As a kid I remember being freaked-out watching Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, to the extent that I had nightmares about it. One of those stories that has stuck in my head is Hans the Hedgehog, one of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. When I first saw Shaun Tan’s new book The Singing Bones I was reminded of the dark tales that Jim Henson told, especially when I saw the sculpture that Shaun had created for the Hans My Hedgehog story. In The Singing Bones Shaun Tan brings Grimms’ fairy tales to life like never before.
Nameless princes, wicked stepsisters, greedy kings, honourable peasants and ruthless witches, tales of love, betrayal, adventure and magical transformation: all inspiration for this stunning gallery of sculptural works. Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman and leading fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes, The Singing Bones breathes new life into some of the world’s most beloved fairy tales.
The Singing Bones is a truly breath-taking book! To hold this book in your hands is like holding a portable art exhibition. Shaun has taken 75 fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and created a sculpture to perfectly capture the tone of the story. Shaun Tan has said that ‘…there’s a strong sense in every story collected by the Brothers Grimm that the separation between the waking and the dreaming worlds is actually quite thin, that they bleed into each other…Strung between the real and the unreal, the literary and the impossible, convincing and absurd.’ Shaun’s sculptures certainly look like they come from some sort of dream place. Each of the sculptures are accompanied by the title and an extract of the fairy tale. I love just opening to a random page and seeing what fairy tale I unearth. There are plenty of tales that I haven’t come across before and will hunt out the full story.
Take a look at a small selection of the pages from this breath-taking book:
Little Red Cap by Shaun Tan, from The Singing Bones published by Allen and Unwin
Snow White by Shaun Tan, from The Singing Bones published by Allen and Unwin
The Singing Bone by Shaun Tan, from The Singing Bones published by Allen and Unwin
Each of Shaun’s sculptures are created by papier mâché and air-drying clay, which is then carved back and painted with acrylics, oxidised metal powder, wax and shoe polish. My favourite sculptures are The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids, Rumpelstiltskin, All Fur, and Hans My Hedgehog (let’s face it they’re all stunning!).
The Singing Bones is aimed more at adults, rather than children, as I’m sure some children will be scared by the illustrations. Having said this, I think that the sculptures would make great story starters as they are sure to fire imaginations. It is a beautiful book to treasure, especially for those who love fairy tales or how are fans of the incredibly talented Shaun Tan.
As part of my Seriously Spooky Month I asked some of my favourite spooky authors to write a guest post for My Best Friends Are Books. Today I’m joined by Rebecca Lim, the author of sixteen books for children and young adult readers, including The Astrologer’s Daughter and Afterlight. Rebecca joins me to talk about why she writes ‘slightly freaky young adult novels.’ Thanks for joining me Rebecca!
In the opening of my latest novel, Afterlight, a little girl is lying in bed, about to fall asleep, when she looks up to see a man standing over her in the dark. He’s very tall. She can see what he looks like, even with the lights out, because he’s shining. And this is how she remembers feeling:
But he was real. Real as you. And I was terrified. But all he did was look down at me, lying with my blankets pulled right up to my eyes, looking back up at him.
Then I breathed in—just a trembly, choky flutter, the tiniest sound—and he was gone.
I write these slightly freaky young adult novels filled with archangels and demons, Norman knights, wronged ghosts and parentless children. In them, I try to make sense of questions like: Why do bad things happen to good people? What happens to human energy, human consciousness, after death? Are we ruled by fate or by our own free will? How does one bad past act reverberate into the future?
In order to do this, I’m quite happy to throw the “extraordinary” into the narrative mix because—even though I consider myself a very rational and logical person—I do believe there are things in this world that can’t be explained by known science. And, often, the worst monsters in our world are not supernatural, but decidedly “human”. So having a paranormal or supernatural narrative foil brings our humanity into sharp relief. Plus, as readers, who doesn’t want to believe that magic exists?
And I don’t often talk about this—2015 is probably my year for bringing this out in the open, finally—but the scene where the little girl sees the “shining” man actually did happen to me. I was about five, and I don’t think it was a case of “sleep paralysis”. I can quite clearly recall him looking down at me looking up at him, and I remember how terrified I was as I inched my hand towards my bedside lamp: because I knew that if I turned on the light, he would go. And he did. He looked like no one I knew or had ever seen on television. But, to this day, I can still remember what he looked like. And I’ve never thought it was a dream.
So that one tiny thing from my childhood has enabled me to walk with archangels along city streets and mountain switchbacks and follow the insistent spirit of a murdered woman down the alleyways and walking tracks of Melbourne. I never discount anything anyone tells me, and I read voraciously across all genres, because what do we really know? Not enough. Never enough.
An Eagle in the Snow is an extraordinary story, based on true events, about one moment that could have saved the world from the Second World War. Michael had me captivated from start to finish. You can read my review here on the blog.
Thanks to HarperCollins NZ I have 2 copies of An Eagle in the Snow to give away. All you have to do to get in the draw is email bestfriendsrbooks@gmail.com with the subject line ‘An Eagle in the Snow’ along with your name and address.
Competition closes Monday 26 October (NZ only).
Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track is a wee gem of a book about a Kiwi Christmas. It follows the Sandersons as they prepare for Christmas and the pukeko family as they prepare for the arrival of their chicks. You can read my review here on the blog.
Thanks to the author and illustrator Lotte Wotherspoon I have a copy of Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track to give away. All you have to do to get in the draw is email bestfriendsrbooks@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Pukeko Dancing,’ along with your name and address.
Competition closes Friday 23 October (NZ only).
When so many of our local Christmas books are just Kiwi versions of Christmas carols or The Night Before Christmas it is really refreshing to read a book about Christmas in New Zealand that is fresh and fun. Lotte Wotherspoon has just released her new picture book, Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track, which blends the story of a family Christmas in New Zealand with the story of a Pukeko family.
Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track follows the Sandersons, a Kiwi family, as they prepare for Christmas. They chop down a pine for their Christmas tree, decorate it, sing Christmas songs, and wrap presents. The Pukeko family, Spike and Rose, are also making preparations. They are gathering materials to build their nest and dreaming of ‘fleet-footed chicks.’ Just as Christmas Day arrives, with presents and yummy food to share, six fluffy chicks hatch out of their eggs and the celebrations kick off.
This is a wee gem of a book. The story is delightful and the rhyming text bounces along, following the two families as they make their preparations. Children will love joining in with the refrain that repeats throughout the book, ‘Flip-flap, yikkidy-yak! There’s a pukeko dancing on the old dirt track.’ The main reason I love this book though is because of the gorgeous, quirky illustrations. The family are all wearing bright clothes and the Pukeko are even wearing little hats. Lotte has given the book a real Kiwi feel with Pohutukawa, toitoi and ferns throughout the book and the Summer activities that the family are all doing. My favourite page is the very last spread where the Pukekos are having a party. You can tell that a lot of love has gone into this book, just by looking at the beautiful production of it, from the hard cover and the feel of the pages, to the quality of the illustrations and the wonderful Pohutukawa end papers. I hope to see more books from Lotte and Clay Press.
We had an event in Christchurch recently called the Pukeko Stomp, which was a walk around the Travis Wetland for pre-schoolers and their families, with stories and snacks. I shared this book at the event and the children loved it. It is a great book to read aloud to a group or one-on-one.
Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track is the perfect New Zealand picture book to share with your family this Christmas or to send overseas to relatives. You can purchase Pukeko Dancing on the Old Dirt Track from the Clay Press website or at your local bookshop.
Kristina Webb is one of the most popular artists on Instagram ( @colour_me_creative, @kristinawebb), with a following in the millions. Kristina has just published her first book, Colour Me Creative, with HarperCollins. It is part biography, following Kristina’s story so far, and part creative journal. The book features 50 art-inspired creative challenges for you to complete, including a face-paint challenge, a dream wardrobe challenge and a doodle challenge. These challenges are heaps of fun and give you the chance to be creative and go crazy.
Here is a video of Kristina Webb talking about Colour Me Creative:
You can enter to win a copy of Colour Me Creative by completing one of Kristina’s challenges, the Masked Ball Challenge. Here are the details:
Imagine you were just invited to a masquerade ball! Using paint, pencils, feathers, glitter, or anything else you
wish, create your dream mask on this template. Afterward, feel free to cut it out and take a selfie in your fabulous mask.
You can download the template here – Masked Ball Challenge.
When you have finished your mask simply take a photo of your mask and email it to bestfriendsrbooks@gmail.com, along with your name and address. Competition closes Friday 30 October (NZ only).
Bringing My Dead Bunny to life – James Foley
www.jamesfoley.com.au/books/my-dead-bunny
I have never owned a rabbit, let alone a zombified one, so when I began working on ‘My Dead Bunny’ I had no idea how to approach the character of Bunny Brad. I knew plenty about zombies, having watched all of the Walking Dead and the original Romero film Night of The Living Dead; but I didn’t know how to draw a decent rabbit (or, as this book required, an indecent one).
In addition, I wasn’t sure what illustration style would suit the book; in the first few pages I needed to show a live rabbit being electrocuted, then coming back as a zombie, and I needed to accomplish this without making the audience want to stop reading, close the book, and burn it immediately. As you would expect, it was a challenge bringing a dead bunny to life.
I always start a book by developing the main character. This inevitably involves experimenting with style at the same time. Once the main character design has settled, it informs the style of the whole book; everything else forms around it.
I read the first draft for ‘My Dead Bunny’ and was instantly hooked. Then I was perplexed. How would I draw Bunny Brad? I realised I needed to answer three questions:
I wrote these three questions down in my sketchbook, and tried a few drawings.
The brain worm was there from the start, as was the idea to have Bunny Brad appear at the narrator’s bedroom door casting a long shadow. But that’s about all in these sketches that looks familiar.
At this point I realised I needed to look at reference photos of actual rabbits, so that I could clarify what features I needed to include. I soon found another challenge; how could I take a rabbit’s features and zombify them? Rabbits look very alert, anxious and cuddly, whereas zombies need to look slow, dim-witted and creepy. How could I draw a zombified rabbit and still have it seem like a rabbit?
I tried many many options over many many months. Here are some of those designs.
The publishers (god bless them) were very patient and supportive, rejecting options that were too cute and/or not strong enough. After many rejected character designs I was feeling very frustrated, so I sat on my studio floor with a big sheet of paper and a sharpie, and drew some ridiculous zombie rabbits that I thought the publisher would hate. ‘Let’s see what they think of these!’ I thought. I sent the sketches off with a devilish glint in my eye.
The publisher emailed me back almost immediately. ‘We love them!’ they said. ‘More of these, please!’
I felt surprised, then relieved. The character had finally clicked, and so had the style. Bunny Brad shifted a bit from that sketch to the final version, but he was basically there, and the rest of the book flowed quite easily once he was in place.
LEFT: a colour test version of the rough sketch in the previous image;
RIGHT: final version from the cover of the book
It’s always the case that I spend at least half of the creative process experimenting and planning. Quite often there’s a point where it seems like it’s never going to work – that the character is never going to settle and the book won’t go anywhere. I’m so glad Bunny Brad eventually turned up! He’s been a heap of fun to work with (if a bit nibbly).
My Dead Bunny by Sigi Cohen and James Foley is available now from Walker Books Australia. Grab a copy now from your library or bookshop.
So you like picture books about cute bunny rabbits who nibble on carrots or deliver chocolate eggs in a basket? Well this is definitely not the picture book for you. However, if you like picture books about gross, stinky, horrible creatures then this book is absolutely perfect for you. Meet Brad the zombie bunny in Sigi Cohen and James Foley’s new picture book, My Dead Bunny.
We first meet Brad when he is visiting his owner in bed one night and we’re told of how Brad came to be dead. Brad was just a normal, cute, fluffy bunny until the day he decided to chew through the TV cord and got electrocuted. The family bury him but the boy misses him and decides to dig him up and check on him. This is when Brad starts to cause a panic, scaring everyone silly, stinking up the house and making a mess. The situation gets so bad that the boy and his friends have to come up with a plan to deal with dead Bunny Brad. Will their plan just cause more problems instead?
I absolutely love this picture book! It is creepy, disgusting and absolutely hilarious. It’s completely the opposite of those cutesy picture books about bunny rabbits and it will appeal hugely to boys. You would have to make sure you knew your audience when reading it aloud, as you wouldn’t want to traumatise a kid whose beloved pet had just died.
Sigi Cohen and James Foley are a dream team for this book. Sigi Cohen’s rollicking rhyming text will have you laughing out loud as you read it. I love his descriptions of zombie Bunny Brad, which are creepy and funny at the same time. James Foley’s illustrations are delightfully creepy but hilarious. James has used a very simple colour palette, mostly black and grey, with green and orange to add effect. The green of zombie Brad really makes him stand out, compared to his living self which is grey. James really makes zombie Brad look creepy and disgusting, with his pink, runny eyes, his horrible teeth, and the worm sticking out of his head. James also uses different angles and shadows to add to the creepiness of the illustrations. I even love James’ end papers of the book, which show Brad before and after his accident.
My Dead Bunny is a perfect picture book for older readers and younger readers who like a bit of a scare and a good laugh.
Timmy Failure is my son’s favourite book character. He’s not a kid that loves books but Timmy Failure has really grabbed him and we always read a new Timmy Failure book together. Timmy is one of those characters who is so clueless that it’s funny. He likes to think he is incredibly smart and the world’s greatest detective, but he is far from it. It is Timmy’s ridiculous antics that appeals to my son and keeps him wanting to read the next book to see what he gets up to next. Timmy’s latest ‘volume of Greatness,’ Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection has just been released and it’s everything that we’ve come to expect from this hapless detective.
Shenanigans abound as Timmy Failure finds himself on a road trip with none other than notorious criminal Molly Moskins. Travelling halfway across the country to help your mother’s boyfriend settle into his new job would be inconvenient for any detective, let alone the founder, president and CEO of Total Failure Inc, the world’s greatest detective agency. Timmy has a case to solve, and nothing can stand in his way. If he is to arrest Corrina Corrina and solve the YIP YAP case, Timmy, his sidekick polar bear Total, and Molly Moskins must go on the run!
Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection takes readers on a shenanigan-filled road-trip with Timmy and Stephan’s cast of wacky characters. If things weren’t crazy enough with Timmy trying to solve a case by himself, in this book he is joined by the rather loopy Molly Moskins. If you’ve read any of the other Timmy Failure books you’ll know all about Molly Moskins (AKA Tangerine Girl) and the HUGE crush she has on Timmy. Timmy’s mum is now best friends with Molly’s mum, Esther, and the two families are going on holiday together. Before they do though, they have to survive the cross-country trip to help Doorman Dave (Timmy’s mum’s boyfriend) move house. Timmy has to put up with this huge inconvenience while trying to solve the YIP YAP case, one of his toughest cases so far. Of course, Timmy is a hopeless detective whose cases are easily solved, but try telling him that.
We love seeing the same characters popping up again and again in the series and it’s great that Molly Moskins has more of a starring role in this story. She’s willing to do pretty much anything that Timmy asks (which often gets her in trouble) but we also find out how clever Molly is. Stephan introduces us to more wacky characters in this book too, including Molly’s weird baby brother Snot, map-loving Mr Moskins, and Killer Katy Kumquat (cleaner and superhero).
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I have the others in the series but there is still plenty to love about it. Stephan’s comic illustrations are one of the main reasons I keep coming back to this series and they certainly add extra humour to the story. The series is perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates and you don’t have to read them in order so you can start with whichever book in the series you like.
My Best Friends Are Books 