Nosy Crow's Blog, page 152

Shirley Hughes wins Booktrust's inaugural lifetime achievement award

On Tuesday morning, I was very privileged to be at Booktrust’s Lifetime Achievement Award at The Orangery in Holland Park when the award was given to Shirley Hughes.

Michael Morpurgo, president of Book Trust, presented the award.

This is what he said:

“How do you assess the life’s work of such an iconic writer-illustrator as Shirley Hughes? Do you simply add up the millions of books sold? Do you add up the hundreds of titles published? Do you add up all the years she has been working? Do you tot up the long and distinguished list of awards and prizes? Do you simply make a list of those dozens of titles already considered classics of children’s literature: Alfie Gets in First. Alfie’s Feet. Dogger. Lucy and Tom’s Christmas. Helpers. Up and Up. Is it all a question of numbers and lists? I think not – though they are not entirely unimportant.

Or is it a question then of a critical assessment – glowing by any standards – of her work over the decades. Amongst her fellow writers and illustrators, her work is universally respected, admired and adored. As is she. Ah – maybe we are getting there now; closer to the heart of the matter. Is it her wisdom, her talent, or her hats we cherish most? Actually, all three. A moment ago I used the word ‘adored’, and then the word ‘cherish’. I used both with care, for the work of Shirley Hughes is truly beloved; nationally, internationally, universally. When you go into schools anywhere, into classrooms, into school and town libraries – which I have done often – go into bookshops, and look around, as you do if you are a writer, for copies of your own books, what do you find? Shirley Hughes books everywhere! Flocks of them! Herds of them! Swarms of them! Visit a friend’s house for supper, and once you’re settling nicely and sipping your wine, they say, “Do you know what little Lucy would really like, Michael, she would love for you to go upstairs and read to her. Would you mind very much? So sorry to impose, but she’s very insistent. She’s a great fan.” So up you go, weary maybe, but flattered all the same. “This is my favourite story”, says little Lucy, in her pink spotted pyjamas, waving a book at you. “Dogger. It’s my favourite.” It’s outrageous.

Her books are everywhere, on every child’s bookshelf in the land. And sometimes they even take them off the bookshelves: they read them, again and again, loving them more each time. And do you know why? Because they’re really good, and their mothers and fathers loved them when they were little, and still do. And do you know why? We read them aloud and love the familiarity. Every page sings, in perfect harmony, words and pictures wonderfully, perfectly crafted and interwoven. And why do they and we love and adore these books across the generations? Because they are about us, about how childhood can be, about children’s lives then and now. It is family and home that children love best, and no story-maker has ever told or drawn stories of home and family better, more tenderly, more tellingly.

But Shirley Hughes is not content with being the most beloved bedtime storyteller in the country, with filling up children’s bookshelves and library bookshelves, to the exclusion of some other authors I could mention. Oh no! In her 80s, if you please, she decides she’s going to be a novelist, and what’s worse, she’s a fine novelist, too.

That great novelist, perhaps the finest children’s writer of us all, Philip Pullman, has called Shirley Hughes ‘a national treasure’. Well he’s right, she is too, and I can tell you why. Read a Shirley Hughes book, lose yourself in the warmth of the story, in the detail of the pictures, and she becomes one of the family, of thousands – of millions – of families. She and her books are indeed treasured, are much beloved in so many homes in the land, mine too. And I love her hats too!

So it could not be more appropriate that Booktrust’s very first lifetime achievement award has gone to Shirley Hughes. And as President of Booktrust, I’m thrilled and honoured to be here to celebrate her, and her books and her life, and to thank her on behalf of all those millions of children, including little Lucy, to whom she has brought such a love of stories and pictures. This lady has changed lives, made readers of so many, and so made the world a better place for us all.

And that is surely the greatest lifetime achievement of all. Thank you Shirley, from all of us, and little Lucy, and me.”

Congratulations from Nosy Crow too.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Axel Scheffler's Flip Flap Safari has won the UKLA Digital Book Award!

We are absolutely THRILLED that our app Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Safari is the winner of the inaugural UKLA Digital Book Award!

The award, in partnership with Book Trust, and sponsored by The Open University, is the only national Digital Book Award judged by teachers – and we’re so pleased and proud that Flip Flap Safari has been recognised.

In their commendation for the app, the UKLA wrote that Flip Flap Safari is “beautifully produced and appealing and can easily be incorporated into guided reading sessions. Children have great fun creating their own animals and playing guessing games and the ‘read to me’ feature is a useful tool enabling all children to enjoy the book. Teacher judges appreciated the rich vocabulary and thought the poetry examples inspired further poetry activities in class.”

Dr Natalia Kucirkova, Chair of the Digital Book Award, said: “There are many apps for this age group which either replicate non-digital activities or provide an add-on experience. The choice of Flip Flap Safari as the winner shows that teachers appreciate when digital books can integrate and complement current best practice.”

Book Trust, Chief Executive, Diana Gerald said: “It’s time to start looking at apps and digital reading materials with the same critical eye that we use to appraise children’s reading books. We’re still looking at how best this can be done, but getting teachers-the experts on the ground-to assess these apps after using them with children in a classroom, has to be a really good starting point. Congratulations to Axel Scheffler, Flip Flap Safari is a worthy and engaging winner.”

The follow-up to the hugely popular Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm, the app features wonderful animal artwork from Axel Scheffler, along with brilliant rhyming poems, original music, sound effects and read-along audio. Using a fantastically intuitive, user-friendly interface, you can swipe any part of the screen to create 121 different combinations of animal halves, rhymes and silly, hybrid animal names – all read aloud and set to safari music.

If you’re new to the app, here’s a quick look at Flip Flap Safari:

You can read more about the award here. Many thanks to the UKLA for this incredible honour, and congratulations, Axel!

Refuge for Books

Today’s guest blog post is by author Lucy Beresford, on the newly-launched Refuge for Books initiative.

I don’t need to tell you how special books are for kids. They’re portals to another world, full of fun and adventure and learning. I can remember the joy of being read to as a child, or being invited to read aloud. And I still get a buzz, reading to a child.

Sadly, some women and their children are denied these simple pleasures. This is because there are women in the UK today fleeing abusive marriages, leaving with their kids often in the middle of the night, in desperation, sometimes just in the clothes they stand up in.

Books might simply be too awkward to carry in haste. And so once they arrive at a shelter run by Refuge, the domestic violence charity, such women often lack the means to distract their kids, or enjoy the comfort of reading to them.

This is where you come in. Last year I set up The Kindness Club, to prompt random acts of kindness in the UK. Under this umbrella, I’ve now set up a Refuge for Books, to create a library for a Refuge shelter in London.

I’m asking anyone who loves books to send me one. Readers, publishers, authors, please send me a new or good-as-new copy to my Refuge for Books:

PO Box 72287, London SW1P 9LA (please don’t send them to Refuge direct – they don’t have the space).

Send your copy to me, with love, and I will make sure it becomes part of the library. Your kindness is much appreciated – by me, but also by the unknown women and kids currently craving something to read.

Where I Work: David Solomons

View from my desk: grandma and small son not included

This is the latest instalment in an occasional series of blogposts, in which some of our authors and illustrators share their favourite working spots. Today, David Solomons, author of My Brother is a Superhero, takes us inside his room with a view…

The secret to writing a novel is a room with a view. No, wait, the secret is a room without a view. Green hills or a brick wall? It’s a cliché, the toiling writer at his desk, head bent over the latest chapter, only raising it in order to take in and – deep contented sigh – be replenished by the prospect of rolling hills through the cottage window. On the other side of the razor-wire fence, some writers consider any kind of distraction fatal to their process. Of course they appreciate the distant wooded hillside and the clouds scudding across the ridgeway. They just don’t want to see any of that stuff while they’re in their writing bubble.

While I understand where they’re coming from, I’ve always yearned for a view. And now, after many years of lusting after clean-lined studio spaces in design magazines, I finally have my own Style section-ready writing room. Well, almost my own. There’s an old Jewish joke about Mrs Plotnikoff’s fabulous diamond ring. It comes with a curse. And what’s the curse? Mr Plotnikoff, of course. You see, I share this splendid garden room with my wife, who is not only another novelist but, quite inconsiderately, a better one than I am. Though she can’t spell for toffee.

Married friends and acquaintances wonder (loudly and often) how we can work together in such close proximity. It’s true that the worst noise in the universe is the sound of one spouse typing, but the shocking truth is that we enjoy working together.

As well as pursuing separate paths as novelists, we also write screenplays as a team. Chairs are drawn up side-by-side and we spend the day in a state of low-level irritation, bickering over the intention of a scene, disagreeing over every line of dialogue. Fun! Actually, it is fun. And we always end the day still talking to each other. Occasionally we wonder about altering our writing set-up, but then something like this happens: this month my wife’s fourth novel, The Song Collector, and my first for children, My Brother is a Superhero, came out on the same day. It must be the view.

Thank you, David! My Brother is a Superhero is out now – you can take a look inside the book below, and order it online here.

Previously in the series: Helen Peters, Caryl Hart, Elys Dolan, G. R. Gemin, Olivia Tuffin, Benji Davies, Simon Puttock, Steven Lenton, Paula Harrison, Leigh Hodgkinson, Tracey Corderoy

Come and work for Nosy Crow - we're hiring a Sales and Publicity Assistant

Nosy Crow is looking for a new member of our small, dynamic and highly successful team. Our new, rapidly growing sales, marketing and publicity department needs a Sales and Publicity Assistant whose key function will be to assist the Head of Sales and Marketing, the Head of Publicity and the Sales Executive with the following:

Sales:

Order processing/invoicing

Maintaining Nielsen title editor



Creating/maintaining AIs



Devising look and copy for monthly customer e-newsletter



Providing support for UK/Ireland and Export Agents



Maintaining a master presentation/grid for sales/marketing



Producing specific powerpoint presentations



Attending key customer meetings and taking minutes



In-house design of simple sales flyers

Publicity:

Booking travel and accommodation and arrange tech for events and festivals

Creating Powerpoint presentations for author events



Managing press clippings



Sending publicity material to festivals, librarians, press etc



Creating publicity slides for sales presentations



Assisting Head of Publicity as and when required, including prize nominations and attending author events on an ad hoc basis

We would like you already to have had some experience in a publishing marketing environment – preferably in a children’s department – although this is not essential. A basic knowledge of design would also be preferable in order to produce simple flyers and powerpoint presentations.

This is a key job in a fast moving young company which enjoys and is successful at what it does. You’ll need to be flexible, determined, and good at getting on with a tightly knit team and its external customers. You’ll report to the Head of Sales and Marketing.

Applications (stating salary expectation) to Catherine Stokes (catherine@nosycrow.com) by Monday 20th July.

It's July publication day!

It’s our July publication day – and WHAT a collection of new Nosy Crow books there have in shops today. Between some truly brilliant debut fiction, some fantastic picture books, and some innovative board books, we’ve got everything covered. Here’s what’s new this month!

We’re publishing two new board books in the wonderful Slide and Seek series by Jo Lodge. These brilliantly bonkers board books combine toddler-friendly slider mechanisms with Jo’s wonderful bold art. With a novelty you just can’t stop playing with, and a cast of crazy animals in the unlikeliest of places, these will go down a storm with parents and children alike. The next two books in the series are There’s a cow in my car! and There’s a toucan on my telephone!

Buy the book online.

Buy the book online.

It’s publication day for the board book edition of Dinosaur Rescue, written and illustrated by Penny Dale. Featuring a riotously rhythmic text and vibrant illustrations, this fantastic board book addition to the hugely successful series is packed with adventure and a rabble of roaring, rescuing dinosaurs! Here’s a look inside:



Buy the book online.

Owl Wants to Share at Moonlight School, the second brilliant Moonlight School picture book by Simon Puttock and Ali Pye, is out today – a funny, charming story about sharing that will help bring everyone together.

At Miss Moon’s magical school for all the small creatures of the night, Bat, Cat, Owl and Mouse are asked to draw their favourite night-time thing. But, oh dear, there aren’t enough crayons! Owl wants to share, but how will he convince the others? Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online.

We’re ENORMOUSLY excited to be publishing Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Cat Burglar – the highly-anticipated new picture book from Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton, creators of everyone’s favourite robber dogs, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam.

In this second adventure for Shifty and Sam, the reformed robber dogs have embarked upon a radical career change, and are now running a charming cafe. Life’s as sweet as a sugared doughnut until their new, seemingly cute-as-a-cupcake employee turns out to be infamous cat burglar Kitty-le-Claw. Shifty and Sam are caught in a sticky situation when they find themselves in the frame for Kitty’s raid on a bank vault. Have the cake-loving canines bitten off more than they can chew…?

Here’s the trailer for The Cat Burglar:

And here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online.

It’s publication day for The Shark in the Pool, the second brilliant book in the Wigglesbottom Primary series – perfectly pitched school stories hilariously, told by Pamela Butchart and beautifully illustrated by Becka Moor.

ANYTHING can happen at Wigglesbottom Primary and it ALWAYS does. Is there a shark in the swimming pool? YES! Can a play parachute make Danny Jenkins invisible? YES! Is that a dinosaur buried in the playground? YES! So what are Class 2R going to do about it all? Have a lot of fun! Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online.

And in a new-book-day-double for Pamela Butchart, it’s ALSO publication day for Petunia Perry and the Curse of the Ugly Pigeon, written by Pamela and illustrated by Gemma Correll – a hilarious novel for 9+ about how to fit in when you don’t want to conform.

Petunia Perry has decided to write her memoirs. She wants the world to know what it’s like to start secondary school with a best friend who stages one-person flash mobs in the canteen, a mother who over-shares at parents’ evenings and an unwelcome suitor who draws pictures of her as a unicorn. But it’s when she decides to start a band with a spoon-player and a lead-singer who’s a cat that things take a turn for the truly crazy… Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online.

And finally, we are EXTRAORDINARY happy that My Brother is a Superhero, the hilarious debut by David Solomons, is out today. This is an absolutely amazing book: those of you follow this blog will have seen us talking about it ever since we won it at auction last year, and we are immensely proud of it.

Luke is a comic-mad eleven-year-old who shares a treehouse with his geeky older brother, Zach. Luke’s only mistake is to need a wee right at the wrong moment. While he’s gone, an alien gives his undeserving, never-read-a-comic-in-his-life brother superpowers, then tells him to save the universe. Luke is massively annoyed about this, but when Zach is kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Luke and his friends only have five days to find him and save the world…

Super-exciting, laugh-out-loud funny, and with enough heart to fill an entire galaxy, this is perfect for fans of Frank Cottrell Boyce. David Solomons is a meteoric new voice in children’s fiction.

Here’s a class of 10 year olds from Netley Primary School in London giving their verdict on the book:

And here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online.

And that’s not all – the My Brother is a Superhero app is also out today! You can find out more about this brilliant free game app here, and watch a short preview of the app below:

Congratulations to all of today’s authors and illustrators!

Get the free My Brother is a Superhero game app now!

My Brother is a Superhero is published today – the hilarious debut novel for 9-12 year olds by David Solomons.

And to celebrate the book’s launch, we’ve made a fantastic free game app – you can find the My Brother is a Superhero app on the App Store now!

It’s an incredibly addictive arcade-style asteroids game: the aim of the game is to prevent incoming asteroids from reaching the earth with the help of different superpower icons – and the longer you last, the higher your score!

There are three types of superpowers: red icons break up asteroids, purple icons repel them, and green icons explode and destroy everything inside the blast radius.

With a deceptively simple gameplay mechanism that will keep you entertained for HOURS, a fantastic retro, graphic design, and amazing original music and sound effects, the app is out-of-this-world fun.

Here’s a quick preview of the app:

The app is completely free to download and play – and we’d love to hear what you make of it! Tweet to @NosyCrowApps and tell us your high score with the #starlad hashtag.

If you do download the app, we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider leaving a review and rating on the App Store – it makes an enormous difference.

You can find My Brother is a Superhero on the App Store here.

And if that piques your interest, you can take a look inside the brilliant book below! Here are the first two chapters:



Buy the book online.

Enjoy My Brother is a Superhero!

My Brother is a Superhero - what's it about?

Tomorrow we’re publishing My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons – a fantastic, funny, warm-hearted novel for 9-12 year olds, and one of the most exciting debuts (I think so, anyway) of the year.

But what better way to describe the book than by having our Target Reader explain it?

We gave proof copies of the book to a class of 10 year olds at Netley Primary School in London, and they’ve been filming their responses to it (we’ve posted a couple here and here) – and the results have been BRILLIANT.

Today’s video features on of our readers explaining the plot – so beware of spoilers!

You can read the opening of the book for yourself below – and you can find it in shops from tomorrow!



Buy the book online.

We’d love to see your own reactions to My Brother is a Superhero – so if you buy the book and read it with a child, there’ll be prizes for anyone who sends us their videos. If you have a video that you’d like to share, send an email to tom at nosycrow dot com or tweet to @NosyCrowBooks.

The next Nosy Crow Masterclasses are almost sold out

In case you missed the news, last week we announced the return of our two Nosy Crow Masterclass events, How to Write Children’s Fiction and How to Write Picture Books – intensive, all-day writing masterclasses, with sessions from authors, editors, agents, staff at Nosy Crow, and more.

Each event will include practical suggestions, advice on every aspect of writing, as well as guidance about what comes after – finding an agent, understanding a contract, and international selling. As part of each masterclass, there’ll also be one-on-one manuscript critiques for every attendee (for anyone who has sent along writing samples in advance).

Our two picture book masterclass dates have now sold out – but if you’re interested in attending our masterclass on writing children’s fiction, there are still a few places left, so book now!

The How to Write Children’s Fiction masterclass is taking place on Saturday, October 10, here at the Crow’s Nest – 10a Lant Street, London, SE1 1QR. Ticket price includes tea and coffee breaks throughout the day, lunch, and a glass of wine (and cake!) at the end of the day – and our Early Bird ticket rate is available for just a few days more! You can book your place on the masterclass with the form below, or at this page.

We’ll be announcing our first speakers for the day very shortly – we hope to see you there!

Come to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group - we're reading Flora and Ulysses (again)

Would you like to come to the next Nosy Crow Reading Group?

In July we’ll be attempting for the second time (after a cancelled reading group in November…) to meet and discuss the Newbery Medal-winning Flora and Ulysses, written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K. G. Campbell, which Kirkus described as “original, touching and oh-so-funny”.

We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, July 22 at 6.30pm, here at the Nosy Crow offices – 10a Lant Street, London, SE1 1QR – for a discussion of the book (along with wine and crisps). If you’d like to come along, just register for a place with the form below, or at this page.

You can order the book online from Waterstones here – and watch a trailer for the book at the top of this post.

If you can’t make it here, we’d love for you to join in online, either on Twitter with the #NCGKids hashtag, or in the comments section of our blog for the evening.

We’ll post some discussion points for the book a little closer to the date – we hope you can join us!