The Places You Will Go

I created a monster: Julia Donaldson on how the Gruffalo has taken over her life - Features, Books - The Independent

via independent.co.uk

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

Happy eleventy-first, CS Lewis | Books | guardian.co.uk

CS Lewis. Photograph: Hulton Getty

Clive Staples Lewis, whose 111th birthday would have been celebrated on Sunday 29 November, can lay claim to being one of the key English intellectual authors of the mid-20th century. His work on philosophy, theology and English literature – in particular his studies of Milton and the poetry of the 16th-century – would have ensured his legacy, even if the views he expresses are unfashionable nowadays. But it's his fiction on which his claim truly rests, despite its being marginalised in discussions that tend to celebrate "serious" work for adults over innovative and influential books for children.

SCBWI Malaysia: Supporting Malaysian Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I'M taking a break from recommending Christmas gifts to write a little about the Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Malaysia.

Founded in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles-based children's writers, the SCBWI now has regional chapters in other parts of the United States, as well as international chapters in countries like Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Monolia, the Netherlands, Russia Spain and Taiwan. This year, the Malaysian chapter was registered and on Nov 20, it held its first conference, at the LimKokWing University of Creative Technology.

Twilight: New Moon review

From Page to Screen
Twilight: New Moon

by Claire E. Gross

The second cinematic installment of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance series The Twilight Saga is best left for only the most devoted fans. Both book and movie follow the deepening friendship between heroine Bella and Jacob. A sweet, younger-brother type in the first movie, he’s suddenly bulked up to become a romantic counterpart to Edward: warm to Edward’s cold, present when Edward disappears without a trace (having been convinced by a paper-cut that Bella is better off without him). Meanwhile, Jacob is a werewolf, his tribe sworn to protect humankind from vampires — sorry, Edward — and vampire-with-a-grudge Victoria closes in on Bella. Oh yeah, and Bella’s depressed a lot.

The Costa Prize: The Children's Shortlist | Books | guardian.co.uk

For the first time there are two posthumous Costa nominations, one of which is for Siobhan Dowd in the children's book category for Solace of the Road. Judges said they were captivated by Dowd's story of a troubled teenager who embarks on a road trip back to her mother. Dowd died of cancer in August 2007 and all royalties now go to a fund for disadvantaged young people set up in her name.

Also on the children's shortlist is a novel that tackles a big, controversial subject: Anna Perera's Guantanamo Boy tells the story of Khalid, from Rochdale, who is arrested on a visit to Pakistan and soon finds himself in the US detention camp. Perera, who is married to Dire Straits founder David Knopfler, said she felt honoured to be shortlisted. "I didn't sleep a wink last night, I was completely flabbergasted."

The Gruffalo becomes the star of BBC's Christmas TV | Television & radio | guardian.co.uk

Robbie Coltrane will voice the Gruffalo, which is at the heart of BBC1's Christmas schedule Photograph: BBC/MAGIC LIGHT COMPANY/BBC

As anyone who's ever had the pleasure of reading it will tell you, there's no such thing as a Gruffalo… And yet, in the 10 years since it was published in 1999, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's 700-word story has become something of a national institution. It's been translated around the world, turned into an audio book with Imelda Staunton and a stage play; earlier this month it even beat established classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Winnie The Pooh and Where the Wild Things Are in Jeremy Vine's quest on Radio 2 to find the nation's favourite bedtime story.

Desperately seeking Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are | Film | The Guardian

Spike Jonze on the set of Where the Wild Things Are, with its young star. Photograph: Warner Bros/Allstar

Dave Eggers: So here we are. It's always awkward doing this kind of thing together. If we wrote this the way we wrote the script, fighting over every word, it would probably take a year.

Spike Jonze: We should just have a conversation. Then we can fight over every word when we edit it.

DE: But let's be really eloquent. We can talk, and then after we transcribe the talk, we can make ourselves seem articulate.

SJ: Yes, we shall do that. It brings to mind something the bard once said: "Tis excellent to be spontaneous, tho better to be brilliant."

DE: He didn't say that.

SJ: He did. In one of his lesser-known plays, The Sisters of Hannah.

DE: So let's talk about Maurice Sendak, about the first time we saw him together. It was in the winter of 2003, I think. You and Maurice had known each other for a long time.

More Things Wild (Wacky and Mysterious) from Sendak

By DAPHNE LEE

Tots to Teens

MAURICE Sendak is about to become a household name in Malaysia, thanks to the movie, by Spike Jonze, of his picture book Where the Wild Things Are. If I had to pick just one favourite children's book, this would be it, but I love many of Sendak's other books and think they make great gifts for children of all ages. Here's my top picks ...

Childrenslitproject's Blog

We have a working title for the film, and while there are still a handful of interviews to shoot, the editing is underway, with hopes of a finished cut by spring.

All in all, we have 33 interviews amounting to roughly 25 hours of primary footage that will go into making a finished film in the 75-to-85-minute range. Obviously, the generosity of so many prominent writers and illustrators with their time has been wonderful, and the happy problem will be to come to the finished product out of such a wealth of material.

The film’s first journeys will be to film festivals in 2010 and possibly into 2011. We’ll post here with news on that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

via childrenslitproject.wordpress.com

This is the production blog of The Library of the Early Mind, a feature-length documentary film about children’s literature directed by Edward J. Delaney and produced by Edward J. Delaney and Steven Withrow.

Visit the blog to watch excerpts of some of the interviews with authors like Natalie Babbitt, Lois Lowry, Maurice Sendak and Brian Selznick.

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

booklicious: DIY Book Makeovers

In its November issue, Country Living features a nifty project that turns a book into a bag. Now, I don't condone ripping apart a perfectly sound book for this, but it's a clever way to repurpose a book that's beyond saving.

More details and similar projects after the jump.
(Photo credit: Lara Robby/Studio D)

It goes without saying that you'll need a hardback book; the project also requires half a yard of fabric, a handle kit (found at any craft or hobby store), ribbon, a button and some free time.

For a slideshow of instructions and helpful photos, go to Country Living's site here.

If you're looking for other ways to reuse dilapidated books, try these tutorials from Instructables:

Make a book safe/hollow book 

Make a literary clock  
Turn a book into a lampshade 
Create an iPod case using a book

via bookliciousblog.com

I wonder of we can turn this into a workshop for the kids at the Hub!

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous