The Places You Will Go

The Box of Delights is a true Christmas classic | Books | guardian.co.uk

  via guardian.co.uk

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

Young Kay Harker, returning from school to his family home Seekings and his festive visitors in the shape of a gang of cousins, is given the Box of the title to care for and protect by a mysterious travelling Punch and Judy man, Cole Hawlings. As is the case in these types of books, the Box is a treasure of such magnitude that by rights it should be entrusted to a private army rather than a small boy, and it isn't long before a gang of crooks with a rather magical bent, led by the dark Abner Brown, are on its trail and menacing Kay and his cousins.
 
So far, so fairly traditional children's fantasy. But its Christmas setting in a snowbound corner of England (with particular resonances for this very festive season - all the grown-ups conspire to be snowed in elsewhere, leaving the children pretty much alone to enjoy their travails) and the dreamy, poetic language of author John Masefield come together to make it something of a seasonal classic that certainly bears repeat readings year after year.

Philip Pullman to publish novel about 'the Scoundrel Christ' | Books | guardian.co.uk

'What I do with the story is my responsibility alone' ... Philip Pullman. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe

He enraged America's religious right with his portrayal of God as a senile old man in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and now Philip Pullman is set to court more Christian controversy – this time with a novel about "the Scoundrel Christ".

The book will provide a new account of the life of Jesus, challenging the gospels and arguing that the version in the New Testament was shaped by the apostle Paul. "By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs," said Pullman, who last year pronounced himself delighted that the His Dark Materials trilogy was one of the most "challenged" series in America's libraries, boasting the most requests for removal from the shelves because of its "religious viewpoint".

His new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, will be published next Easter as part of Scottish independent press Canongate's Myths series, which has also seen Margaret Atwood tackle The Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus's wife Penelope, Jeanette Winterson retell the myth of Atlas and Heracles and Michel Faber take on Prometheus with a modern retelling which sees an academic discover a fifth gospel. In Faber's version, Jesus's last words on the cross are "please, somebody, please finish me", and one of his last actions is to urinate on the head of the gospel's author.

"Paul was a literary and imaginative genius of the first order who has probably had more influence on the history of the world than any other human being, Jesus certainly included. I believe this is a pity," said Pullman. "The story I tell comes out of the tension within the dual nature of Jesus Christ, but what I do with it is my responsibility alone. Parts of it read like a novel, parts like a history, and parts like a fairy tale; I wanted it to be like that because it is, among other things, a story about how stories become stories."

Publisher Jamie Byng said that Pullman's contribution to the series "strips Christianity bare and exposes the gospels to a new light". "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ throws down a challenge and does what all great books do: make the reader ask questions," he added.

via guardian.co.uk

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Christmas Magic All Year Round

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

THERE are those who like to buy Christmas-themed books as Christmas gifts. Many of these books involve snow because ... Christmas means snow. Doesn't it? Well, actually, it doesn't - it's just one thing Malaysians have been brainwashed into believing. Christmas is celebrated in December and, in countries in the northern hemisphere, winter starts around about the final month of the year. Of course, as we read mostly British and American books and watch mostly Britsh and American television and movies, the way we celebrate Christmas is very much influenced by the way the people in those countries celebrate it.

Even if we aren't Christian, we exchange gifts, we listen to Christmas songs like Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Winter Wonderland, and we put up trees that we might even decorate with cotton wool and polystyrene!

I've been told that some Australians throw parties with a Christmas theme in July - because in Australia summer falls in December and that's, you know, so un-Christmassy! Perhaps we would do the same given the chance. My own children dream about a white Christmas and they haven't even been introduced to the Bing Crosby song!

I don't, as a rule, like Christmas-themed picture books because I feel they lose their appeal out of season. However, I think this is a personal niggle that, as far as I can tell, doesn't bother most people. Christmas-themed books may feature any or all of the following: the first Christmas, ie the birth of Jesus; snow; snow men; toys; candy canes and the other paraphernalia of the season; robin redbreasts; Santa Claus (with or without his reindeer).

The decade's best unread books | Books | guardian.co.uk

Noughtie omissions ... some of the bestsellers-that-weren't

My bookseller friend, Kit, and I were just talking about how we own a lot of books that no one else buys or notices. This piece features some very good books that have just, for some reason or other, failed to sell.

I've only read The Spare Room by Helen Garner. Eric Forbes got it for me after I told him that I'd heard a podcast interview with the author and thought the book sounded interesting.

I really enjoyed The Spare Room. It was painful to read, but, at the same time, liberating. As someone who has cared for the dying, I appreciate the honesty of Garner's story. I would call it a brave book, and a beautifully written one too.

Here's the podcast of her interview on The Book Show, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programme:

Helen Garner, about The Spare Room

Read Roger: Kirkus

Kirkus

The news about Kirkus is very sad. I am friends with several of the children's editors--Lillian Gerhardt, Barbara Bader (who was also the owner and publisher for a time), Diane Roback, Joanna Rudge Long, Karen Breen and current editor Vicky Smith. And I treasure one issue, published interregnum and written by the adult staff, which was complete bedlam.

Kirkus had a reputation, memorialized by Trina Schart Hyman (no friendly flower herself) in a drawing she did for a Jean Fritz picture-book biography, for being mean. I remember Zena taking umbrage at a Kirkus review of (if I have this right) a children's book by the actress Barbara Bel Geddes: "as a writer, Miss Bel Geddes is a wonderful actress." But, jeez, if that's what you think of as mean, get out more. (And let's not forget Zena could be ruthless when she thought the book was asking for it.)

Speaking only of the juvenile reviews, I think what people had trouble with was the fact that Kirkus was no coddler. Children's books generally occupy a protected status because of their intended audience, and if you shouldn't be mean to children, then you shouldn't be mean to their books. "But kids like it" is a defense mounted in our field all the time, an argument that would be laughed right out of any critical conversation about books for adults. As well, preachiness is tolerated in children's books (because preaching to children comes second nature to adults) even while grownups won't stand for it in their own recreational reading. What Kirkus did was to treat books for children and adults the same in the same publication. Good for them. It was also, almost always, fun to read.

posted by Roger Sutton at 12:19 PM

via hbook.com

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A Conversation with Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak on Life and Living

Jennifer Ludden (National Public Radio)  interviews the famed author and illustrator of books for young readers, best known for 1964's Where the Wild Things Are.

Christmas choice of children's books | Book reviews | Books | The Guardian

From Shapeshifters by Adrian Mitchell, illustated by Alan Lee

Julia Eccleshare's picks in The Guardian:

Who Wants to Be a Poodle I Don't, by Lauren Child (Puffin, £10.99). Age: 4+

A pampered poodle's determination to escape the confines of her sheltered life to become a real dog is brilliantly captured in Lauren Child's clever words and finely matched pictures. Shaped by her anxious owner, Trixie Twinkle Toes's life is devoid of risk or danger or even untidiness. But she longs to catch sticks, roll in the mud and, above all, to step in puddles! Influenced by the Performing Poodle Sisters, who show her how daring, dazzling and dangerous a poodle can be, Trixie Twinkle Toes gets a grip, jumps in a puddle, rescues a dog and finds liberation as a new life of wind and rain unfolds before her. A hymn to freedom: for dogs read children.

The Chicken Thief, by Béatrice Rodriguez (Gecko Press, £9.99). Age: 4+

An unusual love story unfolds across visually captivating spreads, with the pictures perfectly capturing every detail of the high drama at the heart of this stunning, wordless story. On an instant, a fox snatches the chicken from under the noses of her friends. The kidnap is shocking and the chicken's friends immediately give chase but the mood and tempo change as the chicken falls in love with the fox and the two establish a peaceful and benign rapport. The chase over, all ends happily, despite the disbelief of the others, when the chicken and the fox declare their love for one another.

Times Archive Blog: Died at Rome, of a decline, John Keats, the poet

Sixteen words, published in The Times on March 23, 1820, marked the end of an extraordinary life and a famous love story, which is just about to hit the big screen in Jane Campion's acclaimed film, Bright Star. Based on Andrew Motion's 1997 biography of John Keats, the film dramatises the doomed love affair between the poet and his young Hampstead neighbour, Fanny Brawne.

I went to the London Film Festival premiere on Monday with Sue Brown, who has just published an excellent new biography of Joseph Severn. Severn was the "friend of Keats", who went with the poet to Rome in 1820, on the journey which his friends hoped would save his life (he was also my great-great grandfather; I suppose I should declare an interest).

Keats had little doubt when he left London that he was going to die. Not only had he a medical training, but he'd nursed his brother, Tom, through the same illness. If the fatal symptoms weren't clear enough, he felt that separation from Fanny Brawne would be enough to finish him.

His friends were more optimistic. Severn was an impoverished young artist, and initially saw the trip to Rome - which was financed by other members of Keats's "circle" - as an opportunity to study. Instead he ended up nursing Keats through the last months of his consumption, and finally burying him.

The Guardian Books Podcast: Books for Christmas

Christmas books for kids and chefs

Julia Eccleshare discusses what childrens books would be a welcome Christmas present, including the new edition of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Plus, Susan Smillie tips the best cookery books this year. And Richard Lea talks to Richard Wrangham about how preparing meals helped humans evolve.

A Feast of Ghost Stories

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

IT’S not a Malaysian tradition to tell ghost stories at Christmas, but it used to be quite the done thing in Britain to gather around the fire place at Christmas and swap spooky tales.

I suspect that the practice was greatly encouraged by the cold weather at that time of the year in Britain – ideal for huddling in front of a blazing fire. Christmas is also when the family gets together, so there’s a crowd listening together, and maybe even more than one storyteller. Of course, now that there’s television, and DVDs and such, no one wants to hear grandma tell how she met the devil in the churchyard one freezing winter’s night.

Christmas time also coincides with the Celtic midwinter or winter solstice, supposedly the second most haunted time of the year (the first, for the Celts, is Samhain, celebrated at the end of October to mark the transition from “lighter” summer to “darker” autumn), and that must be another reason why ghost stories are told during the season.

For the Chinese, the most haunted time of the year is during the month of the hungry ghosts. This is when the spirits of those who died hungry, prematurely or unjustly are allowed back into the world of the living. They come seeking revenge and are mollified with offerings of food.

In the small town in Malaysia where I grew up, the hungry ghost festival was marked with displays of food in the marketplace. I loved the spectacle of rows and rows of tables heavily laden with delicious edibles. Most eye-catching were the whole pigs, several in their pink skins, several more roasted a crisp golden brown, all with apples or peaches in their mouths.