Fallen Star Stories

Upon receiving the CILIP/Carnegie Medal for 'The Graveyard Book', Neil Gaiman has now used this as a platform for (among other prevalent issues) speaking out in support of library funding. Gaiman stated emphatically that closing libraries as a means to reduce budget expeditures would be a terrible mistake. Gaiman believes that in an 'age of too much information' that libraries and librarians are more important than ever. There is an expedient view that, with the prevalence of the internet, libraries are quickly becoming outdated and are not as urgent a need in the lives of children (and adults) as they were even a few years ago. This notion that everyone has access to the internet and children aren't interested in books anymore has allowed governments, bot local and national, to scan over their expenses and say, 'Oh, libraries...we can cut them.' Not so, says Gaiman. He calls this notion 'stealing from the future' and likens turning children lose on ...

Neil Gaiman has made a (what I believe to be stellar) statement this defines perfectly the problem with today's literary vampires. "It used to be the case that bloodthirsty vampires and fanged creatures of the night were the stuff of nightmares and terrifying children's fairytales. Not any more, according to the bestselling writer, Neil Gaiman. They're all a little toothless these days, he says, and nothing like the true-blue bloodsuckers of old. Vampires are now over-populating popular culture to the point where they are just not scary, Mr Gaiman said as he picked up the CILIP Carnegie medal for his gothic children's story The Graveyard Book, about an orphan raised by ghosts." For the rest of his thoughts, check out the link below. Absolutely brilliant! I say, bring back the old-fashioned vampire. Anyone with me? http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/todays-vampire-ndash-a-needy-neurotic-wimp-2010057.html

The winners of the 2010 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced today. Neil Gaiman has accepted the prestigious CILIP Carnegie for his brilliant novel, 'The Graveyard Book' . For those who haven't read it, this is the story of Nobody Owens, or Bod. Bod is adopted by the resident deceased of a graveyard. They raise him from the tender age of two years, after the murder of his parents and sister. 'The Graveyard Book' is gripping, tender and moving. The development of characters and the plotline are exceptional. A thoroughly deserving winner! The equally prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration has gone to Freya Blackwood for her genuine and original illustrations in 'Harry and Hopper' (story by Margaret Wild.) The illustrations convey the touching story of a young boy coming to terms with the sudden death of his beloved dog and best friend, Hopper, with a genuine human quality to which we can all relate. Timeless! http://www...