Beth Revis’ A Million Suns releases in NZ on 21 March. I couldn’t wait and ordered a signed copy from Beth’s local bookshop, Fireside Books and Gifts. I’m really enjoying it and my review will follow soon.
authors
Giles Andreae talks giants, knights, pirates, dinosaurs and underpants!
Giles Andreae’s new book, Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants (illustrated by Korky Paul) is due out in April from Puffin Books.
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Scottish Book Trust – Authors Live: Horrid Henry with Francesca Simon
Francesca Simon is the author of the phenomenally successful Horrid Henry books. She has also written many other titles including Don’t Cook Cinderella, The Topsy Turvies and Helping Hercules. Tune in to Francesca’s Authors Live event to hear all about her life as a writer and the wonderful anti-hero, Henry! The event is suitable for P1-P7 (age 5-12) and fans of the Horrid Henry series.
The event will be streamed live to audiences across the UK at 11am on World Book Day (Thursday, 1st March). It will then become available to watch again for free by Thursday, 8th March, for everyone worldwide!
You can join tens of thousands of pupils across the UK watching the event live by following this link: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-with-francesca-simon. If you can’t make the live broadcast the entire event can be downloaded or streamed for free from next Thursday following the same link.
We are really looking forward to this event: Francesca is a brilliant speaker and promises to bring the notoriously horrid Henry to life for her audience.
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Discover what the Scottish Book Trust has to offer
Beth Bottery from the Scottish Book Trust wrote this wonderful post about the promotions and events that they offer, even to children and teens in New Zealand. Be sure to check out their brilliant site.
No matter where in the world you’re based or what kind of books you’re interested in, Scottish Book Trust has something for you to get involved with. Based in Edinburgh, Scottish Book Trust is the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Our Children’s Programme also run several projects which can be enjoyed by children, and adults, all over the world. You can find details of just a few of these below. Our website is a great resource, full of writing advice, book recommendations, author interviews, blogs and loads more www.scottishbooktrust.com
Authors Live
A series of fantastic of children’s and teen’s authors events which are broadcast live online to schools in the UK via the BBC. These events then become available to watch again for free a week later for people around the rest of the world. They feature a stellar line-up including Michael Rosen, Charlie Higson, David Almond, Jacqueline Wilson, Liz Lochhead and many more and you can download them from our website for free. Details of the next event are below. All events come with free classroom resources.
- Francesca Simon (Horrid Henry) – World Book Day 1st March 2012
You can find further information about these and future online events on our website http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/childrens-authors-live. Keep an eye out for information about our next programme of live events by following the same link.
Virtual Writers in Residence
We have brilliant Creative Writing videos and tasks from top teen authors Keith Gray and Cathy Forde. Keith looks closely at several aspects of the writing process and Cathy has a series of creative writing tasks for budding writers to use in developing their skills. http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/teens-and-young-people/videos .
The Blog
Every week we have new blog entries from authors and illustrators, booksellers, publishers and Scottish Book Trust staff. It’s a great place to find out about what’s going on at Scottish Book Trust and in the world of books more generally. We have several regular blogs aimed at young people, learning professionals and parents. You can find out more by following this link: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog.
Teen Hit List
We regularly put together hit lists of some of the best teen books around. These often feature a theme and are a great way of getting your pupils reading new and different fiction, our latest one is all about understanding mental health: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/teens-and-young-people/hit-lists
Reviews
We are always on the lookout for reviews of what you have read recently, whether you loved it, hated it, would recommend it or warn everyone against it. Email your book reviews to heather.collins@scottishbooktrust.com and we will put the best ones on the website. You can read past reviews by following this link: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/children-and-young-people/books/reviews-and-recommendations
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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Every now and again a book comes along that gets completely under your skin. You get so emotionally invested in the characters that when you’re not reading their story you’re thinking about them and their situation, and hoping that things will all work out for them. Even when you’ve finished the story you can imagine what they might be doing next and wondering what their life might be like months and years down the track. I found myself completely wrapped up in the story of Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters in John Green’s latest masterpiece, The Fault in Our Stars.
The narrator of the story is Hazel Grace, a 16-year-old girl living with cancer. When her mother decides that Hazel is depressed she sends her to a Support Group run in her local church. At first she hates the experience and loathes having to tell others about her condition and listen to others tell about theirs. But then she meets Augustus Waters, a friend of Isaac who attends the Support Group. Augustus is also living with cancer and has lost a leg to the disease, and Hazel finds herself intrigued by him. They start to hang out together, reading each others favourite books and sharing their experiences. Hazel has always wanted to know why her favourite book, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten, ended the way that it did and after Augustus’s correspondence with the author they are invited to Denmark to meet him. It’s the trip of a lifetime and one that they’ll never forget.
The Fault in Our Stars is a heart-breaking, brilliant story that will have one laughing one minute and crying the next. It’s the sort of story that makes you want to stop after each chapter and digest what you’ve just read. There is so much in this book about making the most of our lives, living your dreams, and leaving our mark on the world. I loved the relationship between Hazel and Augustus, and some of their conversations were hilarious. Isaac was one of my favourite characters because of his humour and the ways that he coped with life. Ever since I read John Green’s second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, a few years ago I’ve eagerly awaited his next book. He’s one of those authors that make me feel like he’s written the story just for me. I have this real connection to his characters because I see parts of them in myself. I think it’s partly because of the first person narration of his books, which is something I love because you can get right inside the character’s head. Hazel and Augustus are two characters that will take up permanent residence in my head and their story is one I won’t forget.
5 out of 5 stars
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Picture Book Nook: The House That Jack Built by Gavin Bishop
If I had to pick one picture book that is quintessentially New Zealand, I would choose Gavin Bishop’s The House That Jack Built. Gavin’s multi-layered story, based on the traditional rhyme, contains our history within it’s pages, told from both a Maori and a Pakeha perspective. It is a picture book in which you discover something new or get a slightly different meaning from each time you read it. Now, thanks to the wonderful Gecko Press who have reprinted the book in a stunning new format, a new generation of New Zealanders can enjoy this important book.
On the surface, it’s the story of Jack Bull, who travels to New Zealand from London as a new settler in 1798. This is one of those brilliant picture books where the words tell a completely different story from the illustrations. The end papers show us the reality of Jack’s life in London in 1798 and we see him with his cart of possessions and the red door that comes to symbolise Pakeha society. In the next few pages we follow Jack’s ocean voyage on a map and see the list of goods that he has brought to trade with the natives. Throughout the rest of the story Gavin portrays the effect that Pakeha colonisation had on the local Maori, from trading land and food for clothes and weapons, to the loss of culture and the deaths in the New Zealand Wars.
The House That Jack Built is a book that should be in every home, school, and library around New Zealand. It’s an important book to help us remember who we are and where we’ve come from. For those readers not in New Zealand the story will also be relevant as it applies to any colonial history. Gavin Bishop is our master of the picture book and this is the best example of how he gets his message across visually. He weaves the Maori and Pakeha strands of the story together and shows us through the illustrations, how Maori were assimilated into the Pakeha world. The publisher, Gecko Press, deserves a huge amount of praise for, not only bringing this book back into print, but also for producing a gorgeous edition in a larger format than the original and printed on high quality paper. Buying a copy of The House That Jack Built and sharing it with your family is the perfect way to celebrate Waitangi Day on 6 February.
5 out of 5 stars
The House That Jack Built is being published to coincide with Waitangi Day (6 February) and will be launched at the Porirua Festival of the Elements on Waitangi Day 2012 with author/illustrator Gavin Bishop.
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Julianna Baggott’s Pure book trailer
Pure by Julianna Baggot is released in New Zealand today. I’ve just dived into Pressia and Partridge’s world and I’m loving Julianna’s fresh take on a post-apocalyptic society.
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The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Have you ever read a book that makes you want to pull the characters into your arms, rock them gently and tell them everything is going to be OK? This is exactly what I wanted to do the whole way through Katherine Applegate’s beautiful story, The One and Only Ivan.
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.
Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home – and his own art – through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.
From the opening lines, ‘I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It’s not as easy as it looks,’ you are transported into Ivan’s head and see the world through his eyes. You read everything Ivan thinks and remembers, sees, touches, tastes and smells. Ivan comes out with some real pearls of wisdom and I found myself writing down so many quotes that I wanted to remember later. Things like,
“In a Western, you can tell who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, and the good guys always win. Bob says Westerns are nothing like real life.”
There is a real sadness to the story, because these once great majestic beasts are locked away in cages, but the friendships between them help them to deal with their situation and add humour to the story. It’s these friendships and Ivan’s need to protect Ruby that bring a sense of hope. Ivan wants Ruby to have a better life than the one that he has lead, locked up in the mall. Katherine Applegate’s writing is absolutely beautiful and I wanted to savour every word. The stream of consciousness writing style she has used for this book means that she has obviously chosen her words very carefully. Her writing is incredibly descriptive and, like Ivan, she paints a vibrant picture for you. This is my one of my favourite descriptions,
“Because she remembers everything, Stella knows many stories. I like colourful tales with black beginnings and stormy middles and cloudless blue-sky endings. But any story will do.”
I can’t recommend The One and Only Ivan highly enough. It’s a story that will affect you and the characters will stay with you long after you close the covers.
5 out of 5 stars
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The Field by Bill Nagelkerke
How on earth do you tell your family that you’d seen . . .
. . . Our Lady . . .
. . . The Virgin Mary . . .
. . . The Queen of Heaven . . .
. . . The Mother of God. (The Mother of GOD!)
And that she had spoken to you.
And that she was going to speak to you again.
Up in the Crow’s Nest.
Tomorrow.
And that was why you had to be there.
(And that’s why you’d wet yourself.)
Jacinta’s father works as the groundsman for the local sports stadium, which they’ve nick-named The Field. While he tends to the needs of the stadium, Jacinta looks down on the world from the Crow’s Nest, the corporate box used by the big-wigs to get the best view of the games at the stadium. The Crow’s Nest is one of her favourite places in the world and she often pretends that she commands the players and places them where she wants them to go. She may not have her special place for much longer if the City Council gets its way and knocks down The Field to replace it with a carpark for the new stadium. It is while she is in the Crow’s Nest one day that Mother Mary appears to her in the television. Jacinta doesn’t know if she is going crazy and seeing things or whether her vision is real, but when Mary appears again the next day there is no doubt. Mary wants Jacinta to gather as many people as she can at The Field so that she can pass on a message. The only problem is trying to get her family and the rest of her town to believe her.
The Field is a refreshingly original story from one of Christchurch’s own children’s authors, Bill Nagelkerke. The story had a real ‘Kiwi’ feel about it, from the setting (which could be just about any city in New Zealand) to the characters. Don’t be put off by the religious aspect to the story because I think you’d enjoy it whether or not you have any religious affiliation. I found Jacinta easy to relate to as she was just a normal kid, and I found myself wondering what I would have done if I’d been in her situation. In a way she’s a modern day Joan of Arc, who has to convince her parents, the priests and the other people in her city that she actually is communicating with Mother Mary and that they should listen to her message. One thing that I particularly liked about the story was that the second part was told using different forms of media, including newspaper articles, letters to the editor and City Council meeting minutes. This added different opinions to the story that we didn’t get in the first part. The ending leaves you wondering whether people do turn up to hear her message and what that message might have been. Like the other people in the story, we have to make up our own mind.
3.5 out of 5 stars
The Field is one of the first ebooks I’ve read and it’s the first title in ACHUKA’s digital publishing imprint: ACHUKAbooks. I’ll look forward to reading their next releases. ACHUKAbooks are encouraging more submissions so if you are interested you can contact them at kindle@achuka.co.uk.
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The One and Only Ivan book trailer
The One and Only Ivan is the beautiful new book by Katherine Applegate. It’s due out in New Zealand in February and I’m reading it at the moment. I’ve fallen in love with Ivan and his friends and am trying to make the story last as I don’t want it to end.
My Best Friends Are Books 