The Quiddity of Will Self by Sam Mills (previously an author of YA novels), reviewed by Nicholas Royle
The Quiddity of Will Self felt overlong, as most contemporary novels do, and a squeezed middle would have been to its benefit, not to mention a more thorough copy-edit, but the author's invention and enthusiasm - and the depth of her apparent obsession - are undoubtedly infectious. NICHOLAS ROYLE
Silver: Return to Treasure Island, reviewed by Andrew Motion
Silver is a deeply pleasing and convivial book. After years of dutiful service in his role as poet laureate, Motion seems to have entered into a new world of imaginative play and jouissance. As with Treasure Island, Silver is left open to the possibility of its own sequel, and surely no one would wish Motion to swallow the anchor. IAN SANSOM
E-Book Sales For Kids And Teens Surge
with some US stats...
The concept artist for Aardman film The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists, has been named winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.
Jonny Duddle's The Pirates Next Door - about a family of pirates who move to the quiet seaside town, Dull-On-Sea - picked up the £3,000 award on the same day the British animation, starring Hugh Grant and Salma Hayek, was released in cinemas.
The title was also named best picture book, winning Duddle an additional £2,000.
Liz Pichon's The Brilliant World of Tom Gates was named the winner of the best fiction award for children aged 5-12 and Jenny Downham the best teenage title for You Against Me.
Adults Should Read Adult Books
'll read "The Hunger Games" when I finish the previous 3,000 years of fiction written for adults,' says Joel Stein in the New York Times in a morceau de la provocation:
Let's have the decency to let tween girls have their own little world of vampires and child wizards and games you play when hungry. Let's not pump Justin Bieber in our Saabs and get engaged at Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland. Because it's embarrassing. You can't take an adult seriously when he's debating you over why Twilight vampires are O.K. with sunlight. If my parents had read "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" at the same time as I did, I would have looked into boarding school.
Kindle Touch Coming To UK
from The Telegraph:
The Kindle Touch introduces a touchscreen to Amazon's Kindle range for the first time, adding a touch-sensitive layer to the familiar e-ink black and white screen. It will sell for £109, compared to £89 for the standard Kindle. A version with 3G mobile access, allowing free downloading of books across the world, will retail at £169. Both models are available for pre-order now and will ship at the end of April. The Touch is already available in America. Amazon also announced that there are now over a million Kindle books, as well as a further million copyright-free electronic books available to all e-readers. The company said Kindle owners buy at least three times as many books as those who read only paper versions.
The winner will be announced by CILIP (Chartered Institute for Librarians and Information Professionals) at an event at the Barbican on 24 June.
Hachette Acquires Blyton Rights
The Bookseller reports:
Hachette UK has acquired worldwide rights in the Enid Blyton estate, excluding Noddy, from Chorion. Hachette Children's Books m.d. Marlene Johnson said: "I am absolutely delighted that we have acquired world rights to publish Enid Blyton. Hodder was her original publisher, so it is fitting that her whole portfolio has come home and will now be published and managed under one roof. We will be honouring existing contracts and will be in touch with licensees in due course."
Dark, Stylish and Well-written
From a new review of Caroline England's short-story collection, Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses
Buy on amazon.co.uk / Buy on amazon.com
I knew Achuka published children's fiction and was intrigued by their new adult fiction venture with a new author. The tales are dark, stylish, well-written with a neat twist in the tail... ...I look forward to more from the Achuka/Caroline England collaboration if they can deliver more like this. DONNA SAUNDERS, on Amazon
Today is Lady Day, or the Feast of the Annunciation, which falls this year precisely two weeks before Easter Sunday.
Bill Nagelkerke, author of ACHUKAbooks' launch title, The Field
In his masterful novella, The Field, he does this obliquely, through the character of a 12-year-old girl who begins to see visions of the Mother Mary, while she worries about her father who seems set to lose his job as groundsman at a sports stadium.
In Demons, likely to be his next book for ACHUKAbooks, Nagelkerke establishes himself as one of the few contemporary novelists writing directly about religion from the perspective of the Christian faith generally, and Catholic teaching in particular.
The Field is a unique book, so skillfully narrated in its first half, and just as skillfully assembled in its second half: a collected miscellany of newspaper articles, interview transcripts and other material.
This is just the right time of year to put such a book in front of any 10+ reader.
We will be publicising The Field extensively over the next two weeks, and promoting it as a 99c/75p download for the duration of the fortnight.
New Website: JulieIllustration
Illustrator Julie Parker has a new website, and very good it looks too, showcasing her wide-ranging portfolio.
It also has a mobile incarnation...
We the Animals by Justin Torres, reviewed by Patrick Ness
Torres's closest antecedent is probably the brilliant Junot Diaz. Not just in that both write about minority views of New York - Dominican for Diaz, Puerto Rican and gay for Torres - but also in their focus on the burgeoning anger of childhood. Unlike Torres, though, Diaz is unafraid to use both a wicked sense of humour and the burning filament of narrative to add blazing life to his work. Still, there is enormous potential evident in We the Animals. With a lighter touch, Torres could have some very interesting novels ahead of him. PATRIC NESS
Book trailer for The Power of Six, publishing 12th April
Amazon has released a major update to its Kindle app for Android, and it basically turns any Android phone or tablet into a Kindle Fire...
Write About Your Favourite Place In Scotland
Open to all ages...
Where is your favourite place in Scotland? What makes it special to you?
Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland want you to write about your favourite place in Scotland, whether it's a remote beauty spot or an urban hideaway, a famous landmark or a favourite cafe. Did you holiday there? Is it the place you got married? We want to get Scotland writing, inspired by our country's best-loved places.
Write a story, poem, song lyric, diary entry, letter or sketch about your favourite place, submit it on our website and your story could be appear in a book or be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland!
My Favourite Place in Scotland will run from 19th March to 21st August 2012, and in that time Scottish Book Trust wants to involve everyone in Scotland in building a written picture of Scotland's best-loved places.
Submissions should be made to the Scottish Book Trust website and can be written in a huge variety of different forms, such as a story, poem, song lyrics, a short play or sketch, a letter or even diary entry.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: "Exploring some of Scotland's wilder places has meant a huge amount to me over the years. Scotland holds some of the most magnificent landscapes in the world. My own submission is about my favourite fishing spot, a magnificent sea loch on Lewis. But equally, one might pick an urban hideaway, a famous landmark, or a favourite café or park as the place to write about, because Scotland is a country of great variety, interest and charm.
"My Favourite Place is about channeling the inspiration Scotland gives to its people into a written tribute to its treasures, both known and unknown. We are proud to give a platform to this celebration of Scotland through writing."
How About The Duff by Kody Keplinger?
Kody Keplinger wrote The DUFF when she was 17 and still at high school in America. The book was published in 2010 and was well-reviewed.
From the Press Release:
With a wry and tell-it-like-it-is voice, The DUFF is a witty and poignant story of a teenager struggling with the rules of high school attraction, along with the breaking down of her relationships with family and friends. It is a novel about what it means to be sexy, in a world where we feel we have to be perfect.
Tamara Leigh - Ebook Exclusive
An author who has successfully moved between both the mainstream and inspirational markets in traditional publishing, Tamara Leigh now lists her name among the many proven authors who've taken a new book into the realm of e-publishing on their own.
Dreamspell is currently exclusively available in ebook format:
from The Bookseller
Puffin will publish the seventh title in the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on 14th November this year. The series' author Jeff Kinney made the announcement at Bologna Children's Book Fair today (21st March), with the book to be released on the same date around the world. Penguin Children's Books m.d. Francesca Dow said: "A new Wimpy Kid book, the seventh, from Jeff is fabulous news. Everyone at Puffin is hugely excited and so will the millions of fans be! We're so proud to be the home of one of the biggest children's book brands and we have no doubt that the seventh book will be just as fantastic and funny as the previous six have been. "Watch out for our big plans!' The most recent book in the Wimpy Kid series was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever which was published in November 2011. Puffin reported ordering an initial print run of half a million copies for the title, the largest in the history of the publisher. The first Wimpy Kid title was recently crowned the Blue Peter "Best Children's Book of the Last 10 Years".
Penguin Children's Books has announced a global publishing deal for the critically acclaimed app, Whale Trail.
Eric Huang, Publishing Director, Media & Entertainment Group, has acquired publishing rights (world rights all languages) for Puffin. Created by digital design studio, ustwo, Whale Trail is a psychedelic, surreal and highly addictive flying game. Players control Willow the Whale through a magical rainbow world, dodge angry clouds and escape the evil Baron von Barry. Whale Trail also includes a soundtrack by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals.
Penguin Children's has pioneered creating book programmes behind digital brands (Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters, Skylanders). Partnering with ustwo to create the narratives for the books, a digital picture book will be released in October 2012 followed by further publishing - both digital and physical formats - in 2013. This collaboration between Penguin and ustwo marks the first publishing deal behind a brand that has debuted as an app.
Eric Huang said, 'I discovered Whale Trail from Gruff Rhys' music video. When I downloaded the app, I was hooked. There's something so fresh and cool about the art direction. I wanted to know more about Willow and his world and thought, we should publish a book! And since Whale Trail is a digital brand, it made sense to lead with an ebook.'
ustwo™ is a digital design studio that delivers pioneering user experiences as digital partner to the world's leading brands including Sony, Sony Ericsson, Intel, H&M, BBC, Turner and J.P.Morgan. Driven by their 'love digital' mission, they specialise in interaction & user interface design, app development and digital entertainment. They design multi-platform experiences across mobile, tablet, TV and beyond across a range of markets including mobile, consumer electronics, retail, entertainment, medical and financial.
Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Shortlist
The shortlist for the 22nd CBI (Children's Books Ireland) Book of the Year Awards was revealed today.
Each of the nine titles will compete for six awards, which include the innovative 'Children's Choice Award' voted for by ten junior juries located across the country. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held in May.
from Scoop.co.nz:
Kiwi (New Zealand) company Nabee Productions has released their first interactive children's book for the iPad and has already made it to No.1 on the Top iPad Books in New Zealand within a day of its release. Nabee, which means "butterfly" in Korean, takes its readers on a journey of metamorphosis through its lesson-filled books, breathing magic back into storytelling.
In-depth Salon feature by Lauras Miller exploring the behind-the-scenes story of the readers and booksellers who launched the Hunger Games franchise...
As of this writing, the first book in the Hunger Games series has been parked on the USA Today bestseller list for 132 weeks; the second, "Catching Fire," for 131. There are more than 16 million copies of all three books in print. Unlike the Harry Potter series, which was aimed (originally) at middle-grade readers, this is a young-adult epic with a particularly dark premise: In a future version of America called Panem, 12 districts subjugated by a central authority must each send a pair of their children to compete in a gladiatorial contest from which only one will emerge alive. In marked contrast to the swoony vampire romance of the Twilight series, the many harrowing action sequences in "The Hunger Games" make the books equally appealing to boys and girls.It's indicative of the balkanization of the reading world that if you don't have teenage children, you may not have heard of "The Hunger Games" until quite recently, despite the fact that for several years the book's success has rivaled that of "The Help" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Although both Harry Potter and Twilight have demonstrated that there's a sizable adult readership for some children's books, the genre is still (mostly) reviewed in separate publications, shelved in its own section of the library and often sold in separate stores. In fact, children's book publishing operates quite differently from its adult counterpart. And in many respects, that's a good thing.
With the right title, a kid's publisher can deploy something the world of adult publishing can only dream about: a large, well-oiled and highly networked group of professional and semi-professional taste makers who can make that book a hit even before it's published. This is what happened with "The Hunger Games"...
The Bookseller reprts:
Random House Children's Books has acquired two novels by debut novelist Amy McCulloch, who is also a commissioning editor at HarperCollins. Fiction commissioning editor Lauren Buckland bought UK and Commonwealth rights for "action-adventure fantasy" The Oathbreaker's Shadow, and one other title, by McCulloch, from Juliet Mushens at PFD.
IBBY Announces the Winners of the 2012 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award
After an intensive discussion the jury made its choice from the seventeen nominated projects (see below) and have announced that the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Awards for 2012 go to:
and
SIPAR, Cambodia
The IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award, initiated by the International Board on Books for Young People and sponsored by the Japanese newspaper company the Asahi Shimbun, is presented to projects run by groups or institutions that are judged to be making a lasting contribution to reading promotion for children and young people.
The Award is given every two years to two projects and presented to the winners at the biennial IBBY Congress. It was a difficult task for the current jury to choose two winners from the seventeen nominations as all the projects were of great merit and complemented IBBY's Mission Statement. Each nominated project targeted children who live in disadvantageous circumstances with no or little access to books. They are really Reading Promotion Projects!
The projects nominated for the 2012 IBBY-Asahi Award were:
Indigo (Orion) has announced the acquisition of two new novels from Annabel Pitcher.
Managing Director and Publisher, Fiona Kennedy acquired UK and Commonwealth Rights in a two-book deal from Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates.
Annabel's debut novel, MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANLTEPIECE was first published in March 2011 and has since been nominated for upwards of 14 regional and national awards including the CILIP Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Prize, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Red House Children's Book Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize and two Galaxy British Book Awards. It is published in 15 further territories around the world to date.
Annabel's second novel, KETCHUP CLOUDS will be published in November 2012.
The first book in the new two book deal will follow in 2014.
Annabel Pitcher, a 28 year old author from Yorkshire, who studied English at Oxford and who worked as a secondary English teacher before becoming a full time writer, says "I am over the moon to be offered a new two book deal with Orion and Indigo. I really feel as if I have found my home as an author and look forward to working with the superb team for many more years to come."
Publishers Weekly reports:
Amy Christine Parker closed a two-book deal with Suzy Capozzi at Random House Children's Books for her debut effort, The Silo. Capozzi bought world rights, for six figures at auction, from Lucienne Diver at the Knight Agency. The YA book, which is scheduled for fall 2013, follows a teenage girl named Lyla who has been living in a religious cult after the disappearance of her sister. While her parents are hopelessly under the sway of the group's leader, Pioneer, Lyla is drawn into a dangerous situation when she begins to question Pioneer's prophecy about the impending apocalypse.
Suzanne Collins: Vampire Slayer
Excellent piece about the author of The Hunger Games by Geraldine Brennan in The Observer:
The Hunger Games, which was published in 2008 and has spent more than 100 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, is the finest example of the new wave of highly girl-friendly dystopian young adult fiction that has been shining killer sunbeams into the dusty lairs of the vampire fictional menace. For the past few years, there have been several can-do heroines who would wipe their Doc Martens on the face of any vampire foolish enough to come near them.
Julia Churchill says Bologna is not the time and place for authors to pitch their books to agents:
Occasionally, an unpublished author will look to pitch their book. This is the one time of the year that we aren't open to such an approach. Those precious hours and minutes need to be devoted to those authors we already represent - the time is guarded ferociously. So if you're thinking of pitching your book to agents at a book fair, don't. You will get the wrong impression of our industry, and the people in it. Bologna for us is about giving 100% commitment to our authors, not sourcing new talent.
LA review Of Books Considers Problems Faced By Ebook Authors
This is an interesting piece, except that Joseph Peschel, the author only talks about self-published ebooks, and does not consider ebooks that have been through an editorial process and been published by a digital publisher, as in the case of ACHUKAbooks.
As MacRae and other established writers have started to change their minds on the indie-publishing question, some book section editors appear to be getting ready to adapt to a new world of publishing. The Times's Cowles, for instance, says, "We're keeping a close eye on developments in publishing and have had many discussions about how to handle the rise of electronic publishing and the possible move toward self-publishing among some established writers." Athitakis could see himself "reading and perhaps reviewing a self-published book if it spoke directly to some personal interest of mine, was written by somebody whose previous works I admired, or came very highly recommended by somebody whose opinion I respect." But for now, the Star Tribune's Hertzel is sticking with reviewing "good quality books from legitimate publishers." But "I think about this problem a lot," she admits, "as more and more people turn to self-publishing. I may change my philosophy at some point." Charles asks, "Will we miss some great books by ignoring self-published books? Of course. But we can't review anywhere near all the good books we want to review now. The last thing we need is another 100,000 galleys to consider every year."
What a pleasure to see the return of Margaret Mahy's 1978 The Great Piratical Rumbustification, with its splendid Quentin Blake illustrations and 13 lucky chapter titles
Wildwood by Colin Meloy, reviewed by Patrick Ness
The children's book world is particularly susceptible to dilettantes. Tooth-grindingly awful books by everyone from Glenn Beck to Madonna are bad enough, but even established adult novelists have made the mistake of thinking it's easy. Want to make a children's writer swear? Just ask them what they think of John Grisham's Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer.The latest to try his hand is Colin Meloy, singer and songwriter for The Decemberists, currently one of America's most literate and tuneful rock bands. Meloy's sister Maile is a fine novelist, and Meloy frère's songs are characterised not just by cheeky wordplay but an unexpected flair for narrative. Is that enough to make the leap? The answer is mostly yes. Wildwood is a warm, lively story that's fully committed to its 9- to 12-year-old intended readership and mercifully free of any winking towards indie rock hipsters. Though not without flaws, this is a real children's book that real children might like. PATRICK NESS
Lucy Popescu reviews Susanna Forrest's memoir in The Independent:
As a child it never occurred to me that my horsey existence might be the envy of pony-mad girls across the country. My late mother, Christine Pullein-Thompson, was the author of more than 100 children's books, mostly about horses. For pony-less children, such as Susanna Forrest, the Pullein-Thompson sisters and other writers such as Patricia Leitch, Monica Dickens and Ruby Ferguson, allowed them to indulge fantasies of owning and caring for a horse through their books.
With the film based on the first book in the trilogy about to be released, the Irsh Independent reviews the box set of the three books...
Just put a new selection out on our Adult Table:
Tony Bradman Has A New Website
Very good, no-nonsense layout and design, with ten navigation tabs:
home
As The Guardian celebrates the first birthday of the children's website, it picks out novels from the 10 most reviewed authors, from Michael Morpurgo to Enid Blyton...
Slideshow presentation
I've finished summarising every scene in Sterkarm 3, in different coloured inks, with emoticons, and many notes to self...
keren David blogs about the pinkness of the Queen of Teen Award, on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure...
A new selection on ACHUKA's Young Adult table:
@pippamasson, Literary Agent, On The Poer Of Tweeting
A piece about Pippa Masson, Australian literary agent and daughter of author Sophie Masson...
Alan Garner to conclude Weirdstone of Brisingamen trilogy
Boneland, the conclusion to a classic fantasy sequence Alan Garner began over 50 years ago, will be published in August...
Alison Flood writes about this in The Guardian.
From This IS Cornwall:
AN AUTHOR from Portreath has released two novels and is already making his mark on the e-book scene.Peter Sykes has sold thousands of copies since launching on Sunday With The Devil and Flying Babies....
Asked about the secret to his success, Mr Sykes said: "While most successful authors are selling e-books for around £7, I sell them at 77p.
"Famous novelists now have to prove that their books are ten times better than mine."
The Bookseller reports:
Random House Children's Books has acquired two picturebooks by McFly band members Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter. Publisher for children's colour and licensing Fiona Macmillan bought world rights through Stephanie Thwaites at Curtis Brown. The books will be illustrated by Garry Parsons. The first title is called The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas and will be published in October this year.
Rebecca Serle is a Huffington Post contributor and blogger, with a debut novel out at the end of next month.
Has an interest-grabbing tagline: "What if you were the girl Romeo loved - before he met Juliet?"
As the book's Prologue points out
: "If you read [Romeo & Juliet] closely, you'll realise that there was someone before Juliet ever came into the picture. Someone who Romeo loved very much. Her name was Rosaline. And Romeo went to the party that first night, the night everything began, to see her."It's a clever hook on which to pin a fairly typical triangular teenage love spat.
Meet Rosaline. She's in love with her best friend Rob and, when they finally kiss, she knows it's meant to be.
But then her cousin Juliet moves back to town. Beautiful, intriguing, and a little bit crazy Juliet - all the boys love her, and Rob doesn't stand a chance.
I've now passed 1.6 million units in ebook sales for my self published books.... says Barbara Freethy
11 Writing Tips From Children's Books
from The Huffington Post:
The books we read as children were written to teach us important lessons about various topics including friendship and bodily functions. But those same books can actually help us to be better writers. Here is a list of eleven children's books that still have value in a writer's adult years...
image slideshow
From the Christchurch Kids Blog:
Chris Haughton is the author and illustrator of a very funny new picture book called Oh No, George! It's all about a naughty dog who keeps getting into trouble and the story will have you laughing out loud. [Zac Harding] was lucky to have the chance to ask Chris some questions about his new book and his quirky, colourful illustrations.
Waterstones To Expand Their Children's Books Range Over The Summer
Waterstones is set to grow its children's range and space in stores over the summer independent publishers have heard at one of the most well-attended annual Independent Publishers Guild conferences to date. Speaking at a session on 'How to Work with Waterstones', at the IPG annual conference in Oxfordshire on Friday (9th March), range buying manager Sarah Clarke said children's books had seen growth in the industry lately and as a result the chain stores would be investing in the area over the next few months and into summer. Clarke said: "I think children's is a definitely an area of the business where we have seen growth over the last two-three years and where the market is most stable. We will continue to grow children's space significantly through quite a lot of stores throughout the summer. We want to give it more space and give booksellers more training in that department."
Where can I find books about diverse family set-ups?
The Guardian's Book Doctor, Julia Ecclashare, gives her response to:
what I really want is some books that show alternatives to the "mummy and daddy and baby" set up (eg daddy and daddy/mummy and mummy, or just mummy or just daddy, or grandparents), and alternatives to the all-male characters (The Hungry Caterpillar, Elmer, Spot etc, all animal books seem to be "he"!), and different ways of being a boy / being a girl, etc.
We're delighted to see the short story collection, Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses, doing so well in the Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store fiction charts.
Yesterday it had broken in to the Top 30 in the short stories category.
A fine achievement for a debut author in the first week of publication.
What's more, we're holding the low introductory price for a few more days.
Beetzie Author Fights To Save Her Home
As reported in Los Angeles Times:
For close to a year, [Francesca Lia] Block, author of the Weetzie Bat books, has been calling and talking to various representatives at Bank of America. Some call her back, some disappear, some give one answer, some another. She says she's underwater on the mortgage but has never missed a payment -- all she wants to do is renegotiate terms and save her house.
She has set up the Save Francesca's Fairie Cottage blog to help put pressure on the Bank of America to help her refinance her mortgage and save her home.
Four Of Top 10 Most Borrowed Books In Ireland By Jeff Kinney
According to the Irish Times
Despite the lure of iPads and Kindles, borrowing books from the library is still popular among the young, with six children's books in the top 10 most borrowed library books last year.More than 15 million books were borrowed from the State's 350 libraries last year, according to new figures on public lending in 2011 released by the Library Council.
Four of the top 10 most-borrowed books last year were by Jeff Kinney, including his most famous series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
It's bicentennial year for Edward Lear (200 years since his birth).
Michael Rosen rates him highy.
I think he is a fascinating, contradictory, problematic figure who produced some of the best nonsense poetry ever. He was original, out of the ordinary, sad, disruptive and at times utterly haunting.
Predictions Bolognese
A Guest Blogspot by Jeff Norton
[Jeff Norton is the founder of Awesome, a London-based creative incubator and author of METAWARS: FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE, which publishes in August from Orchard Books. www.jeffnorton.com www.alienatedbooks.com Twitter:@thejeffnorton]
Every March, the global children's book industry makes its annual pilgrimage to the city of pasta and prosecco. To get myself in the zone for this year's fair, I decided to enjoy a practice lunch of penne and prosecco in this past weekend's unexpected London sunshine. As I thought ahead to the fair, I wondered what big trends would emerge. I didn't have a crystal ball, but since the bubbles in my aperitif did possess a surprisingly clairvoyant quality; I could read them like tea leaves and forecast the trends of Bologna2012:
Dystopia is just getting started. This year's Bologna coincides with the launch of the first Hunger Games film from Lionsgate. This global coming out party for dystopian fiction will prove that March 23rd, 2012 will be for dystopia what November 21st, 2008 was for paranormal romance; the legitimising of a book-born multi-media genre. In today's punishing economic climate, tall tales of young people overcoming tyrannical or unforgiving futures make for optimistic reading. If Katniss Everdeen can defeat the Capitol, maybe I can afford uni or even get a job after graduation. I believe that clever "what if" scenarios will continue to capture our imagination and populate our bookshelves for several years to come. They make the state of current affairs seem positively peachy!
Transmedia Takes Off. Egmont's new Electric Monkey title "BZRK" has just hit bookshelves after a year-long transmedia incubation, beActive Media's new "Beat Girl" project is taking a transmedia approach to building a franchise, and Fremantle's fish-out-of-fashion-water "Threads" is shaping up to be a cross-continent winner. With conferences and consultancies like Alison Norrington's Story World, Liz Rosenthal's Power to the Pixel, and Sophie Rochester's The Literary Platform all exploring this burgeoning space, there are simply too many clever and creative people playing in this sandbox for something not to break out. As a storytelling paradigm, transmedia is still in its infancy, but with practitioners and godfathers such as Starlight Runner's Jeff Gomez and ARTE's Michel Reilhac exploring the rules of this new road, transmedia is starting to find its feet as a credible approach to spinning a yarn.
Orion Children's Books have announce acquisition of DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH, MOON?, from Francesca Simon and illustrator Ben Cort.
Orion Children's Books MD and Publisher, Fiona Kennedy, secured a deal for world rights with Rosemary Sandberg for Francesca Simon's text and direct with the artist, Ben Cort for the illustrations to the picture books, which is scheduled for a summer 2013 publication.
2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award - The Shortlists
Five authors and five illustrators have been selected from 57 candidates submitted by 32 national sections of IBBY for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. The award, considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, is given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature. The winners will be announced on Monday, March 19th at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
The five short-listed authors in alphabetical order are:
María Teresa Andruetto from Argentina
a master of creating sensitive books, which are deep and poetic and relate to a great variety of topics.
Paul Fleischman from the USA
makes an innovative and unique contribution to the literature for children. The jury especially appreciated his ability to create characters and to integrate music in his work.
Bart Moeyaert from Belgium
presents subtle depictions of strong characters by evoking poetical atmospheres using a language that combines both humour and seriousness.
Jean-Claude Mourlevat from France
writes for children and teenagers on many different levels, from poetic prose to fantasy or to realism; music is a constant source of inspiration for him.
Bianca Pitzorno from Italy
uses imaginative and diverse texts to share complicity with her readers, using humour and a skilful construction of characters.
The five short-listed illustrators in alphabetical order are:
Mohammad Ali Beniasadi from Iran
uses different techniques, colour and a subtle sense of humour in his work.
John Burningham from the UK uses delicate irony mixed with innocence and high seriousness that with his use of line and colour, creates an intimacy with the reader.
Roger Mello from Brazil
tells the reader about popular culture, old legends and the traditions of Brazil by his skilful use of expressing emotions by using brilliant colours and images that are full of meaning.
Peter Sís from the Czech Republic
has an extraordinary originality and uses his powerful
imagination to create complex and well-documented stories using different design and artistic techniques.
Javier Zabala from Spain
has the great ability to transform graphical language into narrative signs through complex, intuitive and detailed representations.
John Shelley has a new (Carbonmade) website and it looks rather good!
Take advantage of the low introductory price on ACHUKAbooks' latest publication and download a fine collection of short stories for under a pound/dollar.
Be the first to review Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses on Amazon and we will reward you with three free ACHUKAbooks. You can choose to have the three titles already published, or save your free copies until new titles are released.
What if you get pipped to the post? Don't worry, the second reviewer will get two free ebooks.
Benedict Freedman, whose first novel, "Mrs. Mike" -- based on the true story of a young woman's life in the Canadian wilderness at the turn of the century -- was a sensation after it was published in 1947 and inspired a Hollywood feature film, died on Feb. 24 at his home in Corte Madera, Calif. He was 92.
A really interesting two-way conversation on the subject of ebook pricing between Matthew Ingram and Laura Owen.
Highly Recommended
ACHUKAbooks is excited to announce publication of its first title for adults, a superb collection of short fiction from a new author, Caroline England.
These are brief, finely-hued cameos, filled with quirkiness and cruelty. The ebook will appeal to anyone who enjoys fiction that offers short glimpses of life and situations.
A novel by Caroline England will appear later in 2012.
cover design by Lotte Klaver
Soonchild by Russell Hoban, reviewed by Tony Bradman
Tony Bradman finds this story by Russell Hoban imbued with a wry strangeness;
Will Self has said that he found Hoban in person to be "wry, gentle and wise", and those are the very words I'd use to describe his second-to-last book Soonchild (a picture book is due out from Walker in the autumn, and the RSC is staging a play based on The Mouse and His Child). Mind you, it's pretty strange too. TONY BRADMAN
Andrew Motion: Return To Treasure Island
Motion, who has written a sequel to Stevenson's classic novel, analyses the original:
At the same time, [the ending] leaves one question hanging in the air unanswered. Silver's question. Were Jim, the Captain, the doctor, the Squire and their apparently virtuous colleagues right to go after the treasure as they did? Although not murderous and slippery like their crew, were they in fact contaminated by the same greed and (as we would call it these days) materialism? The ripples of these thoughts travel a long way, and soon touch other questions about imperialism, oppression and domination. They mean that before long we are no longer looking at the silhouette of Treasure Island from the deck of the Hispaniola, but standing beside Charles Marlow in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, staring at the Congo wilderness.
Last week, animation and children's entertainment developer m4e AG announced their plan to move forward in the production of a new computer animated series based on a successful line of Italian children's books. The book series, Topo Tip (trans. "Tip the Mouse"), is a simple property for preschool and early education readers that combines the whimsy of a little mouse child with the curious expanse of the world around him. According to Munich-based m4e, the CG series looks to have much of its construction handled by Italian animation production and financing outfits.
There are dozens of illustrated books in the Topo Tip series, published in Italy by Giunti Editore SpA. Tip is a little mouse that lives in a little house; his caring family on one end, and an interest in learning more about the world on the other.
Glasgow's AyeWrite Literary Festival opened yesterday and runs throughout the week up to Saturday 17th March...
See the website for full programme, including children's and family events.
Jan Needle writes on his blog:
After much pain and headscratching,I've finally got Skinback Books up on the road. The first six titles are available on Kindle, with some of them also on Smashwords for people with different devices. But none of them will set you back a pound...Four of the books are mine - two new, two reprints - and two are by my friend Barry Purchese, double Bafta award winning TV playwright who's now pitched himself into prose. Very shortly 'J' by Margaret McCann will hit the virtual streets as well. That one, I promise you,is a real eye-popper.
The IPG Independent Publishing Awards
Congratulations to Nosy Crow and Constable & Robinson for multiple successes...
All fourteeen winners:
IPG Independent Publisher of the Year: Constable & Robinson
The Bookseller Trade Publisher of the Year: Constable & Robinson
IPG Academic & Professional Publisher of the Year: SAGE
IPG Children's Publisher of the Year: Nosy Crow
IPG Education Publisher of the Year: Jolly Learning
IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year: Osprey Group
IPG Newcomer Award: Nosy Crow
The London Book Fair International Achievement Award: Woodhead Publishing
Nielsen Innovation of the Year: Nosy Crow
IPG Diversity Award: Barefoot Books
Ingram Digital Publishing Award: Constable & Robinson
The Frankfurt Book Fair Digital Marketing Award: Top That! Publishing
IPG Young Independent Publisher of the Year: Andrew Furlow, Icon Books
GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award: Adrian Driscoll
AVAILABLE VERY SOON!
Publishing this weekend...
Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses by Caroline England [ACHUKAbooks]
Available on the Kindle store... readable on any device...
A memorable debut collection of short stories.
Please note this is not a children's or Young Adult book. It is ACHUKA's first title for an adult readership.
We are still inviting submissions. Please check our FAQ at www.achuka.co.uk/achukabooksfaq.php
from the Daily Mail:
The rise of e-readers - such as Kindle - is thought to be behind a slump in sales of the printed novel in the UK, figures have revealed.In the first eight weeks of 2012, Britons bought 7.6million printed novels - almost two-and-a-half million fewer than books bought in the same period in 2011.
Capturing The Past - Vivid Appeal of YA Literature
Interesting blog post and comments here...
Cameos of quirks and cruelty that will delight all those who find the short story form appealing...
ACHUKAbooks#4
WATCHING HORSEPATS FEED THE ROSES by Caroline England
publishing this weekend.
cover design by Lotte Klaver
AVAILABLE NOW
The Field by Bill Nagelkerke
Mental by Sherry Ashworth
The Baby Universe by Tim Johnstone
PUBLISHING SHORTLY
Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses by Caroline England
NZ Award Now With Children's Book Category
New Zealand writers who have explored themes within the mind, body, spirit genre are encouraged to enter their work in the 2012 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Literature Awards.
The Awards recognise both budding and published writers by offering three of the largest prizes awarded for literature in New Zealand, including a brand new category for 2012: the Children's Book Award.
Submission forms and entry details are available from The New Zealand Society of Authors national office, phone: 09 379 4801, e-mail: office@nzauthors.org.nz or post: PO Box 7701, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141.
as reported in Galleycat:
Random House Children's Books is publishing 13 eBooks from children's author Judy Blume. The first 10 books will be available on March 21st in the U.S. and Canada.This includes classic books like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Deenie; Blubber; and Tiger Eyes. Later this year, Random House will release eBook editions of The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, Freckle Juice, and The Pain and the Great One, a picture book.
Blume had this quote in the release: "This is an exciting day for me. I'm happy that my readers, many of whom have been patiently waiting, will now be able to choose which format works best for them to enjoy their favorite books."
The Arithmetic of Ebook Lending
Interesting - but definitely heavy on numbers and data - analysis of Ebook Library Lending....
Latest Blog Stop For Mister Creecher Author
Chris Priestley chats about his top five Frankenstein-inspired movies on The Pewter Wolf blog...
New Three-Book Deal For Young Sherlock Author
from The Bookseller:
Macmillan Children's Books has acquired three titles from its Young Sherlock Holmes author Andrew Lane, which focus on the hunt for valuable endangered creatures. MCB associate publishing director Polly Nolan bought world rights from Robert Kirby at United Agents to the three novels in The Lost World series. MCB will publish a title a year from May 2013 as £5.99 paperback originals and as e-books. It is planning a "major marketing and publicity campaign".
Nosy Crow has four books selected for The Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge.
Nosy Crow Shortlisted For Four Awards
NosyCrow crows:
We are shortlisted for THE IPG CHILDREN'S PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR AWARD. The judges said, "Nosy Crow, a new arrival in children's publishing, is shortlisted for its books and apps that bring reading alive for children and parents. Judges especially liked its high production values and close customer engagement. What Nosy Crow has achieved in just two years is phenomenal. Its marketing has been faultless and its publishing is full of energy."We are shortlisted for THE IPG NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AWARD. The judges said, "Nosy Crow is in contention in this category after demonstrating impressive commercial success after just two years in existence. Judges liked its twin focus on books and apps and admired its sense of ambition. Nosy Crow has produced a string of beautiful books and apps in a very short space of time. It has picked up impressive sales from a standing start."
We are shortlisted for THE LONDON BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. The judges said, "Nosy Crow impressed judges with its ambition to sell its books and apps around the world right from its launch rather than relying on the UK. They admired its imaginative efforts both to promote export and co-edition sales and to sell its apps in north America. It is a great example of a company looking at a changing market and adapting itself very quickly to it."
We are shortlisted for the THE FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR DIGITAL MARKETING AWARD. The judges said, "Nosy Crow impressed for its efforts to establish the Nosy Crow brand among readers, suppliers and other partners, making full use of websites, microsites, email, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube among other platforms. Nosy Crow has made very good use of technology and has wholeheartedly embraced the digital market."
ACHUKA has just learned that there was a special book launch on World Book Day last week..
The Goggle-Eyed Goats, wirtten by Stephen Davies, illustrated by Christopher Corr and published simultaneously by Andersen Press and Gallimard Jeunesse, was launched it at the Rowley Gallery.
Can You Concentrate On Flaubert?
from a piece by By JULIE BOSMAN and MATT RICHTEL in New York Times:
Can you concentrate on Flaubert when Facebook is only a swipe away, or give your true devotion to Mr. Darcy while Twitter beckons?People who read e-books on tablets like the iPad are realizing that while a book in print or on a black-and-white Kindle is straightforward and immersive, a tablet offers a menu of distractions that can fragment the reading experience, or stop it in its tracks.
E-mail lurks tantalizingly within reach. Looking up a tricky word or unknown fact in the book is easily accomplished through a quick Google search. And if a book starts to drag, giving up on it to stream a movie over Netflix or scroll through your Twitter feed is only a few taps away.
That adds up to a reading experience that is more like a 21st-century cacophony than a traditional solitary activity. And some of the millions of consumers who have bought tablets and sampled e-books on apps from Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble have come away with a conclusion: It's harder than ever to sit down and focus on reading.
Scholastic [US] App For Ebooks
Scholastic Inc. is developing an app called Storia, which includes around 1,300 e-books and multimedia e-books that can be bought directly from the publisher or from retailers. Such favorite picture series as "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "Ready, Freddy!" will be in digital format for the first time. The app also will feature games, quizzes, interactive stories, an e-dictionary and a virtual book shelf that kids can organize.Scholastic Media president Deborah Forte says the idea is to make e-books "more accessible and more relevant."
A beta version will become available Tuesday for teachers and families who buy through the Scholastic Book Clubs and other Scholastic sales channels. Storia is expected to launch for the general public in the fall, when it should have more than 2,000 books.
Forte said Scholastic sees the app "as a way to support reading and something that's just plain fun."
The app is free and will be available first at scholastic.com/storia, then on iTunes later this month. Those who download the app will get five free books, including two multimedia selections. Forte says the e-books should range in price from $1.95 to $20.
Puffin are publishing a novel on a topical theme next month.
From the press release about the novel:
Being an intern has never been so popular or competitive... Just ask intern alumni Tom Hanks, Stella McCartney or Steven Spielberg. The subject of internships is highly topical and often contentious, but with graduate unemployment soaring, is work experience the only way to get ahead in an increasingly competitive job market?'As I stood soaking it all in, my nerves were momentarily replaced by a rush of excitement: I was at the heartbeat of music.' Jay Merchant has landed an internship for the best job in music television. He has access-all-areas to the biggest VIP parties and the hottest celebrities all over the world. The velvet rope has been lifted and now he's got to capture it on camera. But behind the scenes, Jay is thrown into a life of early starts, late nights, blood, sweat and tears. He has six months to turn his intern dream into a real job - but at what price? It's time to face the music...
Dillon Khan was born in London, a city that educated him with a rich mix of music. He has been a music journalist since graduating from university, after which he spent eight years making shows about music, lifestyle and youth culture at MTV. In his collection he has 4,786 CDs, 3,669 tape cassettes, 6 vinyls, one 8-track and counting.
Find out more at www.theintern.co.uk or follow Dillon on Twitter - @dillonkhan
Only 6 vinyls?
Have Orion found their new Michelle Paver? They hope so...
Orion Press release: - 5th March 2011
Orion Children's Books are delighted to announce the acquisition of SUNCATCHER and two other novels by debut author Sheila Rance. World rights in three books were secured by Orion Children's Books MD and Publisher Fiona Kennedy.SUNCATCHER is Sheila Rance's debut children's novel. It won the annual United Agents' Prize for the most promising first 15,000 words of a children's novel and was written in 2010 while she was completing the final year of her MA in Children's Literature at Bath Spa University.
SUNCATCHER is dazzling entertainment for the 9+ market. Inspired by the Bronze Age and set in the Far East the series is set to capture the hearts and imaginations of readers of all ages.
Book I, SUNCATCHER will publish in April 2013.
Sheila Rance says of the acquisition:
"How do you write a shriek of delight, bubbles of excitement, the granting of the third wish? It's how I felt when Orion and Fiona Kennedy decided that they loved Suncatcher and wanted to add it to their wonderful children's list. Stories want readers, writers want publishers and it's my incredible good fortune to have found both at Orion. To sign with them in their 20th year in publishing is very special. I'm really excited by the next steps in the Suncatcher adventure and the prospect of writing the second story."Fiona Kennedy says of the acquisition:
"It's nearly ten years ago that we launched the first book in a series about a Stone Age boy and his wolf-cub companion by an author whose name was, at the time, not known in the world of children's books, but who went on to become a global success. Books like those don't come along very often, but I believe they have again with Sheila Rance's amazing debut, Suncatcher. In her own very distinctive voice she conjures a story rich in character, exotic in time and place with an intriguing, sweeping and seamlessly entertaining plot. I'm thrilled to be publishing her work."
For further information, please contact Nina Douglas on 020 7520 4318 or email nina.douglas@orionbooks.co.uk
Telegraph feature about Jeff Kinney, Wimpy Kid creator...
"Kids think of my books as comics, at the end of the day. I used to think Greg was a literary character, one who grows up and moves on. And now I've realised that the DNA of the series is in comics and the best cartoon characters don't grow up. "So I definitely feel like there are more to be written."
That'll please his fans!
Children's literature expert Turan Mirhadi honored
Turan Mirhadi, veteran researcher and co-founder of the Children's Book Council, was honored during a ceremony held at the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia last week.Organized by the Women's Association of History Researchers, a group of literati including the Iranian Children's Book Council director Nushafarin Ansari, library science expert Zohreh Qaini and professor at the University of Tehran Abbas Horri attended the ceremony held on Wednesday.
Ajwan by Noura Al Norman
It was back in September 2009 that The National reported that teenage fiction in Arabic "doesn't exist". Publisher Dareen Charafeddine, of the Sharjah-based Arabic publishing house Kalimat, said: "If you find any [such books], they are very traditional. Nobody knows how to write for this age group. Children's literature in general isn't very developed in the Arab world."It was due to this lack of so-called "young adult" science fiction novels in Arabic that Noura Al Noman first decided to write her own. She scoured bookshops in search of suitable books in Arabic for her daughter and found none, and so her novel Ajwan was born.
"For something to be popular, it has to first exist. If you look for English novels in the genre, you'd find plenty, and I believe it is popular - it was popular for me when I grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But if you look for Arabic sci-fi then you will find that it is virtually non-existent," said Al Noman.
Just how hard [self-editing is] becomes clear a few sentences into Only the Innocent. Abbott's whodunnit about the murder of a man with a fetish for red-haired women is entertaining enough, but it's crying out for a second pair of eyes.
Would have been good to have had an example...
ACHUKA has been a fan of these since the series kicked off with A Dog Called Grk.
We have every confidence that the latest title, Grk And The Phoney Macaroni, will be as good as its seven predecessors.
Not sure about the programme's title, but the content (with numerous interview clips) of this half-hour BBC Radio4 documentary is indispensable for anyone interested in the history of children's books.
A survey of the shift towards realism in children's fiction during the 1970s.
Just available in paperpack, John Agard's reimagining and modernisation of Dante's Inferno, fabulously illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura.
Extracted from the poet's Introduction:
... it struck me that since Dante was interested in the everyday Italian heard in the street, and since teenagers are so wired to the world of horrror movies, science fiction and video games, then they would feel quite at home with the virtual reality of Hell described by Dante with such magisterial and architectural precision. There you'll find your ascents and descents, your walkways and fortified gates, your spiralling levels not unlike a multi-storey car park....
... though The Young Inferno is told in 13 cantos IDante's Inferno has 34) I hope that 13 sounds about right for a teenager and is in keeping with Dante's regard for the magic of numbers.
Opened a new batch of Orion Indigo titles this morning.
The YA imprint, announced a year ago, is now in full swing, with four new titles joining the already well-established list this month.
The carousel also shows books #2 and #3 in Holly Black's 'Curse Workers' sequence, of which White Cat is the first title.
Amazon Biographies To Be Sold Outside The Kindle Store
An announcement of a new series of short biographies contained the information that the ebooks will be made available on other sales platforms rather than being kept exclusively to the Kindle store.
The Lancashire Book Award Shortlist, 2012
Malorie Blackman 'Boys Don't Cry'
Joseph Delaney 'The Spook's Destiny'
Chris Higgins 'He's After Me'
Charlie Higson 'The Dead'
Mike Lancaster '0.4'
Cliff McNish 'The Hunting Ground'
Zoe Marriott 'Shadows on the Moon'
Robert Muchamore 'People's Republic'
Annabel Pitcher 'My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece'
Karen Wallace 'Emerald'
Bullet Boys by Ally Kennen, reviewed by Anthony McGowan
McGowan doesn't find Kennen "at her peak" in this novel but begins with this perceptive introduction:
Times are hard for writers of realistic fiction for teenagers. The siren call of vampires, werewolves and zombies offers the chance of hot sales and crossover success. For those not tempted by the supernatural, the future beckons in the form of withered dystopian landscapes in which a teenage heroine can battle with crossbows against mutants, while you wait for the film money to roll in. Even Y/A novels with a contemporary setting tend to involve kids unexpectedly finding themselves to be secret agents, Ninja hitmen or cyborgs.And yet, despite the market's indifference, much of the finest teen writing of recent years - books by Meg Rosoff, Keith Gray, Mal Peet, Phil Earl, Bali Rai and Catherine Bruton, among others - has been broadly within the realist fold. And perhaps no one has caught the intensity and mystery of the teenage experience quite so well as Ally Kennen.
Slate To Introduce Monthly Book Review Feature
Slate will introduce a monthly book review on Friday, the latest expansion of literary criticism online as stand-alone book review sections in newspapers have dwindled.The section will nearly triple the number of book-related articles that Slate publishes, covering fiction, nonfiction and the occasional children's book.
Dan Kois, a senior editor in the culture department, will oversee the book review, which will use a mix of staff writers and freelancers to produce author interviews, essays and multimedia pieces, as well as reviews.
The Ebook Landscape As Walled Garden
This makes really interesting reading...
Blue Peter Best Children's Book Top Ten
Not a bit surprised the Wimpy Kid has come out on top.
The books are never on the shelves of our library. As soon as one child returns, another borrows. One of the titles has a waiting list 28 names long! The books appeal to boys and girls equally.
World Book Day - ACHUKAbooks Celebrates
ACHUKAbooks is celebrating its first World Book Day with another special Kindle promotion.
Each of our first three published titles is available for 24hr free download starting at 8am on World Book Day morning UK time (midnight US West Coast time).
The Field by Bill Nagelkerke, a novella about a 12-year-old girl who says that she has seen the Virgin Mary. It reminded me of Robert Cormier, and I didn't hesitate to publish it.
Mental by Sherry Ashworth, is a novel about a young man's psychotic breakdown and the effect this has on his younger sister and a mutual friend. An exciting pageturner of a read, already picking up highly positive Amazon rewviews.
and our most recent title, The Baby Universe by Tim Johnstone, a children's book for 7+
When Jim's grandmother asks him to look after something she calls a 'Baby Universe' he doesn't know what to think. Can it really be what she says? And what about her claim that an alien will be coming to collect it? Jim soon finds himself wishing he'd never got involved. And then things take a turn for the worse. Much worse...
Exciting science fiction adventure married to a charming narrative style.
Really looking forward to seeing what reviewers think of this.
Our 4th title is nearly ready to go to e-press. Something completely different. A short story collection for adults by a new author, Caroline England.
Follow @achuka on Twitter so you don't miss offers and announcements.
What Would Children's Authors Give Away On World Book Day?
To celebrate World Book Day, Melanie McGilloway, aka LibraryMice, asked a selection of children's authors and illustrators to let her know which book they would choose to give away to children ( à la World Book Night) to give them the "reading bug". Many thanks to those who have so kindly agreed to take part!
Check out the full list. I particularly liked this:
Ted Dewan would give every child a small red passport-sized blank Muji notebook to do a comic diary for a few weeks.
"Cool Stuff" For World Book Day
There are some great resources on the World Book Day website, and a live webfeed during the day...
And another poll...
Ready for another list?
To celebrate World Book Day, Lorna Bradbury (deputy literary editor of the Telegraph) presents a list of 50 books child must have...
