cheekiness, invention and hilarity, not to mention poo, worms and smelly feet, this book is an exhilarating romp in which children can identify their own characteristics, both naughty and nice." NICOLETTE JONES
Unfortunately, Jill Slotover's reviews in the Financial Times can no longer be read online, except by the FT website's paying subscribers, so I can do no more than alert people to them.
In today's FTmagazine, Slotover commends the following:
Stripes Of The Sidestep Wolf by Sonya Hartnett
"Hartnett is an elelgant, eloquent writer and her laser-sharp observations of internal personal battles and the claustrophobic life of a small town are astute, atmospheric and deeply moving."
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
"Boyce has a rare gift for sophisticated comedy..."
Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman
"Compelling, shocking and utterly chilling..."
Unique by Alison Allen-Gray
"Allen-Gray writes in an easy, readable style, raises stimulating questions, and offers a plot that keeps you hooked throughout."
Desire Lines by Jack Gantos
"A short, deceptively simple novel that gets into the heart of a vulnerable teenager and highlights the evils of withc-hunts."
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Letters: Feb 28
Oo-er, seventeen authors, no less, line up to defend The Guardian against what they see as my unfounded criticism of peer reviewing.
When I got wind, a little over ten days ago, that this mini petition was being prepared, I could scarcely believe it. It does reveal, I think, the inherent insecurity of children's authors. It is very hard to imagine, for example, that had my letter referred to adult book reviews it would have generated the formation of a cabal.
It is perplexing to me that novelists whose craft involves the daily analysis of human sensibilities should apparently dismiss my reservations about peer reviewing so straightforwardly. I was not implying that critical peer reviews are necessarily motivated by envy or grudge (though it is naive in the extreme to suggest that children's authors are above such things); I did mean to imply - more articulately in my ACHUKACHAT clarification than in the letter, to be fair - that the subjects of critical reviews, or even of harsh critical comments within broadly positive reviews, may well impute such motives and therefore complicate the professional relationship between themselves and the reviewer.
I've just read Darren Shan's contribution to the Peer Reviews discussion thread on ACHUKACHAT and recommend it.
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Paperback writer: Eoin Colfer
In a highly amusing article, Eoin Colfer describes why his World Book Day title does not feature a three-legged horse named Tripod:
...The man thumped the table, causing my Lord of the Rings figurines to hop off the Formica.
"The farting, Colfer! The farting, OK? We want the farting dwarf."...
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | A galloping romp
Diane Samules reviews Blood Red Horse by K. M. Grant:
"a soundly researched, well-structured story with a western liberal outlook, which serves in a rather prosaic fashion to remind the reader that the current tensions between west and near east go back a very long way indeed" DIANE SAMUELS
A production manager for Hodder Children's Books has made the longlist (from over 1,500 entries) for Lit Idol, a competition for unpublished authors.
"Tom Easton (London), Jennifer's Friend
I am 32, living in Blackheath, London. I work for Hodder Children's books as a Production Manager. I love books and enjoy my current work, but I'd love to be able to make a living as a writer."
An appreciation of South African children's book illustrator Tom Feelings, who died last year:
Remembering Tom Feelings
"Feelings believed black children needed to see affirming images of themselves and their African heritage....'
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Off the shelf
Babar's Gift by Beverley and May Naidoo, ill. Karin Littlewood
"This is a story about how, when the racism is right inside your family, compassion and keeping the blinkers on can defeat the prejudice far more effectively than aggression. And it all ends up with a picture book newly published by Puffin with no white faces at all..." DINA RABINOVITCH
"New Line Cinema has acquired rights to develop the best-selling German children's author Cornelia Funke's hotly pursued novel Inkheart as a potential kids fantasy franchise..."
The best section of the recently-revamped BOOX website is the search page. The sixteen search criteria - from Bereavement to Stress - can be further refined with a supplementary criterion.
BOOX 9 (the print magazine) is now available. Features and quizzes include: Cover Story - should you ever judge a book by its cover?, I'm a book character, let me out!, Soul Mates - work out who, Double Vision - books you loved so much you read them twice, interview with Kate Thompson, Mystic Numbers - what your numbers say about you plus celebrities talk books.
To see the full range of Reading Agency resources go to: www.readingagency.org.uk
A third track sample ('Dancing By Myself') from 'When We Were Twins' by Tanuja Desai Hidier and her three supporting bands, has been added to the main page, and 'Born Two' has been extended.
EducationGuardian.co.uk | eG weekly | The lessons of war
"Pupils with a growing appreciation of literature's vast horizons will fall on these anthologies, and they'll be equally valuable in developing approaches to creative writing." LINDSEY FRASER
Fear And Trembling ed. Kate Agnew intro. Kevin Crossley-Holland
Love And Longing ed. Kate Agnew intro. Jacqueline Wilson
[previous ACHUKA Choice title]
"Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children dedicated to the mission of creating high quality children's books that celebrate diversity, has entered into a multi-book publishing program with Whoopi Goldberg."
New York Post Online Edition: entertainment
Please Don't Kill The Freshman by Zoe Trope
"...a 17-year-old girl whose book "Please Don't Kill the Freshman," written under the pen name Zoe Trope, has won raves from writers like Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer..."
Telegraph | News | Kipling's 'missing Stalky and Co chapter' found in school library
"Kipling intended it to be the first chapter of Stalky and Co, one of his most popular children's books, published in 1899..."
Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week
Last Train From Kummersdorf by Leslie Wilson
"...a tale about Germany%u2019s resistance to Hitler, of kindness amid horrors, of a fantasy coming miraculously true, and of growing tenderness between the two teenagers.... NICOLETTE JONES
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Stephen Cartwright
Stephen Cartwright, illustrator 1947-2004
"Cartwright will probably be best remembered for his illustrations in Farmyard Tales, written by Heather Amery, and for his tiny trademark duck, which can be found lurking somewhere in virtually all the pictures."
The Times - Mad magician in search of rain
The toughness and realism underlying all Fisher's fantasies is what makes them believable as well as wholly absorbing and aesthetically pleasing, says Amanda Craig
The Archon by Catherine Fisher
I can remember once saying something rather unflattering about a piece of Amanda Craig's journalism, but as The Times reviewer of children's literature she is becoming increasingly worth reading. This is an excellent 4-column, single-title review with a read-on panel clearly researched by Craig herself.
Recommended
Herald Sun: Delta to star in her first film [21feb04]
19-year-old Delta Goodrem - actress, popstar and tennis player Mark Philippoussis' girlfriend - has said she is excited to be making her actressing comeback in the lead role of a movie based on the hugely successful young adult novel by Robin Klein...
The Best Answer (washingtonpost.com)
"Yo, Mr. R -- we gonna read today?" A battered copy of a young-adult novel called The Giver materialized from the depths of his baggy jeans pocket as the 11th-grader sauntered into English class at Mount Vernon High School...
So begins a long and well-written article in the Washington Post about a US teacher's disillusionment with the climate of testing. Altohugh it's American, the piece will ring many a chord with those who teach or study in UK schools.
Recommended
"...I should have known what was coming as soon as I saw the chicken wings. We had to raise our scores, she told us.
One way to do that, she said, was "bell-to-bell teaching": Every child's fanny in a seat from the moment the bell rings until the end of class 90 minutes later....
As I drove home from school after that faculty meeting, the trees along the George Washington Parkway cast straight shadows like a bar code. I imagined myself being scanned at some giant checkout counter, an unseen hand ringing up the "product" it was now my duty to "deliver." I pulled over at my favorite spot overlooking the Potomac, where there was a view about which I had composed a line of poetry every morning on my commute for the past decade...
I've discovered that, even though I'm working with more privileged kids, some things are just the same. Like the warm fuzzy teacher feeling I got last week when one of my eighth-graders walked into class clutching a young-adult mystery called Ghost Canoe and asked, "Mr. R, can we read today?"
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Children's fiction: Feb 21
Julia Eccleshare reviews Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby | Sideways Stories from Wayside School | Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader
Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby by Natlie Jane Prior
"...knockabout and unstartling, but it offers countless opportunities for being bold and taking on new challenges. There is much charm in the stories, which are effortlessly readable."
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
"...Each story is refreshingly different, some more moralising than others, but all predicated on a benign view of pupils, teachers and their foibles...."
Agent Z Meets The Masked Crusader by Mark Haddon
"...a welcome reissue of an earlier series for young readers."
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Someone to watch over me
Philip Ardagh reviews Graham Marks's How It Works in Guardian Review.
"Children's novelist Malorie Blackman was the highest-placed living black writer in the BBC's Big Read poll. Nicholas Tucker talks to her about love, hate and race..."
Highly recommended
The New York Times: Movies: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
NYT Film Review
"Tweeners - that audience of adolescent girls caught between Nickelodeon and MTV - are the demographic target of this Walt Disney production starring the apple-cheeked Lindsay Lohan."
FilmJerk.com - Film Review: "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"
Film Review: "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"
Written 02-19-2004 by BrianOrndorf at FilmJerk.com
"I am continually impressed by young actress Lindsay Lohan's ability to charm. But her latest effort, 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen' is strictly for the 16-year-old-girl demographic. Anybody outside of that audience will have a tough time swallowing the film's liberal and careless chopping of its source material. and complete absence of logic... ..."
Boston.com / Your Life / House & Home / For this children's author, pet hedgehog says it all
At home with author Jan Brett and musician Joseph Hearne
By Karen Campbell, Boston Globe Correspondent, 2/19/2004
"When author and illustrator Jan Brett needs inspiration for one of the delightful animal characters populating her award-winning children's books, she need look no further than her own backyard. Four ducks, two roosters, and 11 hens (including six exotic Chinese Silkies) share a split-level henhouse, complete with heated pool and classical music. Brett's menagerie also includes an adorable African pygmy hedgehog, her totem animal. It appears in every book the 54-year-old New York Times best-selling author writes, often tucked discreetly on a border as a little visual game for her most discerning young readers... ..."
Recommended
Malorie Blackman's Knife Edge is featured in a 2 x half-page spread in the current edition (Feb 23) of TIME Magazine.
The article is headlined "Sharper Image - with Knife Edge, writer Malorie Blackman tests the outer limits of kid lit".
The piece is predominantly a journalistic feature, giving readers a bit of background on the UK young adult fiction scene and then talking about Blackman's role as a black author. The writer, Michael Brunton, does finish with a paragraph of criticism:
"As literature, Knife Edge is a bit of a let-down, sagging with serial indignities where Noughts & Crosses was taut with sheer indignation. For example, Sephy's attempt to cut it as a singer in the noughts' underground music scene feels peripheral (and lyrically, she's no Eminem)."
This is legitimate critical comment because it's related to a specific aspect of the book, and shows that you do not require huge chunks of direct quotation to justify a point.
It's not a point Blackman will relish reading, but she'll be delighted with the global exposure.
How many UK children's authors, besides J. K. Rowling, have made an appearance in TIME Magazine? Does anyone know?
CBC News:Children's author racks up impressive numbers
"[J. Fitzgerald] McCurdy's trilogy about a group of Ottawa kids' adventures in the tunnels under the Parliament buildings have sold over 80,000 copies in the last three years."
McCurdy books are not currently available in the UK.
MPR Books - "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
'Kids' edition of Talking Volumes from Minnesota Public Radio.
This link features a 53 minute radio interview with the author of Coraline.
Not to be missed.
Best sequence is just towards the end when Neil answers questions from two girls in the audience, one about 'winging it' when writing a story, the other about having nightmares.
Look for this link in the left-hand panel:
AS HEARD ON
Talking Volumes,
February 15, 2004
The author discusses Coraline with Katherine Lanpher and the Talking Volumes audience at the Fitzgerald Theater. Featuring the music of Folk Underground.
LISTEN
STUFF : ENTERTAINMENT : BOOKS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Brief report about Mercury Bay non-fiction author Andrew Crowe, who is a finalist in this year's New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
One of the things that seems to have touched a nerve in my letter to the Guardian is my use of the word 'hierarchy'. Am I, I thought to myself, completely barmy in thinking that a notion of hierarchy can be applied to children's literature in the same way that it can be applied to general literature? And even if it can, am I, I thought further, completely out-of-order using the term in 2004?
So I was somewhat gratified to find this recent review, by Brian Morton in the Sunday Herald, of Iain Finlayson's biography of Browning, in which Morton writes:
"Feminist revisionism has attempted to put Barrett above Browning in the literary hierarchy. She was the more natural and in some respects the more polished talent, but she is also unmistakably a slighter poet. Browning?s other unexpected resemblance to a writer like Norman Mailer is that he is first, last and always that very thing: a man who writes and who works out his meaning as he writes. Browning recognised one of the differences between his and his future wife?s work. ?You speak out, you ? I only make men and women speak.? He was right, but that was his strength and her weakness."
________________________________________________
An argument could be made for thinking that the notion of hierarchy is only useful when applied to literataure of the past. Certainly, hierarchies are fluid things, open to periodic revision. But children in a classroom are acutely aware of their comparative talents and abilities in the here-and-now, however much a teacher may avoid overt reference to them. That's not something people grow out of.
EducationGuardian.co.uk | eG weekly | On your marks...
Dyslexia by Althea Braithwaite
"In Dyslexia, six children explain the different implications of the condition, including the dismissive and thoughtless labelling that has preceded their diagnosis. " LINDSEY FRASER
EducationGuardian.co.uk | eG weekly | The results of our ghost story competition
"In the fourth Guardian/Piccadilly Press short story competition, teenagers were invited to create the perfect ghost story. Over 1,000 were submitted, a list of 20 strong contenders was drawn up, and then I joined the other judges - writers Helen Dunmore and Cathy Hopkins, and Brenda Gardner, publisher of Piccadilly Press - to decide on the 10 best stories, which will be published later this year by Piccadilly Press."
JOANNA CAREY
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Martin Booth
by the poet Alan Brownjohn, containing the perplexing "Altogether Booth published 13 novels (including two he disowned, but excluding five works of fiction for children)."
A curious bestseller - Books - www.theage.com.au
There have, of course, been many features about Mark Haddon, but this one, by Mike Shuttleworth and published in Australia's The Age, is undoubtedly one of the best.
Highly recommended
Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week
Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman
"...although there is much that is brutal here, it is really a cautionary tale about choice and the danger of nursing anger. This makes it a humane story that will help the cause of tolerance." NICOLETTE JONES
ACHUKA's Malorie Blackman interview update, in which she speaks about the writing of Knife Edge, will be online tomorrow, Monday Feb 16th.
In the wake of my letter to The Guardian and additional blog comments, I have opened a new discussion topic - Peer Reviewing - on ACHUKACHAT, to debate the following:
Does the encouraging of a critical fray amongst authors in a community as intimate as that of children's books in the UK, whilst being diverting for mediawatchers such as ACHUKA, risk damaging the geniality of children's publishing?
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | The pied piper of Kingston
Massive Guardian Profile of Jacqueline Wilson by Claire Armitstead:
"The most borrowed author in UK libraries, Jacqueline Wilson has written almost 70 books for children. She began writing for teenage magazines and her success as a novelist has been built on often harrowing tales of girls surviving family breakdown and bullying, written with humour and telling detail..."
Highly Recommended - includes anecdotes from her (girl)friend since schooldays, Chris Wiltshire.
Telegraph | News | Martin Booth
"Martin Booth, the writer who died on Thursday aged 59, cast his net wide as a novelist, biographer, children's author and social historian..."
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Review: The Cup of the World by John Dickinson
In Guardian Review Jan Mark reviews
The Cup of the World by John Dickinson
"The whole book is a luminous animation of those misleadingly termed Flemish Primitives: detailed, glowing rich and unforgettable." JAN MARK
The Review also publishes a letter from me [scroll down ot 'It's not child's play'] concerning the recent spate of negative reviews by peer group authors. It's an unsatisfactory letter, foolishly submitted late at night, and fails completely to make the point that prompted me to write - namely a concern that encouraging a critical fray amongst authors in a community as intimate as that of children's books in the UK, whilst being diverting for mediawatchers such as ACHUKA, might not be such a good idea for the general health of children's publishing.
The woman who runs rings round Harry Potter
By Penny Wark
"Jacqueline Wilson's books for children sell at a rate of 100,000 a month and today she is Britain's most borrowed author, beating J. K. Rowling into a distant 42nd place. What is her secret? This author finds children and how they cope with problems more interesting than adults..."
