Haaretz - Israel News - Not a single shop sells only children s books
"We don't have writers that know how to write for children," says Amira Abul Magd, the head of the children's publishing unit in the large Egyptian publishing house of Dar El-Shorouk, in describing the main obstacle affecting the state of reading in Arab countries.
Recommended article about the low status of children's books in Arab countries.
The pilot podcast continues to acquire new listeners. The next edition wil be available early February.
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Independent Online Edition > Features
Russell Hoban : Odd, and getting odder
Independent Feature - Recommended
Books - reviews and literary news from The Times and The Sunday Times
The author of a controversial Holocaust novel explains why he felt he had to tell the story of the youngest victims... ...
Telegraph | News | Promise of adventure in Peter Pan follow-up
The new book, by Geraldine McCaughrean, will be called Peter Pan in Scarlet and will be published on Oct 5.
Geraldine McCaughrean: "Neverland was such a marvellous place to spend my year: I clean forgot Barrie's ghost might be reading my computer screen over my shoulder - forgot to worry whether the necessary people would like what I wrote. Mind you, that's a good sign. When a book's a joy to write, some of the fun often snags on the letters and gets trapped between the pages."
Liz cross, OUP Publisher: "I've visited Peter Pan IN Scarlet several times now. My first read was amazing but it somehow gets better each time I return. Geraldine is an incredible writer but she's outdone herself with Pan."
CBBC Newsround | UK | Authors on the spot: Steve Voake
CBBC interview with Steve Voake, author of The Dreamwalker's Child and its sequel The Web Of Fire:
Independent Online Edition > News
The title of Geraldine McCaughrean's sequel to Peter Pan will be revealed tomorrow. Meanwhile, as The Indpendent reports:
But to Great Ormond Street's irritation, all the time that McCaughrean has been conjuring up her new adventures, two fathers in America have been doing likewise. Ridley Pearson, asked by his young daughter, Paige, where Peter Pan had come from, embarked on writing a prequel to the story more than two years ago which has sold 500,000 copies and spent weeks in The New York Times bestseller list. That prequel, Peter and the Starcatchers, will be published in the UK next month...
Victoria Beckham to write children's book
Victoria Beckham is writing a children's book. The singer and wife of David Beckham has revealed she is working on a story collection to tie in with a range of clothes she's designing. Last year she said, unashamedly, that her personal reading consisted entirely of fashion magazines.
Telegraph | News | 'Tosh' it may be, but this old book is now worth ?100,000
The Telegraph reporting a survey by Book & Magazine Collector magazine:
The magazine named the most valuable 20th-century children's book as The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (?50,000). By contrast, a first edition of JK Rowling's first book, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, will fetch ?15,000. Jonathan Scott, editor of the magazine, said: "Although the Harry Potter is way down the chart, it is still amazingly high for such a young book."
ACHUKA received today the following response to Darren Shan's announcement (blogged January 13th) of his withdrawal from the Blue Peter Wolrd Book Day show:
RESPONSE FROM BLUE PETER: I'm sorry Darren Shan feels that Blue Peter isn't embracing World Book Day and that he mistakenly feels that he had originally been booked for the main programme, as no booking had as yet been confirmed.An interview on our website is by no means a slight on any author, you may be interested to know that 1 and a half million viewers log on to our website every week. We now do all our book club chats on the website because we can devote far more time to children's questions than in our busy 24 minute programme. Over 1000 questions are normally sent into authors taking part in a web chat. Our last online book club with Terry Pratchett drew thousands of children into the webchat. This is not skipping back to the past.
Blue Peter has always been committed to promoting children's literature - most prominently with our annual Blue Peter Book Awards, 24 minutes of NEW BOOKS: Child judges choose the best children's books of the year. Michael Morpogo's Private Peaceful was the 2005 Book I couldn't Put Down. We also have a thriving monthly book club which has an extended life online where children expect to find it. This is not skipping back to the past.
WBD is indeed a fantastically exciting day which is why we decided not to run our usual studio but to dedicate our entire 24 minute programme to one of the best loved authors of all time. We did not take the decision to show our programme about Roald Dahl lightly. His work is still as relevant to children today as when he was writing - the enormous success of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film gives some indication of this. It's a shame Darren Shan no longer wishes to engage with our audience on that day, we'll miss the chance to promote his book to young readers.
Karen Ackerman
Forward Planning Producer Blue Peter
The Observer | Review | Your letters
Kate Kellaway corrected in The Observer letters page:
Not so novel Kate Kellaway is misinformed in claiming that The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Details, 8 January) is the first novel ever written for children about the Holocaust.
When people look through "Little Brother Mouse's Waistcoat" at the Poplar Kid's Republic Picture Book Shop in Beijing, they often ask why the pages have so much blank space...
Intersting feature about the Chinese attitude towards picture books...
Darren Shan has pulled out of participation in a World Book Day Blue Peter programme in protest against the decision of the programme editors to focus on Roald Dahl. Shan had originally benn booked to appear in the main Blue Peter programme, but yesterday he heard that the programme would now feature Roald Dahl and that he, Shan, would only be required to do a brief, live interview for the CBBC website.
why, if they're celebrating World Book Day, are they doing a programme about a dead writer who has absolutely nothing to do with this year's WBD crop of books?!? Frankly, I think it stinks. There are 6 WBD books being published and I think they should be focusing on those or other current authors, not dragging out Roald Dahl. Don't get me wrong -- I love Dahl, as I've often said in interviews and on my web site -- I just don't think he's relevant to WBD in 2006, and I don't want to be part of a programme which pretends to pay homage to WBD but unimaginatively skips back into the past to focus on a dead writer. I don't think that's the way forward...
Read the full explanation on his Blog.
What do YOU think? Send your thoughts to ACHUKACHAT or, better still, TELL us what you think in a voice message for the next edition of the podcast.
Podcast messages can be sent as sound attachments to podcast@achuka.co.uk, or by voicemail to 07803605045 (leave number for callback), or by Skype (if we're online) to 'borrowfield'.
Telegraph | News | 'There would be so much to tell her...'
J KRowling on fame and her mother... a Telegraph feature by Geordie Greig
She is disarmingly normal. Her favourite drink is gin and tonic, her least favourite food tripe. Her heroine is Jessica Mitford and her favourite author, Jane Austen. She gave up smoking five years ago and has spent most of the past three years pregnant or caring for a small baby. She is a Christian (Episcopalian) and "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me".
Recommended
Books - reviews and literary news from The Times and The Sunday Times
Amanda Craig promotes a love of reading with various suggestions for parest:
Apart from unconditional love, a love of reading is the single most important thing you can give as a parent. Children will know more, have more inner resources, more curiosity, more sympathy, more delight in being alive....
James Bond 007 :: MI6 - The Home Of James Bond
A Charlie Higson interview focusing on his new book Blood Fever
Publishing News carries the following report, which we take the liberty of quoting in full:
RANDOM HOUSE IS taking steps to prevent the sale of manuscripts, proofs, advance copies and free finished books on Internet sites such as eBay. It has issued a warning to staff that “the unauthorized sale of company property” is taken very seriously and may be a disciplinary matter, and copies distributed externally will carry a “clear notice” as to their use, stressing that they are not for sale. “The unauthorized sale of manuscripts, proofs and advance copies can at the least cause embarrassment to us and at worst ruin a serialisation or publicity campaign,” said a company notice, adding: “It may also cause financial harm to us and our authors. Any member of staff who buys books on the Group staff discount scheme must do so for their own use or as gifts, and not for sale or re-sale to, or by, any third party.” The publisher says advance copies should only be given to people who have a genuine interest in using the book for publicity and sales purposes, and it will be monitoring eBay and will move to have any advance copies, proofs or sales material on the site taken down.
ACHUKA sells proof copies on eBay, so here is our response to this:
1. We openly offer proof copies and sundry other items to collectors on eBay and the proceeds are extremely helpful in contributing to the running costs of this free-access website. All proceeds from our auctions are fully accounted for and included in our tax return.
2. We do not list an advance proof copy until after the book has been officially published.
3. We offer items for auction, rather than for sale, although we regard this as a fairly irrelevant distinction.
4. The description 'not for re-sale' is there to prevent such a title being sold across the counter in a regular bookshop. It cannot be considered a catch-all sale embargo. In a free trade environment every article has an exchange value. Proof copies are no exception, and recently have been prized by collectors as the first bound incarnation of a title.
5. Down the ages it has been a recognized perk of the literary hack's trade that review copies (proofs and first editions) could be exchanged for cash at the local second-hand bookshop. ACHUKA disposes of large numbers of 'review copies' to local schools and charity shops. The charity shops 'sell' such 'free finished books', and why not.
6. Random House say they 'will be monitoring eBay and will move to have any advance copies, proofs or sales material on the site taken down.' This is a draconian attack on freedom of activity and we hope eBay will have nothing to do with it.
2006 is the year ACHUKA gets into podcasting.
Look out for the pilot ACHUKACAST, currently in preparation.
New webspace, and a new domain www.achukacast.com, has been established to hold the podcasts and all other mediafiles associatied with the main ACHUKA website.
Happy New Year.
Anyone interested in advertising on the podcast should mail podcast@achuka.co.uk
