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Filming Of His Dark Materials TV Adaptation Has Begun

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MailOnline has released photos from Media Wales showing pictures of the set in Llangynidr Quarry in Crickhowell. The TV series of His Dark Materials is set to air on the BBC in 2019, starring James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson.

The series is filming in Wales, Oxford and Bristol, with a script by Jack Thorne – who collaborated with J. K. Rowling on the staging of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child . The director is Tom Hooper.

The Welsh set images are well worth a look, so click on over to >>>
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6168651/His-Dark-Materials-TV-series-LOOK.html

If I could be someone else for a day, I’d be Mary Magdalene – Sarah Crossan

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Extract from ‘This Much I Know’ weekend feature in Irish press, in which Sarah Crossan reveals her intention to write about Mary Magdalene one day:

If I could be someone else for a day, I’d be Mary Magdalene. There will be a time when I will write about her; she is such a mysterious character.

I consider myself to be spiritual and was brought up Catholic. I believe in the power of the universe. I’ve been conditioned to think that there is a higher power. It doesn’t mean I don’t put in the work.

When it comes to dealing with stress and challenging times, I try to practice positive thinking. I write gratitude lists to remind myself, of all the things I have to be thankful for, from my healthy child to hot running water. It helps me to put my problems in perspective.

The best advice I ever received was to ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’. Fear stops us — fear of not being good enough, that we can’t do it — but you just have to steel yourself. Courage is fear walking.

Read the full piece >>> https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/features/this-much-i-know-author-sarah-crossan-869091.html

Mary and Frankenstein – Júlia Sardà AOI interview + review

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This looks to be a truly marvellous picture book…

When researching the subject, were there any films, archives, or locations that you found particularly useful and/or inspiring?

Júlia: I always try to do a good amount of research before start drawing, it helps me a lot to find inspiration. I also try to look among different artistic disciplines to widen my view. In this case I think that the biggest influence was the painter Felix Vallotton, his representations of the countryside and the interiors of the époque were very useful. But you can see hints of lots of inspirations in things such as the dancing fire and the ghosts in the storm inspired from Fantasia, “Night on Bald Mountain” the floor pattern from Twin Peaks, and there’s also inspiration from Goya’s Colossus mixed with “Fight to death with Clubs”, Medieval language from “Apocalypsis” from Beato de Liébana, etc.

Read the full, richly illustrated piece here >>> https://theaoi.com/2018/09/12/mary-and-frankenstein-julia-sarda-interview-review/

Hope In A Scary World – First Title In New Series From Tiny Owl

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Waterstones

There’s Room For Everyone by Anahita Teymorian is the launch title (publishing later this month) in a projected new series from Tiny Owl called ‘Hope In A Scary World’.

Tiny Owl’s publisher Delaram Ghanimifard says, “I think we underestimate children. We cover their eyes and their ears and hope they won’t see and hear: but they do see, and they do understand. So we need books for children, in their own playful way, to show them what’s wrong with the world and how they can fix it! And that there’s always hope.”

She says they chose There’s Room For Everyone as the launch title “Because even today, we’re still facing problems around refugees and immigration, and people thinking that the world belongs only to themselves. This book was perfect to show how silly that idea was, and how with kindness, we can all live happily in this world.”

 

Pictures Mean Business

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The #PicturesMeanBusiness campaign has just launched a new expanded website…

What Does It Mean If You Support #PicturesMeanBusiness?

  • It means you believe illustration (and cover design) contributes to people’s decisions to buy books.
  • It means you respect the profession of illustration as a proper skilled profession and not some cute little hobby.
  • It means you think top-quality illustrators should be able to make a living from their work.
  • It means you recognise that illustrators are significantly disadvantaged by quirks in the publishing world. EVERYONE in the industry would benefit if this was properly addressed!
  • It means you think it’s unfair that illustrators are often ignored and not mentioned in reviews, lists and media, and that it has to stop.
  • It means you believe illustrators should be listed on databases with the books they’ve created, just like writers, in ways that their books and sales can be tracked. (If business can’t see illustrators’ contribution to business, they will assume illustration doesn’t contribute.)

ACHUKA says a resounding YES to all of that.

http://www.picturesmeanbusiness.com

Klaus’s Favourite Five

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A picture book has got to be good and ideally it’s got to offer a new idea—or an idea that needs to be written or illustrated. The illustration and text should inspire the readers. There are very few authors who know how to write picture books—or can write good picture book text. We’re always on the lookout. Many of the picture books we see today have been done before and, I guess, have not been able to contribute anything new.
Klaus Flugge

Five of his Favourite Books

Movie Adaptation Of Children’s Book ‘Yes Day’ To Netflix

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Yes Day, a comedy based on the children’s book of the same name that Garner is set to star in and produce, has been picked up by the streamer.Miguel Arteta, who worked with Garner on Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, will direct from a script by Justin Malen (Father Figures), who adapted the New York Times best-seller from author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrator Tom Lichtenheld.

via Netflix Lands Jennifer Garner Comedy ‘Yes Day’ (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter.

The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature

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The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature

Elizabeth Acevedo, “The Poet X”
HarperTeen / HarperCollins Publishers

M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, “The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge”
Candlewick Press

Bryan Bliss, “We’ll Fly Away”
Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Leslie Connor, “The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle”
Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Christopher Paul Curtis, “The Journey of Little Charlie”
Scholastic Press / Scholastic, Inc.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, “Hey, Kiddo”
Graphix / Scholastic, Inc.

Tahereh Mafi, “A Very Large Expanse of Sea”
HarperTeen / HarperCollins Publishers

Joy McCullough, “Blood Water Paint”
Dutton Children’s Books / Penguin Random House

Elizabeth Partridge, “Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam”
Viking Children’s Books / Penguin Random House

VIDEO FROM THE NEW YORKER
Lies and Truth in the Era of Trump

Vesper Stamper, “What the Night Sings”
Knopf Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

The judges for the category this year are
Robin Benway, whose book “Far From the Tree” won the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Lamar Giles, the author of “Fake ID” and a founding member of the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books
Grace Worcester Greene, who has spent her career working at libraries with and for young people
Valerie Koehler, the owner of the Blue Willow Bookshop, in west Houston
Mitali Perkins, the author of numerous books, most recently “You Bring the Distant Near.”

via The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature | The New Yorker.