123oleary

2012-02-02T08:24:00.000-04:00

I love this. It's from Ornamelle (via Steph) and it makes me happy just to look at it. I'd be properly ecstatic with a whole set of these!

Adventures on the Moors

2012-01-22T15:19:00.001-04:00

I've just been loaned a copy of The Far Distant Oxus, courtesy of my friend Jane of Jane's Books in St. Martins, New Brunswick. I'd never heard of the novel or its authors before but just look at what a beautiful cover that is!
The story behind the story is very promising as well. The novel was written by Katherine Hull & Pamela Whitlock who were both schoolgirls at the time. They sent the manuscript off to Arthur Ransome who then took it to his own publisher, Jonathan Cape and it was published in 1937.
Google books describes it as: "The adventures of three children and the friends they meet while vacationing on a farm on the moors of southwest England."
You can read more about the book (which is the first of a trilogy) and see a preview chapter here.

Knitting Challenge

2012-01-10T10:17:00.001-04:00

Now that winter is closing in, I keep thinking how very cozy it would be to have a sleeping bag like this one...

Wouldn't it be nice...

2012-01-09T12:20:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't it be nice to get a letter with a stamp like this one?

via The Guardian

Bless the Bookstores

2011-12-17T08:57:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to gather a list of places selling the new book in order to make it ludicrously easy for people to buy it. Ha! It's shameless but I will add listings here as I find them (and welcome any and all suggestions).

I was inordinately pleased to find the book up at Buy Olympia - partly because you are always in such nice company there and partly because they do such a great job of presentation. (Also they do ship world wide.)

One of my other very favourite bookstores in all the world is Kidsbooks in Vancouver. I had a lovely visit with them when I was last there and am very happy to see them stocking the new book as well.

* And bless the bookbuyers as well! The comment from anonymous (below) made my day!

Marie Antoinette's Dulcimer Player

2011-12-15T09:07:00.002-04:00

While I haven't yet seen the film Hugo, I loved the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
I've been thinking about the book again lately as we've been doing a little search for automata and happened upon this amazing one. It was damaged in the French Revolution and later repaired by Jean-Robert Houdin: magician, clockmaker and the fellow who gave Ehrich Weiss the idea for the stage name Houdini.

Brian Selnick talks about automata here and recommends this book, Edison’s Eve: A Magical Quest for Mechanical Life by Gaby Wood. Will be looking for that one.

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day

2011-12-02T17:23:00.003-04:00

Hard to argue with the sentiment here.

I'm Your Other Mother

2011-11-29T08:03:00.000-04:00

According to Neil Gaiman, Bloomsbury (UK) will be doing a Tenth Anniversary edition of Coraline next year, with illustrations by Chris Riddell.

Ooh, look!

But can it really have been ten years?

Yes, I guess so. Here's my review from 2002.

Windy with a chance of lucky

2011-11-13T15:18:00.000-04:00

Here's your chance to win a hardcover copy of Windy by Robin Mitchell and Judith Steed. I've been working "with" Robin for the past five years but got to meet her for the first time last week. Very pleased to note that she was just as lovely as I had predicted.

Drop by the Windy blog for your chance to win. Then go to your local independent children's bookstore and buy copies of their other books for any little ones on your Christmas list. You can also purchase online at Buy Olympia. Watch for a new softcover edition + app coming next year!

Remembrance

2011-11-11T14:28:00.001-04:00

Book Launch

2011-10-31T08:16:00.008-03:00

Very pleased to be launching When I Was Small in Vancouver with the lovely Julie.

Monday, November 7th, 7:00 pm

Christianne's Lyceum of Literature and Art, 3696 West 8th Ave, Vancouver

Dress Up Time

2011-10-27T09:36:00.003-03:00

CBC is holding a competition for best literary hallowe'en costume.

Here's one that gets my vote!

This charming little fellow by the name of Clem went dressed as Henry from When You Were Small last year. Don't you love his little thimble hat? Kudos to his creative mother, Vania, who blogs at A Crafty Vegan (and thanks for the use of your picture).

Anybody else have pictures of kids dressed as childrens' book characters?

A page from Platypus Man

2011-10-24T06:26:00.002-03:00

Picture Bookists Speak Out

2011-10-23T08:45:00.001-03:00

Found here.

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012

2011-10-14T10:00:00.002-03:00

When I was trying to call up the list of nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) for 2012, I came across this picture:

Which if you think about it is pretty much how you'd like to imagine the creator of Pippi Longstocking.

And here's Pippi as imagined by the wonderful Lauren Child.

There's a great write-up on Lindgren here.

But on to the prize - here's what the website has to say:

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world's largest prize for children's and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is awarded annually to a single recipient or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading promotion may be rewarded. The award is designed to promote interest in children's and young adult literature, and in children's rights, globally.

Lots of exciting names on the nominees list (Canada is well-represented by writers Jean Little, Brian Doyle and Michel Noël), but I was particularly pleased to see Meg Rosoff's name. I'm a great admirer of Rosoff's work, but my particular favourite amongst her novels is What I Was. You can read my review online at Monsters & Critics.

Picturing Books

2011-10-03T20:11:00.003-03:00

Hanging out with the cool kids at Canadian Bookshelf this week.
Talking about some of my favourite picture books.

Here's one of my favourite favourites....

Thanks for asking, Kerry!

This is why Julie Morstad is my absolute favourite illustrator...

2011-10-01T07:35:00.000-03:00

If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a BIG surprise....

2011-09-30T07:48:00.000-03:00

I love this picture - it comes from an article in Asylum about raising pandas in order to return them to the wild which entails the researchers dressing up in panda suits.

Trying to think if there are any good children's books about pandas. They're at least as cute as penguins.

Daisy Hat

2011-09-28T09:50:00.004-03:00

When I Was Small ~ November, 2011

There 's a sneak peek of
some of Julie Morstad's illustrations
for When I Was Small over at the
Simply Read blog.

Here's one of my favourites....

Can You Hear Me, Major Tom?

2011-08-27T09:10:00.003-03:00

This is too good.

via The Fox is Black and tweeted by BookSlut.

Something Oddly Hypnotic About This

2011-08-26T11:06:00.002-03:00

More about Mr Men here.

Bad Baby Gifts

2011-08-19T19:20:00.000-03:00

A plush Monty Python Baby Killer Rabbit.

Enchanted Land

2011-08-10T09:09:00.004-03:00

Here's a quiz: which of these three things could you purchase for £1?

The answer is not that particular candle or that pair of reading glasses, but rather Moat Brae in Dumphries, Scotland.

That was the sum for which The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust paid for this beautiful, dilapidated Georgian villa. But as anyone who has ever bought an old house can tell you, it's the cost of repairs that really get you. A fundraising effort, spearheaded by Joanna Lumley, has succeeded in securing a grant from Historic Scotland but the effort continues with the eventual goal of turning the site into a national centre for children's literature.

While J.M. Barrie never lived in this house he did spend significant time there as a child and was to later say of the place:

When the shades of night began to fall, certain young mathematicians shed their triangles, crept up walls and down trees, and became pirates in a sort of Odyssey that was long afterwards to become the play of Peter Pan. For our escapades in a certain Dumfries Garden, which is enchanted land to me, was certainly the genesis of that nefarious work [Peter Pan].

I've always had an interest in writers' houses; I like to think of the leopard print carpet on the stairs of Edith Wharton's house The Mount and I would like to live in something like the house Robison Jeffers built. But somehow even more interesting are the houses that inspired novels. The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Mass. is a living monument to the novel of that name and it's nice to know it may soon be possible to visit Neverland.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

2011-07-12T20:38:00.004-03:00

Well this is pretty darned charming.

William Joyce's The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is available as an iPad app.

I particularly love the whole Buster Keaton vibe. You can download the original short film here

You can read more about the app from Moonbot Studios in this write-up in The Atlantic. And you can read about further William Joyce fabulousness in this earlier post on the title credits he created for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Step One

2011-07-05T10:40:00.002-03:00

Could anyone lend us a penguin?

From a great feature on The Guardian.

Cold Reality

2011-06-27T08:27:00.000-03:00

I love this!

(Found via Peter Sieruta's excellent Collecting Children's Books).

Tots TV

2011-06-08T10:13:00.001-03:00

Thinking about little houses the other day also got me thinking about this children's program we used to watch when my son was small. It was one of the few that didn't make me want to put pins in my own eyes.

Statistically Speaking

2011-06-03T11:05:00.004-03:00

There have been several recent news stories and associated twitter and natter about the subject of children's books from a statistical standpoint.
A study of children's picture books shows that the main character is male two times out of three. (from New York Times Arts Beat)
In a recent UK study three out of ten children (aged 11 - 13) did not own a book. And that was the girls. With boys the number rises to four out of ten. (from The Guardian)

Frankly, it's that second story that seems to me to carry real meaning. The discussion surrounding gender in children's books has been ongoing and most people associated with children's publishing know that girls will happily read books with male protagonists while the reverse does not hold true. Would publishing more books with females in the leading role make any difference to this bias?

Some time ago The Guardian published a fascinating little piece by the novelist Ian MacEwan, in which he describes a day spent with his son, attempting to give away copies of novels to passing strangers.

Every young woman we approached - in central London practically everyone seems young - was eager and grateful to take a book. Some riffled through the pile murmuring, "Read that, read that, read that ..." before making a choice. Others asked for two, or even three.

The guys were a different proposition. They frowned in suspicion, or distaste. When they were assured they would not have to part with their money, they still could not be persuaded. "Nah, nah. Not for me. Thanks mate, but no." Only one sensitive male soul was tempted.

It's really that "not for me" attitude that needs to be addressed in boys. There are any number of ways this is being addressed at the publishing level - from high interest novels for reluctant middle grade readers to books geared to boys more interested in sport than literature - but the study linking literacy levels to ownership of books seems highly relevant to me.

Libraries are fine - fantastic, in fact - but children need to own books. Kim Beatty, founder of the Toronto Children's Book Bank (an absolutely marvelous innovation) as quoted in article in The Toronto Star on this very subject:

I think ownership is essential to lifelong learning. You have to be able to pick up the book and when you want you read it over and over. Every parent remembers reading the same book over and over for three weeks until you were sick of it. That’s how you build readers.

If you are in Toronto you can donate "gently used" children's books to the Book Bank, but what I think we really need is a book bank in every city and a book in every child's hands. Whether that book's hero is male or female really doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me.

Respect

2011-05-31T11:25:00.002-03:00

Lovely column by AL Kennedy in The Guardian today, from which I have lifted the following:

And here I can mention that there is nothing like writing for those you love. Building something out of words, an intensely personal medium – something for someone you respect, someone for whom you care – that's both a pleasure and a properly testing exercise. I have long argued that the writer's relationship with the putative reader should probably be one of loving respect: it's a way of maintaining a correct form of address.

Little Houses

2011-05-26T19:18:00.009-03:00

I've been thinking lately of my need for a Wendy House (as in Peter Pan).

Need may be too strong a word but I certainly passionately desire one.

I was reading an article about writers and their sheds recently. Dylan Thomas had one, as did Virginia Woolf (that's where she spent her final afternoon).

And George Bernard Shaw had one he designed to rotate in order to follow the sun.

The lovely re-nest blog has some nice images of sheds here, including this one which belonged to Roald Dahl.

Very covetable.

And back in the day, at a writers' colony at Emma Lake in Saskatchewan, I had all to myself a little cottage much like this one, (the original cottage built by Gus Kenderdine at the Murray Point Arts Camp in 1936).

It was maybe a smidge smaller, with just room for my bed, a little wood stove and a table for my laptop. Perfection.

But my ideal "little house" would have to be the Maud Lewis cottage, which I first saw reconstructed in a Nova Scotian shopping mall.

It now has a permanent home in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. See pictures of the highly decorated interior here.

There is a wonderful picture book for children on the life and art of Maud Lewis called Capturing Joy by Joan Ellen Bogart with illustrations by Mark Lang. You can take a peek here.

I do have a little cottage that I hope to convert into a writer's shed one fine day. It is also pretty perfect in its own way - despite the current lack of a floor. One day....

UPDATE:

Would rather have this exorbitantly-priced children's playhouse than an actual house

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T14:49:00.000-03:00

Forgot to mention ....

2011-05-03T08:46:00.002-03:00

It's Children's Book Week!
Get details here and watch for author and illustrator events in your community. My son's grade five class is being visited by Linda DeMeulemeester, author of the Grim Hill series.

poster by Eugenie Fernandes

Oh, You Beautiful Dolls

2011-04-14T10:00:00.001-03:00

Of all the many things I currently covet, at the top of the list is a doll version of little Henry as drawn by Julie Morstad. I picture carrying him around peeking out of a shirt pocket and this makes me very, very happy.

I've looked a few times at sites of people who do custom made-to-order dolls, and just today I stumbled on the Etsy site of Jo Anne Lauder whose Prairie Girl's Passion dolls are so lovely that I would like to write them their own little book!

(image property Jo Anne Lauder)

Reclaim Childhood

2011-04-04T19:42:00.002-03:00

Two things that made me smile today. First this ....

AardvAard

From Unlimited Editions: Aardvark is the brainchild of Lesley and Pea, artist and designer, of St.Leonards on Sea. They delight in the particular and the vernacular: handmade signs, typography, village halls, fruit cake, tweed overcoats and twice-fried chips. Other inspirations include Edwardian picaresques, English Modernism and cheesy tunes of yesteryear.

And then this ....

image property of Sophie Blackall

And if you haven't been spending time hanging around illustrator extraordinaire Sophie Blackall's fab website then you don't know what you're missing. Check out her Etsy shop here.

When I Was Small

2011-04-01T21:11:00.003-03:00

The new Simply Read catalog is now up online and I found the sweetest little book in there.

Yarn Bombing Away

2011-03-01T08:15:00.006-04:00

Cherry blossoms are coming early this year to The Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver thanks to some local yarn bombers.

The event is intended to highlight the writer-in-residence program held at Kogawa House, the childhood home of author Joy Kogawa who lived there until she was six. The home was expropriated in 1941 and Kogawa and her family were interned. She has written about this experience in her novel Obasan and in the Ruth Ohi-illustrated book for children, Naomi's Tree.

Some info from the Kogawa House site:

All blossoms will be stitched in place on the cherry tree at Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on Sunday, March 6, from 2:00 to 3:30pm. Join Yarn Bombing authors Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, along with writers Nancy Lee, Zsuzsi Gartner, Mary Novik, and June Hutton, among others, as they decorate the Joy Kogawa cherry tree. Drop by to help out or just to watch the magic happen!

The event is organized to raise awareness for the writer-in-residence program that takes place in the house each year, when the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society hosts a celebrated Canadian writer for three-months at a time.

Blossom patterns are available at www.yarnbombing.com, and those who love to knit or crochet are invited to download patterns, find pink yarn, and get going on this new, fun project. Finished blossoms can be mailed to Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4.

image property of Janice Wong

A little inspiration, courtesy of Vancouver-based visual artist (and my pal) Janice Wong.

Check out the Yarn Bombing site for more details.

"A Lower Register"

2011-02-14T12:51:00.002-04:00

You cannot write for children. They're much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them. Maurice Sendak

Came across this quotation from Sendak today and it seems to me an apt retort to Amis Jr.'s latest foot-in-mouth-ism.

Here's what Martin Amis had to say:

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 to me, because, in my view, fiction is freedom and any restraints on that are intolerable. I would never write about someone that forced me to write at a lower register than what I can write.

And for a visual response to Amis's uppity attitude to children's writing, click on over to Booklust where children's writer and illustrator Patricia Storms has created some fanciful caricatures.

Diary of a Grumpy Kid?

Families & Literacy

2011-01-30T08:38:00.003-04:00

Family Literacy Day has come and gone and I was remiss in not organising anything to put up here. But I was pleased to see that I was represented in another way, when I came across The Canadian Children's Book Centre's list of recommended books in celebration of Family Literacy Day (which I would say deserves a month of its own, at the very least).

In celebration of Family Literacy Day, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre has compiled a list of Canadian books that share in the joys (and struggles) of families of all sizes and combinations. Canadian children’s authors and illustrators have done an admirable job of exploring Canada’s diversity, and many of their finest books are listed here.

In addition to noting both reading level and interest level for each title, the books are classified by thematic links. For Where You Came From I see that thematic links given are Families, Questions and Humour. I think that could fairly well sum up everything I've ever written.

photo courtesy BuyOlympia.com

The Speaking of Verse

2011-01-11T17:24:00.002-04:00

Now this is interesting. Scott Griffin is sponsoring a student competition for the recitation of verse. What a lovely thing to do!

My choice - if I weren't too old and living in the wrong province - would be William Blake's The Tyger ... although around these parts we've always favoured the Yeats poem beginning:
My name is Daniel O’Leary, my great interest is the speaking of verse.

Ways to Distract Yourself When You're Meant to Be Writing

2011-01-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

Penguin cam!

Have a very Alice New Year

2010-12-31T18:24:00.002-04:00

If you'd like to buy yourself a present to celebrate the new year
may I suggest Simply Read's astonishingly beautiful Alice 2011 calendar.

Also, watch for Alice Through the Looking Glass, which is being published by Simply Read Books as a follow-up to their Alice in Wonderland, both illustrated by the simply amazing Iassen Ghiuselev.

Go here to see more of his work.

What is Real and What is Not

2010-12-25T22:10:00.000-04:00

"Werner Herzog" reads The Night Before Christmas. With thanks to the lovely Esta.

Dream Christmas

2010-12-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

The Christmas book that I meant to talk about here was Eric Carle's Dream Snow. Only I never got around to it and here it is Christmas, already.

In other news, there's a new Doctor Who story online that you can read here.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

2010-12-21T09:47:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I never expected to be excited by a book published by Hallmark, but this one pushes all the right buttons, so to speak.

How lovely is it to be able to push the little Linus-face button and hear his "that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown" speech? *

This book was a gift to my little guy from his grandmother. She scored big points with that one, but then hit it out of the park with her next gift:

Really, have you ever seen such a dear little tree?

* As a general rule I loathe books with sound chips, but this is an exception. Will blog my all time favourite example later on ... and it's another Christmas book too!

826 reasons to buy

2010-11-30T11:50:00.004-04:00

It's that ding-dingaling shopping time of the year again. For those looking for suggestions, you might consider perusing the wares at the 826 National Store.

The shop is full of things you probably didn't even know you needed.

As well as gifts bound to be suitable for someone on your list.

And the proceeds go to one of the very best of causes.

What’s the 826 National Store?
No, really, what is it? We’re still pondering that ourselves, so if you figure it out please drop us an email. We think it has something to do with an online location where you can purchase products created by 826 National to support all of our wonderful chapters. From t-shirts and buttons to notebooks and stationery, we have 826-inspired goodies aplenty for your perusal. All proceeds support our eight writing and tutoring centers across the country.
For sale: 826 t-shirts, books, posters, buttons, tote bags, notebooks, and more.

The Heart and the Bottle

2010-11-23T20:21:00.003-04:00

Dear Helena Bonham Carter,

Will you please, pretty please read my book for me?

If you don't want to cry, then please don't read Oliver Jeffers' The Heart and the Bottle. But take my advice - sometimes you really do need a good cry and in which case you could either watch The Snowman (and David Bowie agrees with me on this one) or you could read this book. Or go wild and do both.

Boy and Penguin Are Friends

2010-11-16T12:01:00.003-04:00

I very seldom think of picture books in terms of topics, as in "I need a book to explain to my child about first day of school/losing a tooth/getting a baby brother/having two moms or three dads or whatever." But today I was thinking about picture books about friendship.
And here's the reason why:

We got this book today and we've already said "aw" three times.
Up and Down continues the story from the wonderful, wondrous Lost and Found which I've spoken of before here, but let me just say that if you're buying this book for yourself or someone you love, you're going to want to buy Lost and Found as well. We're big Oliver Jeffers fans in these parts and if you are too, you might want to seek out his page on Facebook.
I love how Jeffers is able to navigate the tricky territory of friendship without getting sickly sweet but still managing to hit on something you feel in the deep heart's core (as Uncle Willie would say.)

Frances is Fifty

2010-11-13T13:11:00.001-04:00

Frances was one of the great friends of my youth and now she is turning 50.
I hadn't realised that Lillian Hoban did not illustrate the first of the Frances books.

There's an excellent audio edition of several of the Frances stories, suitable for those first making her acquaintance. It was a big hit with my young friend Ezra.

Favourite Canadian Books

2010-11-12T07:55:00.001-04:00

There will be a call-in discussion of children's books on CBC Radio Maritime Noon today at ... well, noon actually.

On the program: Kathleen Martin, vice-president of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia and the author of seven works of non-fiction, Mary Ann Gallagher, who owns Benjamin Books in Rothsay, New Brunswick, and Barb Kissick, a Youth Services Librarian at the Charlottetown branch of PEI's Public Library Service.

A Cloudy ABC

2010-11-12T06:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a woman who has really looked at clouds from both sides now.

From Metro.co.uk:

‘It has become a real passion,’ said Daniele from her home in Zurich, Switzerland.

‘I find myself constantly looking up into the sky and seeing different pictures and shapes. ‘After I saw the letter ‘‘L’’ I decided to spot the whole alphabet. As far as I know no one has found all 26 letters in the clouds before.’

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T08:02:00.000-04:00

My young son's first literary prize.

Here's a little sample:

I walked across the street, a ringing in my head.

What was going on? Why did I feel dead?

I wondered if I would see my wife again.

I wondered if I’d live to show her the wonders of Big Ben.

Tears trickling down my face and zeppelins in the air,

Smoke rising to the highest heights but not a soul was there.

11th Day, 11th Hour

2010-11-09T14:21:00.008-04:00

Thinking more about Remembrance Day this year for a variety of reasons and because we are back in the Maritimes, my boys will be laying a wreath in honour of their great-grandfather, a lovely man who I wish they could have known.

I received the following video from Linda Granfield, author of Remembering John McCrae: Soldier-Doctor-Poet. McCrae was, of course, the author of "In Flanders Field."

Here's the info on the video:

"11th Day, 11th Hour" is a song that honours all who have served in the armed forces. The accompanying video pays tribute to those from Canada and the United Kingdom who served during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, in peacekeeping efforts and now the war in Afghanistan. Recently, the song has been arranged for a children's choir. It provides a companion piece to the song "In Flanders Fields," performed by many choirs around the world. "11th Day, 11 th Hour" was written by Saxon-Jaimes-Dooley and appeared (original version) on a 2001 CD called "The Poppy Disc."

Pass it on.

Book or Treating

2010-10-29T09:09:00.003-03:00

The best kinds of traditions are sometimes the ones you make yourself, and Neil Gaiman has just come up with a winner.

It's called All Hallow's Read and the idea is that you celebrate Hallowe'en by giving someone a scary book. If you pop by the site you can see some lists of recommended books (the one I'm most curious about is Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse, and Was Eaten By a Lion by Hilaire Belloc which was recommended by Monica Edinger).

The last kids books I remember finding quite genuinely spooky were Joseph Delaney's series called The Spook's Books and I think I may have fallen a few books behind which should be rectified. I see from a quick visit to his site that your can now read the first of the series, The Spook's Apprentice, online for free. So there you are. My gift to you.

A few other quick links: you can watch or just listen to Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book in its entirety right here. And by visiting Book or Treat you can contribute to the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. Just 75 cents could buy a child a book.

Vincent and Whovian Portraits

2010-10-27T10:39:00.005-03:00

Last night we watched the Van Gogh episode of Doctor Who again and I think it may be one of my all-time favourites (Richard Curtis! Bill Nighy! Sets that look like paintings!)

It reminded me that I'd meant to show this picture (stolen from Crooked House) to our little Vincent fan.

One of these years we need to get to Mahone Bay for the Scarecrow Festival.

Also courtesy Steph, the following tilt-shift photo of Starry Night.

More tilted Van Goghs here.

And as long as we're on the subject of Doctor Who, I wonder if anyone can explain to me the portrait hanging on the wall in The Lodger.

Notice how his eyes follow you around the room?

In A Darkling Wood

2010-09-28T09:45:00.000-03:00

Shadow puppets! Did that get your attention?

Over at the Simply Read blog, you can find a fun activity tied to the release date of this simply beautiful book, Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward with illos by the lovely Julie Morstad. (Caroline may well be lovely too, but I've never met her. Let's just assume that she is.)

Here's the book...

And here's a little inside peek that I snagged from We Heart Books.

Mittens on strings!

Seeing your breath on a crisply cold day! Almost makes me nostalgic for my Saskatchewan childhood.

Pretty, pretty

2010-09-26T12:39:00.000-03:00

Puffin has been doing some lovely limited editions in their "Designer Classics" series. I love this Lauren Child take on The Secret Garden:

'I thought it would be interesting to do a cover where one could peel back the paper layers, one by one until the garden and the girl are revealed - it was just a nice way to conjure the secretness of the garden.' – Lauren Child

And what a pretty thing it is.

Spotted at Nathalie Foy's book blog.

House of Henry

2010-09-24T08:47:00.001-03:00

Spending the day down at the House of Henry Open House.

If you're in the neighborhood, then drop by! Faye will have loads of lovely things in the shop and treats on hand in the cottage.

That's me with the goose...

Reform School

2010-09-23T08:08:00.003-03:00

I love this site! Reform School is a little treasure trove located on Sunset Boulevard which also has a great online shop.

And you know they must know their stuff, because there's my little book alongside everything from "know it all" pencils to Amish scooters!

Whaling

2010-09-22T05:56:00.007-03:00

Oh this is lovely.

On October 29, 1868, six year old Laura Jernegan sailed from New Bedford with her family on the bark Roman. They were off in search of whales. It was the height of the whaling era and whale oil was still in demand. Because whaling journeys often kept men away from their families for as long as three and four years, Captain Jared Jernegan decided to bring his young family along. Laura, her mother Helen, and her younger brother Prescott joined the Captain and a crew of 31 men as they headed around Cape Horn for the rich whaling grounds of the Pacific Ocean. We know about this voyage because of a journal that Laura kept between the years of 1868 and 1871.

And you can see the entire journal reproduced here. Or you can even have it read to you. It's a fantastic site - full of photos and all manner of materials to contextualise the diary - and produced by Martha's Vineyard Museum. Spotted via boingboing.

Young People's Texts

2010-09-21T07:48:00.004-03:00

There is a very interesting article about my favourite publisher, Simply Read Books, in Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures 2.1. The article is by Carole Scott and begins:

As I delved into the box of books that arrived from Canadian publisher Simply Read, I was immediately impressed by the wide variety I found. Not only were the books of all sizes, shapes, formats, and designs, they also spanned multiple genres and audiences. Primarily picture books or illustrated books, they included board books for very young readers, books with edgy and often philosophical humour, classics with striking new illustrations, books with historical and/or cultural implications, and mysterious books exploring the surreal and twisting perspective.[... ] I found many works that are graphically startling and inventive, and many that are thoughtful and provocative, involving complex messages regarding human values and philosophical perspectives. The more accessible books for younger children have bright visuals and evocative language and sounds, and many are educational in various ways. It is not surprising that the books have garnered a significant number of awards and honourable mentions from across the world.

It's lovely to see such a thorough examination of the work produced by the press since its inception in 2001. I think that anyone who speaks to publisher Dimiter Savoff about his work with Simply Read is bound to be impressed by his enthusiasm, discernment and dedication. I know that when their first book, a stunningly beautiful edition of Pinocchio, appeared in 2002 and I interviewed him in my role as a columnist for the Vancouver Sun, I could tell that he was a publisher unlike any I had ever met before. (Full disclosure: I was, in fact, so impressed that I was determined to publish something with the press. And I know every parent thinks their babies are beautiful but my two books with Simply Read truly are and I can't wait to see the third.)

Portrait of the publisher as a young person

The Jeunesse journal is published by the Centre for Research in Young People's Texts and Cultures which is out of the University of Winnipeg. And when I have more time, I'll be having a good old browse around their site. I like that use of people in their title. Once, when approaching the schoolyard my son and I spoke simultaneously. "Look at all the kids," I said, while he said: "look at all the people!" Oh yes, I realised, children think of themselves as people, don't they?

Re-Treader

2010-09-20T06:25:00.012-03:00

The trailer for the next installation in the Narnia series - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - is now up.

We've been re-watching the old BBC versions of the books. The special effects and costumes are pretty dire, but (some of) the performances are really very good and overall I'd still rather watch the old films even when it's for the 8th or 9th time.

We're anxious to see who will be cast as Puddleglum in The Silver Chair as Tom Baker* absolutely owns that part. You can catch a little bit here.

And if you're looking for copies of the C.S. Lewis Narnia novels, there is an excellent set of re-issues featuring the original Pauline Baynes illustrations.

*Tom Baker was, of course, the fourth Doctor.

Dahling

2010-09-18T08:41:00.002-03:00

In Sam Leith's review of the new Roald Dahl biography over at the Spectator, we find quoted the following interesting albeit slightly wonky analogy:

Up to now, a whole lot of grown-ups have written reviews, but none of them have really known what they are talking about because a grown-up talking about a children’s book is like a man talking about a woman’s hat.

I appreciate the sentiment here - children know what children like - but he loses me with men and hats, particularly as I feel that Philip Treacy, say, could discuss women's hats at far greater lengths than I am capable of.

Horse in a Philip Treacy hat, The Guardian

The book is Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl and it's by Donald Sturrock. Part of me wants to read it and part of me feels I've read so much about Dahl lately here and there that maybe I don't even need to read it.

My First Novel

2010-09-17T08:08:00.000-03:00

I love this.

It's a notebook from UK designer Sukie, available through Larkmade.

According to the site:

Sukie is Darrell and Julia Gibbs from Brighton, UK. Their stunning range of notebooks, journals and agendas is loved around the world and now includes a beautiful organic textile collection. The range will be available from October 2009. Sukie is the name of Julia's childhood cat.

Spotted in the latest issue of LMNOP.

Dodie Smith

2010-09-16T06:21:00.008-03:00

Look at these beautiful illos of Dodie Smith by Asaf and Tomer Hanuka ... done for a book about Ambrose Heal.

Smith is perhaps best known as the author of 101 Dalmatians and in her own time enjoyed great success as a playwright. But I Capture the Castle really is her masterwork. It was filmed in 2003 with Romala Garai in the role of Cassandra Montamain, Rose Byrne as her sister and Bill Nighy as her father.

Worth watching, but really you should read the novel first.

A bag is a bag is a bag

2010-09-15T06:45:00.002-03:00

So why do I suddenly have an urgent need for this?

Spotted over on India Knight's Posterous and available from The Literary Gift Company.

Do You Believe?

2010-09-14T07:04:00.004-03:00

We spent last evening watching Fairy Tale: A True Story, which is all about the two little girls who photographed the Cottingley fairies around 1917-1920. A very good cast, with Peter O'Toole as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harvey Keitel as Houdini and Paul McGann* as the father of the elder of the two girls.

We also watched this little clip from Antiques Road Show.

In it the daughter of Frances Griffiths talks about her mother and shows the camera which she used to take the photographs along with some of the original pictures. According to her, four of the pictures were faked, but the fifth is real.

And then young son went and tried making his own fairy photo:

* Doctor Who connection: the movie featured both McGann (8th Doctor) and the wonderous Bill Nighy (from last season's excellent Van Gogh episode).

Funny Prize

2010-09-13T08:40:00.001-03:00

Philip Ardagh picks his top ten children's books by Roald Dahl in an article in the Guardian.

Ardagh, who won the upper age category in last year's Roald Dahl Funny Prize for the first of his Grubtown Tales, is perhaps best known as the author of the Eddie Dickens (which we are currently reading and about to go in search of further volumes). The household choice for top children's book by Philip Ardagh would have to be The Fall of Fergal from the Unlikely Exploits series. If you use the look inside feature here you can read the very funny opening of this book, which begins:

The very last words young Fergal McNally heard in his life were: "Don't lean out that window!" The very last sounds were probably the air whistling past his sticky-out ears as he fell the fourteen stories, the honk of traffic horns below (getting nearer and nearer, of course), and--possibly--the SP of the SPLAT! he himself made as he hit the pavement. Fergal certainly wouldn't have heard more than the SP, though, because by the time the LAT! part had followed he would have been well and truly dead.

My son thinks this is the funniest thing he has ever heard, although I'm somewhat partial to the description of the father that follows on the next page:

Of course, their father could have brought them up, but he was a useless dad. he even went so far as to get a note from his doctor saying that he was "excused parenting" and left everything for poor old Jackie to do. He kept himself busy by collecting empty bottles. They were full when he first got them but were certainly empty by the time he'd finished with them.

Now I'm off to look for more Philip Ardagh books. I've always meant to read Why Are Castles Castle- Shaped just because I love the title so much.

Who are You Calling Simple?

2010-09-11T13:52:00.003-03:00

We have been exploring the Robert Sabuda site and spent a while working on "Simple Pop-Ups You Can Make" and while we feel simple may be a bit misleading, it was fun.

This month on the site, they are giving away a copy of Maurice Sendak's Mommy? illustrated by frequent Sabuda collaborator Matthew Reinhart.

I'm not generally a big fan of holiday-themed kids books (mostly because you have to either pack them away or put up with Christmas in July), but this is an excellent choice for both Hallowe'en and year-round. Perhaps not for the youngest of readers as this is one of the more fragile pop-ups, but an excellent choice for bed-time reading by tired parents as it's just one word over and over.

Pretty Little Things

2010-09-10T10:24:00.002-03:00

Now isn't this a little bit of loveliness? And don't you think you might need it?

image property Desideratum

This is one of a pair of earrings from Desideratum Art Jewelry's "Whimsical Collection," hand-crafted by the talented Gwen Buchanan and John Ackerson right here in St. Martins, New Brunswick. You can see more at the Desideratum blog.

Toys with Issues

2010-09-09T07:07:00.003-03:00

I hardly ever succumb to the temptation of reading the "weird news" that pops up when I'm looking for real news (which is weird enough most days, thank you), but had to take a peek at "Toymaker makes cuddly animals with mental health issues." Really?

According to the article:

The toys range from Dub, a turtle who suffers depression, to Kroko, a crocodile with an acute phobia of water, as well as an hallucinating snake called Sly and a sheep called Dolly who has a personality disorder.

And here's Dub the depressed turtle...

You can play a very bizarre game of "doctor" at parapleusch where the toys are sold.

International Literacy Day

2010-09-08T14:48:00.003-03:00

Today is International Literacy Day and I almost missed it. Fortunately ABC Life Literacy Canada have declared September Life Literacy Month so I have lots of time to catch up.

I only found out about all this because I was reading in the Globe and Mail about problems with declining literacy rates in Canada and that lead me to look up The Canadian Council on Learning to find out more. Then I got hooked by a piece on Comics and Prose Literacy for Boys (I keep typing literacy as litearcy which would be an embarrassing slip to let stand).

Here's a sample from the article:

Research has suggested that boys may report being less interested in reading than girls because their literary interests are not well-represented in school libraries and classrooms. Boys are much more likely to enjoy reading science and non-fiction books, informational texts and “how-to” manuals. They are also more likely to enjoy fantasy, adventure stories and stories that are scary or “gross” along with books about hobbies and things they do or want to do.

Boys also tend to prefer visual media, such as the internet, newspapers and magazines, that focus on sports, electronics and video games. Yet, while boys show clear preferences for specific reading material these genres and media are generally under-represented or even unavailable in school libraries, a reflection of the views of teachers and librarians who judge such material inappropriate.

I will confess that I've always been a bit of a snob about comic books but I am coming around. I have two sons and while the elder has been a voracious reader from an early age, the younger turned out quite differently. He wasn't what I would describe as reluctant reader as I understand the term, but rather a perfectly competent reader who was strongly visually-oriented and treated texts as inspiration for projects rather than something to immerse oneself in. Maybe that is a fair definition of one sort of reluctant reader.

The first book that this boy read - and by that I mean read in that "don't talk to me" and "I'll have supper later" sort of way was Jellaby, a graphic novel by Kean Soo. And that's what made me a convert.

Since then, the boy has become much more of a reader, although he does have some of the characteristics described above. He likes to read for information and he likes humour - this means that the series of Horrible History books have been a huge hit with him. He's worked his way through all of the Calvin and Hobbes and most of the Peanuts books, including Sparky, the biography of Charles Schultz written by Beverly Gherman for young readers. But he's also reading more prose fiction and particularly loves Roald Dahl and Philip Ardagh.

The article mentioned above includes recommendations of comic books and I will be looking for Melvin Monster by John Stanley which is being re-printed by the fabulous people at Drawn & Quarterly. I would welcome any other suggestions in this line.

Going off on another tangent, this has reminded me to recommend (again) the series of Macbeth graphic novels produced by Classical Comics. Since Macbeth is part of the high school curriculum here, it would be fantastic to see these books made available to boys either through their school libraries or local libraries. There are three versions available: original text, plain text and quick text.

I think that it's brilliant idea and along with several other Shakespeare plays there are a number of other titles available including Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations.

Bow-ties Are Cool

2010-09-01T09:29:00.003-03:00

Funny conversation with young son who is awaiting Christmas even more anxiously than ever this year, because that's when the new Doctor Who will be on. We'd been talking about the fact that Neil Gaiman was writing an episode for series two and I showed him the photo just posted on Gaiman's blog which shows Matt Smith standing between Neil Gaiman and Steven Moffat right after they'd done the table reading for the new script.

"So that means because I've met Neil Gaiman, I've met someone who has met Matt Smith," I told Euan.

He did an exaggerated jaw dropping and wandered off. Half a moment later he was back with his jaw dropped even further. "You've met Neil Gaiman?" he exclaimed.

Lately, there seem to be fewer than six degrees of separation between nearly anything and Doctor Who. I picked up a novel by Esther Freud called The Sea House for a lovely spate of grown-up reading, and told my young son that I thought she was the daughter of Clement Freud, who, of course, wrote Grimble. When I googled this, I realised that it was Emma Freud I was thinking of (and that Esther's father was Lucian Freud), but I also learned that when Esther Freud was an actress one of her roles had been in Attack of the Cybermen. And that she is married to the "Other Doctor," David Morrisey.

We are looking forward to seeing what ilk of monster Gaiman chooses to deploy in his episode. And in the meantime, we are thinking we might need this new set of figures: The Eleven Doctors.

So nice to see Paul McGann in there with the rest of the boys.

Very Cheeky

2010-08-26T08:40:00.007-03:00

There's been international coverage of something that happened on British Columbia ferries this week. The on-board bookshops will not stock Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean because they deem the cover inappropriate.
According to The Province newspaper:

B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall defended the move Friday. "The publisher of this book approached us over a year ago," she said. "Because we're obviously a 'family show' and we've got children in our gift shops, we had suggested we could carry the book if there's what's called a 'belly band,' wrap around the photo."

Marshall said that, when publisher Random House refused, B.C. Ferries chose not to carry the book.

The cover features a picture of a naked youth on a horse. The book is a fictional account of the time the philosopher Aristotle was tutor to a young Alexander the Great; it has been widely praised in literary circles.

"While some people might think it's art or appropriate or whatever, parents of young people might not think it's appropriate for young children to view," said Marshall.

The New Yorker picked up the story and now The Guardian's Alison Flood has written about it.
Judge for yourself.

When I showed this to my young son and asked if he felt it was inappropriate, he scoffed: "There's a bum in The Snowman and that's for children."

You Have to Love a Boy in a Striped Shirt

2010-08-19T22:01:00.005-03:00

This video of Oliver Jeffers talking about his books, career and process at OFFSET 2009 has already popped up a few places ....

Oliver Jeffers - OFFSET 2009 from OFFSET on Vimeo.

During his talk Jeffers showed pictures, including several staged photos of his cousin Henry done at the time of the launch of an exhibition of art from his book Lost and Found.

(screen capture from OFFSET video)

In this one Henry is inside the penguin enclosure at the Belfast Zoo and in the words of Jeffers: "I don't know if you can tell from that picture, but he's absolutely terrified."

I love it.

2010-08-17T08:06:00.001-03:00

The P.K. Page Irwin Book Fund for Children has just been announced. It will provide illustrated versions of traditional stories to Afghan and Canadian children and you can read more about it here.

And you might want to look for a copy of this lovely chapbook - The Old Woman and the Hen - suitable for readers young and old, and lovingly produced by The Porcupine's Quill.

The Fantastic Mrs. Dahl

2010-08-10T15:57:00.001-03:00

Patricia Neal - the onetime Mrs. Roald Dahl - has died at the age of 84.

Young son thought that this was quite sad, but also thought that if the last film premiere she had attended was The Fantastic Mr. Fox then that was quite nice.

He's been reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and reports that "Roald Dahl must have been absolutely mad when he wrote this!"

"Why?" I ask.

"Because it's brilliant!"

Here is a Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator quiz that I plan to administer later this evening.

UPDATE: young son has now finished CATGGE and reports that it has a "rather tedious ending."

Baby's Own

2010-07-30T10:15:00.001-03:00

I found this fantastic online resource of classic children's books at the Library of Congress more or less by accident.

You can flippity-flip your way through all manner of pretty books here.

And here's one of my very favourites: Walter Crane's Baby's Own Aesop (1887). So lovely.

I have a miniature edition of this somewhere ... the trouble with miniature things being how easy they are to misplace. I see that I could pick up a first edition for the quite reasonable price of $400 on ABE.

Painting With Plasticine and a Little Green Man

2010-07-20T07:34:00.004-03:00

What would childhood be without plasticine? The substance was
invented in the 1890s by art teacher William Harbutt.

I recently came across this 1958 newsreel clip of his daughter, Miss Olive Harbutt (80), who was a pioneer in the field of painting with plasticine.

PAINTING WITH PLASTICINE

Your browser does not support iframes.

Plasticine always makes me think of Barbara Reid (and how happy it would make my mother if I ever wrote a book which she illustrated). In this video, Reid demonstrates how to create artwork with plastiscine.

And finally, here's a video in which my son is having fun with plasticine.

Hello Dolly

2010-07-19T11:09:00.001-03:00

Now available for pre-order is Emily Martin's The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer.

And if you just can't wait, then visit Emily's Etsy store here.

The Grim Reaper

2010-07-18T08:08:00.001-03:00

Death. There, I've said it. It's like the great big elephant in the room as far as kids books go - books for the under-ten set, particularly. But it's also something they really, really want to understand which lends the subject a peculiar fascination. (My son once went as The Grim Reaper from The Seventh Seal for Hallowe'en).

Steph Aulenback over at Crooked House has written about her son, and how fascinated he was with Jan Thornhill's I Found a Dead Bird which seems to be going into a new edition (good news) and is available for pre-order now. The book (deservedly) won the Norma Fleck Award for Children's Non-fiction. And I recommend checking out Thornhill's website for all kinds of fascinating background on the process of creating the book.

All of this got me thinking about my friend Elizabeth Liddle (full disclosure: I have some friends. Many of them are very talented), and her book Pip and the Edge of Heaven. The book takes the form of a dialogue between a young boy and his mother. The adorably-named Pip asks some big questions and also comes up with some big answers. As far as I can tell, this book seems to be currently out of print, which is a dirty rotten shame and somebody really ought to do something about that.

Library of the Early Mind

2010-07-17T08:04:00.000-03:00

There is a trailer for Library of the Early Mind, a documentary exploring children's literature here. (Thanks to Quillblog for the link)

The title, apparently, comes from Adam Gopnik and an essay containing the following passage:

The Babar books are among those half-dozen picture books that seem to fix not just a character but a whole way of being, even a civilization. An elephant, lost in the city, does not trumpet with rage but rides a department-store elevator up and down, until gently discouraged by the elevator boy. A Haussmann-style city rises in the middle of the barbarian jungle. Once seen, Babar the Frenchified elephant is not forgotten. With Bemelmans’s “Madeline” and Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” the Babar books have become part of the common language of childhood, the library of the early mind.

You can read more here.

And since we are talking about Adam Gopnik, can I just say that his LOL piece is the funniest thing I have ever read. Funny in that cringe-y way.

Childish Things

2010-07-16T08:33:00.000-03:00

Andre O'Hagan talks about Toy Story 3 over at This is London:

As the tear-jerking cliché says, when we are no longer children we put away childish things. Toy Story 3 taps into one of the most ordinary sadnesses of the average life: we are all, in the end, exiles from our childhoods, and lost to the things that used to make us happy.

I've been reading more about toys and their inventors In Tim Walsh's Timeless Toys. Did you know that the inventor of the Slinky ran off to Bolivia and joined a cult leaving his wife and six children behind? And the story behind Raggedy Ann would absolutely break your heart. Cartoonist Johnny Gruelle invented the ragdoll character for his daughter Marcella who died at the age of thirteen. The name came from two poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie."

When You Were Free

2010-07-16T07:41:00.001-03:00

In light of When You Were Small being out of stock at many online sites just at present, I have decided to offer a copy for the very reasonable price of FREE.

I will give away a (signed if you wish) copy of When You Were Small to someone who leaves a comment on this post: tell me about when you were small, tell me about what books your small person likes, or just tell me any small thing.

I'll let my favourite small person choose a number at random and will announce the winner here.

Absolutely Frabjous

2010-07-13T09:27:00.002-03:00

Buy of the week was a circa 1950 black bakelite Viewmaster along with a set of reels for Alice in Wonderland. Some kind soul has uploaded these images onto flickr and you can find them here.

We had been reading about the history of the Viewmaster (also Raggedy Ann, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head and other friends of our youth) in a book called Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them by Tim Walsh.

And this is how we know that Viewmaster made its debut at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

And now we are on the hunt for one of these:

Sally and I

2010-07-06T23:23:00.002-03:00

So apparently they are making The Cat in the Hat into an animated program. And apparently Martin Short will be voicing the cat. This is fine with us, since he did a mighty fine job as the Hatter (he's never called the Mad Hatter in the actual book).

The only thing we don't understand is why the children in the series are to be called Sally and Nick. Nick?

How I Spent My Summer Vacation ...

2010-07-02T18:26:00.005-03:00

Okay, the plan is to make a TARDIS. Slightly scaled down to fit a ten-year-old Doctor.

This way lies madness, I fear.

Step 1:

POLICE TELEPHONE

FREE

FOR USE OF

PUBLIC

ADVICE & ASSISTANCE

OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY

OFFICER & CARS

RESPOND TO ALL CALLS

PULL TO OPEN

If you want your children to be bright...

2010-06-26T14:23:00.002-03:00

I recently spotted Laini's Ladies on StyleFeeder and was quite smitten. I think this one is my favourite....

I particularly like the choice of text, which you can read more clearly in this image:

If you want your children to be bright, read them fairy tales.

If you want them to be brilliant, read them even more fairy tales.

Albert Einstein

You can visit Laini Taylor at her blog, where you can also read about her forthcoming YA novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

The Penguin Diaries

2010-06-25T18:19:00.002-03:00

At this time of year, all manner of things come into the house that have been in a teacher's folder or at the bottom of a locker for who knows how long.

Here's one of the items I was quite happy to see:

Diary of a Penguin

August 30

Today Mom ate dinner and then fed it to us. I’m worried about school tomorrow. I might get mocked because I have no lips.

September 6

Great news! No penguins have lips.

September 7

Today I got teased by a puffin who said I couldn’t fly. Tomorrow I’ll show him.

September 8

I hate that puffin!

October 3

Today the cafeteria ran out of regurgitated food, so I just got fish. I’m glad I did that.

October 4

It was Saturday today and I told my mom I wasn’t hungry. Then I jumped in the water and got some fish. They swim slow.

Andersens and Papercutting

2010-06-06T10:03:00.007-03:00

This, the most beautiful of book trailers, was produced by animation studio Andersen M. for the New Zealand Book Council and promotes New Zealand writer Maurice Gee's 1993 novel Going West.

And here is another, slightly spookier trailer done by Andersen M. Studio for Kate Morton's forthcoming novel The Distant Hours.

As for what this has to do with children's literature?
Well, on this site for the Odense City Museums, you can view the paper cutting talents of another Andersen: Hans Christian. You can read about them here in an article by Andersen biographer Jens Andersen.

Official

2010-06-05T23:12:00.001-03:00

Very nice day spent sitting at the booth for St. Martins Booktown at the St. Martins Showcase. Thanks to Jackie Bartlett for the invite.

Thanks also to my younger son for keeping me company and for making himself a sign that said OFFICIAL SON OF WRITER.

I Want This

2010-06-04T08:14:00.000-03:00

(via Bookninja)

Beautiful Fall Titles

2010-05-26T08:09:00.010-03:00

Now, I know I'm always going on about how beautiful Simply Read Books are, and I suppose it is possible to assume that I have some inherent bias ... so let the books speak for themselves:

Singing Away in the Dark
written by
Caroline Woodward
and illustrated by Julie Morstad.

The Boy in the Oak by Jessica Albarn.

The Melancholic Mermaid written by Kallie George with illustrations by Abigail Halpin.

All three titles are from the Simply Read fall list and can be seen at their BEA booth this week. Also check out their new blog.

A World Tour of Children's Bookshops

2010-05-18T13:02:00.004-03:00

Over at We Heart Books, Katie and Lou are compiling a list of the world's greatest children's bookshops. I've contributed a couple of suggestions to the comments list (Kidsbooks in Vancouver, Ella Minnow in Toronto and Benjamin's Books in Rothesay/Saint John).

I was going to say something about what nice window displays Kidsbooks always does and then I remembered that I had this photo from one in particular... (thanks, Janice!)

Stop by We Heart Books and take a look at their list and add your favourites to the comments. I've already learnt about one I plan to visit next time I'm in Toronto: The Flying Dragon Bookshop.

No One Wants to Read Books by Girls

2010-05-12T07:25:00.002-03:00

Do you suppose if they get enough youtube hits, someone will actually market these Brontë Sisters Power Dolls? Because we'd buy them.

Video produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Books, Life, Fairy Tales, Libraries

2010-05-11T20:18:00.000-03:00

Neil Gaiman talks about books, life, fairy tales and libraries here: "I was an awkward child -- ill-fitting, uncertain -- and I loved my local library with a passion ...."

The Picture Book Problem

2010-05-07T09:02:00.004-03:00

Writing a picture book
is like writing War and Peace
in haiku.
Mem Fox

Spotted this in the comments on a discussion of writing children's books on the blog of literary agent Elana Roth (line breaks my own).

In a post titled "The Picture Book Problem," Roth writes:

There is clearly a problem with picture books these days. Conferences are loaded with people who feel driven to write them. (I've polled people before and it feels like 75% of the room is there because they write picture books. Some day I'll ask them exactly WHY they feel so compelled to do this.

Perhaps compulsion is the right way to think about it ... really you should not try to write a picture book unless you feel compelled to do so.

If you are in Vancouver ...

2010-04-30T07:12:00.007-03:00

Hans Christian Anderson on Stage

2010-04-16T11:42:00.004-03:00

Just the other day, we were talking about the story of the Princess and the Pea which made me think of this illustration which I have always loved....

It's the work of Edmund Dulac and appears in The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, which I would highly recommend. I also love the new translations done by Tiina Nunnally.

It's amazing to read through the stories and realise just how many fairy tales originated with Andersen. My son pointed out that Ponyo is based on Andersen's The Little Mermaid, which somehow never occurred to me.

But since our friend Mr. Andersen seems to be turning up everywhere, we weren't too surprised to find that someone has now written a play based on a selection of his tales.

Anderson's Inkwell is by Gina Wilkinson and Micheline Chevrier and we are looking forward to going to see it at the end of the month. I have snagged this page from the Geordie website and do hope they won't mind!

Zombies vs. Unicorns

2010-04-10T09:17:00.002-03:00

I think I know someone who will like this ....

From the press release:

Young adult authors Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier enlist the help of an all-star lineup of contributors to help settle their ongoing feud in Zombies vs. Unicorns, an anthology to be published in hardcover in September 2010 by Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Edited by both Black, who is pro-unicorn, and Larbalestier, who is pro-zombie, the anthology includes twelve of today’s hottest YA novelists such as Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, and Scott Westerfeld making strong arguments for both sides in the form of short stories.