Sunday Times Children's Book Of The Week
Sunday Times Children's Book Of The Week
This resonant, graceful poem about the link between generations (or about a big friendly tiger, if this is what young readers can respond to) is affecting on its own, and is complemented by tender paintings full of glowing moonlight and the splendour of the countryside. NICOLETTE JONES
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | A carnival of characters
On the weekend prior to World Book Day (this Thursday, March 3rd), The Guardian has eschewed its usual custom of making a single title the focus of its lead children's books
review. Instead, Julia Eccleshare has collected together a roundup of titles that children might wish to put their ?1 book tokens towards. Her last suggestion is a rare commodity in children's books, a collection of stories by a single author.
Amanda Craig likes Julie Hearn's new novel, The Merrybegot:
Like Arthur Miller ?s play The Crucible, this is as much a novel about adolescent sexual hysteria and parental conflict ? as about witchcraft ? yet in The Merrybegot, the piskies are real, as amoral as weather, and affect the course of history. Told in clear, vivid prose, and peopled with sympathetic yet complex characters, it is a huge leap forward for a talented new storyteller whose debut, Follow Me Down, was enjoyed by many.
but is disappointed in the new book by Celia Rees, The Wish House:
One doesn?t care about any of these characters, and the plot they?re in is as skimpy as a cheesecloth tunic even before the predictable hints of incest. Rees has shown such a gift for genuinely magical fiction in Witch Child, it?s disappointing not to find her on characteristic form.
Sunday Times Children's Book Of The Week
Permanent Rose by Hilary McKay
This unconventional family, which was always fun to read about, and seemed laughable because it was chaotic and ill-run, has become, with our increasing knowledge of its members, a kind of model of how to make the most of life. NICOLETTE JONES
Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week
With a cast of comical cops, phone-tappers, heavies, down-and-outs and spoilt rich kids, plus the bigoted founders of a nasty right-wing eugenics project, this is a well-crafted, sassy, involving tale of betrayals and misunderstandings and learning to be a man. It might even make [Elmore] Leonard look over his shoulder. NICOLETTE JONES
"Ann Halam's Siberia is so original and compelling that the film rights should be instantly snapped up," said Amanda Craig in The Times yesterday, in a review that also recommedned Riding Tycho by Jan Mark, an author Craig sometimes finds 'unreadable'.
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | From pen to pen
Keith Gray learns a thing or two form Hole In My Life by Jack Gantos
This is much more than simply a scared-straight confessional; there's nothing didactic or patronising in it. Teenage readers will appreciate the frankness and sincerity with which he explores how it feels to be a young person struggling to discover exactly who you are. It also perhaps serves as an illustration of the workings of an adolescent mind bereft of strong family support. Much of the action - raw and unflinching as it is - will be riveting for most young readers, but aspiring writers of any age should read this book. I know I learnt a thing or two.
And Adele Geras finds The Merrybegot by Julie Hearn duly spellbinding:
Hearn writes with great brio and style. Her characters - human, supernatural and animal - all spring off the page. We can hear their voices, and the details of their lives are economically but vividly depicted.
The New York Times > Books > Sunday Book Review > Children's Books: Bookshelf
Brief children's books reviews in the New York Times.
Sunday Times Children's Book Of The Week
Ingeniously structured, with compelling plot twists, it is engrossing and immediate; Hearn has the skill of a conjuror and her novel casts a spell. NICOLLETTE JONES
