ACHUKAblog

ACHUKAblog

You are here: Home / Archives for achuka

First Children’s Laureate For Wales

By Leave a Comment

Literature Wales has announced that popular Pembrokeshire-based children’s author Eloise Williams is the first Children’s Laureate Wales. The announcement was made in front of 150 pupils at Jubilee Park Primary School in Newport, where Eloise is currently the Patron of Reading.

Eloise Williams will be in post until summer 2021.

 

The brief for the new Welsh laureate:

She will

  • engage and inspire the children of Wales (primarily ages 5-13) through literature;
  • encourage self-expression and develop literacy and communication skills amongst children;
  • be an ambassador and positive role model for children, championing their rights and interests;
  • raise the visibility of children’s literature in Wales, nationally and internationally;
  • be a strong advocate for creative reading, writing and speaking for pleasure;
  • support the development of the next generation of young writers;
  • particularly engage Literature Wales’ Target Client Characteristics, as specified in our Strategic Plan 2019-22 – children from BAME backgrounds, children from low income backgrounds, children with disabilities or illnesses (physical or mental);
  • scout, develop, support and advocate for a cohort of talented young writers at the start of their literary careers.

https://www.literaturewales.org/our-projects/childrens-laureate-wales-2/

New Title On Fashion To Coincide With Next Summer’s London Fashion Week

By Leave a Comment

Egmont will publish Fashion Conscious by academic and journalist Sarah Klymkiw and illustrator Kim Hankisnon in August next year ahead of London Fashion Week 2020.

The book is being described as “an empowering call-to-arms for the Greta Thunberg generation, offering an in-depth look at the fashion industry and a range of ways that young people can become campaigners for change,” and will be printed using vegetable ink with a plastic-free cover.

Klymkiw told The Bookseller: “Never has it been so important to consider the impact that our clothing choices have on our planet. After reading this book, I want young people to shake up the fashion world – to demand answers and to take action both as conscious consumers and active citizens. We have the power to collectively change the world with a change of clothes.”

The Youtube video is from at talk given by Klymkiw last year.

 

 

2019 Klaus Flugge Prize Winner

By Leave a Comment

Jessica Love has won the 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration.

She won for Julian is a Mermaid published by Walker Books.

The book tells a  joyful, positive story that adroitly questions gender stereotype. Tt has been described as ‘barrier- breaking’ and was also shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.

Judge and former Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne says: “Julian is a Mermaid is an astonishingly beautiful book. It’s amazing to realise this is Jessica Love’s first attempt. She has quickly realised how picture books work – the understated words fit so brilliantly with the stunning illustrations, never getting in the way, never trying to do the same job. It’s a perfect picture book.”

There had to be a banana in the room 🙂

Fellow judge Farrah Serroukh, of CLPE adds: “The illustrations say things that it would be difficult for words alone to express. The layers of meaning that can be inferred through each spread are rich, sophisticated and plentiful. Quite simply, it is a stunningly beautiful, heart-warming debut.”

Julian is a Mermaid was partly inspired by a trans friend.  “It got me curious about what sort of literature there was out there for families looking to have conversations with their children about identity, and how sometimes a person has to do a little more work to create the proper cover for their own book. I wanted to make something that didn’t feel didactic but that gave children a chance to experience this character’s inner life and identify with it. I wanted to give kids who identify with Julian a chance to see themselves reflected, but I also wanted kids who don’t identify with him a chance to get inside his experience and feel what it might be like.”

The Klaus Flugge Prize was founded to honour publisher Klaus Flugge, a supremely influential figure in picture books. Flugge set up Andersen Press in 1976 and has discovered and nurtured many of today’s most distinguished illustrators including David McKee, Tony Ross, Satoshi Kitamura, Ruth Brown and Susan Varley.

Prior to the presentation Klaus gave a splendid speech outlining his reasons for establishing the prize, mentioning its precursors, the Tom Maschler and Mother Goose awards. You can see clips from this speech on the ACHUKAbooks Instagram,

Chair of the judges, Julia Eccleshare said: “In the fourth year of the award, we had another extremely strong shortlist but the judges were unanimous in their decision to award the prize to Jessica Love. Julian is a Mermaid reminds us that picture books can make us understand the world differently and better; that they are for everyone. It is a ground-breaking book and has the qualities that Klaus Flugge has alwayschampioned in his own publishing.”

Love, who grew up in Southern California and studied printmaking and illustration at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and then went on to study acting, lives in New York and was unable to be in London to  receive the award and £5,000 prize in person. In her absence she had recorded a spirited video message.

In the States the book won the American Library Association 2019 Stonewall Book Award, a prize first presented in 2010 and given annually to English-language children’s books of  exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience.

The Klaus Flugge Prize can now be added to this impressive list:

2019—2020 Red Clover Award Nominee
2019 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards finalist
2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award Honor, Illustrator
Rainbow List Choice – 2019
2019 Stonewall Book Award Winner
ALSC Notable Children’s Books – 2019
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens – 2019
CCBC Choices 2019 Choice: Picture Books for Young Children
CSMCL Best Books – 2018
Publishers Weekly Best Books – 2018
CPL Best Books, Picture Books – 2018
Kirkus Best Books, Picture Books – 2018
NYPL Best Books for Kids – 2018
NPR’s Book Concierge – 2018
School Library Journal Best Books – 2018
BCCB Blue Ribbons – 2018
Horn Book Fanfare – 2018

Alongside Anthony Browne, the other Klaus Flugge judges this year were:

  • Derek Brazell of the Association of Illustrators
  • BillieJo Carlisle of Seven Stories bookshop
  • Farrah Serroukh of CLPE
  • 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Kate MilnerJulia Eccleshare, director of the Children’s Programme at the Hay Festival, acted as Chair.

The Lady From Philadelphia, The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia P. Hale

By Leave a Comment

This volume (from NYRB Kids) collects together nine years of Lucretia P. Hale’s comedic vignettes.

Considered a classic of American children’s literature and a masterpiece of deadpan drollery.

Lucretia Hale (1820-1900) wrote widely for the American magazine market. The Peterkins are a Bostonian family of quite Bostonian  devoted to self-improvement and aspirations. The sketches humorously portray a variety of difficulties arising from their naïveté. Each time the family is rescued from disaster by the common sense of the Lady from Philadelphia.

Good for dipping into.

Waterstones

The Battle For Perfect by Helena Duggan

By Leave a Comment

Finale to the “Perfect’ trilogy…

Things are quiet in the town that used to be Perfect until Violet and Boy uncover more trouble brewing. Five scientists are missing and Town is about to be taken over by a huge zombie army. Can Violet and Boy save their friends? It’s a matter of life or death! A highly charged finale to the series that began with A Place Called Perfect. Fans of Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman and Tim Burton will love this quirky, creepy and unforgettable adventure series.

Waterstones

New Six-Book Series For 5-9 Launches This Month

By Leave a Comment

Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue

Kitty and the Tiger Treasure

A little young for our main Fiction listings, but worthy of mention nevertheless… First two titles in a 6 book series for 5 and over from Oxford Children’s Books, all written by Paula Harrison and illustrated by Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner Jenny Lovlie.

The illustrations are predominantly in orange and gold, with some pleasing metallic shininess on the front covers. Further titles planned for next year. 

The Girl With Space IN Her Heart by Lara Williamson

By Leave a Comment

Mabel Mynt knows a lot about space… like how we feel connected to the stars because we are all made of stardust. And that Mum’s new boyfriend, Galactic Gavin, has eyes that twinkle like Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. And that sometimes the perfect place for her sister, Terrible Topaz, would be a black hole. But Mabel doesn’t know how to fill the space in her heart that Dad left when he walked out. And so she sets out on a mission of discovery… A heart-warming and laugh-out-loud story about learning that love is never lost and change doesn’t have to be scary.

Waterstones

The Way of The Waves, A Viking Mystery by Janina Ramirez ill. David Wyatt

By Leave a Comment

Join young investigator and shield maiden Alva as she goes a-viking around the medieval world in search of adventure! Alva clings to her sleeping wolf as the Viking longship pitches and rolls over the North Sea’s crashing waves. Soon she will reveal herself as a secret stowaway, but only when there’s no chance of turning back. This is her opportunity to put her shield maiden spirit to the test – exploring strange new lands, solving mysteries, and most importantly finding her father . . .

Waterstones

The Accidental Rock Star by Tom McLaughlin

By Leave a Comment

New title in this successful humour series that has included The Accidental Prime Minister, The Accidental Billionaire and The Accidental Secret Agent.

It should never have happened, but somehow-with the aid of a recorder, keyboard, and very disturbed cat-Hector and Ollie have made a hit single. And now everybody wants a piece of them. They may have always dreamed of fame, but is life on tour all it’s cracked up to be? Follow a rollercoaster of rock star antics in this hilarious new story from Tom McLaughlin.

Waterstones

King Dave Royalty For Beginners by Elys Dolan

By Leave a Comment

Dave the dragon is throne-sitting, but will the power go to his head? The King has gone on holiday, leaving protectors of the realm, and BFFs, Dave and Albrecht in charge. Neither of them have the first clue about what it takes to run a kingdom, but it won’t stop them from trying. All with the help of one incredibly useful book: Royalty for Beginners.

Sparky dialogue and narrative momentum, not to mention the plentiful and witty illustrations, mark this out as a superior humour title. Third title in series.

Waterstones