Why Blyton was another breed | Books | Arts | Telegraph
Nicolette Jones compares the careers and public profiles of Enid Blyton and J. K. Rowling.
Recommended
ACHUKA: June 2007 Archives
Shanville, Darren Shan's monthly fanzine, celbrates its 7th birthday. Shan himself has a birthday this month. Guess how old? And where he'll be for it? Read his newsletter... ...
To celebrate next month's launch of Half Moon Investigations in paperback, Puffin Books has created a web comic of Eoin Colfer’s best-selling crime adventure, bringing to life an extract of the plot line and characters featured in the book. There are clues throughout the comic strip to help readers solve the crime which hero Fletcher Moon is determined to get to the bottom of. John Royle, one of the Spiderman comic book illustrators, is responsible for the artwork.
The comic strip can be viewed here: http://www.halfmooninvestigations.co.uk/comic/ along with various partnered kids, books and entertainment sites.
It’s a girl thing - Times Online
Amanda Craig reviews some new romaticn comedies aimed at girls...
FOR THOSE OF US struggling with a month of exams and hysterical daughters the arrival of junior rom-com comes as a huge relief. All, I suspect, are descendents of Jean Webster epistolary novel, Daddy-Long-Legs, a rather creepy comedy about a girl who falls in love with a much older man, but the genre really took off with Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries. Girls of 8 love these, and all her other books, from the All-American Girl series to the most recent, How to be Popular, follow in the same chirpy, wholesome vein. The plot is always the same: Nice (Bookish) Girl stands up to Mean Girls, gets makeover and wins Hot Guy...
How To Be Popular by Meg Cabot
Caddy Ever After by Hilary McKay
Luuurve is a Many-Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison
Girl, 15: Flirting for England by Sue Limb
Craig finishes her piece ibserving: "Boys are supposed to stick to manly adventures by Higson, Muchamore and Horowitz but have hearts – and sit exams – too. It would be good if there were more to cheer them up, because while my daughter squirrels these away and rocks with laughter my poor son is left with Tintin."
Child's play | Seven Magazine | Arts | Telegraph
Recomended feature interview from the Telgraph a few days ago...
Hawking writing children's book
Stephen Hawking, author of the million-selling "A Brief History of Time," is writing a "middle-grade" novel. "George's Secret Key to the Universe," the story of a young man's computer-driven adventures, will be published this fall by Simon & Schuster... The book, co-written with Hawking's daughter, author Lucy Hawking, is the story of a boy named George who befriends a scientist and the scientist's daughter...
Publisher claims to have found Potter successor | News | Guardian Unlimited Books
...Barry Cunningham is now tipping a fantasy tale about a boy archaeologist, who discovers a world of thrilling adventure after digging a hole, as the next enormously big thing. Cunningham found the first of the books, Tunnels, after its joint authors Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams pooled their resources to self-publish a deluxe edition... ... Cunningham is currently in Hollywood, in discussions to sell the film rights. "I knew from page one that Harry Potter was magic," Cunningham said earlier, "Reading Tunnels gave me the same thrill...
Forever young | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books
Big Guardian feature on the new Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen.
New children's laureate slams education policy | News | Guardian Unlimited Books
Michael Rosen was appointed the fifth Children's Laureate earlier today, and ACHUKA is cock-a-hoop about it :)
photographer: Laurence Cendrowicz
No trace of corn-Arts & Entertainment-Books-TimesOnline
The Sunday Times Culture section devoted a whole page to Before I Die by Jenny Downham, a debut young adult novel which, as we reported in April, has been fast-tracked to publication in record time by David Fickling:
Before I Die is the story of Tessa, a 16-year-old with leukaemia who has a to-do list to complete before she dies. Number one is losing her virginity. The rest of the list is no less controversial. As a first novel by an unknown author, Before I Die is also remarkable for the stir it has created among publishers and the speed with which it arrives in bookshops. Downham wrote the final full stop in February; the book will be on sale next month. It was snapped up by David Fickling, whose previous triumphs include publishing most of Philip Pullman’s novels. Foreign rights were sold in 11 languages in two weeks, and the book is tipped to replicate the success of Mark Haddon’s debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime...
Children's retail chain Daisy & Tom will re-open under the same name, founder Tim Waterstone has pledged. Last week the company annnounced its intention to close in January 2008 following its sale...
The June edition of Darren Shan's online newsletter (we've said it before, but it bears saying again, the most regular and informative author fanzine ACHUKA has ever seen) contains full dates for his summer tours (in the UK, Ireland and the Far East).
