Fallen Star Stories

As part od Puffin's Classic's 30th anniversary, Jacqueline Wilson will be publishing an updated version of E Nesbit's Five Children and It . To be published in August, Wilson's story will centre around four contemporary children who travel back in time to meet Nesbit's original group. They discover the Psammead in a big sand pit in Oxshott Woods, Surrey and have their fondest wishes granted. Wilson has been a fan of Nesbit's writing since she was young; "I loved the way she wrote very approachably. This is a kind of tribute to her because I so admire." As well as Four Children and It, we can look forward to The Further Tales of Peter Rabbit by Emma Thompson, and more! Thank you to The Bookseller for this information. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/five-become-four-wilsons-nesbit-update.html

Little Island has just released some fantastic new books! Two of the books I have been most looking forward to are: The World's Worst Mothers by Sabine Ludwig Upon hearing about a contest to find 'the world's worst mothers', Ludwic, Sophie and Emily are very quick to volunteer their mothers for the competition. But when their mothers disappear and are replaced by  perfect 'Aunt Annas', they soon discover that something sinister is afoot! "A fishy tale of betrayal,intrigue and adventure on the high seas - and the dog gets shot!' Large Mammals, Stick Insects and Other Social Misfits by Felicity McCall Aimee McCourt's cross-border exchange partner, Caoimhe is coming to visit, along with her gorgeous brother Darren. As Aimee tries to get her best-friends' lives back in order - as well as her own- she finds that as long as she has her stack of lists, her cat, Rainbow, a hot chocolate and Facebook, nothing is impossible! Honest, fast-paced ...

This interesting bit of news came in today and I thought I'd share it with you. As you probably know, Michael Morpurgo's beautiful book War Horse has now been made into a feature film and is out in the cinema now... and the play is having a brilliant run in the West End, as well. (Now for the interesting bit...) In the past two weeks since the films opening, War Horse (the book has sold more copies in the UK than it has since it was first published 25 years ago! Pulisher, Egmont Press, says that in the last fortnight, War Horse has sold 30,000 copies per week in the UK; whereas it has sold 50,000 copies total worldwide between 1982 and 2007 (when the stage play opened) creating an average sales rate of 2000 per year in that time period. Staggering! War Horse is the story of Joey, a farm horse, told from his perspective. Joey gets separated from his owner and ends up in the trenches during World War I. War Horse is a true classic and if you haven't read it yet, ple...

I'm really excited about this year's World Book Day events at Dubray Books, Galway! I've got an  all-star cast lined up and it gets better day by day. So far, we'll be hosting reading events for the local schools by such wonderful authors/story-tellers as..... Patricia Forde, Rab Swannock Fulton, Kevin Whelan, Dolores Keaveney..... Maeve Friel and Nicola Pierce!!!! There are a few more requests to authors outstanding... and, of course there is the regular cast and crew of Dubray Books, Galway (if there's any room left for us!) The events will take place this year from Monday, 27th February through Friday, March 2nd. I'll be contacting the schools for confirmation of their attendance through the next 10 days. THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!!!!! Stay tuned for more exciting news about World Book Day!

Do you know someone who is brilliant at bringing stories to life? It could be anyone...a parent, teacher, librarian... anyone at all! This is someone who brings such life and joy and entertainment to the story that you feel like you are right in the story and totally involved. If you know someone like this... then here is the competition to enter!! Visit the WorldBookDay2012 Channel on YouTube for directions on how to enter, but basically, it involves making a brief (1-2 minute) video of your favourite storyteller doing their thing and entering it! The winner will be crowned World Book Day's Storytelling Superstar 2012 in March. So get busy! The competition closes on 13th of February. Here's Cressida Cowell to tell you all about it! http://www.youtube.com/worldbookday2012

I just have to share this link with you. Find out what really happens in bookshops overnight!

Check out the updated ' Arthur Quinn.... ' website and find out more about the UNESCO City of Literature Children's Festival. And if you haven't read Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent yet, what's stopping you? The second book in the Father of Lies Chronicles will be out this summer! http://arthurquinn.ie/home.html

The title of this small book is Stop What You're Doing and Read This! ... and so I did. (In truth, I'd heard about this book late last year and have been waiting for it to come out.) In times when we are most concerned with the elements of our busy lives... work, sleep, finance, the internet... I think this could be one of the most important books that's been published in quite a while. Here, we are greeted by a series of essays from some of the most prominent authors publishing today and they are all about the value of reading. "People have always needed stories. We need them to make sense of our lives, test our depths, understand our joys, and discover what humans are capable of", it says on the back of the book. And that's exactly what you find within it's covers. Zadie Smith talks to us about her 'Library Life', Tim Parks speaks on 'Mindful Reading', Nicholas Carr exposes the 'Dreams of Readers', Michael Rosen ...

Out today - the Royal Mail has issued a series of postage stamps to celebrate the work of best loved children's author Roald Dahl. Featuring the illustrations of Quentin Blake, the stamps have images from all the favourites - Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, and more. As this year marks the 30th year of (probably his most famous of all) The BFG being in print, there is a special sheet depicting four stamps with illustrations from the BFG.. as well as the image showing when the BFG met the Queen. "Dahl's daughter, Ophelia Dahl, said her father would have been "thrilled" about the stamps. "My dad wrote thousands of letters home throughout his life and never dreamed that one day one of his own characters would grace a stamp," she said. "This is an excellent way for us to kick off a year of celebrations to mark 30 years in print for The BFG and it's great that the stamps include a collector's set, devoted to The BFG ...

Just a quick shout to alert you to the two new reviews I have had accepted by The Bookbag.... The first is truly a must read book for everyone. 'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio isn't out for another month or so, but do keep your eyes open for this one! http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Wonder_by_R_J_Palacio And the second is a marvellous read for confident young readers by Wendy Meddour entitled 'A Hen in the Wardrobe'. Definitely one you'll want to get your hands on! http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=A_Hen_in_the_Wardrobe_by_Wendy_Meddour And I've copied the reviews in their entirety onto the 'What Are You Reading ' page here... so you can have a look there, if you like. Enjoy!

I'm about to spend some time doing a spot of 'redecorating' here at Fallen Star Stories. How successful I'll be, well, I'm not sure. (Just not that computer literate) This is for my own purposes really... an attempt to keep fresh and lively... not necessarily 'up to date', whatever that may mean in terms of the blogosphere. I just feel the desire for something a bit different staring at me when I open up my site. When I get back to posting, it may look different, it may not. I do want to thank all of you who follow this blog, and those of you who may not follow, but spend some time in your week checking in. Oh, and before I forget, I want to express an BIG thank you to those wonderful people at Indigo . Someone there has been reading my blog and used a quote from Fallen Star Stories on the promotional poster (and it's on Amazon!) for 'Double Shadow' by Sally Gardner. Thank you, thank you, thank you.... it really made my whole year when I sa...

Yes, another year has come and gone, and a new one has begun. Welcome 2012! Before jumping into the wonderful journey that is children's and YA books (and yes, I do mean BOOKS... contrary to a rumour that many are circulating, the printed word is NOT dead), I wanted to share with you a brief list of some of my very favourites from the vast number of exciting books published for young people in 2011. In no particular order: Picture Books: - AGAIN! by Emily Gravett - The Cat and the Fiddle: a treasury of nursery rhymes by Jackie Morris - The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge - Wanted: the Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton - Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng and Yuyi Morales (illustrations) Novels for various ages: - the 'Adventure Island' mystery series (books so far) by Helen Moss - One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson - When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - The Haunting of Charity Delafield by Ian Beck - The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon - The Windvale S...