Danger Was Their Game - 3/29/2007 1:30:00 PM - Publishers Weekly
A year after its U.K. publication, The Dangerous Book is still in Amazon’s top 20, and HarperCollins will publish it in the U.S. in May, touting the publication with a video ad, Today Show appearance, Vanity Fair interview, and events at Borders and L.L.Bean...
Publishers Weekly piece, containing short interview
Roger Sutton, editor of The Horn Book, (re)draws attention (in his Blog entry for March 27th) to what he calls the 'semi-juicy scandal' surrounding Alyssa Brugman's objection to the selling on eBay of proof copies, or ARCs as they are known in the US.
I was a ferocious child-Life & Style-Women-TimesOnline
A significant number of readers will need no introduction to Horrid Henry, but for those who have not been within pea-shooting distance of a child recently, suffice to say that scheming, subversive Henry and his saintly, simpering brother Perfect Peter are our modern-day Cain and Abel, and a publishing phenomenon...
Recommended long feature about Francesca Simon, creator of Horrid Henry.
DVD released next month - pre-order
Mortal Ghost Podcasts ? Podcasts of a YA Fantasy Novel by L. Lee Lowe
L. Lee Lowe's online novel, Mortal Ghost, is also available in podcast format (Chapters 1 - 5 currently), read by Bill Uden, theatre student and lead singer of the band Primal Jukebox.
Mary Hoffman appeared on Open Book, Radio 4, yesterday, talking about her new book The Falconer’s Knot, and discussing historical fiction with Caroline Lawrence. The programme is repeated on Thursday 29th March and can be heard on the Radio 4 website.
Brain theatre | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
Joanna Carey marvels at the skill and inventiveness of Alexis Deacon ...
One of The Guardian's occasional profiles of children's illustrators.
Highly Recommended
Teen Chicklit blog - worth a look
What makes a classic?-incomingFeeds-TimesOnline
What makes a classic?
Will Everyman’s gift of fine books stay on the classrooom shelf?
Amanda Craig attempts to answer...
Bloomsbury will publish Susan Hill's new novel, THE BATTLE FOR GULLYWITH, in 2008 on their children's list. Hill, who started writing the story on her website says, 'When my daughters were young, I wrote a dozen or so children`s books for them, mainly picture books and stories for children up to about 6 or 7. But although they grew up I did not... in that, I never thought of writing a children`s book for 8 or 10 or 12 year olds. I don`t know why. But now, with the girls safely out of the way at 29 and 21, I have begun one, for, roughly, ages 7-11 or thereabouts. And I decided to do something different with it, at least initially. I am going to put the first four chapters, one by one, up here on the blog. And then no more. And I would love feedback, not from adults, but from 7-11 year olds - even though some of them may send their comments via
their grown-ups.'
The response was such that Susan's agent submitted the manuscript as it stood to publishers, and Bloomsbury was successful in its bid.
How a new age of heroes could help boys read | News | Guardian Unlimited Books
Every secondary school library should have a "boys' bookshelf" stacked with contemporary authors such as Melvyn Burgess and Anthony Horowitz to provide "positive, modern, relevant role models" for boys who are reluctant to read or nervous about being bullied as a "swot", [Alan Johnson, UK government education minister] told a Fabian Society meeting in London.
Banco del Libro, a non-profit Venezuelan network that has been distributing books to children for nearly half a century, was chosen Wednesday as the 2007 winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. The award, which includes a cash prize of 5 million kronor (€540,000; US$710,000), was established by the Swedish government in 2002 and is the largest children's book award in the world.
Mad about the boy Bond-Life & Style-Women-Body & Soul-TimesOnline
Charlie Higson, who writes the Young Bond novels, knows what's going on in the heads of boys aged 10 to 13....
Long recommended feature from Saturday's Times
Scotsman.com Living - Coming of age
Poet Jenny Joseph tells The Scotsman she is burst with ideas for children's books:
...far from tidying up loose ends, she is bursting with new projects: children's books - "but children's book are so dominated even more by fashion, I'll get them written and put them by and then they'll be there if anyone wants to publish them"; ...
Highly Recommended as a general feature about Jenny Joseph
It’s easy when you know how-Arts & Entertainment-Books-Children-TimesOnline
Giles Andreae on what makes a good children's book (allegedly):
Writing a children’s book can take no time at all. I know I shouldn’t say this, but some of mine take only a day or two to write. For this reason, it’s something a lot of people are tempted to have a go at. Why not? After all, you get a lovely warm feeling having a children’s book published. It’s wholesome, happy, friendly, doesn’t involve long commutes, scratchy suits, unsociable hours, irascible bosses . . . you get the picture. But this means that publishers are inundated with texts, hundreds of them — thousands — piled up by every desk in the editorial department. Your idea really has to shine. But how? Two of the most important keys, I reckon, are substance and charm.... ...
Redefining the Young Adult Novel
L. Lee Lowe sent me the link to this excellent Horn Book essay about 'crossover' YA literature a few days ago, and I've only just had time to check it out.
It's Highly Recommended
Hats off to a 50-year-old Cat | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books
Interview with Theodor Geisel's widow:
This month the first, ground-breaking Cat in the Hat book is 50 years old. Jammed full of jazz rhythms and rhymes, in 1957 it was so utterly unlike anything else around that the author (also known as Theodor Geisel) struggled to get it published. After 27 separate attempts he was on the point of giving up. 'He was going to toss the book into the nearest wastepaper basket,' said Audrey Geisel, Theodor's 85-year-old widow...
Are you surfing comfortably? | Special reports | MediaGuardian.co.uk
Recommended piece from The Observer, in which CBBC chief Richard Deverell talks to Tara Conlan ahead of the move north and says some interesting things about the way children are at the vanguard of new media audiences:
...One of the BBC's key strategies is a 'virtual world' it is creating for kids. Similar in concept to Second Life, although the characters will not be able to interact with each other, it will allow children to build their own characters, or 'avatars'. They can then explore and interact with BBC content in a safe environment. A name for the world needs to be decided before the launch later this year; 'Adventure Rock' is the latest proposal....
The image-soaked future-Arts & Entertainment-Books-TimesOnline
Bryan Appleyard, from a recommended piece on graphic novels in yestersday's Sunday Times (Culture section):
... ...why is this rebirth of the serious graphic novel different? Because this new wave arrives when the ascendancy of the image — presciently described by George Steiner, in 1971, in his book In Bluebeard’s Castle — has begun to dwarf the power of the word. The visual arts are booming. The screen fills our lives through television, cinema and computers. Thanks to computers, even when we are obliged to read words, we expect them to be arranged in helpful modules, with plenty of graphics. The computer normalises the graphic novel as a form. The graphical user interface may one day be seen as the most important invention of our time. Through such devices, the imperial image reigns and is, more successfully than ever before, invading the book. Good thing, bad thing? Who knows? For me, these books are hard work. I can’t relax into their images in my mind, as I do with a conventional novel. The author’s versions keep dragging me back. But I guess they’re not for me. They’re for the kids sprawling in the graphic-novels section.
The March edition of SHANVILLE MONTHLY includes the intinerary for Darren Shans US tour in April.
Spot the children's books that make it into the top 100 poll for World Book Day. 2,000 people who took part in the poll online at worldbookday.com
