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What great news! Today it has been announced that multi-award winning author Michael Morpurgo has donated his entire archive to Seven Stories, the UK’s National Centre for Children’s Books.
The archive contains draft manuscripts, photographs, notebooks and correspondence all the way back from his first publication ‘It Never Rained’ to his 2015 ‘An Eagle in the Snow’ as well as material relating to his his widely known and admired works such as ‘War Horse’ and ‘Private Peaceful’.
To mark this brilliant news I was able to put a few questions to Michael about his archive.
Playing by the book:What’s the oldest item in your archive which you’ve donated to Seven Stories? Perhaps something you wrote as a child? School reports?
Michael Morpurgo: I suppose I would be going back to about 1970, and I’ve been writing since then. They are scribbles, but they are there.
Playing by the book:What do you think people might be surprised by when they look at your archive?
Michael Morpurgo: The mess! I was just looking at notebooks then and thinking what a jostle of impressions and efforts… the little psychological boosts I give myself. For instance at the end of half an hour or a page I count up a word tally and it gives me an absurd sense of satisfaction; to know at the end of the day I’ve done 1,000 or 2,000 words and how encouraging this is for me.
Aside from the mess, how fluent I can be when I’m working well and how tentative and trembly I can be when it’s not moving necessarily the way I want it to move. And there’s the awful moment when you’ve done too much writing the day before and you can tell the writing gets faster and faster and faster towards 4 o’clock and then you stop and look back the next day and think – of course I should have stopped at lunchtime, because the last three hours were rubbish! Then there’s the great lines through it. There are also the moments you re-trace your life and I rather like that.
Playing by the book:What will you do with all the space created by gifting your archive to Seven Stories?
Michael Morpurgo: Fill it up! It’s already filling up with new manuscripts and other things. Don’t you find that at home when you want to clear a room, you just clear it up for it to fill with other stuff? But the great thing about this is that now it will serve a useful purpose. It really will be useful. There will be some people down the line who will want to know how this particular writer worked out why he would write that story and how he set about it. And I love that – I love that people might have an insight into how that happened, especially when you aren’t around to tell them.
My thanks go to Michael for his generosity in answering my questions and also to Damien Wootten for the photographs from Seven Stories today.
4 Comments on 3 Questions for Michael Morpurgo as he donates his archive to Seven Stories, last added: 10/22/2015
Great news and really interesting interview. I liked the bit about word tallies. I always get a sense of satisfaction from the opposite – of counting up my words and seeing the wordcount is not through the roof. Maybe that’s an ‘age of the internet ‘thing though, where shorter is usually better.
Marjorie (MWD) said, on 10/21/2015 1:21:00 PM
Very exciting news – and a lovely interview. Yes, I totally know about filling up spaces that have just been emptied! I also love that in the photo Michael is now wearing gloves to look through his notebooks
Zoe said, on 10/21/2015 11:10:00 PM
Yes, the word count thing made me smile too – very recognisable!
Zoe said, on 10/21/2015 11:10:00 PM
They’re great photos, aren’t they. And yes, the gloves – I’m sure Michael found that a little bit funny too!
Dreams of Freedom: In Words and Pictures edited by Janetta Otter-Barry, designed by Judith Escreet, with a Foreword by Michael Morpurgo (Amnesty International/Frances Lincoln, 2015)
Last weekend saw the first birthday of the book group I run for 8-12 year olds at the local public library. On Saturday we celebrated with lots of games – book spine poetry and book charades (where titles had to be those of books we had read or discussed during the past year in book group) causing the most laughter. There were also lots of bookish treats:
On Monday we had an amazing trip to a local arts festival where we saw Michael Morpurgo retell his book The Mozart Question, accompanied by a fabulous set of musicians who played music matching the storyline. The show was wonderful, powerful and moving and Michael very generously made time for the children in my book group to interview him over a slice or two of birthday cake – what better first birthday present could there be?
Members of the book group presented Michael with a copy of the anthology they’ve written this year, and which they have been selling to family and friends to raise money for Michael’s charity Farms For City Children. They had each practised their “author signature” and signed the anthology. It was a proud moment to see it in Michael’s hands!
Before the fun and games on Saturday we spend some time preparing for our interview with Michael by reading lots of past interviews with him, highlighting things we found interesting and making a note of questions that we couldn’t find answers for. I found this a really effective way of encouraging the group to think of questions more unusual than the ones that so often arise when authors do a Q&A with children, such as “Why did you become a writer?” or “What tips do you have for aspiring authors?”.
Looking back over the year, it’s a delight to see how the book group as grown. Initially it was a determined, constructive response to my eldest being bullied at school for being a bookworm, and out of that stressful situation something lovely has blossomed. I’ve been supported along the way by many people and I’m really grateful to them all, especially the authors and illustrators with whom the book group has tweeted and the library staff who have helped with book reservations.
0 Comments on Celebrating my book group’s 1st birthday as of 7/8/2015 3:06:00 AM
Looking to bring a young reader to a nuanced and thoughtful tale of family, identity, and history? Michael Morpurgo, author of the international bestseller War Horse, has written \"an intricately layered story within a story,\" A Medal for Leroy, published first in Britain and now available in paperback in the U.S.
Michael, growing up biracial in 1940s London, remembers nothing of his father, Roy, an RAF pilot. And no one in the family will talk about him. Then, he receives a parcel after his Auntie Snowdrop has died, and discovers a hidden note that reveals the real story of his father, and intrigues him with his grandfather’s activities during World War I. Determined to find the truth among long-hidden family secrets, Michael learns that his grandfather, Leroy, made three excursions into a battle zone to rescue wounded men. His fellow soldiers insisted he deserved special commendation for his heroic efforts but his actions went unacknowledged because of racial barriers. Michael sets out to change that.
Writing in Newsday, Mary Quattlebaum notes that through his efforts, Michael \"begins to understand the forces that shaped him and his family.\"
Morpurgo’s inspiration for A Medal for Leroy was Lt. Walter Tull, the first black combat officer in the British army whose exceptional bravery during the war was never recognized. In his book, his protagonist Michael rights the family record. And Morpurgo includes a postscript about his discovery of Walter Tull’s tale, information on Tull’s life, and stories of other black soldiers whose bravery has been honored, finally.
February is African American History Month. Sharing these books with young readers comes with the responsibility to discuss ... progress towards equality.
First and foremost, hello. How are you? Are you having a nice day? So nice to see you here, but before we go any further I must tell you that you very much need to leave me. Just for a little while. As you may have heard, my book with Jules Danielson and Peter Sieruta, Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature, is coming out August 5th. To prepare, Jules and I have created a blog that posts a story a day that got cut from our final book. Here’s what you may have missed so far:
- A story about the greatest ALA Conference photo of all time.
- A tale of all the various authors and illustrators who have gotten advice from Maurice Sendak over the years.
- Advice on why you should never invite Hans Christian Andersen to stay the night.
- A tribute to everybody’s favorite Wicked Angel.
- Two rough broads / Newbery and Caldecott winners.
- A tribute to the fantastic Nancy Garden.
That said, here’s all the other news what wuz.
All the world is ah-buzz with the information that J.K. Rowling just released on Pottermore. Rita Skeeter is still reporting (so no, there is no justice in the universe) and she has the scoop on 34-year-old Harry today, as well as his buddies. For my part, I’m just socked that I’m only two years older than Harry. Makes my crush on Snape that much more creepy, I guess.
One of my favorite blogs, Pop Goes the Page by the Cotsen Children’s Library, is turning one! Best of all, if you send them your artistic birthday well-wishes, the selected winner will receive a $150 online shopping spree at Discount School Supply. Not half bad! Go do that thing.
Credit Martha Parravano for creating a quite incisive interpretation of the Caldecott winners and near misses of 2013. Lots to chew on, even if you don’t always agree.
There were many reasons to attend this last ALA Conference in Vegas. But three in particular are standing out for me today. Reason #1: I could have seen Mo Willems and Daniel Handler sharing a stage at the same time. THAT would be an event well worth witnessing. Can I get a witness who was there?. Reason #2: Starr LaTronica’s Shoes.
Need I say more?
Reason #3: This blog got a little shout out in Brian Floca’s Caldecott speech. See if you can spot where it is (hint: it’s not by name).
Anywho, I wasn’t able to attend that conference because of my pregnancy. I also wasn’t able to attend this conference: The Second Annual 21st Century Nonfiction Conference. Doggone it. Held in lovely New Paltz, NY, I was pleased at least to see that my co-worker Amie Wright kicked butt and took names. You can read a great write-up of the event here.
I know you have a lot going on today, but if you enjoyed watching Faerie Tale Theater with Shelley Duvall back in the day then maybe you’ll appreciate this catchy little ditty made out of all the times the charming host said, “Hello, I’m Shelley Duvall.” I don’t do ringtones but if I had to choose one . . .
I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Way back in 1992 I listened to a librarian read Sukey and the Mermaid by Robert D. San Souci (illustrated by Brian Pinkney) to a group of kids. It was remarkable at the time, not just because it featured a black mermaid, but because it featured a mermaid at all. I don’t know if you read my recent review of The Mermaid and the Shoe, but mermaid picture books aren’t exactly prevalent. Well over at Latin@s in Kid Lit, Cindy L. Rodriguez has written the post Diversity Needed Under the Sea: Not All Mermaids Have Blond Hair and Blue Eyes. Their focus is mostly YA, but it’s interesting to note that aside from Sukey, picture book mermaids of color are few and far between. Fairies of color have it even worse.
Get out your fightin’ gloves. SLJ has just launched the Up for Debate series. Them’s fighting words (literally).
Daily Image:
Trying to figure out how we could pull this off in the States. Over in Britain the Story Museum hired a photographer for its 26 Characters exhibition. His mission? To photograph famous authors as their favorite literary characters. The image of Neil Gaiman as Badger from Wind in the Willows circulated a couple months ago. Now more pics have been revealed and they are lovely. Here are two . .
Philip Pullman as Long John Silver
Michael Morpurgo as Magwitch from Great Expectations
Naturally I’m trying to figure out how we could do this here. The Eric Carle Museum could host the images (we’d have a brief debate over whether or not photography is technically “illustration” and then decide ultimately that it was). Or maybe the Rich Michelson Gallery could do it. Then it’s a question of finding a photographer and picking the authors. As for the costumes and make-up, Britain utilized The Royal Shakespeare Company. Can’t really top that but it would be nice to get professionals involved. Pondering, pondering, pondering . . .
1 Comments on Fusenews: Because nothing says “birthday” like Barbarsol, last added: 7/11/2014
Red Squirrel, a new imprint from Barrington Stoke, is dedicated to creating exciting picture books.
Fair Enough.
But what makes them sit especially tall on the bookshelf is that as well as superb storytelling and inventive illustrations, these picture books contain lots of dyslexia friendly features so that grown-ups with dyslexia can also experience the joy of reading aloud to the kids in their lives.
One of their first offerings, All I said Was, written by former children’s laureate, Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Ross Collins is a cautionary tale about the dangers of wish fulfilment.
Have you ever been reading a book and then fallen into a reverie imagining yourself as the character you’re reading about?
This is exactly what happens in All I said Was, and as a consequence – with the help of just a little magic, a boy and a bird swap places.
The boy-turned-bird is delighted. “This flying lark is amazing. I wan to to be a bird all my life.”
The bird-turned-boy is also pleased as punch: He discovers the joy of being able to read.
But is bird-life really all it’s cracked up to be? And can the magic ever be undone?
A quietly funny celebration of the power of a good book to transport us anywhere – safely – this is lovely story, told clearly and concisely. Its theme makes it particulars appropriate for opening a new venture which will hopefully enable more families to enjoy more stories.
Collins’ characterization and visual humour are especially strong (I particularly like his farmer and pigs). The illustrator also has the final say with a brilliant twist in the tale once Morpurgo’s words are complete. It’s a brilliantly satisfying, slightly naughty and rather funny end to a super book.
This is a book that could be enjoyed for so may different reasons – whether you’re looking for a prime example of illustrations doing so much to enrich a written text, a book celebrating how books can bring our imagination to life, or simply a funny story to share at bedtime – whether or not you yourself sometimes struggle with the written word.
All I can say is: Hurrah for Red Squirrel and their broadening of what it means for picture books to be inclusive.
Both M and J said they too would love to experience flying like a bird. The nearest I could offer them was the joy of flying…. a kite, made to look like a bird. Ah well, us parents, we can only try our best
We cut out very rough bird shapes from old plastic bags which we decorated with permanent pens. Once the feathers, beaks and eyes were in place we attached thin doweling to our birds. I used this commercial product as a starting point, cross referencing it with these instructions for making a diamond kite to come up with All-I-Said-Was-Kites Mark 1.
We each made one kite and then imagined us swapping places with the birds as we flew them.
Additional activities which could work well alongside reading All I said Was include:
Chasing pigeons. I don’t know a child who doesn’t love chasing pigeons!
Photo: Owen Jell
Music that goes well with All I said Was and the playing it induced in us includes:
Let’s Go Fly a Kite – from the film of Mary Poppins
Keep The Park Clean For The Pigeons – from Sesame Stree
Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra
If you could swap places with a character in a children’s book, which character would you swap places with (bearing in mind whoever you swapped with would take your place in your family/classroom/library….)?
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of All I said Was from the publisher.
3 Comments on All I said was…, last added: 6/3/2014
I’d really like to know a little more about the dyslexia friendly features that this book uses–does the publisher have an explanatory site? Or could you describe a little? Thanks.
I have recommended Barrington Stoke’s picture books to several friends with dyslexic children. It’s great that they support dyslexic readers (big and small).
I’m still gathering my thoughts from the wonderful experience that was the IBBY Congress in London Thursday to Sunday 23-26 August. Four days of inspirational speakers and meeting kindred spirits from all over the world. I’ve now added a selection of photographs to our Flickr – you can see them here. I haven’t quite finished tagging and describing yet, but I’m getting there… and here is a smaller selection for you to enjoy on the blog – again, I’ve numbered them so that I can come back and label them!
A London children’s theatre company Theatre Peckham helped the Opening Ceremony go with a swing with their delightful performance of an extract from the theatre adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Then fuelled with a piece of Wally’s delicious 25th birthday cake (but where was he? Answer: everywhere, in the guise of the very game Imperial College staff!), we headed back to the auditorium for our first plenary session – and what a line up! Three UK Children’s Laureates – the current reigning Julia Donaldson and two of her predeceesors, Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Browne.
Each spoke about what particular passions they had brought to their role as laureate: Michael described how he and poet Ted Hughes had first come up with the idea, and how Hughes had been instrumental in making it all happen; Anthony played the ‘shape game’ and showed how it appears everywhere in his work and outside it; and Julia talked of the three areas close to her heart: enhancing children’s experience of reading through drama; keeping libraries open (a big issue in the UK); and promoting stories for and about deaf children.
Julia and her husband Malcolm, on guitar, then showcased some examples of what theatre can do to enhance literacy, from the chorus of a very fast Italian pasta song written while on holiday in Siena, Italy, to a virtuoso performance of The Gruffalo in French, German and (its most recent language) Scots. In between, we were treated to the song that inspired Julia’s book A Squash and a Squeeze with audience participation… and I say treated, well, it was a real treat for me as I got to be the hen! Thanks to Australian author Susanne Gervay (yes, that was one of my top thrills of IBBY, meeting Susanne in person…), you will shortly be able to see it on Flickr too – don’t laugh too much!!
Well, that was just the first few hours of the Congress – I will certainly be writing more about it over the coming weeks. In the meantime, hello to all those PaperTigers friends I got to meet for the first time in real life – Shirin Adl, Candy Gourlay, Dashdondog Jamba; and to old friends and new. I’ll now be dreaming of IBBY Mexico 2014… In the meantime, head on over to Flickr and enjoy my photos – and much better ones on the official IBBY Congress 2012′s photostream.
0 Comments on Some photographs from the IBBY Congress, London 2012 as of 1/1/1900
The second in our new series of Sunday guest blogs by booksellers who work with children’s authors. These guest blogs are designed to show life behind the scenes of a crucial but neglected relationship – the one between a writer and a bookseller. These days, such relationships are more intense and more important, as increasing numbers of authors go on the road to promote children’s books – a goal shared by the booksellers who will contribute to this series.
The Bookcase is a ‘small independent bookshop with a big imagination’ situated in the village of Lowdham, eight miles north of Nottingham. The Bookcase’s proprietor is Jane Streeter (second from right), who runs the shop with a friendly team: Louise Haines, Jo Blaney, myself, Marion Turner and Kendall Turner (pictured left to right above).
Three years ago I (as one of the assistants) began a reading group at our local village school. This coincided with our 10th Annual Book Festival. So, to celebrate, I went in once a month until we had read 10 books. The 12 children read each book and then wrote a review, which formed the basis of a display at our book festival. We read all sorts – from contemporary authors to Enid Blyton and Richmal Crompton – and one poetry book. I have used a few different poetry books, but the first was Carol Ann Duffy’s The Hat, which was very timely as I’d handed it out to the children just before she was announced as the Poet Laureate! We’ve also used Gervase Phinn’s There’s an Alien in the Classroom, and others over the three years we’ve been involved in the project.
Each month I went into school so that we could have a discussion, which made the youngsters feel very grown up!
The idea became so popular that I have been approached by other schools, so this year I am working in four schools – always with Year 6 children. The group is aimed at the more able readers. (The thinking behind this is that so much is done to encourage the less able readers: those who are keen readers need some sort of outlet for their enthusiasm.)
This year, I have found a real difference in ability from one school to another. Not only is the reading ability markedly higher in one school, but the children are much more mature. This makes it harder for me to choose appropriate books, so I’m always keen to hear of the experiences of others who work with children of a similar age.
Michael Morpurgo is, of course, unfailingly popular, but I’ve also had real success with Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother and Morris Gleitzman’s Once. In both cases, several of the children have gone on to read the sequels. We have offered a discount to reading group members who have ordered sequels.
After Christmas I will be discussing David Al
7 Comments on BOOKSELLER SUNDAYS: What greater pleasure? – Eve Griffiths at The Bookcase, Lowdham, last added: 6/11/2012
We need more people doing this sort of thing! I always feel sorry for the more able readers - all too often left to their own devices. I had a group of more able readers once - took them off to meet one of our local and very well known authors - they reminded me of this years later!
What an inspiring blog! It's so good to know that booksellers are working with schools in such a proactive way and it sounds as though both you and the children get a great deal of pleasure from it. How fascinating as well that, as an 'outsider', you can see differences in reading ability between schools.
What a brilliant idea Eve and what a great way to introduce children to authors that they may not know about I run a couple of reading clubs in a local primary school.Josh Lacey's Island of Thieves and Ali Sparkes's Frozen in Time went down well. I also did a football theme with Tom Palmer and Helena Pielichaty's books.
This is such a good idea! More strength to your elbow. I love the Bookcase and have very happy memories of my visit there some years back during the Lowdham Festival. Regards to all.
So the children are all reading the same books? Do they ever recommend the books themselves? That might be interesting, to see what they choose.
Sounds a wonderful idea and like others, I agree that more able readers deserve attention as much as the strugglers. Often, inevitably, there isn't much in their school library if they are advanced readers in Year 6.
How about Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh? Lots to discuss there. Or if they enjoyed Just William then why not read some more contemporary funny authors as a comparison - I've just posted a new ABBA blog with plenty of suggestions! I think The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson would be lots of fun and would also be full of ideas for them to discuss.
Martin Scorsese‘s award winning adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick has lead the Academy Award nominations this year, earning 11 Oscar nominations.
We’ve embedded the trailer above–what did you think of the film? Earlier this year, we wrote about Selznick’s personalized tours of the American Museum of Natural History.
The Best Picture nominees included a host of adapted novels. Below, we’ve linked to free samples of books adapted into Best Picture-nominated films.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo The film adaptation of this middle grade novel is opening in theaters on December 25th. I think I'm going to see it. How about you?
Author and former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo has been appointed as the inaugural president of the Historical Writers Association.
Founder and chair of the HWA Manda Scott said: "It's an honour and a privilege to welcome Michael Morpurgo as our inaugural president. We couldn't ask for a better way to mark our first anniversary as an association and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship, promoting historical writing in all its forms together."
Once Upon a Wartime, an exhibition which opened earlier this month at London’s Imperial War Museum, takes five children’s novels about war and conflict and uses them as a starting point to explore what war can mean for children.
Imperial War Museum entrance
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall and Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley provide the inspiration and setting to explore themes of loyalty, separation, excitement, survival and identity. Whilst these are books typically read by children older than my normal focus here on Playing by the book, I was nevertheless extremely keen to visit this new exhibition, to discover what inspired the authors to write their books and find out about the historical context of each story through objects, photographs and films.
I was also very interested to see how the museum chose to bring these books to life – exhibitions about children’s literature are not that common – and I thought you too would be interested to see how these books have been translated into a family exhibition.
In my review which follows I’ve included plenty of photos (to give those of you unable to visit the exhibition the best possible flavour if it) and
3 Comments on How to explore war with children? Part 1, last added: 2/22/2011
Wow. Every post of yours makes me glad I discovered your blog. Awesome and thank you for taking us to the museum while being thousands of miles away.
As soon as I read the title of your post I thought MORPURGO! The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is also a superb first introduction to war. All the ladies and gentlemen involved with the big decisions regarding war and conflicts should read these books – maybe the world will be different then.
Zoe said, on 2/22/2011 10:19:00 PM
Oh choxbox! What a way to start my day – with your lovely comment Thank you.
I haven’t read The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips but I’ve now put a reservation on it in the library – thanks for the suggestion.
Jenny said, on 2/22/2011 11:15:00 PM
Wow, amazing post, thanks. I really hope I’m going to be able to visit the exhibition while it’s on. I’ve been thinking about children’s fiction and depictions of war quite a bit recently as I’ve been choosing some historical books for my son’s primary school library. I always enjoyed war fiction as a child, although I think that I read it in quite a different way than I would now as an adult and a mother. I loved Carie’s War as a kid but in my mind the war was kind of a backdrop for the part that terrified me which was the incident with the skull and her feelings of guilt at having done something secretly very bad. It still stops my breath thinking of that now! With The Silver Sword I was facinated with the idea of the children being on their own and fending for themselves. The whole concept of evacuation or of separation from your family was the focus for me as a kid, imagining myself in that situation and the psychological implications of it. It wasn’t until I was about 13 and we studied the poets of the 1st WW that I think I began to think about the horrors of war or even war as a subject rather than a backdrop for some other kind of psychlogical drama.
My Nan is 97 and lived through the Blitz in London with my two uncles as small children. She has always been an awesome storyteller and my childhood was filled with her war stories too- most of them were tales of daring escape and the kindness of others in adversity. She was evacuated to Portsmouth, of all the silly places, at the beginning of the war. Once she found out where she was (the station signs were blacked out of course) she stayed one night and hitched a lift back to London with the Czech Army whom she flagged down in the road (she just started walking back with a 4 and 6 yr old so certain she was that Portsmouth would be bombed, which it was days after). She said that if she was going to be bombed she wanted to deal with it with her family and friends in her beloved London and she stayed there for the duration of it. Anyway, I digress… I’ve always enjoyed war fiction although now I read it totally differently I think. Have you read Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh as that’s amazing too, it’s about two children living through the Blitz in London on their own after getting separated from their familes- I read that recently and wish I’d read it as a kid.
One thing that always strikes me about WW2 fiction is how much it still influences us all today, we tell our children about it, we don’t want them to forget, it’s still very much a part of our psyche as the war generation are still around and the changes that the war made to families, lives and cities can still be felt, even now. When I think of all the conflict in the world I always think of how long it’s going to take the people involved to deal with the shock of it and the damage- not just the structural or the physical but the psychological trauma. This gets passed on to children born after the war (my mum was born in 1950 for example) and even their children’s children. I tell my boys about my Nan and Uncles in the war now although I think the horror of it has been watered down through the generations somehow and it’s more of a story, less personal narrative now. My eldest was born 60 years after the end of the 2nd WW for example. Writing war fiction, especially children’s war fiction is a way that we as adults deal with the psychological damage of war (damage sustained by precious generations even) as well as having the purpose of educating the next generation in the hope that they will never find themselves in the same situation.
As far as I’m concerned, every good blog post should begin with fiction starring Gregory Peck. What we have here is one of the luscious finds boasted by Greg Hatcher over at the site Comic Book Resources. I’m a big fan of Hatcher because when he does round ups like this one he always takes care to mention a lot of collectible children’s literature. In this post alone you’ll see what the going price is for a good old hardcover Oz or Narnia title, as well as his discovery of Millions of Cats. I remember that when I conducted by Top 100 Picture Books Poll that Millions of Cats was the surprise Top Ten winner. Folks continually forget to give it its due.
Collecting Children’s Books has the usual plethora of wonderfulness up and running for your consideration. First Peter discovers and prints out the complete shortlists of Newbery contenders between the years of 1973-75 (something I wish they still did) and then in a different post considers the state of recent children’s books and whether any of them have been made into Broadway musicals. None that I can think of, since A Year With Frog and Toad isn’t exactly contemporary. Coraline did sort of make it to Broadway a year or so ago (or was that considered off-Broadway?), but that’s the only one I can think of.
Hey hey! While we were all sleeping the candidates nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award were announced. You can see the full list of candidates from countries all over the country here. If I had the time and ability I would familiarize myself with all those names that are unknown to me. On the American side of things, however, here are the USA representatives: Ashley Bryan, Eric Carle, Julius Lester, Grace Lin, Walter Dean Myers, Anne Pellowski, Jerry Pinkney, Reading is Fundamental, and Allen Say. Good luck, guys (and well played Grace for being the youngest). Here’s hoping some of you make it to the final consideration. After all, the Lindgren is the largest monetary award a children’s writer or illustrator can win.
It was a good week for finalists of all sorts, actually. The National Book Award finalists were released last week and included Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker, Kathryn Erskine’s Mockingbird, Laura McNeal’s Dark Water, Walter Dean Myers’ Lockdown, and Rita Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer. How interesting it is to me that non-fiction didn’t make even a sin
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Zoe @ Playing by the book said, on 10/17/2010 11:15:00 PM
Thanks so much for linking to my UK kidlit tour! Yes, the musical Matilda looks wonderful. The songs have been written by Tim Minchin, a very funny and usually quite acerbic comic so I can’t wait to hear how they’ve turned out.
Brooke Shirts said, on 10/18/2010 9:20:00 AM
Ah, but there IS a rather comprehensive list of children’s book awards — the Database of Award Winning Children’s Literature (www.dawcl.com) which is kept stunningly up to date by librarian Lisa Bartle. According to the site, “DAWCL has over 8,300 records from 91 awards across six English-speaking countries (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ireland). ” Although I will admit that neither the Jo Osborne Award or the Zena Sutherland Award appears in the database, this is still one ding-dang useful resource. (Who knew that the Society of School Librarians International gave out an award?)
Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/18/2010 4:53:00 PM
Brooke, this link may have seriously improved my quality of life. Thank you! I had absolutely no idea. To the internets!
Brilliant! The mark of the first stuffed penguin. Love the hat. Thanks, Sergio!
Amy Sears said, on 10/19/2010 3:37:00 PM
Off Broadway seems to be the home of Children’s Books into musicals today “Freckleface Strawberry-The Musical” is playing at the New World Stages of course my favorite musical based on a children’s book has got to be The Secret Garden which actually was on Broadway back in the early 90’s.
Wonka Opera. Hard to say. Harder still to see since the darn thing keeps closing. NPR recently had a great story on the opera Golden Ticket, and the various trials it underwent in a bid to be seen by the masses. The world premier is now going on at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. One of my best friends is the great up and coming contralto Meredith Arwady. I’ll need to find a way to finagle her into that show. Thanks to Marci for the link!
A couple weeks ago we started getting some strange requests in the Children’s Center. Young men in their 20s and 30s were coming in asking for Michael Morpugo’s War Horse. We only have a single circulating copy in the system, while the reference copy sits securely in our stacks. After much blood, sweat, and tears that reference copy was located… only to disappear again a bit later. But why did all these people want to see it? Turns out, Steven Spielberg’s to blame. As The Independent reports, Europe’s finest join up for ‘War Horse’. A casting call went out in NYC as well, hence the hoards of folks looking for the book. It’s out of print, but fear not librarians of the world. By September it looks as if it will be reissued once more. Or so sayeth Baker & Taylor.
When it comes to children’s literary illustration, no gallery does it like the R. Michelson Galleries. Of course, this being the art world and all, Richard Michelson also exhibits other kinds of art. At the moment he’s gearing up for an exhibit of Leonard Nimoy’s photography. Rich sent me two links about the show (here and here) and then asked me, “Can you recognize the 7 children’s book writers/illustrators that participated in this photoshoot?” Hoo boy. I got one out of seven. Should have gotten two too. You’ll do better in this game if you have an inkling of what authors and illustrators reside in the Northampton, MA area of the world. I wonder how many of you out there will beat my score.
Big N.D. Wilson news out this week. According to Variety: “Mpower Pictures (‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’) and Beloved Pictures are teaming to co-produce C.S. Lewis’ fantasy novel ‘The Great Divorce.’ Veteran producer and Mpower CEO Steve McEveety will lead the production team. Childrens’ book author N.D. Wilson (‘Leepike Ridge,’ ‘100 Cupboards’) is attached to write…” And SPEAKING of 100 Cupboards: “Three-year-old Beloved Pictures is developing ‘100 Cupboards,’ having acquired feature rights to the N.D. Wilson young-adult fantasy trilogy.” Well played, Nate. Well played indeed. Thanks to Heather for the link.
You know, blogs are always doing these cute little book giveaway things which is fine. But reporting on them? Dull
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Michael Morpurgo is one of the greats in contemporary British children’s literature - he is a master craftsman of storytelling who weaves fiction into such convincing historical contexts that you have to pinch yourself to remember the characters came out of his imagination
Two of his recent stories for older children have a wartime setting: but both stories also have roots in the present and a new generation, which bring a perspective of hope and renewal to counterbalance the feelings of despair engendered by these examples of the futility and madness of war. The Best Christmas Present in the World (Egmont, 2004) centres around a letter from Jim Macpherson, an English officer in the First World War, which relates the extraordinary events of the momentary truce and famous football game between the British and the Germans on Christmas Day, 1914. Many years later, at Christmas time, the letter is found in an old, second-hand desk by the narrator. It is marked as “Jim’s last letter, received 25th January 1915. To be buried with me when the time comes.” And so our narrator sets out to find “Dearest Connie” - and gives her the best Christmas present in the world…
Meanwhile, The Mozart Question (Walker Books, 2008) is the story of a world-famous violinist, Paolo Levi, whose parents’ lives were saved in the Second World War through playing the violin in an orchestra at a Nazi concentration camp. Lesley, the story’s narrator, is a young journalist who is sent to Venice to interview Paolo. She pointedly does not ask him the forbidden Mozart question - but the time is right for him to talk about it. He tells her about how he secretly began to play the violin, not realising that there were secrets he did not know about his parents’ past; and how eventually his playing “made music joyful” for his father once more.
Reading these books aloud to older children prompts a lot of questions and discussion. As Morpurgo says in his Author’s Note at the end of The Mozart Question:
It is difficult for us to imagine how dreadful was the suffering that went on in the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War [...] It is when you hear the stories of the individuals who lived through it - Anne Frank, Primo Levi - that you begin to understand the horror just a little better…
By presenting these individual, albeit fictional accounts, Morpurgo is helping to ensure that the facts continue to be put before a new generation, that they may learn from them - and, dare I say it, he does so in a way that will probably have much more impact than a history lesson. His prose begs to be read aloud; and both books also have the distinct advantage of being illustrated by Michael Foreman - Morpurgo and Foreman really do make a wonderful team! And when they’ve listened to the stories and talked about them, children will want to go away and read them quietly on their own - again and again.
Great news and really interesting interview. I liked the bit about word tallies. I always get a sense of satisfaction from the opposite – of counting up my words and seeing the wordcount is not through the roof. Maybe that’s an ‘age of the internet ‘thing though, where shorter is usually better.
Very exciting news – and a lovely interview. Yes, I totally know about filling up spaces that have just been emptied! I also love that in the photo Michael is now wearing gloves to look through his notebooks
Yes, the word count thing made me smile too – very recognisable!
They’re great photos, aren’t they. And yes, the gloves – I’m sure Michael found that a little bit funny too!