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Carnegie Winner Thumps The Tub For Vocabulary

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Geraldine McCaughrean, who was announced the winner of this year’s Carnegie Medal for her novel Where The World Ends at an event earlier today at the British Library, used her acceptance speech to point out the following irony:

At a time when all subject matter and all manner of language is considered fine in Young Adult novels there has been a much different approach from publishers to books for younger readers. Writers are being encouraged to make language accessible, to refrain from using vocabulary that readers might not already be familiar with. 

“We master words by meeting them not avoiding them,” McCaughrean pointedly asserted.

The Greenaway Medal was won by Canadian illustrator Sydney Smith for Town Is By The Sea.

Photos pending….

Profile of Waterstones Book of the Month Author, Adam Baron

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Adam says he wasn’t given a particular reason why Waterstones picked Boy Underwater for their Children’s Book of the Month, but believes it’s the combination of the central character’s massive journey, the serious themes in the book but the humour of the delivery that have made it stand out.”It’s a really emotional story and it takes the character on a massive journey from being a normal little boy to uncovering his family secret but I think I’ve managed to make it funny as well.”If you were to say ‘what is the book about?’ it doesn’t really sound like a children’s novel – there’s quite serious themes. But I’ve tried to make the book a very safe place for children to go to those difficult issues knowing I will look after them as a narrator and writer but combined with that are the humorous element of Cymbeline’s voice.”The swimming is very important. And what he has to uncover about swimming, particularly why his mum has never taken him swimming, is the tip of the iceberg of all the secrets that his family has.”I think the central theme of the book is that if you bury secrets they will always, always, always come back to you. You can’t keep the past down and really neither should you.”

via Find out why Waterstones chose this county born author’s new novel for Children’s Book of the Month – Lincolnshire Live.

Scholastic Biography Of President Trump Protest #StepUpScholastic

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Scholastic is being taken to task by a growing army of educators, librarians, and parents not for what [a biography recently published] says about Donald Trump, but for what it omits.This past weekend, Teaching for Change, a nonprofit that builds social justice around education, posted a critical review of the book and invited others to join in sending a message to Scholastic. The social media campaign, #StepUpScholastic, urges the publishing company to pull the book and issue a version that tells the truth about the president… … So far, #StepUpScholastic has generated about 530 letters of protest to Scholastic from teachers, parents, librarians, and others across the country.

via Scholastic Under Fire for Children’s Book Portrayal of Trump by Lornet Turnbull — YES! Magazine.

Having the power to keep stories alive: Young [AUS] Booksellers of the Year: Dani Solomon from Readings Kids

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About a year after I started working on the floor in the kid’s section at Readings Carlton I looked at the sales of one of my favourite books; I had sold more than 60 copies that year and the author’s backlist had started moving on its own. The previous year it had sold only two copies and looking at those numbers was such a wake-up call to me. I had the power to help keep amazing authors and books from fading away. I have the power to help keep stories alive. That seems kind of magical to me.

via Meet the ABA Young Booksellers of the Year: Dani Solomon from Readings Kids | Books+Publishing.

Federation Of Children’s Book Groups Celebrates 50 Years

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The Federation of Children’s Book Groups is celebrating its half-centenary this year.

ACHUKA has been fortunate to be present at many of the annual award presentations, splendid occasions when shortlisted authors and illustrators mingle with young readers and their families over lunch. The most memorable of these were ones held at the Roof Gardens, Kensington, before the move, first to the Hay Festival, and then to the South Bank.

The current sponsor is BookLife Publishing and the deadline for voting on the 2018 shortlist has now passed. The category winners and the author of the best children’s book published in the 2017 nomination period will be announced this Saturday 9th June 2018 and I am sure it will be the fabulous occasion it always is.

The Federation’s founder Anne Wood – who spoke at a birthday party event held at Foyles earlier this evening – set up the first Children’s Book Group in 1965. By 1968, through Anne’s magazine Books For Your Children, more and more people had joined groups across the UK and the Federation was created to link these (initially just eight) groups together. Anne later founded Ragdoll Productions, known for its award-winning Teletubbies and In The Night Garden children’s programmes.

The first winner of the Children’s Book Award was Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake (in the days when the presentation was held in a tent) and the most recent (in 2017) An Eagle In The Snow by Michael Morpurgo.

The group has produced a commemorative booklet which charts its history, with many commendations from authors and illustrators. Just one example, from Anthony Horowitz: “The Federation of Children’s Book Groups, in their own quiet and single-minded way, have done more for literacy, for literature and for reading than almost anyone.”

Lollies Award Shortlist

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The shortlist for the 2018 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies) -a set of awards, now in its third year, created by Scholastic UK, to celebrate the funniest children’s books – was announced today.
 
The Lollies are awarded in three categories:
Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds.
 
The shortlisted books in each category are as follows: 
 
Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
  • Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory by Elys Dolan (OUP)
  • The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright and Jim Field (Hachette)
  • Oi Cat! by Kes Gray and Jim Field (Hachette)
  • I Can Only Draw Worms by Will Mabbitt (PRH)
 
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds 
  • Barry Loser and the Birthday Billions by Jim Smith (Egmont)
  • The Big, Fat, Totally Bonkers Diary of Pig by Emer Stamp (Scholastic)
  • There’s a Werewolf in My Tent! by Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
  • Lyttle Lies: The Pudding Problem by Joe Berger (Simon and Schuster)
 
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds
  • Tom Gates: Epic Adventure (Kind Of) by Liz Pichon (Scholastic)
  • My Mum’s Growing Down by Laura Dockrill and David Tazzyman (Faber)
  • Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure by A. L. Kennedy and Gemma Correll (Walker)
  • Football Season 2: Where Football Saves the World by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton and Spike Gerrell (Walker)
 
The winning book in each category will be decided solely by children’s votes, cast via the Lollies website, www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies, or via the Lollies PopJam channel.
 
The winning books will be announced in January 2019. 

2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Award Winners [US]

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Another award for The Hate U Give

The 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards winners are:

  • K–2nd Grade Book of the Year: Poor Louie, written and illustrated by Tony Fucile (Candlewick Press)
  • 3rd–4th Grade Book of the Year: 50 Wacky Things Animals Do by Tricia Martineau Wagner, illustrated by Carles Ballesteros (Quarto/Walter Foster Jr.)
  • 5th–6th Grade Book of the Year: The Losers Club by Andrew Clements (Random House Books for Young Readers)
  • Teen Book of the Year: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray)

via 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Award Winners Announced at BookExpo | American Booksellers Association.

Teen Titles 71

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The latest edition of Teen Titles has The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner on the cover.

Inside there are features on Non Pratt, Faye Bird, Juno Dawson, Sophie Cameron, with mini Author Factfiles about Ryan, Graudin, Nick Lake, Patrice Lawrence, Terence Blacker, Nicholas Bowling, Tony Mitton, Sif Sigmaarsdottir and the wonderful Linni Ingmundsen, author of The Unpredictability of Being Human, ACHUKA’s Book of the Month for May 2018.

It’s a consistently well-produced and must-have publication for schools, libraries – anyone with an interest in YA books and their authors.

For those interested in subscribing, email learning.publications@ea.edin.sch.uk

The Breadwinner, A Graphic Novel – based on book by Deborah Ellis, adapted from feature film directed by Nora Twomey

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This graphic-novel movie-tie-in adaptation of The Breadwinner tells the story of eleven-year-old Parvana who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan. Deborah Ellis’s original novel, The Breadwinner, has been an international bestseller for more than 15 years.

The animated feature film is currently (May 2018) in UK cinemas.

Waterstones