August 2012 Archives

Walker Books UK has announced that Polly Dunbar's Tilly and Friends, a 52 episode series based on her characters, will premier on CBeebies on 19th September 2012.

Originally published in 2009, the series of books starring Tilly and her animal friends has been highly popular. To support the TV launch this September Walker Books will release all six titles as midi editions (Hello Tilly, Happy Hector, Pretty Pru, Where's Tumpty?, Doodle Bites, Goodnight Tiptoe; priced £3.99)

Walker Books will further the Tilly publishing programme in August 2013 with the release of 4 brand new TV tie-in titles.

Tilly is a little girl who lives with her best friends - Hector the playful pig, Tumpty the gentle elephant, Doodle the apple loving crocodile, Tiptoe, the little rabbit who loves to twinkle and Pru the fabulously glamorous chicken.

Tilly's world is one which children will be able to relate to and where friendship is at the heart of everything. Tilly loves having her friends around her and always makes time for them with all sorts of imaginative play, discovering the joys and challenges of friendship.

The series comprises 52 episodes of 11 minutes and encourages creativity in a world of everyday adventures. Made by JAM Media and Walker Books Productions with creative production from Polly Dunbar herself, the series examines the true values of friends and the essence of real love and friendships.

Walker and Jam have already signed territory deals with 14 international broadcasters including France 5, TV Ontario in Canada and ABC Australia, ensuring Tilly and Friends reaches the worldwide audience it deserves, rights are being sold by Aardman Rights.

Polly Dunbar studied illustration at Brighton Art School and now lives and works in the city. She is the author and illustrator of Penguin, Dog Blue, Flyaway Katie and Tilly and Friends, as well as collaborating with her mother, the distinguished author Joyce Dunbar, on the picture book Shoe Baby. She is also the illustrator of My Dad's a Birdman, written by David Almond, and Here's a Little Poem, an anthology of poems for very young children.

The TV show Tilly and Friends was made in complete collaboration with Polly, she has acted as Associate Producer on all 52 episodes from conception through design and animation.

Are Self-Published Authors 'Lazy'

'Indie' Authors react angrily to aspersions cast by Sue Grafton.
Alison Flood reports...

What Is Steampunk

The Guardian's book doctor, Jullia Eccleshare, explains....Steampunk is a genre which includes elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history and horror. The word was coined in the 1980s and it is generally applied to books set in an alternative history - as Gideon the Cutpurse is - in which steam power is widely used. Anachronistic technology is an essential feature of steampunk and, despite it not having been identified by then, both HG Wells and Jules Verne are now described as steampunk authors...

and then gets Marcus Sedgwick and Mal Peet to amplify.

Maggot Moon

Published Today

"Dazzling, chilling, breathtaking. A perfect book" Meg Rosoff

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, one of the lead children's books titles of the Autumn.

ACHUKA is giving away a signed copy.

Follow us on Twitter @achuka, and retweet our Maggot Moon tweet to enter thr draw.

From the Press Release:

How To Make An iPad iBook

Follow Shoo [Rayner] as he makes an iPad iBook. He is going to document all the various stages involved including research, reference, sketching, planning, illustrating, design on iBooks Author and integral video production.

KDP Select Figures

Figures reported by thenextweb.com...

Just 24 hours after it shared the news that its Prime shipping service is now more popular than its free Super Saver delivery option, Amazon has followed up with the news that titles exclusive to its Kindle marketplace have been downloaded over 100 million times.

Amazon says that its Kindle store now features 180,000 exclusive titles and its users have either bought, downloaded or borrowed them from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which provides free downloads for its Prime subscribers for an almost infinite amount of time.

The company has achieved the milestone in less than a year, helped by thousands of authors that have made their titles exclusive to Kindle via Amazon's KDP Select program. The company is quick to point out that books published under the KDP Select program in July have received 77% more royalties from paid sales than before they enrolled.

Who Inherits Our Digital Libraries?

As I begin using iTunes properly for the first time (now that I have an iPad) the same thought has occurred to me...

Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more complicated.
And one's heirs stand to lose huge sums of money. "I find it hard to imagine a situation where a family would be OK with losing a collection of 10,000 books and songs," says Evan Carroll, co-author of "Your Digital Afterlife." "Legally dividing one account among several heirs would also be extremely difficult."
Part of the problem is that with digital content, one doesn't have the same rights as with print books and CDs. Customers own a license to use the digital files--but they don't actually own them.

Morris Gleitzman - Planner or Pantser?

Interesting post about a talk session with Morris Gleitzman on the Alpha Reader blog of Danielle Binks:

Now, on the mechanics of how he writes. Penni Russon asked if he considers himself a 'planner' or a 'pantser' (fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writing) Morris really loved this term, and called himself "a planner with pantser moments." He always starts by meeting  characters in his imagination, and will often spend 1-2 years 'getting to know them' until his relationship with them develops, just like a real friendship (interesting to note that he often has 2-3 story ideas circling his head at any given time, but he *writes* them one at a time). He did mention that the needs of the novelist VS needs of the characters can often be at loggerheads. As a writer who becomes 'friends' with his protagonists (and even says the collective 'us' when talking about them) he would love nothing more than for them to have a problem-free life, free of heartache and struggle. But really, as a novelist he needs to put those characters through hardships and write those BIG problems. It's the push-pull of being safe, or writing a good story.

•    He plans by writing 2-4 pages of chapter notes, which covers the character's emotional and physical journey (he picked up this planning habit from scriptwriting, where every minute of screen-time costs lots of $$$ so every scene has to be vital). He will often re-write and draft these chapter notes 10 times.

•    Gleitzman likes to think of his chapter plans as a road-map; that in the actual writing process he might go 'off-road', meander down a pretty side-street or take a shortcut, but if he ever gets lost he can refer to those notes and know where he was always meant to be to get back on track and retrace his steps. But he also noted that "some people are just pantsers from day-one" and it's okay that not all people are planners. But he did make a valid point that whereas he writes about three drafts, the pantser authors he knows can write up to 11 drafts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&smid=tw-share

An appallingly instructive New York Times feature on the way online book reviewing has become a marketing game.

http://www.readings.com.au/news/shortlist-for-the-2012-inky-awards-announced#.UDsrIkA60V8.twitter">2012 Inky Award Shortlist

The Inky Awards are Australia's teen-choice awards as voted for by readers of Insideadog.

The 2012 judging panel consisted of four teenagers from around Australia, author James Moloney and industry expert Danielle Binks. Together they have selected five Australian titles (Gold Inky), and five international titles (Silver Inky), for the 2012 shortlist.

Gold Inky

• Shift by Em Bailey
  
• Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar
• Act of Faith by Kelly Gardiner
• Queen of the Night by Leanne Hall
• The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams

Silver Inky

• BZRK by Michael Grant
  
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The winner will be announced on October 24.

Nina Bawden - Obituary

The Guardian's obituary, published 22 Aug 2012

LA Times Q&A Sessioin With Mo Willems

Mo Willems' picture books are notable for their off-beat charm. In one, a pigeon attempts to drive a bus. In another, an elephant discovers the one thing worse than having a bird on your head is having two birds on it. Next month the Massachusetts-based author keeps the laughs coming with "Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs," in which he substitutes chocolate pudding for porridge and imports a dinosaur from Norway. We caught up with the multiple Caldecott Honor winner to chat about his newest project.

Michelle Paver

A Guardian 'Life In Writing' profile by Alison Flood.

Paver's new book, Gods And Warriors, has just been published.

Her new novel, Gods and Warriors, launches her second children's series. This one is set in the bronze age Mediterranean, around 1500BC, and is filled with the colours, sounds and scents of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. It follows the adventures of Hylas, an "Outsider", rejected from his village, living alone with his sister on a hillside tending goats when terrifying black-clad warriors attack and the pair are separated. This first book is his quest to find his sister; in it, Hylas meets Pirra, the 12-year-old daughter of a high priestess, who disfigures her face to avoid an arranged marriage.

Paver has been climbing active volcanoes, meeting dolphins and knapping obsidian to get everything right (she's just back from a research trip to Milos, where her lack of skill at knapping - shaping stone tools - meant that she "left a libation of blood" behind). "You have to be there, to realise what things mean for characters," she says. "I've climbed Stromboli when it's erupting, which is quite a heavy climb, three hours with a helmet to get to the top. When you're there and it's dark and you can see this eruption and feel it, it's quite different to watching it on TV. I've got Hylas in my head because I know roughly what's going to happen, and I'm there, I can feel the grit, I'm coughing it up for days afterwards. So it's fun, but it also allows me to feel the story.

Guardian Review

Picture Book roundup by Julia Eccleshare

Blink & Caution

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones - trailer from achuka on Vimeo.

Just reviewed: Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones.
Highly Recommended

BBC Website Announces Death of Nina Bawden

Nina Bawden, author of The Peppermint Pig and Carrie's War has died.

She was a very fine author and one who could never be accused of writing overlong novels.

(ORION) INDIGO ACQUIRES DEBUT NOVELIST, TESS SHARPE, IN TWO BOOK DEAL

In a deal for UK and Commonwealth rights, Amber Caravéo, Editorial Director at Indigo acquired FAR FROM YOU and another stand alone novel, by American debut author, Tess Sharpe, from Julia Churchill at the Greenhouse Literary Agency.

FAR FROM YOU is a gripping mystery debut told in flashback by the main character, Sophie. Tess brilliantly interweaves Sophie's memories of her murdered friend, Mina, with the riveting story of Sophie's efforts to track down Mina's killer.

Tess Sharpe will be published in the US by Disney Hyperion and UK publication is set for spring/summer 2014.

Alan Garner - A Life In Writing

Excellent profile by Alison Flood, published in last Saturday's Guardian Review...

Boneland, Garner's long-awaited new novel, is published at the end of the month:

50 YA Titles - Many new ones added

1.
The Field (ACHUKAbooks)
ACHUKAbooks
ACHUKAbooks launch title
2.
Mental (ACHUKAbooks)
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3.
The Duff: The designated ugly fat friend
Kody Keplinger (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
4.
Out of Sight, Out of Time
Ally Carter (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
5.
Dark Heart Surrender: Will Love tear them Apart this Time?
Lee Monroe (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
6.
People's Republic: A new hero, a new mission (CHERUB)
Robert Muchamore (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
7.
The Intern
Dillon Khan (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
8.
A Waste of Good Paper
Sean Taylor (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
9.
Dark Inside
Jeyn Roberts (Paperback - May 24, 2012)
10.
The Glimpse
Claire Merle (Paperback - Jun 1, 2012)
11.
Puppet
Eva Wiseman (Paperback - Apr 19, 2012)
12.
1.4
Mike Lancaster (Paperback - May 7, 2012)
13.
Hexbound: A Novel of the Dark Elite
Chloe Neill (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
14.
Soul Beach (Soul Beach Trilogy)
Kate Harrison (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
15.
Deadly Hemlock
Kathleen Peacock (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
16.
Unrest
Michelle Harrison (Paperback - Apr 26, 2012)
17.
Sweetly
Jackson Pearce (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
18.
Dive Bombing
Bernard Ashley (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
19.
Slated
Teri Terry (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
20.
Changeling
Philippa Gregory (Hardcover - May 24, 2012)
21.
The Baby And Fly Pie
Melvin Burgess (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
22.
Bad Tuesdays 6: The Spiral Horizon
Benjamin J. Myers (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
23.
DEBUTANTES
Cora Harrison (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
24.
Envy
Elizabeth Miles (Hardcover - Aug 30, 2012)
25.
Hav3n
Tom Easton (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
26.
Ibarajo Road
Harry Allen (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
27.
Student
David Belbin (Paperback - Sep 24, 2012)
28.
Call Down Thunder
Daniel Finn (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
29.
Whisper
Chrissie Keighery (Paperback - Jul 1, 2012)
30.
Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society)
Ally Carter (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
31.
Emma Hearts LA
Keris Stainton (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
32.
Grave Mercy
Robin LaFevers (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
33.
At Yellow Lake
Jane McLoughlin (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
34.
Midwinterblood
Marcus Sedgwick (Hardcover - Oct 6, 2011)
35.
Next
(Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
36.
The Vampire of Highgate
Asa Bailey (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
37.
The Night Sky in My Head
Sarah Hammond (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
38.
The Treasure House
Linda Newbery (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
39.
Shelter (Mickey Bolitar)
Harlan Coben (Paperback - Jun 21, 2012)
40.
Wentworth Hall
Abby Grahame (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
41.
The Gathering Dark: The Grisha 1
Leigh Bardugo (Paperback - May 17, 2012)
42.
The Probability of Miracles
Wendy Wunder (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
43.
The Black Lung Captain: Tales of the Ketty Jay
Chris Wooding (Paperback - Jun 9, 2011)
44.
Dark Thread
Pauline Chandler (Paperback - Jul 1, 2012)
45.
Soul Fire (Soul Beach)
Kate Harrison (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
46.
Goliath (Leviathan)
Scott Westerfeld (Hardcover - Sep 29, 2011)
47.
Love at Second Sight
Cathy Hopkins (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
48.
Everneath
Brodi Ashton (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
49.
Hollow Pike
James Dawson (Paperback - Sep 6, 2012)
50.
Rage Within (Dark Inside)
Jeyn Roberts (Paperback - Aug 30, 2012)
add comm

Whether you buy your books online, or want to know what to ask for or look out for in your local bookstore, ACHUKA aims to be a helpful book selection tool.

Here's our updated Fiction table selection:

The above slideshow will not be viewable on ipads or similar devices, so here is the list of featured titles:

1.
The Abominables
Eva Ibbotson (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
2.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Catherynne M. Valente (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
3.
Skating Sensation (Dork Diaries)
Rachel Renee Russell (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
4.
Chantel's Quest For The Silver Leaf
Oliver Neubert (Paperback - Mar 15, 2012)
5.
Rancour (Rancour Chronicles)
James McCann (Paperback - Mar 15, 2012)
6.
Call Me Drog
Sue Cowing (Paperback - Apr 1, 2012)
7.
School For Villains (Tumblewater)
Bruno Vincent (Paperback - Apr 12, 2012)
8.
Mystery Horse
Jane Smiley (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
9.
Murder & Chips (Jiggy McCue)
Michael Lawrence (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
10.
Muddle Earth Too
Paul Stewart (Paperback - Apr 26, 2012)
11.
White Dolphin
Gill Lewis (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
12.
The Comic Cafe
Roger Stevens (Paperback - Apr 5, 2012)
13.
The Nightmare Factory
L. A. Jones (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
14.
The Treasure House
Linda Newbery (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
15.
Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg)
Geoff Rodkey (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
16.
Eddie and Fenda (Monster Swap)
Jonny Zucker (Paperback - May 3, 2012)
17.
Theodore Boone: The Accused (Theodore Boone 3)
Hodder & Stoughton
18.
Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior
Andy Briggs (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
19.
Tiger Wars (The Tiger Wars)
Steve Backshall (Hardcover - May 24, 2012)
20.
The Case of the Good-Looking Corpse: The P. K. Pinkerton Mysteries 2
Caroline Lawrence (Hardcover - Jun 7, 2012)
21.
Black Tide (Kelpies)
Caroline Clough (Paperback - May 24, 2012)
22.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Ian Fleming (Paperback - May 24, 2012)
23.
Adventure Island 9: The Mystery of the Smugglers' Wreck
Helen Moss (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
24.
Adventure Island 10: The Mystery of the Invisible Spy
Helen Moss (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
25.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 1: Flies Again
Frank Cottrell Boyce (Paperback - May 24, 2012)
26.
Fright Forest (Elf Girl and Raven Boy)
Marcus Sedgwick (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
27.
The London Stone: The Nowhere Chronicles Book Three
Sarah Silverwood (Hardcover - Jul 12, 2012)
28.
The Case of the Deadly Desperados: The P. K. Pinkerton Mysteries 1
Caroline Lawrence (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
29.
Soldier Dog
Sam Angus (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
30.
Maze Running and Other Magical Missions (Kelpies)
Lari Don (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
31.
The Fire Ascending (The Last Dragon Chronicles)
Chris d`Lacey (Paperback - Sep 6, 2012)
32.
The Grimm Legacy
Polly Shulman (Paperback - Sep 6, 2012)
33.
Firelight
Sophie Jordan (Paperback - Sep 6, 2012)
34.
Vanish (Firelight)
Sophie Jordan (Paperback - Sep 6, 2012)
35.
The Demon Notebook
Erika McGann (Paperback - Sep 3, 2012)
36.
Raven Hearts (Kitty Slade)
Fiona Dunbar (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
37.
ParaNorman (Paranorman Film Tie in)
Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
38.
Ribblestrop Forever!
Andy Mulligan (Paperback - Aug 30, 2012)
39.
The Apothecary
Maile Meloy (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
40.
Codename Quicksilver 1: In the Zone
Allan Jones (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
41.
Codename Quicksilver 2: The Tyrant King
Allan Jones (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
42.
Duty Calls: Battle of Britain
James Holland (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)
43.
Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian
Eoin Colfer (Hardcover - Jul 10, 2012)
44.
Mortal Chaos: Deep Oblivion
Matt Dickinson (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
45.
Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs
Michael Gerard Bauer (Paperback - Jun 1, 2012)
46.
Not Just the Blues (Cordelia Codd)
Claire O`Brien (Paperback - Jun 7, 2012)

Greenhouse Funny Prize Winner

The Greenhouse Agency has announce the winner of their inaugural 2012 Funny Prize:

SQUISHY MCFLUFF, THE INVISIBLE CAT by Pip Jones

These titles reached the shortlist:

PORRIDGE, THE TWO FACED PARROT by Stella Ralfini

I CAN FIT A WHOLE TIN OF BAKED BEANS IN MY MOUTH, AND OTHER FIBS NANA TOLD IN ASSEMBLY by Swapna Haddow

HEDGEROW CALAMITY FACTION by Liam Mullone

MY FAVOURITE TOY IS BOGEY by Lech Mintowt-Czyz

THE ART OF KISSING FROGS by Eve Ainsworth

A YETI ON THE LOOSE by David Macphail

TV RUINED MY LIFE by Claire Wetton

Pip Jones wins an offer of representation from the Greenhouse and a full weekend ticket to the Writers' Workshop Festival of Writing that runs from 7-9 September 2012 (worth £525).
The winner will also be presented with a bottle of champagne at the Festival's gala dinner on the Saturday night.

ACHUKA congratulates Julia Churchill for her enthusiastic online promotion of the award.

Our updated selection of recent picture books, with apologies to ipad users and others unable to display Flash slideshows - we're still working on making our content more accessible to tablets and smartphones...

1.
I Spy with My Little Eye
Edward Gibbs (Paperback - May 1, 2012)
a really pleasingly designed picture book for early years
2.
Foxly's Feast
Owen Davey (Paperback - May 1, 2012)
wordless picture book
3.
Missing Mummy: A book about bereavement
Rebecca Cobb (Paperback - Apr 12, 2012)
subject theme: bereavement
4.
The Fishing Trip
Béatrice Rodriguez (Hardcover - Jul 1, 2012)
delightful wordless tale
5.
The Best Singer in the World
Ulf Nilsson, Eva Eriksson (Hardcover - Apr 1, 2012)
Highly recommedned offering from this Swedish author-illustrator team, about overcoming stagefright
6.
The Birthday Cake Mystery (Gecko Press Titles)
Thé Tjong-Khing (Hardcover - Apr 1, 2012)
a wordless detective story
7.
Azzi In Between
Sarah Garland (Hardcover - Jun 18, 2012)
refugee theme
8.
My Grandpa
Marta Altes (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
9.
Farmer Clegg's Night Out
Peter Bently (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
exuberant humour from the winner of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize
10.
Melric the Magician Who Lost His Magic
David McKee (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
Can Melric get his magic back in time to protect the kingdom?
11.
Flotsam
David Wiesner (Paperback - Jul 5, 2012)
paperback edition of this wonderful wordless, Caldecott winner about a boy who discovers an ancient underwater camera while beachcombing
12.
When Dad Was Away
Liz Weir (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
theme: parent in prison
13.
It's Not Fairy
Ros Asquith (Hardcover - Jul 5, 2012)
feisty fairy on a mission given the feisty Asquith presentation - highly enjoyable!
14.
Me and My Cat
Ekaterina Trukhan (Hardcover - Jun 7, 2012)
debut picture by by Russian illustrator who trained at Camberwell College of Arts
15.
The Story of Little Billy Bluesocks
Sibylle Von Olfers (Hardcover - Sep 20, 2012)
the Prussian author-illustrator's first book, published in 1905, and lovingly reissued by Floris Books
16.
Lily the Little Princess
Daniela Drescher (Hardcover - Sep 20, 2012)
first published in German in 2008 as Pia, die kleine Prinzessin
17.
Rosalind and the Little Deer
Elsa Beskow (Hardcover - Sep 20, 2012)
a large selection of Elsa Beskow books is available from Floris Books
18.
Eddie's Toolbox: And How to Make and Mend Things
Sarah Garland (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
2010 title now out in paperback - Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week - check out Eddie's Garden and Eddie's Kitchen
19.
The Pirate House
Rebecca Patterson (Paperback - Aug 2, 2012)
bold comic-style illustrations from someone described as 'a rising star in children's picture books'
20.
Night Sky Wheel Ride
Sheree Fitch (Hardcover - Jun 14, 2012)
by one of Canada's leading children's poets, illustrated by Yayo
21.
The Tomtes of Hilltop Farm
Brenda Tyler (Hardcover - Sep 20, 2012)
Brenda Tyler approaches her tale of little people coming to the rescue of a farm threatened with closure in a satisfyingly traditional style
22.
Matilda's Cat
Emily Gravett (Hardcover - Aug 2, 2012)
A new book by Emily Gravett, hooray! The fun here is in the cat's varying expressions of disdain and displeasure up until the final huglovin doublespread
23.
Naughty Kitty
Adam Stower (Hardcover - Jul 1, 2012)
followup to Silly Doggy!
24.
Bob and the Moon Tree Mystery
Simon Bartram (Hardcover - Sep 1, 2012)
fabulous new edition to Simon Bartram's Bob series
25.
The Magical Life of Mr. Renny
Leo Timmers (Hardcover - Aug 1, 2012)
Gecko Press publish this art-thmed book by a Belgian author-illustrator - with nods in the direction of Rene Magritte
26.
Grandpa Green
Lane Smith (Hardcover - Aug 2, 2012)
a garden hands down memories from grandfather to grandson through the shapes of topiary trees - a Caldecott Honor book
27.
Showtime for Billie and Coco
Tor Freeman (Hardcover - Aug 2, 2012)
animal talent school bursting with tutus, tantrums and talent
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Gecko Press is a New Zealand publisher specializing in English language versions of books from around the world.

ACHUKA is a great admirer of what they do, and recommends three of the latest Gecko titles.

First off, The Birthday Cake Mystery by The Tjong-Khing, an Indonesian author/illustrator now working in the Netherlands. This is a wordless look-and-find detective story, filled with humorous details and red herrings. Not a word printed anywhere, but bound to evoke lots of questions and conversation.

The Fishing Trip by Beatrice Rodriguez is another wordless book about a seafaring chicken. It's a book that makes good use of its long thin landscape format.

Lastly, The best singer in the world by Ulf Nilsson & Eva Eriksson about someone who is a great showman in front of little brother, but is filled with stagefright when it comes to performing on stage. This one has lots of words (English translation by Julia Marshall) and is infectiously appealing.

Check out our other How About suggestions...

Six-figure US Book Deal for New York Times Bestselling Author, Catherine Fisher

Hodder Children's Books have announced a 'six-figure' deal for Catherine Fisher's new sequence, The Chronoptika.

Andy Sharp, Group Rights and Digital Director for Hachette Children's Books, brokered the three book deal with Dial in the US.

Dial, which is part of the Penguin Group, will publish the first book in The Chronoptika sequence, The Obsidian Mirror, in winter 2013, a year after its UK publication in October 2012.

Dial has previously successfully published Catherine Fisher's Incarceron and Sappique both of which made the New York Times bestseller lists.

From the Press Release:

Andy Sharp, Group Rights and Digital Director for Hachette Children's Books, says: "We're really excited that Dial will be publishing The Obsidian Mirror in North America. Dial has been brilliantly successful with Catherine's previous books - both Incarceron and Sappique were New York Times bestsellers - so we should have another bestseller on our hands next year!"

Catherine Fisher's previous sequence, The Oracle, was a highly acclaimed international success, shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Award in the UK, and for the Bram Stoker Award in the US.

Hodder Children's Books are excited that Catherine Fisher's The Obsidian Mirror will become a sequence of books and that Dial are on board to publish the first three in the US.

About Catherine Fisher:
Catherine Fisher is an award-winning fantasy writer and New York Times bestseller. The Oracle was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award, The Conjuror's Game for the Smarties Award, The Snow-Walker's Son for the WH Smith Mind Boggling Award, and The Candle Man won the Tir-Na-n`Og Award. Author of many books for children and two volumes of award-winning poetry, she is particularly well-known in Wales and in 2011 was named as the first Welsh Young People's Laureate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/12/chris-riddell-new-era-illustration?newsfeed=true

Yet as the digital revolution gathers momentum, traditional print publishing is being forced to change. In this new age of austerity, as chill winds blow through publishers' offices, we need illustrators of the calibre of EH Shepard more than ever. And they're out there - look at Posy Simmonds' wickedly perceptive novel Tamara Drewe, David Roberts' brilliantly quirky illustrations to Mick Jackson's Bears of England and Shaun Tan's surreal and exquisite wordless story The Arrival. Like Shepard, these illustrators' work reaches all ages.

Posted with Blogsy

John Boyne, Writing In The Indpependent (Yesterday)

Boyne describes how he cleared his bookshelves at age 11 and never entered the children's section of his local library again...

I hope for so much from every book I read. And time and again, I find myself disappointed. I look across my bookshelves and see hundreds of titles which in my memory seem merely mediocre or second-rate. Only occasionally does a novel appear for which I feel a lasting passion, a book that I think could in time become a classic. As this new collection of children's classics is published, it's interesting to consider the modern titles that, 50 years hence, will have earned their place. Of course, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a great novel, complex and intelligent, is already there. I could make a strong case for Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses series, for Flour Babies by Anne Fine, for Philip Ardagh's Eddie Dickens trilogy, for Roddy's Doyle's Wilderness. Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson? Yes, of course. And any serious reader who has not read the late Siobhan Dowd is missing out on novels as powerful and moving as any published over the last decade.

Jean Merrill - NYT Obit

New York Times obituary:

Jean Merrill, a children's author best known for her 1964 book, "The Pushcart War," about street peddlers in New York who use (nonlethal) guerrilla tactics and savvy publicity maneuvers to fight back when unbridled Big Business threatens to banish their pushcarts from the streets -- a book, in other words, that Mother Jones or Saul Alinsky might have produced had they been writers of whimsical allegories -- died on Aug. 2 at her home in Randolph, Vt. She was 89...

Edinburgh Book Festival Podcast

In The Guardian's inaugural Edinburgh International Book festival podcast, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andrew Motion - who've both published follow-ups to beloved children's books this year - talk about the pleasures and pitfalls of revisiting the shared territory of our childhood....

The 4th Screen Goes Mainstream

most interesting element of this report summary is the accompanying graphic:

Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Editions Than Paper Editions in UK

Amazon has announced that us plucky Brits have really developed a taste for the eBook recently, as the online retailer is are now selling more Kindle eBooks through its platform than any other type of physical paper book in the UK.

Just to clarify; that includes all paperback books including hardback, paperback and children's books that have now been outsold by Amazon's own Kindle eBook format.

Amazon has stated that for every 100 print books sold by Amazon.co.uk in 2012 they sold 114 digital versions of books. Additionally, Amazon has seen a rise in book sales overall with the rise of the eBook reader, with the company stating that people are just more keen to buy books of any kind since the Kindle's release.

All ACHUKAbooks titles are currently exclusivley available on the Kindle store...
Click here

Guardian Review

The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne, reviewed by Mal Peet

This is a rather frustrating book. It's unashamedly and often delightfully whimsical. It's lovely to look at (with jacket and illustrations by Oliver Jeffers), features a family dog called Captain WE Johns, is full of sly jokes (some too sly for children of 10 or thereabouts) and one gleeful thudder of a bad joke on page 247. Its language is frequently challenging, which is no bad thing. It has much of the pell-mell what-the-hell-happens-nextness of Dahl and Ibbotson.

There's a pleasing inversion of the unrelenting theme when we discover the reason for Mr and Mrs Brocket's lust for normalcy: as children, they had been forcibly groomed for stardom.

Yet, when reading a book, do you not sometimes wish you had been its editor? Had you been, in this case, you might have redacted solecisms such as the presence of foxes in Zambia or a marble sign "pinned" to a wall. More usefully, you might have cut at least 50 pages. There are a taxing number of them in this novel, which is episodic rather than plotted. Two or three fewer episodes would have given it more pace and punch without detracting from the narrative or its appeal for tolerance. It's a book just too heavy for its weightless hero, too ponderous for its uplifting message.

Nervousness on the part of an editor when confronted by the latest text from a bestselling author is understandable. I can imagine that whoever was given the job of editing Boyne, whose previous children's book was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, might have felt a touch pusillanimous. I wish she or he hadn't, though; a little lighter, this book would soar.

Ben Galley Sees The Waterstones Door Closing On Lowkey Author Events

Over the last week or so, a new directive has been filtering down from Waterstones head office, a directive that aims for a new direction with author events, a new direction that sadly means we as indies won't get much of a chance any more when it comes to author signings. I first heard about it from a Waterstones in the midlands, whilst confirming a date for my Winter Tour. At first I thought it would be a localised affair, perhaps reserved to a few areas, but sadly it seems that it has been rolled out across the whole estate.

Simply put, the directive suggests that all Waterstones branches should cancel their local author events, with the exception of local book launches or those that are expected to create a queue. The events that they retain should last no longer than 90 minutes and be staffed by booksellers throughout. I will add that this means travelling out of your area is now completely impossible unless you have a very, very serious following.

I've already had three events cancelled...

It appears that while Waterstones were initially keen to open their doors to new authors, it hasn't quite had the affect they had desired. Increased revenue aside, it has actually garnered some complaints from customers. Apparently some authors have been rather pushy, insistent, and in some cases, downright rude. This pains me, as it's another case of the few spoiling it for the many. When I do a signing, I make a point of staying sat down and letting people approach me. Bookshops are for browsing. If customers wanted to be sold to, they'd go to a used car company. I don't understand why any authors would want to leap on customers and force a book down their throat. But, sadly, that's exactly what has happened, and Waterstones has had to respond. Perhaps it's also a case of too much of a good thing. Perhaps we diluted the events calendar a little too much. Whatever the reason, it's all changed now.

Regrettable news I am sure for self-published authors, but I have never felt it did the Waterstones image much good to have so many unknowns selling their wares on Saturdays in their stores. The 'new directive' - if such it is - makes perfectly good sense.

Ewan Morrison: I'm convinced that epublishing is another tech bubble, and that it will burst within the next 18 months

In the third in a series of essays on digital media and publishing, Ewan Morrison, who will appear at the Edinburgh World Writers' Conference, claims that as the project to monetise social media falters the self-epublishing industry's defects will be laid bare...

Well worth reading. Epublishing is clearly NOT "another tech bubble" but the curent wave of self-publishing may well be. Morrison's figures and stats are very negatively persuasive.

ACHUKA has always believed that the 'publisher' dynamic still needs to operate in the selection, editing, production and selling of ebooks, and I think it is THAT which will dawn on people in 18 months time (or sooner) rather than the bursting of the whole epublishing 'bubble'.