The Places You Will Go

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010

The Longlist

Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin (Doubleday, £12.99). Age: 12+
Now by Morris Gleitzman (Puffin, £6.99). Age: 9+
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes (Quercus, £6.99). Age: 11+
The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson (Macmillan, £9.99). Age: 8+
Sparks by Ally Kennen (Marion Lloyd Books, £6.99). Age: 9+
Lob by Linda Newbery illustrated by Pam Smy (David Fickling, £10.99). Age: 8+
Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver (Orion, £10.99). Age: 10+
White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion, £9.99). Age: 13+

Read more here.

Every Dog Has Its Day

From StarMag

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS

Author & Illustrator: Jeff Kinney

Publisher: Puffin Books, 214 pages

ISBN: 978-0141327655

MY eldest son, who is 12, loves Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series of books. Why? “They’re funny!” he says. And? “They’re just ... funny!” he repeats. Well, I guess I should be glad he didn’t give me his usual answer, that favourite of all popular adolescent phrases: “I don’t know.”

Of course, I’m happy to see a book – any book – in his grubby paws. In an interview with US National Public Radio, Kinney was asked to comment on the opinion that his work is not exactly deathless prose. He said, “These books are turning kids on to reading and they’re going to move on to more legitimate reading in the future, and that’s a good thing.”

Kinney is being overly modest, though. While Wimpy Kid may not be winning prestigious literary awards, I think the series should be acknowledged and admired for its role in promoting reading as a enjoyable pastime.

The Wimpy Kid books are written in diary format (in font that mimics handwriting), with cartoon illustrations. When I first heard of them I was immediately reminded of Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was my Wimpy Kid (the first book was published when I was 15 and the main character is almost exactly my age) and I can totally understand why so many tweens love Greg Heffley, the hero of Wimpy Kid.

Cartoon Diary

From StarMag

Real life incidents, narrated with humour and lots of cartoons, make up a series of books that has touched a chord among the kids.

IN 2009, Time magazine named 39-year-old children’s book author Jeff Kinney one of the world’s 100 most influential people. That’s because children hang on his every word, or at least every word from the “pen” of Greg Heffley, the wimpy hero of the series that has taken the middle-grade reading world by storm.

Kinney has written four Wimpy Kid books in total since 2007 and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film was released this year (it’s currently showing in local cinemas nationwide).

Asian Content for Asia's Children

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

THE Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore proved to be a truly inspiring experience for me.

Held from May 6-9 at the beautiful Arts House at the Old Parliament, the festival brought together professionals from various publishing industries – from print to film to software. What these people had in common, of course, was a passion and interest in creating content specifically for children and young adults.

 As you can guess, my interest was particularly in connecting with editors, publishers, writers and illustrators from near and far, many of whose work I have admired for many years, and some of whom I have had contact with through email and their blogs.

And the Moral of the Story is ….

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

Parents and teachers love stories with lessons or morals. Or at least, many of those I’ve spoken to about children’s books will ask anxiously if a particular story has a moral. Because, they say, a good children’s book will always teach children something good and useful. It’s even better if it has a short, snappy preachy message at the end: “Slow and steady wins the race!” Or “Make hay while the sun shines”, “One good turn deserves another”, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

Aesop’s fables end with these little “lessons”. When I read them I imagine someone shaking their finger at me. Of course, no one expects an adult to enjoy being preached to, but adults love preaching to children. Perhaps some see it as payback. Or, they fancy themselves older and wiser, and feel the burning need to share their wisdom and experience with the young and foolish.

Entertaining Emily

From StarMag

Her picture books offer everything from peep holes and postcards to wordplay and humour. No child would ever be bored with one!

EMILY Gravett must be the most prolific picture book creator in existence. In five years, the 37-year-old Brighton-native has produced 10 books – nine wholly by her, the 10th, a collaboration with Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo and many other much-beloved picture books).

Lara Jones obituary | Books | The Guardian

Lara Jones was best known for the Poppy Cat series

via guardian.co.uk

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

My daughter the children's author and illustrator Lara Jones, who has died of malignant melanoma, aged 34, was best known for her Poppy Cat series of books. She produced other characters (Lola and Binky, and Davy the Dinosaur) and illustrated books by other authors (I Want a Mini Tiger by Joyce Dunbar being her final work), but Poppy Cat was her most successful endeavour, selling millions of copies worldwide. It is currently in production for television, to be screened on the Nick Jr channel in the autumn.

Celebrating The Mozart Season

The Children's Literature Association Phoenix Award is presented annually to a children's or young adult book, originally published in English twenty years earlier, that did not win a major award at the time of its publication. The award recognizes works of high literary merit and lasting significance.

The 2011 Phoenix Award winner is The Mozart Season by Virginia Euwer Wolff.

I first read this book in 2008 and it immediately became one of my favourite children's books of all time. It's definitely on my Top 5 list.

Tulika Goes Malay

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I WAS browsing at a bookstore for Bahasa Melayu storybooks when I came across some gems -- translations of books written (in English) by Indian authors and published by Tulika Publishers, an small independent press based in Chennai.

The BM versions have been translated and published by Malaysian Book Centre and comprise a wide range of titles, including foltales and picture books.

There is even a selection of bilingual books (English and Tamil; and English and BM) that I am eager to try using with my language students.

One of these books is Priya's Day (Sehari Dalam Hidup Priya), written and illustrated by Cathy Spagnoli (translated by Hj. Abu Bakar Surin, who seems to be the translator of all the Tulika books ). The book is about the day in the life of Priya, a little girl who lives in a small village "near Kuala Lumpur". Priya has to help her mother pound rice with a mortar and pestle and this makes me think that the story is set in the past. However, as a reward, she is given RM2 and she uses it to buy some roasted peanuts. Two ringgit for a small coneful of roasted peanuts? I think that places the story firmly in the 21st century!

A Wrinkle in Time, well worth two Newbery medals | Books | guardian.co.uk

Madeleine L'Engle in 1946

via guardian.co.uk

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

Writing yesterday about Rebecca Stead's Newbery medal win for When You Reach Me I was catapulted back to my 11-year-old self and my total adoration for Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Stead's heroine is engrossed in L'Engle's book, itself a Newbery winner published almost 50 years earlier, and according to reviews A Wrinkle in Time plays a large part in Stead's novel (I haven't read the Stead yet but it sounds fun and is on my ever-expanding list.

Strangely, I'd reread A Wrinkle in Time only a couple of weeks ago, after spotting it in a secondhand bookshop complete with one of its follow-ups, A Wind in the Door, which I'd never read before. Having written previously about children's books that don't live up to an adult reread, I was slightly nervous about tackling such a favourite, but it was just as wonderful 19 years on and I can't believe I'd forgotten about it for so long.