Here it is folks - the Bisto Book of the Year Award shortlist - with €10,000 for the winner, €3,000 for best first novel, €1,500 for Children’s Choice Award and prizes for the Judges choice awards. In other words - the BIGGEST prize for a children’s writer in Ireland. A Bit Lost - Chris Haughton [...]
I love stumbling onto new sites - especially of people with great voices or whose opinion I really respect - and this morning I fell onto Michael Emberley’s site. Go see!
Patrick Ness has made the Arthur C Clarke Award shortlist - alongside 6 other titles - making him the second ever YA book to be listed! Whoop. Lots more on the Guardian and Bookseller.
The Bisto Book of the Year shortlist, and the winners, is the best kept secret in Ireland – but all will revealed on Monday! Ahead of hearing the shortlist I’m slipping on my fortune-telling garb and rubbing the crystal ball – i.e. guessing – to predict who will win what. I’m torn with various favourites [...]
Holly English from Castletroy College has a great review of Helena Close’s The Cut of Love. I’m a bit of a Helena fan - I’ve been raving about her latest, The Clever One, for over a year. You’re going to love it! Click on and have a read.
With the Bisto Book of the Year shortlist being announced on Monday - Sarah Webb revealed her predictions for who she things will be listed, and who will win! Overall Winner –The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers The best book of the year – a stunning achievement. Eilis Dillon Award (for first book) [...]
Schools all across the country will have received €1/£1 Book Tokens - redeemable in bookshops for the face value - or for one of the WBD Quick Reads - including Brianóg Brady Dawson’s Danny’s Smelly Toothbrush and Fiacla Mhamó, Imagination Station (winners of the WBD Short Story Competition), a Jiggy McCue story, something terrifying from [...]
It’s World Book Day today - with hundreds of events across Ireland - the UK, Europe and, yup, you guessed it… THE WORLD! Click here for a list of events happening near you!
The folks behind World Book Day have launched digi-tale.co - a site full of reviews, prizes, books and more.
Here it is folks - the Guardian Kids Book Club. I’m off to play with it now!
Rumour has it that the excellent DFC is to ride again! The comic - that led to the DFC Library series, published last year - is to make a return. No idea in what format just yet - but there should be news next week. ht/ Emma Vieceli
The Blue Peter Award Winners have been announced - and from the brilliant shortlists (there really were some great books listed) there are three worthy winners - namely: The Raven Mysteries: Lunatics and Luck by Marcus SedgwickDo Igloos Have Loos? by Mitchell Symonsand Dead Man’s Cove (A Laura Marlin Mystery) by Lauren St John Check [...]
The Red House Children’s Book Award – the only national book award voted for entirely by children - have announced their shortlist. Go see the full list!!
Authors Joe O’Brien, Clare Dowling and Maria Dickenson, Head of Book Purchasing at Easons, were on d’Telly to celebrate World Book Day. Have a watch.
Slash Gear reviews the new Barnes & Noble NOOK Kids App - a free app with access to more than 12,000 children’s chapter books – each of them with the ability to look up words, take notes, zoom, change text appearance, and more.
The previously mentioned Guardian children’s online book club are looking for anyone interested in getting involved - find out more here.
Maximidia have produced a set of 50′s ‘future ad’ posters with the help of Moma Propaganda. Brilliant! Click to see/download the full set.
The Guardian carried a gallery from Emily Gravett’s books - a great introduction to anyone who doesn’t know her work! Click to see!
The Guardian is to launch a children’s online book club - the second large outlet to up their interest in kids books this month. (See the NYT last week) Claire Armitstead talks to the Scarrow brothers, Meg Rossoff, Michael Rosen and Louisa Young about the importance of reading and children’s books - and where technology [...]
This years BolognaRagnazzi Award has been awarded to Jean-Philippe Mogenet and Jean-François Martin’s adaptation of Aesop’s Fables. “Countless illustrators have returned down the ages to the ancient magic of the fairytale. Here it seems that Felix Valloton in his halcyon years has returned to instil a new pace into a time-honoured tale, without, however, diminishing [...]
It’s a must read for everyone - it’s the Publisher’s Weekly Spring 2011 Children’s Announcements issue. Everything for Spring and a sneak peek at what is coming for the rest of the year!
Check out the full list of winners of the 2011 Golden Kite Awards & Sid Fleischman Humor Awards. Especially - Milo (released over here as Milo and the Restart Button - hits the shelves in the next few weeks and it is excellent!)
You’re reading the Seven Stories Enid Blyton blog right? Read as the folks there search through Blyton’s original typescripts.
The Scottish Book Trust has announced the winners of the Royal Mail Awards - Bookbug Readers (0-7 years) What the Ladybird Heard - Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Lydia Monks Younger Readers (8-11) Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles - Barry Hutchison Older Readers (12-16) Grass by Cathy MacPhail Click for more!
The New York Times has announced plans to feature an online-only review of a new picture book each week - that will supplement the papers already regular coverage of picture books. Excellent!
Seven Stories have dug up an unpublished Blyton story - My Tumpy’s Caravan. Imogen Smallwood, Blyton’s youngest daughter, said yesterday that “there’s always excitement when an unknown typescript is found of anybody’s who is well known. Because this wasn’t even known about, it has to rank quite high.” Click for more.
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have announced the finalists for the 2010 honors to be presented in April. Most importantly - Beverly Cleary ha sbeen named as the recipient of the annual Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement - the first children’s author to win the award in its 31-year history. The finalists for [...]
Martin Amis has said that he’d never write for children - “People ask me if I ever thought of writing a children’s book. I say, ‘If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children’s book’, but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who you’re directing the story to is anathema [...]
Rebecca Stead hit the UK shores last week - and Booktrust caught up with the Newbury medal winner to ask a few questions. Stead offers some of her favourite books when she was younger - Red Planet by Robert Heinlein All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor Fog Magic by Julia Sauer Half Magic [...]
The Vampire Diaries author LJ Smith is not expected to finish writing the series - HarperCollins have decided to allow another writer work on the project. The series is work-for-hire - meaning that copyright over the world and everything in it lies with HC. More at LJ Smith’s blog.
A made-for-TV biopic of JK Rowling is under production in Victoria, Canada. The flick, Strange Magic, features Poppy Montgomery, Samantha Spade on Without a Trace, will play Rowling and will chart Rowling’s life from childhood to fame. More details and interviews at the timescolonist.com
Frank Cottrell Boyce reviews Tove Jansson’s The Dangerous Journey. “One of the many debts we owe to our favourite children’s authors is the way that they alerted us – at an impressionable age – to various small pleasures. To this day I can give myself a sense of freedom and carelessness by setting out on [...]
Aaaaand I’m back after a week offline to recharge the batteries and sort a whole heap of other things for the next few months. And while I was off gallivanting someone nominated me for a blog award - or three. Thank you to everyone who voted with their clicking finger!! And now that the blogiday [...]
Children’s Books Ireland are looking for a Programme Officer to fill the very big shoes of one Mr Tom Donegan. Experience in the arts and/or literature is essential and experience working with children and young people would also be an advantage. The Programme Officer is responsible for delivering CBI’s range of activities for children and [...]
Sita Brahmachari’s Artichoke Hearts was announced as the winner of this year’s Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize last night. Among the shortlist were Rebecca Stead’s Newbury prize winner When You Reach Me as well as Curtis Jobling, Candy Gourlay’s Tall and Irfan Masters’ A Beautiful Lie.
My obsession of the week comes from the very excellent Olly Moss - it’s Wolverine. No wait, it’s two batmen.
Jonathan Barry’s book covers have become iconic - and his work has just been bought up by Fingal County Council to decorate the new Rush Library. More at the Irish Times.
The longstanding defender of Redwall and brave mice everywhere Brian Jacques has passed away. The Liverpuddlian sadly died over the weekend - leaving behind his family, more than 30 novels in the epic Redwall series and an incredible career. “Treetops and Timber!”
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