Fallen Star Stories

And no sooner have all the Children's BookFest events come to an end, but our dear friends... those brilliant people at Children's Books Ireland... have begun another extravaganza to keep all the enthusiasm for children's literature rocking on through the cold winter months. (No better time to curl up with a good book, is there? Or to venture out for a good story telling event, for that matter!) From November 23rd through the 19th of December, The Ark (A Cultural Centre for Children) on Eustace Street in Dublin will be playing host to a number top children's writers; such as Derek Landy, Philip Ardagh, Mary Arrigan, John Boyne and Roddy Doyle....; and top storytellers; such as Pat Ryan, Liz Weir, Niall de Burca.....; to take part in a unique celebration of the story. There will be exclusive story-telling sessions, workshops for those who want to explore the possibilities of writing and recording their own stories or enjoying those left by others. A true hive of activit...

As it is now time to bid farewll to my favourite month of the year, I must play a bit of catch-up before the doors shut completely on this month of festivals dedicated to children's literature. The Children's Book Festival is done, with many happy faces from all the brilliant events everywhere... and here in Galway, Baboro is but a mere memory. I did however want to treat you to a few photographs from the Macnas Moments offered at Baboro. Along with all the other fantastic performances, readings and exhibitions, as the week ended, we, at Dubray Books on Shop Street, had some very unusual occupants in our window. It seems that the characters from the Series of Unfortunate Events were searching high and low across Galway to find the books that were their own. Aided by children and their families, they were on tour until they arrives at the right book for each. I think I can speak for Count Olaf (as he can't speak for himself at the moment) in saying he was both delighted a...

The results are in and counted and the Red House Children's Book Award winners has been announced! The overall winner comes from the category of 'Older Readers' is 'Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins. The other nominees in the Older Readers category were: 'Auslander' by Paul Dowswell and 'Love, Aubrey' by Suzanne LaFleur. Category winners and nominees were as follows: For the Younger Readers, the winner is 'Mondays Are Murder' by Tanya Landman. Also nominated in that category were 'Angel Cake' by Cathy Cassidy and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw' by Jeff Kinney. In the category of Younger Children, the winner is ' Bottoms Up!' by Jeanne Willis and Adam Stower. Others nominated were 'The Baby Dragon-Tamer' by Jan Fearnley, 'Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch' by Paul Bright & Mike Terry and 'A Very Strange Creature' by Ronda Armitage & Layn Marlow. The Red House Children...

Announced on October 20, JK Rowling has become the first winner of a new Danish award, the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. The prize, which is distinct from the much coveted Hans Christian Andersen medal awarded to David Almond earlier this year, is given to a writer whose work can be compared to that of Andersen in that it's characters and themes speak to enduring appeal. Speaking at the awards ceremony in Odense, Andersen's birthplace, Rowling said she was "humbled and deeply honoured" to become the first winner of the prize. "Hans Christian Andersen is a writer I revere, because his work was of that rare order that seems to transcend authorship..." Rowling went on to praise Andersen's "indestructible, eternal characters. " Many congratulations, Ms. Rowling! http://daphne.blogs.com/books/2010/10/jk-rowling-wins-hans-christian-andersen-literature-award-books-guardiancouk.html

This article from The Guardian on 18th October presents a view of the current trend for children's authors in school visits. While some of the article seems a little cynical (re: the view that children's authors are a marketing tool - This may be true, for who could represent a book better than it's author?), this would not be the main emphasis here. When a children's author goes into a school, they introduce and reinforce something that any teacher, who is by necessity adhering to a curriculum and a time schedule, finds it difficult at times to get across. Reading is fun. "We're in the enviable position of being able to prove that reading and writing is fun: a teacher could battle for weeks to get a child to read something, only for an author to come in one morning and talk about giant robots, (and if they were Neill Cameron , draw them), and suddenly books are fabulous." These wonderful people go into schools and libraries and bookshops and bring th...

Eva Ibbotson 1926 - 2010 I'm very sad to report the death of Eva Ibbotson, one of the finest children's authors today. Her career as a writer spanned three decades and included such marvelous books as : The Star of Kazan, Journey to the River Sea, A Company of Swans, The Morning Gift, The Secret Countess .... I could go on and on. Each and every book she penned was exquisite, which beautiful flowing writing, memorable characters and exceptional insight into children's literature. Her latest book, The Ogre of Oglefort , was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize 2010. Born in Vienna, Ibbotson moved to England at the age of eight in 1934. She died at her home in Newcastle on October 20th at the age of 85. She will be truly missed, but leaves behind an amazing legacy.

This just in from Jandy Nelson on her amazing first novel ' The Sky Is Everywhere '. I'm going to quote Jandy from her Facebook page.... "Yowza! Crazy news! The Sky Is Everywhere made Round One of Grammy nominees for best Spoken Word Album. If you happen to know anyone in the music industry with Grammy voting rights: It's in Field 17, Category 78, Best Spoken Word Album. The next round vote is December 1st. So wild!" Wild, indeed!!! I'm so pleased for Jandy and have my fingers crossed. And while, as she says herself, it's only round one of the nominations and it's unclear as to how many rounds of nominations there actually are, it is still very exciting and a great honour! Well done, Jandy! I'm cheering for you already!