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My husband was in Wales recently for a conference and heard Welsh poet Gillian Clarke read there.  I knew I’d heard of Clarke; in fact, I found her on The Childrens Poetry Archive website where you can hear her read the poem Legend.  I was therefore happy to find at my local library a book of poems edited by Clarke that is very appropriate for Halloween. The Whispering Room Haunted Poems (illustrated by Justin Todd, Kingfisher, 1996) is a collection of poetry chosen by Clarke on the theme of  ‘haunting.’   As Clarke says in the preface, “Haunting is all about imagination, and the best imaginers are poets and children.”

My daughter and I committed ourselves to reading a poem or two each night out of this anthology (while finishing off The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson!) leading up to Halloween.  I find reading poetry with her helpful in teaching her about poetic language and concepts such as rhyme.   I let her pick out the poems she would like to try and then we have a go at them.  Flipping through the book together, I was quite struck by Justin Todd’s arresting illustrations, some of which drew me to certain poems.

What books are you reading to your child for Halloween?  Any good poetry titles?  Do share and spread the word!  Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Diane Mayr at Random Noodling.

I’ve written a few posts about Shakespeare for PaperTigers and have been much enlightened on how the Bard’s work can be transmitted to children.  I was therefore quite happy to be presented with a copy of Shakespeare’s Storybook: Folk Tales that Inspired the Bard by Patrick Ryan and James Mayhew (Barefoot Books, 2001) by my local university’s (University of Manitoba) Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture.  Patrick Ryan, co-author of this book, is this year’s Storyteller-in-Residence at the Centre.

Shakespeare’s Storybook tells the tales that were likely the precursors to the stories of his plays.  As is commonly known, Shakespeare did not ‘invent’ the stories of his plays — they often came from various sources which Shakespeare then ‘played’ with in order to create his own version of the story suitable for the stage.

I launched into a reading of Shakespeare’s Storybook as soon as I got it, and played the CD of the first story “The Devil’s Bet”  to my daughter.  She was immediately hooked.  And why shouldn’t she be?  The first story — the precursor to The Taming of the Shrew — was about a nasty girl named Nora who through an encounter with a gentle but spirited husband and through her own wits, manages to reform herself and rid her household of the Nicky Nicky Nye, a pestilent water devil.   Although my daughter condemned Nora’s nastiness, she did perceive rather sagely that the husband, Jamie, was effectively ‘training’ Nora to be a better woman.  Nothing like a wayward character to get a child interested in a story, that’s for sure!

Equally compelling were some of the other stories like “Ashboy” (Hamlet) and “The Hill of Roses” (Romeo and Juliet.)   My daughter, whose first Shakespeare play was Twelfth Night, was a little disappointed that the story behind that play wasn’t in the book, but she did enjoy the others.  We had an entertaining few bedtime nights of listening to the CDs and going through the book together.  If you enjoy Shakespeare, I’d certainly recommend this book  as an engaging introduction to the master playwright’s work.

It’s back to school time and with all its attendant busyness, our family is considering (perhaps rather foolishly!) of getting a dog.   So lately, we have been researching dogs by consulting various books, looking at websites and generally asking our friends and neighbors for their advice.  One delightful book I discovered in my perusal at the library for dog books was James Herriot’s Favourite Dog Stories, illustrated by Lesley Holmes (McClelland and Stewart , 1995)  In this book, British veterinarian James Herriot regales the reader with stories of dogs he has treated in his countryside practice in Yorkshire.  There’s the story of Tricki Woo, the spoiled Pekingese  who lives with his rather ostentatious owner, Mrs. Pumphrey, or the moving story of Herman, the daschund who suffers from paralysis in his hindquarters owned by a disabled former miner and his wife, and Jake, the greyhound, the beloved companion of itinerant laborer, Roddy.   My daughter listens to these stories with a keen ear in the midst of her bed, covered in stuffed dogs (soon to be replaced by a real one, she readily hopes!)  I’m not sure how our search will go but reading Herriot’s warm stories has certainly  helped increase the anticipation and excitement for this future — gulp! — addition to our household.

First, there’s the book and then there’s the movie.  Where to encounter the narrative first is always the question!  Most of us ‘older’ folk tend to encounter the narrative first in a book, and then later in the movie version.  But for today’s children and for me — especially in the case of Japan’s Studio Ghibli movies at any rate — it’s often the movie first.    When I first got wind of Studio Ghibli’s movie release, Arietty (it came out in Japan in 2010, DVD release July 2011) I noted quickly that it was based on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953).  The directors at Studio Ghibli — notably Hayao Miyazaki and son, Goro Miyazaki — have occasionally gone to British children’s books for inspiration for their movies.  Their previously released Howl’s Moving Castle was based on Diana Wynne Jones’ book of the same title (published in 1986) and it was through that movie, that I was introduced to Wynne Jones’ writing.

Thanks to Studio Ghibli again, my daughter and I have had a chance to experience The Borrowers by Mary Norton.  I picked up a hardback edition of the novel at a used book sale in Nishinomiya where I lived and began reading it at night to my daughter.  The Borrowers are little people who live under a house in England, and who ‘borrow’ things from the much larger humans that dwell above them.  The family in the first series of the Borrowers books is a small one comprising of the father, Pod, the mother, Homily, and their fourteen year old daughter, Arietty (on whom the movie title is based.)    My daughter and I got about halfway through the novel before she got to see the movie (we rented the DVD in Japan just before the day we left) and it was clear from the snippets I saw of it that the Studio Ghibli team was well into animating the tiny world of the Borrowers with its signature, detailed and colorful animation for which it is famous.  I hope Arietty makes it into the North American viewing market soon, but barring that, The Borrowers still make a great read for parents and children alike.

Tom Avery,
Too Much Trouble
Janetta Otter-Barry Books, Frances Lincoln, 2011.

Winner of the 2010 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award, Too Much Trouble will have its readers hooked right from the explosive introduction to the prologue: “The gun was much heavier than I expected.” The story of how Emmanuel, the book’s likeable 12-year-old narrator, got to this point is a gripping tale that deliberately mirrors Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in a modern setting.

Emmanuel has mastered the art of not attracting the attention of his peers or his teachers – no mean feat, considering that he and his nine-year-old brother Prince are living alone. The boys had been sent to England to escape conflict in their unnamed African country, but the uncle who is supposed to be looking after them turns out to be a drug dealer and eventually throws them out.

Salvation comes from an unlikely quarter, in the shape of Mr Green, who is just as grotesque as the original Fagin. It’s a slippery slope from there into learning how to be good pick-pockets, along with the other children Mr Green has taken under his wing. Emmanuel is old enough to have learned the roots of integrity from his parents and to feel disturbed by this new mode of survival; the same cannot be said for Prince, which adds to Emmanuel’s anguish, as the responsible older brother. And so, eventually we come full circle to the point where Emmanuel has a gun in his hand…

As is appropriate for its targeted readership, Too Much Trouble does not enter into deep analysis of the social background, or do more than sketch in the criminal underworld. We don’t find out the other children’s stories, we just know they are bad. One girl, Terri, is an avid reader, and there are some deft allusions to books (including Oliver Twist) that may or may not be familiar. If they are, it adds to the story’s strength; if not, readers may be curious to find out…

Avery (a teacher himself) credibly weaves in the ineffectuality of the teachers and other adults in picking up on the brothers’ situation until it’s almost too late. This does not mean, however, that readers are not required to consider deeply the issues involved. Because it steers clear of making any moral statement itself, as a knuckle-biting journey of a read, Too Much Trouble is likely to evoke a strong response for social justice.

Marjorie Coughlan
July 2011

Following on from my brief post yesterday, here’s a fuller account of the Award Ceremony for the 2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award, hosted at Seven Stories, who play a prominent role in administering the award – not least in coordinating the many volunteers who read through the entries and compile the shortlist.

This year’s award was won by Helen Limon for her story Om Shanti, Babe, “a story about growing up, family and friendship” described by the judges as “Fabulous . . . laugh-out-loud funny.” They were looking for a “strong story that an 8 to 12-year-old would want to read rather than a worthy book
that overtly explores social issues.” We were treated to an extract from the book and it certainly sounds like they found what they were looking for. Now we will have to be patient while we wait for the manuscript to go through its due process towards publication. To whet your appetite, here’s a brief synopsis:

Teenager Cassia joins her mother, who runs a fair trade craft shop, on a buying trip to India, a country that she mostly knows from her Bollywood dance routines. Troubled by a friendship gone sour at home, and feeling out of place in a new culture that challenges her assumptions, she reacts badly to her mother’s relationship with an Indian colleague. As Cassia sheds some of her preconceived ideas, she finds friends where she least expects to and starts to realise her dream to follow her mother into business. The story emcompasses fair trade and environmental issues alongside her spiky tussles with fashion-mad friend-to-be Priyanka, and her crushes on pop star Jonny Gold and Dev, a boy she meets on a train.

Helen had put together a display of pictures and objects she had brought back from a trip to Kerola, India in 2009, which was the inspiration for her book:

“Talking to the mothers about their lives and their ambitions for their families, and listening to
what the children said they wanted, inspired the story and made me conscious of the social and environmental themes that are woven into the book.

“My characters are not the sort of children that get written about much and I lived most of my life not in
England, so I do sort of know what it is like to be different inside your head even if you look like everyone
else on the outside.”

Runner-up in the competition was Karon Aldermon for her story For Keeps about Benedicta (Ben), her mother and younger sister who are asylum seekers from Cameroon. “While their uncertain future and

I will be posting properly about the Award tomorrow – just to let you know the news in the meantime that Helen Limon is the winner of this year’s 2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award for Om Shanti, Babe. Runner-up was Karon Alderman for For Keeps, and Michelle Richardson received a Special Mention for Tek.

The Award was announced at Seven Stories in Newcastle, and the occasion also marked the launch of Too Much Trouble, winner of the Award last year, by Tom Avery, and of The Filth Licker by Christy Burne, a sequel to her 2009 winner Takeshita Demons

This great official photo shows (l-r) Helen, Tom and Karon with the three published books. You can also see some of my photos from the Awards Ceremony here; and read more about the Francves Lincoln Divers Voices Award here.

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By Michael Keating

 
The Scottish Election of 2011 represents a watershed in Scottish politics. For the first time the Scottish National Party has come convincingly in first place, securing the absolute majority that was supposed to be impossible under proportional representation. Labour, having dominated Scottish politics for over fifty years, suffered a crushing defeat, losing seats even in its industrial heartland of Clydeside. Both of the parties of the ruling coalition of Westminster are reduced to minor players at Holyrood, without even the leverage that small parties enjoyed in the last parliament.

The immediate reason for the SNP triumph is clear; the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote to less than half the previous level. What is less clear is why these voters should shift to the SNP and not to Labour. The answer lies in the changed nature of Scottish politics and the failure of Labour to adapt. They seemed to think that this was a ‘second order election’, in which voters use the opportunity to reward or punish the central government, irrespective of the local issues at play. Doubtless this was influenced by their good performance in Scotland in the UK election last year. So Ed Miliband and Ed Balls arrived in Scotland to tell electors that this was a chance to send a message to David Cameron and the coalition in London. This was not, however, a UK election and Scottish voters have learned the difference, being prepared to vote one way for Westminster and another way for Holyrood. Three of the four main parties in Scotland represent varieties of social democracy, so they have plenty of choice and nobody can take their votes for granted. Add to this the greater pulling power of Alex Salmond and the rather unplayed SNP message that they have done quite well in office (‘nae bad’ in Salmond’s words) and the campaign became quite one-sided. In the course of a six-week campaign, a Labour lead of 13 per cent, carried over from the UK election, was transformed into an advantage of nearly 20 per cent for the SNP.

If the result of the election is clear, its consequences are much less so. The SNP commands the political landscape, with support across all parts of the country and all sections of society, but has still to decide exactly what sort of party it is. Its policy prospectus combines support for more universal services with tax cuts for business in an impossible combination. Its social democratic and neo-liberal wings have lived so far in harmony, but there are now hard budgetary choices to  be made.

Similarly, on the constitution, there is a historic division between fundamentalists, who want independence tomorrow, and gradualists, many of whom would settle for stronger devolution or some kind of confederal arrangement. Since the victory of 2007 there has been a truce between them, made easier by the fact that the party lacked the parliamentary majority to bring an independence referendum about. The present strategy is to pursue both strands. The SNP have already stated their demands for more tax powers, beyond those in the Scotland Bill currently before Parliament, control of the Crown Estate, and higher borrowing limits. At the same time, a referendum is promised in the latter part of the Parliament’s five-year term.

The UK government has already indicated that it will not make an issue of the legality of a referendum but will fight hard on the matter of independence. The SNP, for its part, has to define just what independence means. In the past I have argued that this is by no means an easy question in modern Europe, where many nationalist parties have adopted a ‘post-soverei

I already had a post earmarked to share with you from the wonderful Playing by the Book, and today she has another one – so here they both are:

Firstly, this great focus on children’s books from Norway, part of Zoe’s Read Around Europe – so we can look forward to more great country round-ups.

And today this wonderful post about last year’s New Horizons winner at the Bologna Book Fair, Do! by Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Shantaram Dhadpe, and Kusam Dhadpe, with Gita Wolf (Tara Books, 2010). What makes this post extra special is that Zoe and her children have created a beautiful pillowcase using Warli techniques using the video of Do! from Tara Books, included in the post. Watch, read and be inspired – yes, Do!

Authors for Japan, an on-line auction set up by author Keris Stainton to raise money for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal begins tomorrow and runs until Saturday. Many authors and book professionals have generously donated a range of lots, from signed books to choosing character names to manuscript critiques. For full details, including how to bid, click here.

Thank you, Keris, for your initiative in setting up the auction and for giving us an area of focus as we attempt to comprehend the scale of the disaster in Japan.

Congratulations to Sita Brahmachari, whose first book for young readers, has won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2011. Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne, who presented Sita with her award, described Artichoke Hearts as “a beautifully written book about family, friendship, grief and hope, which made me laugh and cry – sometimes at the same time”. Here’s a review from Wondrous Reads, and you can listen to Sita reading an extract here.

Last year I did a Poetry Friday post on an anthology of children’s poems that featured a book called Inner Chimes.   I excerpted a snippet of a poem I liked by British writer Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) and as a result became curious about her.  After reading her biography, I sought out her books.   Our local library did not have lot of her books available for loan.  Many are out-of-print and some, in fact,  were housed in the juvenile reference section which require special permission to view. One book, however, of her most famous hymn-poem “Morning Has Broken” was available in a picture book format illustrated by Tim Ladwig (Eerdmans, 1996)  I took it out and read it to my daughter, and then showed her a Youtube of Cat Stevens‘ famous rendition of the hymn.  It was a great way to enjoy the poem!    I was also able to take out Kaleidoscope (illustrated by Edward Ardizzone, Oxford University Pres, 1963.)  Kaleidoscope is a collection of short lyrical sketches about a young boy named Anthony and his childish but deeply poetic perceptions of the world.  In her Foreword, Farjeon explains how the character of Anthony was based on a poet acquaintance of hers who had grown up in the countryside.  As writers, they shared memories of their past childhood  — hers of a girl growing up in London and he as a boy in Somerset.   I was impressed by these prose sketches by Farjeon, seemingly lighthearted in tone, but profoundly perceptive at the same time.  She seemed to capture that essential childish awe and wonder that is of the nature of the poet, who perceives and then delights in words.   As old as the book is, it does not feel dated; the observations are not sentimental nor trite.  I enjoyed reading these sketches, mostly for myself although I did try reading a couple to my daughter.  If you can find Farjeon’s books in your library, I’d recommend seeking them out.  They are little treasures from the past, well worth savoring today.

This week’s Poetry Friday host is Laura at Writing the World for Kids.

Eva Ibbotson, renown British children’s author died recently.  A lengthy obituary was published in the Telegraph.  After reading it, I became curious about her books and sought them out at the library.  What a delightful discovery!  I got four of her chapter books: Journey to the River Sea (Macmillan, 2001,) The Beasts of Clawstone Castle (Macmillan, 2005,) Which Witch (Dutton, 1995) and Island of the Aunts (Dutton, 1999.)  As per my usual custom, I read the first paragraph of each book aloud to my daughter for her to decide which one we would pursue for our bedtime reading.  They all started off so brilliantly, it really was hard to choose but we settled on Which Witch which is, by the way, rather appropriate for Halloween today!  Here’s the opening: As soon as he was born, Mr. and Mrs. Canker knew their baby was not like other people’s children. Curious?!  Do get out the book and by reading it, commemorate the memory of this wonderful children’s author.

When I interviewed poet Debjani Chatterjee back in 2006, she told me all about her time as Poet-in-Residence at Sheffield Hospital. Out of that experience came a delightful book of poems called Animal Antics (Penine Press, 2000). The poems are mostly short, snappy and memorable. There are poems like “Dancing Ganapti”, “Vishnu’s Eagle” and “Mela Menagerie” which draw on Debjani’s Indian heritage; and there are others whose characters are recognizable in fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

We love the snake-shaped “Aching Bones” that begins:

“There’s nothing badder
than an adder
with aching bones.”

but for Poetry Friday at the PaperTigers Blog, how can I resist… yes, “Paper Tigers”. Here’s the first half:

The paper tigers are news deciders,
travelling hither,
travelling thither,
tyrants of the Tigris river.
Married to the tigeresses
owning trigger happy presses,
their hides are bound with
papyrii,
their brains embalmed with
stimuli.

Don’t you just love it? This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by A Wrung Sponge – head on over.

Zoe Toft of Playing by the book has two exciting initiatives happening on her blog that you may be interested in:

1. A Children’s Literature Tour of the UK – Part 1 and Part 2

A Children’s Literature Tour of the UK got it’s start when Zoe decided to compile a list of the various museums and centres for children’s literature around the world. “The part of the world I know best is the UK and then I got excited with the idea of a tour around the UK for lovers of children’s literature and illustration,” she says. “There’s quite an industry dedicated to literary tours but apart from one or two focusing on Harry Potter, I couldn’t find one dedicated to children’s books and so this post was born. Join me as we tour some of the best museums, centres, galleries and bookshops in the UK for children’s literature by clicking here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.”

“Here’s the google map to the European tour I’m currently working on and then I will eventually move on to a US tour and a rest of the world tour (will have to come up with a better name). Any suggestions (museums, galleries, bookshops, activity parks etc) would be most appreciated.”

2. Perfect Picture Books by Post

” This is all about sending and receiving wonderful, indeed brilliant children’s picture books.” says Zoe. ” It will be a way for you to spread the word about a picture book you are passionate about, and to discover another equally amazing book through a gift from someone else. Anyone can sign up (whether or not you have a blog, whether or not you have children) but when you sign up you’re agreeing to purchase and post a lovely picture book (something that in your mind is the ‘best of the best’) to your partner. You in return will receive a lovely gift of a book back.” Interested in signing up? Click here  for the details.

Several weeks ago Janet Evans, Literacy and Educational Consultant and Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool Hope University, visited the National Institute of Education in Singapore and gave a presentation entitled “Exploring Comics, Graphic Novels and Picture Books as Multimodal Texts with Particular Reference to Raymond Briggs and His Partnership with Controversy.”  Myra Garces-Bacsal of Gathering Books attended the lecture and emailed me soon after to say that she was so impressed with Janet’s presentation that she stayed up until 2am to blog about it!

Truth be told, I have little inkling about who Raymond Briggs was, but I love graphic novels and I adore picture books. I thought that it was another blogworthy post for Gathering Books. True enough, it was the highlight of my day.

Janet’s 60-minute talk this afternoon (and I really feel it was waayyyy too short, I could have spent an entire day just listening and talking to Janet who is a fantastic and animated speaker) – basically centered on the subtle differences between comics, graphic novels, picture books and illustrated books. She also discussed the themes in Briggs’ work as a graphic novelist and how comics and graphic novels can be effective conduits to philosophical discourses, existential issues, and profound ruminations about life, death, war, tragedy, you name it – his picture books have them.

Now I feel like a total lark not knowing about Raymond Briggs. His works are now considered classics, extremely rare (thus expensive), and yes, he has a cult following. When Briggs was just beginning (1970’s) to publish his works which may be seen as a cross between comic strip, picture books and graphic novels all rolled into one – this kind of writing was regarded with a raised eyebrow at the very least in British society. Raymond Briggs has been credited to be instrumental in elevating the profile of comics and graphic novels to an intellectual level. Janet claims that “there is now a burgeoning renaissance in their creation, production, and acceptance.”

Read Myra’s entire blog post here.

As mentioned in Corinne’s Calendar of Events for September, just started in England, and running until the end of November, is the eighth annual Children’s Book Show, which this year focuses on “Stories from Around the World.” As well as the exciting programme of presentations taking place in theatres around the country, this year schools have also had the opportunity to take up an offer of free workshops led by this fantastic line-up. Coming face to face with the creators of books is an inspiring way to encourage children both to read and to tap into their own creativity – and this year’s theme has the added bonus of broadening horizons and sharing in experiences from other cultures.

Oh, and there’s also a competition open to UK residents, closing date 30 November. And a little quiz of our own – who can spot which books are represented in this year’s Children’s Book Show banner – pictured above, but you might want to head over to the Show’s website for a better look…?

If you and your school have taken part in any of the activities on offer, we would love to hear from you…

Marjorie and I at PaperTigers write the Books at Bedtime posts and these posts usually are about books appropriate for reading to children at bed time.  However, I’m facing a bit of a dilemma having a 13 year old son and a 9 year old daughter.  I no longer read to my son at bed time; he reads for himself and lately, his focus has been on comics and graphic novels.  As a result, I’ve been getting hooked on graphic novels myself (although admittedly the fascination for this genre started for me when I was teen and had access to Japanese manga even though I couldn’t always read them very well) so I have decided to start reviewing graphic novels in future posts while still also doing the occasional Books at Bedtime post to cover those titles I read with my daughter.

However, as with many things in life, there are cross-overs and overlaps.  While perusing the graphic novel shelf at the library, my daughter found one for herself and brought it over to me.  The Boy, the Bear, The Baron, the Bard by Australian Gregory Rogers (Roaring Book Press, 2004) is a story set in Elizabethan England told entirely in images drawn by Rogers.   You would think a book like this wouldn’t be appropriate for bedtime reading, but quite the contrary!  My daughter, having perused the book, brought it to bed with her and asked if we could narrate the story together, playing the different parts of the characters depicted (which include, needless to say — the Bard Shakespeare, a baron, a bear and a boy.)  This was a totally appropriate way to read this book, considering that it featured the famous playwright himself and the world of theatre.  And we had fun, moreover, doing it!

Do you ever read graphic novels to your children at bedtime?  Tell me if you do; I’d love to hear of your experiences.  As children become more increasingly focused on the visual medium through the use of computers (we’re fast approaching the age of reading off our Kindles and Ipads to our children at night), reading graphic novels to our kids may well be the middle road of compromise!

What do these three books have in common? If you've been to a library in the UK in the past decade, you just might know. Kiddielit--rock on!

Professor Rab Houston is the author of Scotland: A Very Short Introduction, which publishes in the UK today. He is Professor of Modern History at St Andrews University, and his previous books include Autism in History: The Case of Hugh Blair of Borgue and Literacy in Early Modern Europe: Culture and Education 1500-1800. In the piece below, Rab looks at why Scottish devolution has worked.

A common but erroneous line in the English press is that Scottish devolution only works because London bankrolls it. The truth is that Scotland’s historic experience of diffused power and local administration has facilitated the functioning of modern devolved government.

Scotland and England have been in Union for three centuries. Joined less at the hip than by a fingertip, they have managed (with Wales and Northern Ireland) successfully to promote a British project in spite of a centuries-old legacy of distrust, double-dealing, broken promises, and betrayal. Since 1999 Scotland has readjusted in part to what it was before 1707: a completely independent state with distinctive experience of government, religion, law, education, social relationships, population mobility, and culture. The success of devolution comes not only in the restoration of a measure of independence, but also arises from the way Scotland was governed both before and after Union.

For the last millennium the genius of Scotland’s political development has been simple. It lay not in developing coercive state power, but in accommodating plural forms within a structure of government where the touch of the centre was usually light. Scotland was for centuries socially hierarchic and politically oligarchic, but it was also governmentally ‘heterarchic’, organizing itself into a functioning whole without recourse to the compulsive mechanisms that its English neighbour took for granted. There was an element of centralized political power focused on the authority of kingship, but the essence of Scotland’s historic government lay in devolving, directing and co-ordinating rather than controlling. Scottish kings secured a measure of harmony through a process of ethnic accommodation – admittedly not always easily realised - underpinned by core values. Loyalty to the monarchy and shared Christianity were the most important and enduring symbols of unity, with a later admixture of Britishness forging a distinctively Scottish ‘unionist nationalism’. The reservoir of symbols has changed over the centuries, but the sense of identity rooted in history has not.

Scotland contained within its small compass many productive tension between different regions and cultures, of which the Highland-Lowland divide is only the most obvious. Since the time of Cinaed mac Alpín in the ninth century the success of kings in Scotland lay in accommodating diversity of race, ethnicity, language, lifestyle and social organization. From the fourteenth century Stewart monarchs tried by education policies and other means to reconcile and assimilate the ‘wyld wikked hielandmen’ with Lowlanders, but they were always aware that part of their kingdom’s heritage lay with a distinctive Highland culture. During the eighteenth century another bridge was built as tartan became a symbol of what Scotland could contribute in men and materials to British imperialism. Highland identity became firmly associated with Scottish identity in the nineteenth century, encapsulated in the romantic image of the Scot-as-Highlander that was popularised by Queen Victoria.

The tensions were creative because rulers reached important accommodations with local and regional diversity, enshrined in substantial degrees of local government autonomy. The enduring power of the nobility is one example, but Scotland’s largely self-governing towns also exemplify the strength of devolved authority. Burghs were financially flexible, empowered to respond to changing needs by legislation enabling them to charge additional levies on, for example, the sale of beer. Acts hypothecated the taxation to specified ends: Greenock built its new harbour in the mid-18th century using beer money and Edinburgh, among other things, to build churches and to fund its University’s chair of law. Many towns too had corporate endowments and incomes, known as the ‘Common Good’, which they were legally obliged to use on collective necessities. Sometimes that just meant corporate junketing, but it also delivered a social dividend in the promotion of a wide spectrum of both private activities and public interests ranging from clubs and welfare projects to civic histories and buildings. The importance of family, community, and locality that this focus implied is preserved in gravestone inscriptions from across 18th- and 19th-century Scotland.

The essentially local core of political and social life is also clear in British lawmaking on Scotland. In the half century before it was subsumed in 1707, the Scottish Parliament produced two-thirds of all legislation in Britain, but three-quarters of the acts were ‘private’, affecting particular towns or districts. After 1707 Scotland’s representatives used their time on the same local issues and kept distinctively Scottish law and religion out of the British parliament. Only in the field of economic policy did post-1707 politicians continue legislative attempts to foster national growth: for example, protection and bounties for the linen industry from the 1740s.

Being local did not necessarily mean acting parochially. Sometimes regulation was not just acceptable, but necessary and Scots were more comfortable accepting interventionist social policies than were the laissez faire English. An important example was the regulation of rents that began with the Glasgow rent strikes of 1915 and ended with massive government investment in housing in the era of the Welfare State. Yet Scots were also prepared to resist the power-seeking impulses of the centre and to promote a strong ‘civil society’ or ‘voluntary sector’ of collective action in bodies as diverse as trades unions, churches, social or sporting clubs, and neighbourhoods. These associations were autonomous, overlapping and sometimes competing, but they relied for their strength on a shared acknowledgement of the legitimate claims of all members of society, individuals and groups alike, in an interconnected whole.

It is the appreciation of diversity and the strength of internal political devolution that explains the many good things about modern Scotland. As much as the fact that Scotland was once independent, the way it was governed in the past and the means its people used to create multiple lines of authority accounts for the success of modern devolution.

by Lisa Smith

We are all familiar with the US version of the Valentine’s Celebration – but how do other cultures celebrate the Holiday?

In the UK a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children.

In Wales many people celebrate St Dwynwen's Day on 25 January instead of, or as well as, St Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers.

In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name says, this day is more about remembering your friends than your loved ones.

In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Another proverb says "Valentin - prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — first saint of spring"), as in some places, Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.

To put a unique spin on Valentine’s Day try incorporating some of the other special traditions practiced by cultures around the world.

• Leave a present for your child on the doorstep from Jack Valentine.

• Spend time with your friends and encourage your children to do the same. Focus on fellowship more than the feelings of love.

• Plant flowers, trees or bushes in celebration of the coming of Spring.
  

Valentine’s Day can be a fun and memorable day for children, families, parents and singles alike if we look at the Holiday through a different pair of eyes.

Multicultural adoptions have become so prevalent that an entire genre has emerged, for kids and parents alike. “One of the most frequent requests we have,” says Nicole Harvey of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, “is by adoptive parents of Asian kids looking for ways to orient their children to their birth culture.” She likes especially the complex and popular Cooper’s Lesson by Sun Ying Shin.

On our own PaperTigers, the genre is explored in a review of Three Names of Me and an interview with Cynthia Kadohata, Newbery award winner and an adoptive parent herself. Franki at A Year of Reading, also an adoptive parent, reviews Caroline Marsden’s When Heaven Fell. Scroll down for her interview with Rose Kent, author of Kimchi and Calamari, additionally reviewed and interviewed at PaperTigers. Cynthia Letich Smith’s blog Cynsations has a great list of books on multicultural adoption.

You don’t have to be an adoptee or adoptive parent to appreciate these books, of course. As our world becomes smaller and families more diverse, we all need inspiration and information from this vital field of children’s literature.

I am VERY excited about today's release of KIMCHI and CALAMARI by Rose Kent. I read and reviewed it earlier when I had received an advanced copy. As a member of the adoption community AND as a fan of great children's books, I can't say enough about this book.

I interviewed Rose to celebrate the publication of this book!

Franki: What inspired you to write Kimchi and Calamari?

Rose: My inspiration came wrapped in a diaper and drinking a bottle of soymilk, all the way from South Korea.

I'm referring to Connor, my third child, who we nicknamed Buddha Baba because of his plump cheeks and glowing smile. Adopting Connor was a true joy and believe me that's how I felt. But I also realized early on that it also involved a primal loss for him. I remember holding him in my arms and worrying about how he would cope later, especially during puberty, a natural time for such reflection. I knew I couldn't spare him from some hurt, but I wanted him to know that I "got it"- that who he was as a person didn't begin the moment he arrived in America.

So while Joseph's story is all his own, KIMCHI & CALAMARI came from a place where I wanted to connect with kids reflecting on their identities. And it isn't just adopted kids needing this knowledge; all kids do. I love that old proverb that says children need to know their roots to develop their wings. Nobody cruises through middle school without some struggle to figure out who they are and where they fit in.

Franki: What do you hope readers come away with?

Rose: Above all else, I hope they enjoy a juicy page-turner that makes them laugh and think a bit. We authors love giving readers a bit of a roller coaster. And I would like kids to relate to Joseph, since he has both unique and every kid qualities.

I try not to preach in KIMCHI & CALAMARI - we writers at best are storytellers. Yet I do feel that kids today are pulled in different directions. Because he's adopted, Joseph calls himself an "ethnic sandwich." Other kids feel "sandwiched" by interests, expectations, friend groups, perhaps divorce, different ethnicities, the list goes on. No matter what the pulls, I think kids need to understand that who they are, in all its varying pieces is okay. They are okay.

Franki: What kind of response are you getting from the adoption community?

Rose: It's been wonderful. Adoption Family Magazine was kind enough to review KIMCHI & CALAMARI this month, and Multicultural Review will be covering it soon too. And I've been able to speak to families at a number of adoption conferences and meetings. The feedback that most pleases me is when adopted kids tell me they related to Joseph -- that he felt real to them. And several adoption cultural camps will be using the book for discussion this summer, and that makes me happy too.

Franki: I love how realistic it is. I love how the birthmother search does not stop other things from happening in his life. How did you decide to have it work that way?

Rose: Well I know that nothing in families occurs in a vacuum. I'm the mom of four children and stepmom of two children, ranging from 20-years-old down to eight. The same day that one of my older children was experiencing her first boyfriend break up, another was whooping it up over his All Star team win. Meanwhile, dinner was burning and someone else was yelling because he there was no soap in the shower.

Life is one big mishmash of joys-struggles-and absurdities all packed in twenty-hour hours at a time, so I couldn't make Joseph's search for his birth parent be the only happening in his middle school life.

I did, though, try to show respect for the significance of such a search and what it meant to Joseph.

Franki: I believe that books are a great way for kids to make sense of the world. Are there books that did this for your children as they were growing up?

Rose: Yes, Franki, many. My older kids still recall many touching books we read together, such as A WRINKLE IN TIME, MRS. FRISBY & THE RATS OF NYMPH, SKELLIG and REDWALL. As a teacher I bet you'll agree that special characters stay with you forever. We hear the term character development a lot in education these days, and I really feel kids learn a lot of the right stuff, if you will, from fiction -- when characters step up, in spite of struggle and do the right thing.

This is really topical because my family recently experienced a death of a close friend. This was my younger children's first close encounter with death, and we'd just finished reading EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS by Deborah Wiles together. My daughter Theresa echoed back words Comfort Snowberger had spoken to comfort herself and her cousin Peach after the deaths of Great-great Aunt Florentine and Great Uncle Edesto. The story gave Theresa strength to deal with her grief.

Franki: Your characters are immediately likable and you were able to portray the feelings of all family members and friends realistically when it came to the birthmother search. Was this autobiographical or based on other things?

Rose: Thanks, Franki. Well I don't turn my friends and family into characters. They wouldn't like it and I don't think it would ring true. I do, though, try to tap into feelings that are real and relatable, and of course as an adoptive mom that's what I did in KIMCHI & CALAMARI. I've had many talks with people touched by adoption, including adoptees, birth mothers and adoptive parents, and those feelings fed into Joseph's search for his birthmother. I wanted to show that in this search, Joseph was not only looking for his birthmother, but also himself.

Franki: The school project was an interesting one. The whole issue started with that assignment. What made you choose that as the main catalyst for the problem?

Rose: I'm a great believer in the value of thoughtful school assignments. I remember a teacher-friend assigning an essay to her students at the start of the new year explaining the origins of the student's name. I loved that idea. Not only do these assignments involve writing, but they get kids talking to their parents, beyond the logistical chatter we all experience at home.

Of course the ancestry essay represented a sticky point for Joseph who was adopted, but in the end, writing it helped him make realizations about himself.

Franki: How did your children respond to KIMCHI & CALAMARI?

Rose: My kids would be first to tell you they deserve mucho credit for Joseph's voice, and they are right. I often read sections of KIMCHI & CALAMARI to them, and they'd give me feedback on not only the plot, but also if the voice worked. And you know how kids are; they don't mince words. If Joseph didn't sound fourteen and boyish, they'd shout out "Uggh!" or "That's goofy, Mom!"

Now that the book is coming out, they are very excited. It's also been a nice way for my adopted children to continue conversations about their origins.

But as with many mothers who have jobs and other responsibilities, Mom the Author is quickly forgotten when Mom the Cook or Mom the Chauffer is needed!

Franki: Are you working on any new books?

Rose: I'm finishing up a novel about a girl who moves to upstate NY from Texas with her mom and deaf brother to open an ice cream shop. (This is a tasty story to research. :)) And my other work-in- progress is a baseball story, in tribute to the men in my life and their maniac obsession with this game--I live with a Yankee fan, a Mets fan, and a member of Red Sox nation. Now there's true diversity.

(For another great interview with Rose Kent, visit Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog.)