The Spirit of Adventure

It was with sadness that this week I read of the death of Brian Jacques. A quote on his website perhaps sums him up as a fearless writer with a brave heart. He was an avid reader and a brave adventurer. His work delivering milk to a primary school encouraged him to pick up his pen and write his now much loved Redwall series. without his passion, energy and enthusiasm we would not have had such a wonderful insight into the lives of his fantastic and fearless characters. Whilst we may no longer have Brian we can still have his books and we can continue to read and love them.

Being of an adventurous spirit is not something that comes naturally to me, I am rather a timid lover of my comforts but every now and again I like to surprise myself - even with books. Int he last two weeks I have read a large number from glossy girly books to funny magical and quite frightening thrillers. I have to admit that I have enjoyed them all and each has left me wanting to read more but also wishing I had the skill to be such a wonderful storyteller. Sadly I don't but I am an avid reader so it was with great interest that I delved into picture book territory, just for some light relief with the title 'It's a Book' by Lane Smith (Macmillan, 2011, 9780230753136) technically I don't think that I should be writing about it here in the Blog for as the back cover says

"Can it text? Blog? Scroll? Wi-fi? Tweet? No. . . it's a book."

However if I didn't tell you about it here then you perhaps wouldn't be able to share it with anyone and everyone or have the great big grin that I had plastered across my face after I had finsihed reading it!

I love it, it is simple, clever, enjoyable and it is a book! The premise is simple, an adult and a child, one reading a book the other with a computer unable to comprehend this new device. Soon something miraculous happens and whilst the detail of the actually far from detailed pictures reveals all there is much fun to be had. This is simply a simple story with simple pictures but one that is intensely clever, witty and as appealing to an adult as a child. I urge you to read it as soon as possible, perhaps even buy it and never ever part with it, or any other books in favour of a computer again!

Let's All Have a Reading Party!

Well I have survived, my Book Week and then post Book Week week of sorting have now passed and I think that I just about feel human again. Now I only have to plan for next year - a big one too as it will be the 10th anniversary and my 7th one!!

I was going to tell you a little about the enthusiasm generated and some of the activities we held but there is so much other news to impart that I will have to drip feed the information in over time. I do think it is quite relevant to tell you about how it all started this year though, with a Bedtime Reading Party....

Children & mummies came after school on the Friday before Book Week proper, armed with teddy bears and dressing gowns to enjoy cocoa, biscuits and of course some bedtime stories! Maverick Publishing very kindly came along with author Kimara Nye who read from her book 'The Four Little Pigs' and provided the children with some great colouring activities. We had a lovely party, were lucky enough to have a bedtime story from a real author. I also found that launching Book Week with something simple but charming was a real hit.

During Book Week there were so many activities my feet barely touched the ground, it did however mean that I missed the very wonderful Chicken House Big Breakfast - the perfect complement to my Bedtime Reading, however Armadillo reviewer Francesca Del Mese was able to attend and sent back this lovely report:

On Thursday 20th January I headed to London for the Chicken House Breakfast. Held at stylish cafe 'Le Pain Quotidien' on the Southbank, it was a gathering of authors, scouts, Chicken House staff and other professionals. An energetic and charismatic Barry Cunningham welcomed us and spoke about the successes of Chicken House this last year, mentioning it was their tenth anniversary!

Three authors gave readings from their forthcoming books: CJ Skuse, (also an employee of Chicken House and author of 'Pretty Bad Things') read from her new novel 'Rockaholic': a comedy about a girl who kidnaps a rock star (every girl's dream!).

Philip Webb read from his dystopian thriller 'Six Days', and Andrew Peters read from 'Ravenwood', a story about a world that exists in huge trees - Barry called this book a 'magnificent piece of sustained imagining.' A number of other published authors were present and / or mentioned: Lucy Christopher, Rod Gordon, Sarah Rubin, Rachel Ward (who has recently sold the film rights to her book 'Numbers'), Sophia Bennett, Di Toft and Erin Bow. It also looks like the gory trend of vampires and dead things hasn't yet left us; Barry mentioned another new author Kirsty McKay, whose book 'The Undead' about zombies has been taken on recently.

It sounds as though a feast of fun was had by all and that we can all look forward to some exciting titles from Chicken House in their 10th Year! Congratulations to them, thanks for the breakfast and thanks to Francesca for gallantly agreeing to go along.

Happy New Year - Getting Ahead of the Game

A Happy New Year to all my readers! Sorry its slightly late but I am quite sure that it will have now been a few days since anyone has uttered those words to you!

I have made a new year's resolution this afternoon, to try and stay ahead of the game. I am referring here to the postings on this blog. With a blog it is very easy to become complacent, to forget to log in and write an entry and so on. This afternoon I have decided that I will endeavour to log in at the very least once a week to provide updates. I truly hope that I will manage more than that but it is unwise to commit in writing otherwise you will all be able to hold me to my word!!

So to start the new year being 'ahead of the game' I have some new books to report on for you. Firstly there is a book which will be finding its way to my nephew for his 4th birthday later this week. I am also sending him some vouchers for the Early learning Centre so that he can stock his Fantasy Tower with more models but a book is always a hit and I am quite certain that this one will be. It is Delivery Man Stan by Diane and Christyan Fox and published by Macmillan. The story features Stan and his trusty dog Boxer. This fearless pair will deliver anything to anyone at anytime. What makes them special is not only the various forms of transport that they use from van to motorbike, train, plane and even spacecraft, but also their bravery and their down-to-earth attitude. For children it is the charmingly bright and simple illustration as well as the simple rhyming text and wonderful fold-out pages that will create the magic. For the adults who will most likely be sharing the book it is the wonderfully funny twist at the end. I am going to leave you guessing at to what that could possibly be! A wonderful and highly recommended book that may even beat the fantasy tower in my sister's household this week!

As well as this I have been reading books for the slightly older reader, and a few for me too but that is for another day!

Back to the children.

For those of you with children who like a challenge in their reading but who are still young

enough to want a simple story book with lots of pictures then look no further than the latest story featuring The Clumsies. In The Clumsies Make a Mess of the BIG Show Sorrel Anderson brings back Howard and his friends the Clumsies for a magical Christmas adventure at the wrong time of year! perfect for reading as an antidote to Christmas and pantos this is a very funny story with lots of brilliant illustration, strong characters and silly events. The words jump and dance around the pages, struggling to fit in with the wonderful illustrations of Nicola Slater and threatening to take over with a madness reminiscent of the talking trolley which makes a quite unique character! Adults this may not be a book for you but the kids will just love it. Published by Harper Collins this is the third book featuring the Clumsies and it is great!

If it is something completely new that you are after however you may have to wait a little longer and I am sorry to whet your appetites too far in advance but I must tell you about Magic Farm by Ashley Birch, published on 7th March (my brother's birthday) by Egmont. Enter into a whole new world of excitement, adventure and of course magic with Hannah and Oliver. This brother and sister have just moved to a new farm, Golden Valley Farm and whilst exploring and making new friends they make a very exciting discovery. So exciting is this discovery that when the children find themselves transported to a magical, parallel farm they are not quite sure they believe what has happened to them! Queue a wonderful adventure or two, some very big surprises, a few horrible villains and the scene is set for some great adventures and great fun. With a new world to explore, new friends to make, problems to solve and discoveries galore there is not a moment to be bored in a new and colourful world. I have only read a proof copy of the book so cannot comment on the final appearance but i do hope that it will be as bright and colourful as the story promises.

So there we have it: one book to look out for in the coming months and two to start off your new year reading journey. Remember to check back here regularly for more updates and news from the book world.

Oh and don't forget to visit the magazine too for some great reviews, interviews and more!

Season's Greetings

Happy Christmas to you all.

I hope that all of you who read this, follow and support Armadillo Magazine have been enjoying all our efforts this year.

We have lots of wonderful book reviews, interviews and features to bring you in 2011 so do keep an eye out for our editions and keep an eye on the Blog for the latest news and events.

Remember that the December edition is there for you to read now with some great reviews and more as well as a seasonal competition for you to enter - please do!

In the meantime I hope that you have all been surviving the snow and that you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Watch this space in January for all the bright new things we have to offer you.

All the best, Louise & the Armadillo team!

Kids Lit Quiz A Triumph Yet Again!

With thanks to Nicky Potter who kindly sent the following report on the national final of the Kids Lit Quiz:

Fun and excitement were the name of the game at the Kids Lit Quiz Finals™, held in Oxford Town Hall on 30 November, when the cream of our young readers came together from 13 regions around the country (extreme weather conditions prevented 2 teams from joining in) to compete for the Kids' Lit Quiz™ coveted cup.

Children’s author, actor and comedian Charlie Higson, creator of the Young Bond series and new zombie thriller series The Enemy, led almost 30 children’s authors to congratulate the winners from the regions and to support them as they answered questions on children's literature put to them by KLQ's dynamic quizmaster, Wayne Mills.

The atmosphere at a Kids’ Lit Quiz™ heat has been compared to “a pub quiz without the beer”, marked by high stakes – the teams knew that the UK winners will travel to New Zealand next July for a 20th BIRTHDAY INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION QUIZ. Half way through the quiz, Wayne Mills announced that to mark the special anniversary the runners-up would also win the chance to compete in New Zealand. This was fortunate because two teams achieved exactly the same score. They then had to take part in ‘a sudden death’ competition – getting the best of three challenging questions correct – to win the finals. Two other teams also had to battle for third and fourth place because they had clocked up the same number of points! It was all nail-bitingly tense!

In the end the results were:
First – Cockermouth School (UK champions)

Second – Bristol Grammar School (English champions)

Third: Litcham High School

Fourth: Glasgow High

The first and second place winner have both won a place to compete in the 20th Birthday International Celebration Quiz in New Zealand so watch this space for more information.

One of the members of the four strong winning team at Cockermouth comprehensive school said that he had not really got into reading until Mrs Farrar, his school librarian and team coach, kept giving him books to read.

Wayne Mills said: “We had a wonderfully exciting finish to the UK Final. I couldn't have written a more exciting script had I tried. The quiz is a genuine literary challenge that goes beyond what a child may be reading at school. It embraces popular culture and contemporary modern texts alongside the more established canon, including the ephemeral literature that is here today and gone tomorrow but enjoyed by children in the moment. Reading mileage is the single biggest factor in improving literacy.”

For further information about the Kids’ Lit Quiz ™ in the UK see: http://www.kidslitquiz.com/national-competitions/united-kingdom

Short Story Surprises

National Short Story Week starts today.

Short stories are special for they encapsulate in a very short space all the very best elements of storytelling for they have a plot, characters, wonderful language and also some amazing settings. In the space of just a very few pages they can tell a complete story or leave the reader yearning for more.

Some short stories make up a whole narrative - think of the 1001 Arabian Nights, one story told each night so, by its very nature it had to be short! Then there is the traditional from whence they came - oral story telling - again these stories were meant to be short and succinct to appeal to their listener. Perhaps the most famous shrot story writer is Aesop. His Fables have been handed down over generations and are some of the most famous we now have. We should not however forget Kipling and his Just So Stories - also great classics this time explaining how the animals of the world came to be.

Not all short stories are 'classics' or old however. Dickens and Hardy, our great Victorian and Edwardian novelsists wrote short stories for their public audience and many of these were published in magazines of the day. Roald Dahl and Malorie Blackman have written volumes of short stories for the modern reader. there are many collections of themed stories which provide wonderful reading for all ages and my favourite short story writer of the moment is Toon Tellegan whose books have also been beautifully illustrated and are perhaps best described as a combination of Aesop and Kipling - charming moral stories that once you start you just can't put down. And being short they are very easy to finish!

An additional joy of the short story is the ability of the reader to dip into a volume at any story and read as many or a few as time permits - it is a great reading journey, a great way to be intorduced to new stories, genres and writers and a wonderful way in which to explore your imagination.

Pick up a short story this week, look at the National Short Story Week website and enjoy yourself - who knows where this adventure may take you?

We all Love Funny Books

Well its true, I hope, and the best thing about today is that we have learnt that funny books can also be lovely books (and that Louise is obviously the name to have).

What am I alluding to? Well the Roald Dahl Funny Prize of course which was won yesterday (17th November) by Louise Yates, in the under 6 category, for her wonderfully funny (of course) and quite simply charming picture book, Dogs Love Books (Jonathan Cape).

I was thrilled to read that Louise had won, being a big fan of this story as I may have mentioned before!

Not only did Louise win this category but she also pipped to the post Quentin Blake, the long-time Roald Dahl illustrator and, she says, one of her own inspirations!

In the 7-14 category the winner was Louise Rennison with Withering Tights, a shamelessly laugh-out-loud story. Her heroine comments with wit and insight on the world around her whilst continuing to be carried along with it so there is plenty of humour in this book on many levels.

Judge and award founder Michael Rosen commented on the freshness and humour in these winning titles which were just one aspect of a wonderful and varied shortlist. I strongly urge you to visit the Book Trust website for more detail and to investigate the shortlisted as well as winning titles further.

In the meantime well done to the Louise's and thank you for bringing so much humour into our lives!

The Richness of Storytelling

Sometimes I am amazed at the speed in which word can travel with the Internet and email. I wrote about my 'Book of the Week' for the school newsletter and sent the piece to the editor for publication on Friday of last week (we have a weekly newsletter), then that very same afternoon I had a parent in the library, who having seen the recommendation wanted to borrow the book. As it was 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon and I had shut down the catalogue I could not give her the book for the weekend but one was on the go and they could wait until Monday I was assured. Today the young boy in question came to get his book and as soon as I had it on my desk another teacher and another pupil both wanted to borrow it.

Is it the cover, the author name or the title I wonder? Perhaps it was my glowing recommendation. Whatever the reason this book is proving popular with my readers already so I felt that I really must recommend it to you - my Armadillo followers.

So what is this mystery book that is attracting so much attention? It is the new title from the widely talented David Walliams. The author of The Boy in the Dress and Mr Stink has now written Billionaire Boy. Published by Harper Collins this book looks like a big novel. It is a thick hardback with quite a few pages but open the book and find that it is a story packed with the wonderful illustrations of the much loved Tony Ross and a story that could be read by readers as young as 7 or as old as 77 for it is funny, accessible and a good read. It also conveys an important message about money - it really isn't everything, as Joe, the really, really rich main character is about to find out.

So do get your hands on a copy if you can, and let me know what you think too!

More About those Greeks

Sadly much of the material remains of the Ancient Greek culture we viewed in Athens had been badly damaged over the centuries, the result of many wars, but happily ancient Greek myth, culture and stories have remained popular.

In fact it is the stories and myths which have come down to us that have extended the life of this ancient culture and continue to bring it to life in our modern world. It seems to me that children do learn about the Greeks and Romans in school but they also want to learn about them. So often when we have classes on these subjects the children are desperately keen to share their knowledge of the stories.

For all these children, and others yet to discover their love of ancient Greek stories I have two excellent books to recommend. The first is probably not for purists but The Comic Strip Greatest Greek Myths by Tracey Turner and Sally Kindberg is a wonderful introduction to the subject which contains all the most famous myths in a brand new light - through comedy and graphic pictures. Great for reluctant readers, struggling readers and anyone who enjoys taking a new angle on something old!

On the other hand a book which is most definitely for sharing and would make a wonderful gift for the enthusiast is Ann Turnbull's Greek myths. With stunning and sumptuous illustration from the pen (or pencil?) of Sarah Young this is a beautifully written and stunning collection of some of the most famous Greek myths. It is a book to be shared and treasured. With 17 stories there is something for every reader and it acts as a great introduction to the world of the Greeks and their stories - I urge you to find this, pick it up and delve in - you won't be sorry and maybe one day you too will find yourself in Athens or Greece admiring the many places where these stories are set.

All things Greek

Now I may have been absent from your screens for a couple of weeks but I promise that I have been busy and yes, reading too!

In fact I began by being in Athens where I was awed by the Acropolis, Parthenon and more (and I have the pictures to prove it too)!!

After this it was a busy half term catching up with lots of reading for my MA and this week it has been school as well as preparing the next edition of Armadillo that has kept me from you.

However never fear for I am now back (unlike Mr Schwarzenegger who always threatened to come back) and I will be here again tomorrow to tell you more about the ancient Greeks and some books too!

Until then, have a good night ....