Fallen Star Stories

The last post featured those books out for the teen/YA readers among us. In this post I am focusing on the intermediate reading years, sometimes referred to as confident readers or 8 to 12 (roughly). I don't like to put age limits on books because, frankly, a good book is a good book. No one should feel they have to apologise for reading something 'beneath their age level.' But that is a discussion for another day. So here are some fantastic books out now or coming out in the next few months that I recommend. Newly published now, Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake by Rob Lloyd Jones is an incredible adventure tale that takes us to Cairo. Plumped as "Indiana Jones meets Mission Impossible" , add a little James Bond and they are not wrong. Packed full of  danger and excitement, this fast-paced, high-octane read is my recommendation for Dubray Books Childrens Book of the Month. Jake and his twin sister Pan find themselves suddenly thrust into a world of...

After the craziness of the holiday, as the kids go back to school, in the book world our attentions turn to "so...what's next?" So, very briefly, I wanted to share a quick glance at some of the brand-new-out-now and soon-to-be-released titles that I am particularly excited about. It looks like it will be a very good year for books! I have already put up a few reviews for books released at the beginning of this month, but they bear mentioning again. There are fantastic books that slipped in as we were doing the beginning of the year clean-up....so to speak.... and are ready to kick-start 2017 into a whirlwind of great book activity. Let's start with the teen/YA group. Mafiosa by Catherine Doyle is the third and final in the Blood for Blood trilogy. A powerful and turbulent story that finds Sophie now under the protection of the infamous Falcone family and trying to prove her loyalty to them. Caught between 2 brothers vying for her affections and bent on revenge fo...

NUI Galway Children's Studies Programme is holding another fantastic seminar. On Thursday, 19 January, Professor Peter Hunt from Cardiff University will address: Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature From Librarianship to Childhood Studies via Liberal Humanism, High Theory, Post-Theory, Metamodernism and Pooh Corner  The seminar will be held in room GO11, James Hardiman Library commencing at 5pm. "Over the past 50 years, children’s literature has become a vibrant and important part of university-level studies worldwide. Approaches to it have been as diverse and lively (and problematic) as the subject-matter, having to deal with multi-media texts, the responses of non-peer audiences, fundamental issues of cultural, historical and literary values and psychological, educational and political influences. This lecture provides an outline of the fascinating and entertaining directions which the criticism of texts for children has taken." If you are inter...

I am going to add a few more to my list of favourites. While yesterday, I focused on books that were largely 'middle-grade'/ages 8-12, today, I will complete the list for those not in that category. I begin with Picture Books...a particular passion of mine. We have a tendency to let go of picture books far too early. I think, as we grow older, we should read more, not less picture books. They give a clear, unvarnished view of the world and are very tricky to create. I believe that our visual literacy suffers because of the desire to put 'real books' in our hands. Nothing is more real than a picture book. No prizes for guessing what my Picture Book of the Year is; it has to go to A CHILD OF BOOKS by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. A clear, eloquent tale of a young girl who 'sails across a sea of words' (quite literally) to meet a somewhat unsure and reluctant young boy and take him along on an amazing journey. In the end, he himself becomes A Child of Books...

It has been quite a year! So, the books published for young people have been in the position of having an enormous impact on their lives. They help make sense of things, and give voice to the issues that they are dealing with, while the world goes on turning and the adult world goes on doing whatever it does. This year, the books published have been outstanding at doing just that, and with providing the outlet for the imagination. Here are a few of my favourites of 2016. I'll get stuck right in and shout loudly that my book of the year choice for young people has to be GOLD by Geraldine Mills .This is a classic adventure story set in a future landscape scarred by volcanic ash and tightly controlled by the official bodies governing it. Two young boys show great courage, imagination and integrity by building a glider styled after Leonardo DaVinci's instructions and sail away to a forbidden sector. It contains elements of nearly every issue we ponder in these times; governmental ...

It was with great sadness today that the death of childrens' novelist, Richard Adams has passed away at the age of 96. Adams is, of course, best known for the beloved story, Watership Down. This was the first of his  writings, published in 1972. It was originally a story told to his daughters, who insisted he write it down and publish it. It took two years to write, and was turned down by four publishers and three writers' agencies before Rex Collings agree to publish what became one of the most iconic books of all time. Almost immediately, Watership Down received international acclaim. Within a few years, it sold over a million copies worldwide and went on to win some of the most prestigious childrens literature awards, including the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize.  "The statement announcing his death quoted a passage from the end of his best-known work. It read: “It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the...

We have 3 days, 22 hours and 28 minutes (at the time of this posting) and then Santa will be on his way from the North Pole! One of my traditions (a new one, albeit) is to track Santa on his rounds on Christmas Eve and NORAD has been making this easy for the last 55 years. You can follow the link to the NORAD Santa Tracker and receive updates throughout his journey as to where he is, how many presents have been delivered, etc. There's also some games and a library and the history of tracking Santa. Just a bit of fun for the evening...and incentive to get those little ones off to bed before the Big Man appears. So, here's the link: http://www.noradsanta.org/