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The UK’s 2015 Little Rebels Award shortlist has been announced – and it’s an exciting, diverse selection of eight books, featuring both new and well-established book creators.

From the press release by the … Continue reading ... →

Let me say straight out that I don’t like monkeys. But I set my personal primate feelings aside to look at app Hat Monkey (2014), trusting in both creator Chris Haughton and developer Fox & Sheep — whose Nighty Night I liked a lot — to provide an enjoyable experience. Happily, the breakdancing, “meep-meep!”-ing Monkey soon won me over.

The app opens with Monkey dancing to surf jazz music, then offers a simple menu (scene selection, language options, a link to info about Haughton’s books, and a link to download more Fox & Sheep apps). From there the app begins a prompt-and-activity structure (“Monkey is coming! Can you open the door?”) that continues throughout the app as Monkey makes himself at home.

“Monkey is hiding. Can you find him?”

The illustrations feature stylized shapes and a limited palette of hot pinks, purples, and oranges in high contrast with Monkey’s royal blue.

What could easily be familiar Pat the Bunny territory instead takes a meta, super-modern direction. After the prompt “Can you send Monkey a text?” choose one of four emoji to send to Monkey — who’s busy reading Haughton’s picture book A Bit Lost, by the way — and watch his cute and funny responses.

  

Preschool- and early-primary-perfect humor — including a more-endearing-than-gross fart joke — is communicated through all the app’s elements: the deadpan text; the illustrations; the animations, especially in the movements of Monkey’s huge, expressive eyes; and sound effects. Read a making-of blog post by Haughton here.

Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (requires iOS 7.0 or later); $0.99. Recommended for preschool and early primary users.

The post Hat Monkey app review appeared first on The Horn Book.

The other night, Martha Parravano and I attended an “Ink and Drink” at Candlewick Press for visiting author Chris Haughton. Boston was a stopover for Haughton, an Irishman who lives in London, on his way to Mississippi to accept the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award for Shh! We Have a Plan, which received a starred review in the November/December 2014 Horn Book Magazine. His other books include Little Owl Lost and Oh No, George! and he developed a snazzy-looking app called Hat Monkey.

Haughton started as a graphic designer, then got hooked in to People Tree, a fair trade organization specializing in fashion/textiles and gifties. He talked about his time in Nepal, including co-founding a free-trade carpet and knitwear organization called Node that works with an adult education and support center to train and employ women, many of whom are domestic violence survivors or otherwise victims of oppression. This little guy — a George hand puppet (from Oh No, George!) — is one of the projects.

Just when you thought he couldn’t get any more big-hearted, he also created the artwork for a hospital children’s ward. And he read Shh! We Have a Plan aloud to us. And all with an Irish accent. The evening was lots of fun. Thanks for hosting, Candlewick!

The post Shh! We have an author event! appeared first on The Horn Book.

One of the thrills of being part of the children’s literature community is reading a book and then reaching out to the author and/or illustrator and actually entering into dialogue and quite often friendship with them. Even well known busy … Continue reading →

Today is a special day indeed. On February 14th 2015, Jump into a Book is happy to announce that we will be a co-host for International Book Giving Day. As we get closer to the event I’ll fill in the details but for now there is even bigger news to share !!!

“Chris Haughton designs the official poster for International Book Giving Day 2015.”

The International Book Giving Day team is delighted to announce that Chris Haughton is the illustrator behind 2015’s official poster.

Chris Haughton is an award winning Children’s Picture Book illustrator/author from Ireland. His books are amazing !!!

Now in it’s 4th year International Book Giving Day continues to grow from strength to strength. Turning the commercialization of Valentine’s Day on its head, people across the globe are encouraged to spread the love of reading by getting books into the hands of as many children as possible on 14th February.

To encourage even more people to give books to children in 2015, Chris Haughton has designed this year’s poster in his unique and vibrant style. Libraries, schools & bookshops are encouraged to download, print and display the poster to celebrate the love of reading & encourage others to give books to children on International Book Giving Day, 14th February.

Chris Haughton has been an illustrator for over 12 years. His first children’s book, A Bit Lost, has been translated into 19 languages and has won 9 awards in 7 countries. This was followed by Oh No, George! in 2012, winner of the Junior Magazine Picturebook of the year award. His latest picture book SHH! We Have A Plan (March 2014) won the AOI award for children’s books for 2014.

“I am absolutely delighted that Chris Haughton has designed this year’s poster. His unique, eye-catching style will help spread the word to encourage many more people to give books on 14th February 2015.” Emma Perry, IBGD.

Successes from 2014

2014 saw participants from across the globe donate books to many, many children. Reports flooded in from Fiji, Singapore, America, Nigeria, Canada, France, Australia, India, Czech Republic and plenty more! Books were left in hospitals, schools, trains, parks, playgrounds, free libraries were even set up especially for the day. Scholastic gifted new books to all the children at the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital, Publishing House Host (Czech Republic) provided books for children at a traveller’s centre.

2014 attracted plenty of media attention including a feature article in The Guardian UK, and a letter of support from Australia’s Children’s Laureate Jackie French published across the media. Twitter was abuzz with #giveabook highlighting tales of generosity as the love of books was shared. Visitors to the official website was double those seen in 2013 as International Book Giving Day continues to capture imaginations.

2015 is set to be even bigger.

International Book Giving Day

International Book Giving Day is a 100% volunteer initiative aimed at increasing children’s access to, and enthusiasm for, books.

Many children in developing countries do not own books.
In the United States, two-thirds of children living in poverty do not own books.
International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to give a book to a child on February 14th.

We invite individuals to …

1) gift a book to a friend or family member,
2) leave a book in a waiting room for children to read
3) donate a gently used book to a local library, hospital or shelter or to an organisation that distributes used books to children in need internationally.

In addition, we encourage people to support the work of nonprofit organisations (i.e. charities) that work year round to give books to children.

For further information please contact Emma Perry at [email protected]
Website | www.bookgivingday.com
Twitter | @bookgivingday
Facebook/BookGivingDay

The post A Special Reveal !!! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

I know it’s not long till Christmas, but I’ve already got my eyes on one of the first really great days in 2015: International Book Giving Day.

Now in its fourth year 4th year International Book Giving Day continues to grow from strength to strength. Turning the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day on its head, people across the globe are encouraged to spread the love of reading by getting books into the hands of as many children as possible on 14th February ie International Book Giving Day. To encourage even more people to give books to children in 2015, the IBGD team is delighted to announce that award winning illustrator Chris Haughton has designed 2015’s poster in his unique and vibrant style.

To celebrate 2015’s International Book Giving Day, I’m hosting a worldwide bookswap which I’d love you to join in with.

#GiveABook, #SwapABook is all about sharing, sending and receiving wonderful, indeed brilliant children’s books. It will be a way for you to spread the word about a children’s book you are passionate about, and to discover another equally amazing book through a gift from someone else.

Here’s how it will work:

You’ll sign up and I will pair you with one other children’s book lover. You will send each other a book that you think is the best of the best. You’ll read your new book, fall in love with it and (hopefully) set off on a new adventure with its beautiful writing and/or its gorgeous illustrations spinning away in your head.

Anyone can sign up (whether or not you have a blog, whether or not you have children) but when you sign up what you’re agreeing to is purchasing and posting a lovely book to your partner. You in return will receive a lovely gift of a book back.

What do you mean by a children’s book?
I mean any book marketed for kids and young people. When you sign up, you can state your preference for approximate target age: 0-7, 8-13, 14+. The book you choose to send and the one you receive may be fiction, poetry, non-fiction, wordless, a graphic novel – really any sort of printed book as long as it is (a) something really special and (b) aimed at kids or young people.

Does the book I send have to be brand new?
No, it can be second hand / pre owned but remember you’re sending something as a gift so please only send something you would be happy to receive as a present. Vintage books would be welcome in the swap as long as their condition is good.

How much should I spend on the book?
This swap isn’t about the money. It’s hard to put a guideline on how much you might spend on the book, but I’ll be spending about the same amount I would on a special book for a friend – it won’t be a fortune, but nor will I try to buy the cheapest book possible.

Photo: Post Box

Will I have to send my book internationally?
No, if you prefer to send your book within your own country I will endeavour to match you up with someone else who lives in the same country as you do. However, I would encourage international swaps as I think this will be the best way to discover books, authors and illustrators which are completely new to you. Also, if you buy the book online you can sometimes send the book for free overseas (for example via The Book Depository). Although I hope most swaps will be international, I cannot know who will sign up for this swap and therefore I cannot guarantee you will be given an international swap partner.

Does the book I send have to be written in English?
No, but… When participants sign up for the swap I will ask about language preferences and match people accordingly. If you send a book in a language other than English it might be nice to include a rough translation or a summary. You could of course send a wordless picture book I cannot guarantee that you will be able to receive a book in a language other than English – this will depend on who signs up for the swap.

Photo: donandcarol

How do I sign up for the swap?
Either fill in this form:

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Or you can send me an email: zoe (dot) toft (at) kuvik (dot) net with the subject line “2015 Book Swap”.

The email must contain the following information:

Please do not include any details of your children. Please be assured I will keep your personal details only for the purposes of this swap, and once it is completed, all personal information will be destroyed.

Whilst you’re welcome to leave comments and questions on this post, if you want to sign up for the swap you must either use this form (which is easier for me) or email me the details I’ve requested. Simply leaving a comment on this post will not count as signing up for the swap.

Do I need to include anything else when I send my book?
No. However, as you will be receiving a book from the person to whom you are sending your book it might be a nice idea to include a card or short note to introduce yourself and perhaps say something about why you chose the book you did. If you are sending the book via an online bookshop (and therefore cannot include a card) please consider sending a postcard separately.

What dates do I need to keep in mind?
You can sign up for the book swap any time between now and February 1st 2015. Your book should be posted to your swap partner by February 7th 2015 at the latest. These dates have been chosen so that books will start arriving around the time of International Book Giving Day.

When will I find out who my swap partner is?
I will start pairing up people from January 1st 2015. Once the New Year has rung in, I will email you with your swap partner’s details as soon as I have great match for you (in terms of book type, language and posting preferences). This may mean that you will hear early in January, or it may mean that you don’t hear until February 2nd (if I’m having difficulties matching your language and posting preferences).

What if I receive a book I already own?
Sorry, but I cannot guarantee you will receive a book as part of this swap which is a book you do not already own. I do suggest that whatever book you choose to send, don’t choose the current best seller – if you were to do so this would increases the chance that your recipient may already own the book.

Photo: CarbonNYC

Why are you looking so stern at this point?
This swap is based on good will and trust. It’s really important that if you sign up for this swap, you honour your commitment to it. If your partner does not receive a book, even though they will have sent one to you, I will be sad, your swap partner will be sad, and you ought to feel sad. Because I will keep a master list of swap partners it will be very easy to find out who has not sent a parcel. I will contact you if such circumstances arise.

What if the parcel I send gets lost and never arrives?
I encourage you to get proof of posting when you post your book. I don’t know how it works in other countries, but in the UK if you have proof of postage you can claim back the cost of your lost parcel (up to a certain amount, an amount that would definitely cover the cost of most children’s books). Another possibility is to insure your parcel when you post it, but this will probably incur extra costs.

Is there anything I can do to help with the swap?
Please spread the word of the swap – via your blog, twitter, facebook, or email groups you’re involved in – any which way suits you. If you blog, please consider adding this button to your blog:

To get the button you can right-click on it above and save it, or copy the HTML code below:


<a href="http://www.playingbythebook.net/international-book-giving-day-2015-and-an-international-kidsya-bookswap"><img src="http://www.playingbythebook.net/wp-content/uploads//minilogo.png" /></a>

What’s the #GiveABook bit about?
International Book Giving Day takes place on 14th February each year with the aim of getting books into the hands of as many children as possible. If you take part in the bookswap I would strongly encourage you to also do something to get a book into the hands of a child or young person.

International Book Giving Day is a 100% volunteer initiative aimed at increasing children’s access to and enthusiasm for books.

International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to give a book to a child on February 14th. We invite individuals to

1) gift a book to a friend or family member;

2) leave a book in a waiting room for children to read;

3) donate a gently used book to a local library, hospital or shelter or to an organization that distributes used books to children in need internationally.

In addition, we encourage people to support the work of nonprofit organizations (i.e. charities) that work year round to give books to children, such as Room to Read (international), Books for Africa (international), Book Aid International (international), The Book Bus (international), First Book (U.S.), Reading is Fundamental (U.S.), Reach Out and Read (U.S.), Pratham Books (India), Indigenous Literacy Foundation (Australia), The Footpath Library (Australia), Nal’ibali (South Africa) and Duffy Books in Homes (New Zealand). I maintain a list of over 150 international reading/literacy charities which you can also use to find an organisation to support.

I am hoping my book swap will help spread the word about this great initiative – so if you sign up for the book swap please either also find a way to take part or International Book Giving Day, or at the very least, please do something to spread the word about the day.

If you have any more questions, or need further clarification, please ask away in the comments – if you have a question, others may well have the same thought and so using the comments section will help us all.

I’d like to thank Ana Silva who in previous years has run the Holiday Swap for book bloggers. She gave me some really helpful advice about setting up a book swap a couple of years ago and I remain indebted to her.

by Chris Haughton Candlewick  2014 Four black-ops solders take on an impossible night mission with little hope of success. Just kidding! In the depths of a purple-blue night four night stalkers our out with their nets in hopes of coming across something to catch. Actually only three of the stalkers have nets, the smallest seems to be tagging along. When they come across a bird the Little One

Thanks to the very generous folk at Walker Books I got to do something which makes me very happy earlier this week – read aloud lots of fabulous picture books with friends and their kids, and then give the books away, all part of a Picture Book Picnic…

The day started early, baking “Walker Bear” Gingerbread biscuits…

With the first of our “emergency supplies” ready for scoffing, we got to to the main business of the day – reading together!

We started with The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems, humorous take on why it’s so nice to be polite.

Full of chocolate chip cookies (we used this recipe) and cold milk I then read How to Get a Job by me The Boss, actually by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Sue Heap. After a long conversation about what everyone wanted to be when they grew up, I interviewed the kids for the post of Explorer. All the kids sailed through their interviews (Do you like being outdoors? Yes! Are you afraid of snakes? No! Do you like climbing trees? Yes!) and so we got down the map of our local area and off we set on our bikes to have an adventure.

We set up our first camp by a sunny stream, perfect for a reading of Arthur’s Dream Boat by Polly Dunbar.

After the story we made paper boats and floated them off down the river.

Then we climbed up a hill to one of my favourite climbing trees, and in we all clambered to read Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia.

Anna Hibiscus’ Song is an exuberant, joyous book about what makes people happy – just perfect for me on a day doing what makes me happy!

Anna Hibiscus (yes, the very same character as in the fabulous early chapter books also by

There was no question in my mind which video to begin with today.  I cannot help but think that meeting Quentin Blake must be akin to meeting Roald Dahl.  The man is a living legend and this video is a true treasure.  Would that every illustrator were half so thorough when discussing the preservation, creation, and process that goes into their art.  A very big thank you to Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels for the link.

Mind you, Quentin had some stiff competition for the top video of the day.  He only narrowly beat out this Reading Rainbow remix.

I’ve been trying to identify all the books in the video but it is incredibly tough.  I can account for Carl Hiaasen’s Flush, Christopher Paul Curtis’s Elijah of Buxton, and what appears to be a Civil Rights book that I can never quite catch the title of.  Other spotted books are welcome.  Mention them!  And thanks to mom for the link.  Probably the only time you’ll ever see the New Orleans Bounce on this blog, I’d wager.

Benefit books come out occasionally but rarely do they incorporate Broadway stars.  Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is benefiting breast cancer research.  You’ve got big name vocalists singing songs from big name composers with a book illustrated by big name artists (for the most part).  Here’s the roster:

” . . . the project’s book component also features a distinctive cover illustration by fabled cartoonist/playwright Jules Feiffer, along with a foreword written by stage and screen legend Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton. Among the award-winning illustrators lending their talents are Selina Alko, Lynne Avril, Paulette Bogan, Beowulf Boritt, Lauren Castillo, R. Gregory Christie, Seymour Chwast, Jane Dyer, Richard Egielski, Daniel Glucksman, Julia Gran, Ying-Hwa Hu, Genevieve LeRoy-Walton, Betsy Lewin, Anna Louizos, Victor Mays, Emily Arnold McCully, Wendell Minor, Barry Moser, Jon J Muth, Sean Qualls, Peter H. Reynolds, Marc Simont, Javaka Steptoe, Melissa Sweet, Cornelius Van Wright, Neil Waldman, Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, Tony Walton, Gary Zamchick, and Paul O. Zelinsky.”

I had no idea Jules Feiffer was a fable.  And here I was convinced he was a real person.  In any case, impressive list of names!  A couple I don’t know but most I do. And here, on a related note, is a glimpse at one of the songs.

Thanks to Rich Michelson for the info.

Speaking of Julie Andrews, I’m sure you’ve all seen Stephen Colbert’s interview with her in conjunction with his own picture book release of

Reading level: Ages 2-5

Add this book to your collection: Oh No, George!

Video courtesy of CandlewickPress: “George is a dog with all the best intentions. And his owner, Harry, has all the best hopes that George will be a well-behaved dog when he leaves him alone for the day. But when George spies a delicious cake sitting on the kitchen table, his resolve starts to waver. You see, George loves cake. . . . Uh-oh. What to do now? It’s so hard to be a good dog when there are cats to chase and flowers to dig up! What ever will Harry say when he gets back? Chris Haughton’s fetchingly funny story and vibrant, retro illustrations are sure to lure dog lovers of all ages – and anyone who has ever met a temptation too good to resist.

Bold, hilarious artwork captures the innocent charm of affable George, a dog who is trying to be good – with disastrous results.”

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

You could win this...

Now, wouldn’t this lovely print featuring the lovable George from Chris Haugton‘s latest book brighten up your life?

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of this print, simply leave a comment here on this post!

That’s it! Just leave a friendly comment…. good luck!

At the start of this month I published a list 50+ brilliant picture books with contributions from several illustrators I’m fortunate to have “met” (at least online). The list was intended to be an source of ideas and inspiration.

One interesting aspect for me of that list was how many of the books chosen were published 30, 40 or even 50 years ago. This observation made me want to look for the best picture books of recent years – to find some inspiration amongst the newest, brightest picture books available.

To help me in this quest I turned to this year’s winners of the Booktrust New Best Illustrators Award. These illustrators “represent the best rising talent in the field of illustration today, [they] demonstrate remarkable creative flair, artistic skill and boundless imagination in their work“, so who better to ask for some suggestions as to the best, fresh picture books?

So now, as the month draws to a close I offer you another springboard into a selection of amazing picture books. I hope the list will whet your appetite, stoke your imagination and make you hungry to visit the library. Here’s what our award winning illustrators chose and why they chose it…

Kevin Waldron

I love the invention of Serge Bloch. Well delivered message.