The Places You Will Go

Picture Book of the Month: No, David!

June 2007

NO, DAVID!
By David Shannon
Publisher: Scholastic, 32 pages
David is a little boy who behaves like a little monster, and David Shannon's vibrantly hued illustrations make him look like one too! Actually, David is just a regular kid. Like all children (most anyway) he gets into a whole lot of mischief.

I can relate to this book (or, rather, the mother in this book) because goodness knows I'm always crying, "No!" and "Stop it this instant!" and "Be silent! Now!" to my children.

David's sins include trying to empty the gold fish out of its bowl ("It was an accident! Honest!"), running naked out of the house (this is acceptable in some cultures and countries), picking his nose (this is acceptable in some households) and playing baseball in the living room (is this better or worse than trying to turn the bathroom into a swimming pool?).

But at the end of the day, no matter what he's done, his mum loves David all the same. And that's the way it should be!

Junior Reading Room

This week's Junior Reading Room (in StarTwo, 29th June) selection includes a YA novel about a girl who fights her fairy destiny, a quartet of fantasy novels and a collection of poems about animals.

Swedish Meatballs Optional

How many pieces of Ikea furniture do you own?

Reading Pictures

Another Lucky Dip

As Dogger by Shirley Hughes has won the public's vote for all-time favourite Kate Greenaway medalist, I thought I would feature illustrations by her, from Another Lucky Dip, a collection of short stories by Ruth Ainsworth.

Carnegie and Greenaway All Time Favourites

THIS year is the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Medal, awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) for an outstanding book for children and young people. It is also the 50th anniversary of the Kate Greenaway Medal, which is awarded to outstanding illustrated books.

In April, the official Carnegie-Greenaway website published two Top 10 lists of past medal winners and invited the public to choose their all-time favourites from the lists. Among the titles on the Carnegie list are A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (2003), The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937) and The Owl Service by Alan Garner (1967).

Greenaway faves included Borka: The Adventure of a Goose with No Feathers, illustrated by John Burningham (1963); Each Peach Pear Plum, illustrated by Janet Ahlberg (1978); and Gorilla, illustrated by Anthony Browne (1983).

On Thursday, the public’s decision was announced at an anniversary party at the British Museum, and Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman and Dogger by Shirley Hughes were pronounced all-time readers’ favourites.

Carnegie/Kate Greenaway Awards 2007 Shortlist

The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been awarded to Just In Case by Meg Rosoff (Penguin, ISBN:  9780141380780) and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey (Jonathan Cape, ISBN:  9780224070379).

Reading Pictures

Spreading the Joy

Following my blog entry about the new Children's Laureate, I decided to write about the post (and a similar American one) in my column, out today.

Reading Pictures

This week, four pictures, each showing a woman reading in a bathtub (what bliss!).