Hot Men of Children's Literature: Oliver Jeffers

In Tots to Teens today, I linked Fuse #8's final entry for her Hot Men of Children's Lit series. I'm starting my own list on this blog and choose Oliver Jeffers as my first Hot Man :-D!

Jeffers is an artist, designer and illustrator. He has written and illustrated four picture books: How to Catch a Star (2004), Lost and Found (2005), The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006) and The Way Back Home (2007).

Jeffers is also a founder-member of the art collective OAR, along with Rory Jeffers, Mac Premo and Duke Riley. OAR's exhibitions so far include 9 Days in Belfast, book and the award winning BUILDING.

Jeffers was the official World Book Day illustrator for 2007.

He is from Northern Ireland and has a degree in visual communication from the University of Ulster. He lives in Belfast.

There’s always space for good stuff

TOTS TO TEEN
By Daphne Lee

I WILL not buy any more books. How’s that for a New Year resolution? I already have at least a bookcase full of books that I haven’t read. Do I need more? Well, yes. 

For a start, there’s Brideshead Revisited, which is missing a few pages and needs replacing. And there’s Villette, which I lent someone and never got back. And how could I not buy Diana Wynne Jones’ new one (due out in June) – a sequel, so I’ve been told, to Howl’s Moving Castle (Castle in the Air doesn’t count, does it?) or Philip Pullman’s Once Upon a Time in the North, a little blue book, similar to the little red Lyra’s Oxford in format, about Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrison in their younger days (apparently Pullman also intends to write a little green book about Will).

Then there’s The Book of Dust, set four years after the end of The Amber Spyglass. I don’t think Pullman intends for there to be a reunion between Will and Lyra though. Anyway, this is due out in 2010 so I’ll probably have saved up enough by then for more bookcases. 

Space is always a problem, but I’ve felt better about clearing my shelves now that my books are going to the library. Yes, the library, which should be open in March, fingers crossed. I’m hoping we’ll have regular storytelling sessions for kids, including babies. And book groups for teens.

Oh, speaking of book groups, Borders is starting one dedicated to young adult novels. The first session is in February so watch this space for more details.

This will be my sixth year writing this column. It’s been fun and I especially enjoy all the feedback I get via e-mail and my blog. It’s also very exciting when I hear from the authors I’ve written about. Among the writers I’ve received mail from are Geraldine McCaughrean, Eoin Colfer, Jacqueline Wilson and David LaRochelle. And I’m proud to count as friends Australian authors Susanne Gervay and Jeni Mawter.

At the moment, the way distribution rights work, only the work of Australian authors who are published in Britain and the United States find their way to Malaysian bookstores. Occasionally, bookstores like Kinokuniya might import a book directly from its Australian publisher but that rarely happens. As a result, readers here miss out on some really fresh and original voices. 

One of my favourite reads last year was That’s Why I Wrote This Song by Gervay, a book about a group of girlfriends, the way they connect (or not) with their mums and dads, and how this shapes their personalities and the way they relate to the world, each other and others around them. Unfortunately, Gervay’s books are not available in Malaysia. Let’s hope this changes soon and we’ll see more Australian books in stores before too long.

In the meantime, books are being published almost every week and I’ll try my best to keep you informed of the best (and the worst) titles.

I’ll leave you with a blog post that got me cheering: The final entry in Fuse #8’s series Hot Men of Children’s Literature is Roger Sutton whom those of you who read this column will know is my idol and the editor of children’s and young adult literature magazine, The Horn Book. 

Check out the post here. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to search for the other entries. But, that’s okay. Elizabeth Bird (the author of Fuse #8) has said that everyone is welcome to start their own Hot Men of Children’s Literature series, so do visit my blog for my first choice: Oliver Jeffers.

Till next week, happy reading! 

Comments

[Adline]

Dear Daphne,
Susan of Bibliobibuli pointed me to your blog. I'm enjoying it very much. Will have questions to ask you about the publishing of children's literature in Malaysia someday :)

[wanhui]

Hey Daphne,
I checked out the list of illustrators you gave me, and I liked his work the best :)
I liked both your stories too, the little girls are cool!