Nosy Crow's Blog, page 197

A Roald Dahl Funny Prize hat-trick!

If you’re a fan of funny books, then Nosy Crow is the place to be. Today the shortlist for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize was announced, and we are thrilled to say that there are THREE Nosy Crow titles across the two categories – a quarter of the total number of shortlisted books!

In the category of the funniest book for children aged six and under, both Weasels by Elys Dolan and Troll Swap by Leigh Hodgkinson are shortlisted.

Leigh says:

Of course, I am being not remotely original or interesting by saying how much of a Dahl fan i have always been (I even wrote my degree thesis on him)… but it is true. I can’t remember exactly when I stumbled across his words which were magically glued to Quentin Blake’s spiky illustrations… but all I know is that my world was never quite the same again. So to be nominated for this award is a very special thing indeed. For me, it is a validation that a jaunty angled story which makes you grin can also have something more meaningful lurking underneath if you look past the giggles.

Elys says:

I’m extremely excited and also quite relieved that people find Weasels funny and not completely insane! Or maybe they think it’s both…

And in the category of the funniest book for children aged seven to fourteen, The Grunts all at Sea, written by Philip Ardagh and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, has been recognised.

Philip says:

As anyone with a degree in engineering will know, there are few things in life more exciting than cheese, but one such thing is being shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize for a second time.

The first time, back in 2009 when talk was cheap, I – along with my splendid illustrator Jim Paillot – went on to win the prize so never dreamed of reaching the shortlist again (my standards having dropped so dreadfully since then), which only goes to show what SUPERB judges they have this year, guided by the unsteady hand of Michael Rosen.

If, however, my book The Grunts all at Sea, lavishly illustrated by the truly remarkable (but little known) Axel Scheffler fails to win the 2013 prize, ignore the previous praise and be aware that the judges are a bunch of numbskulls who wouldn’t recognise a good book if it sat on their lap and said, “Call me Gerald!” *

(*They won’t be reading this blog, will they?)

I’m having great fun writing The Grunts – I finished book three this very week – and, from the occasional guffaw coming from my cellar, Axel seems to enjoy illustrating them, so it’s a delight to know that children and prize judges alike are enjoying them too.

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize takes children’s funny books seriously, and that’s certainly something to celebrate AND smile about.

Now, if I start shampooing my beard now, it should be dry in time for the award ceremony in December.

Axel? Axel! Have you seen my heated rollers…?

The three shortlisted titles are equally brilliant – three unique authorial voices and three fantastically distinctive illustrative styles – and all, needless to say, very, VERY funny. Funny books are particularly great for reluctant readers, and for reading together. But they’re also good for reading outside, under the bedcovers, in the dark, on top of a hill, in the bath or while sat on someone’s shoulders. ANYWHERE, in fact. So if you’re looking for something to make you (or perhaps someone young who you know) laugh, see what fits.

Here’s a look inside Weasels:



Buy the book online.

Here’s a look inside Troll Swap:



Buy the book online.

And here’s the first chapter of The Grunts all at Sea:



Buy the book online.

You can read more about the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the full shortlists on the Booktrust website, here. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in December – good luck Leigh, Elys, Philip and Axel!

A Nosy Crow mug could be yours!

Would you like to win one of our BEAUTIFUL Nosy Crow mugs? Well, today’s your lucky day!

We’re giving away a select number of the highly coveted mugs to new subscribers of our Books Newsletter.

And you can win in one of two ways: either by subscribing to our newsletter and leaving a comment underneath this post (with the name you’ve subscribed under), or by subscribing and re-tweeting this message.

By signing up to our newsletter, you’ll be the first to hear about all of our new and upcoming titles, will have access to exclusive competitions and interviews with our authors and illustrators, and can find out about upcoming events and everything we’ve been up to.

You can subscribe to our newsletter here – we won’t pass on your details to anyone else or write to you with anything other than news from Nosy Crow. And to enter this competition, you must have a UK postal address.

We’ll notify the winners by the end of this week – good luck!

Come to our November reading group!

We’re making plans for our next Nosy Crow Guardian reading group, and we’d like you to take part! After the success of our last event on illustrated fiction, we’ll be discussing another collection of titles – and this month, we’re talking about picture books. The three books under the spotlight will be I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers, and our very own Weasels by Elys Dolan.

The event will take place here in the Crow’s Nest (10a Lant Street) on Thursday, November 14 at 6.30pm, but if you can’t join us in person, we’d love it if you took part online – we’ll be partnering with The Guardian once again, and you’ll be able to join in with the discussion online at a page of their website and on Twitter with the #NCGKids hashtag.

If you would like to come, send me an email (tom@nosycrow.com) – we’ll post some questions for discussion closer to the date. We hope you can join us!

Axel Scheffler brings The Grunts to life

If you’re in need of some inspiration on a very grey Monday morning, here’s something that ought to do the trick: Axel Scheffler drawing The Grunts, the stars of the hilarious series written by Philip Ardagh.

If you’re new to The Grunts, here’s chapter one of the hilarious first book in the series, The Grunts in Trouble:



Order the book online.

And here’s the first chapter for The Grunts all at Sea, the EQUALLY brilliant second voume:



Order the book online.

And as it’s a PARTICULARLY grey Monday morning, here’s something else that’s also quite exciting: a very first look at the cover for the third book in the series, The Grunts in a Jam, out next year (click to enlarge):

Oh dear. I wonder what sort of trouble they’ve found themselves in this time.

Don’t forget there’s also a FREE iOS game app for the series, available for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch – The Grunts: Beard of Bees. Build the biggest beard of buzzing bees as you can before your time runs out, but be careful – birds and butterflies will make your bees fly away! You can find it here on the App Store.

And if you’d like to stay up-to-date with all our book news, you can sign up to our monthly books newsletter here, and we’ll write to you about all of our upcoming titles, along with interviews with our authors and illustrators, information on upcoming events, and exclusive competitions and giveaways.

Dyslexia Awareness Week - a guest post by Sally Poyton

Today’s guest post is by Sally Poyton, a writer and blogger, on the subject of Dyslexia Awareness Week and making reading more accessible.

This week is Dyslexia Awareness Week, and there are great things going on all around the country to celebrate dyslexia and raise awareness and bust any derogatory dyslexia myths. Last year I did a great many posts to contribute in my small way but this year a house move, deadlines and life in general has thwarted my plans. However, attending the Oxford Children’s Book Group’s ‘Ways into Reading’ conference at the weekend has inspired me to write about my access into reading, and if you grew up in the 80’s you may well get nostalgic…

I was listening to a talk by Tom and Caro Fickling about their comic The Phoenix, and how comics and the much more in vogue graphic novels are gateways to reading for many children and adults alike. This talk got some clogs churning in my head and dislodged a long forgotten memory. The Story Teller Magazines of my child hood.

As a child reading was excruciating, I loved the stories but the reading was so difficult and the stigma of not being able to read made me so ashamed that most accesses into reading were barred. I did however subscribe to the Storyteller magazine. The Story Magazine was a periodical that had short stories and serialised novels which were all beautifully illustrated and was delivered to the door, BUT what made accessible was the TAPE.

Yes, a tape, and for those of you too young to know what a tape is; it was kind of an MP3 file, before CDs. Here’s a picture…

So I would look through the books again and again, and listen to them being read on the tape recorder. The Storyteller Magazines also came with files to safely store your magazines, and carry-case storage for the tapes. It was this great combo that had me entranced by Gobblino, Wizard of Oz, and the Nightingale. The Storyteller Magazines were an un-barred access into reading that I could access with independence, and they made the desire to decrypt the code of words and learn to read even stronger.

Recalling this and listening to the talk about The Phoenix got me wishing that there were something like this now for challenged readers, a magazine with a talking component. Surly with all the new technology this could be possible?

Well, Tracey Corderoy, the lovely author of many picture books and starter novels, talked about a feature that appears in her picture books published by Nosy Crow. Inside the covers of her books like Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam there is a scan-able barcode which you can use with a smart phone or tablet, this will then take you directly (at no cost) to Nosy Crow’s website and will then read you the text (it’s sound only, no visuals) for the book, helpfully ‘pinging’ when it’s time to turn the page! This enables the child to listen to story and follow the text.

Another access to reading utilising new technology is Me Books, a company which sells books apps where the books are read, or it is possible to record your own reading of the book. This in turn can help children to access reading, as they can listen and follow the words with out the stress of de-coding it themselves.

These are all great advances and open up more accesses to reading, but still I think if we could get a Storyteller type magazine for the 21st century, aimed for the older challenged reader, this would be a great access into reading.

Thank you, Sally! You can find out more about our Stories Aloud platform, bundling free digital audio readings with our print picture books, here, and take a look inside Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam below.

Help Nosy Crow become an App Developer of the Year

Yesterday we were thrilled to learn that Nosy Crow has been shortlisted for iLounge.com’s App Developer of the Year Award! The award is decided by members of the public – anyone can cast a vote for their favourite developer, and we’d be incredibly grateful for your support.

We’re up against some pretty impressive competition – the full list of twelve shortlisted developers includes companies like Amazon, Disney, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo – and so we’d really value your vote.

If you’d be willing to show your support for Nosy Crow, you can vote here (it only takes a few moments).

The results will be announced in November, and if we’re lucky enough to be named a winner, you can bet that we’ll find a way to celebrate and thank everyone who’s supported us!

If you need reminding of our 2013 app output, here’s the trailer for our ground-breaking Little Red Riding Hood app:

Find it on the App Store.

And here’s a short trailer for our most recent app, Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm

Find it on the App Store.

If you’d like to stay up to date with our app news, you can sign up to our Apps Announcement Mailing List here.

Thank you!

The Nosy Crow Guardian Reading Group verdict on illustrated fiction

Yesterday evening we hosted our fifth Reading Group event, which this time shone the spotlight on illustrated fiction. For the first time we discussed a group of books rather than a single one, and the titles in question were a fantastic trio of illustrated fun: Claude on the Slopes by Alex T. Smith, Dixie O’Day by Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy, and our very own Hubble Bubble: The Glorious Granny Bake-Off by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger.

Normally at this point in a post-Reading Group autopsy we’d warn that spoilers lie ahead, but in the case of these books that doesn’t feel particularly relevant (on which more shortly), so please proceed whether you’ve read them or not!

Once again we split into two groups, and loathe as I was to turn the evening into a competition, in which one book would “win” (this wasn’t the evening’s other premier literary event, after all…), the first question my group discussed was which book was our favourite. I’m pleased to report that each of the three books was picked by someone: some people felt that Dixie O’Day had the strongest “story”, some felt that Claude was the funniest, and some that Hubble Bubble the most suitable or accessible for children.

This last point lead into an interesting discussion – which remained a context for a lot of the rest of the evening – about exactly who these books are “for”.

A number of us felt that although we found Claude particularly funny, we were unsure how much of this humour would translate for young children (particularly the humour in the text – the illustrations we thought were universally funny and charming). Those who thought that the book had an “adultness” identified a sort of arch knowingness in the voice of the text which felt sophisticated and also, in the references to Tea Services and Foot Spas – very English (or – to some – Middle Class). However, one person reported that their six-year-old had read all three books on their own and declared Claude their favourite “because it was the best one”. And several people in both groups thought that Claude was no lesser a book for children, but had “extra” levels of enjoyment for parents – like a good Pixar film (or Simpsons episode) which has something for everyone.

Although several of us thought that Hubble Bubble was “for” slightly older readers than Claude or Dixie O’Day (it certainly has the most text), it was also the book that many of us thought was the most child-friendly: the humour is perhaps the most accessible and visibly written “for” children rather than adults. Some of us noted that it was perhaps the least “gender-neutral” and was skewed toward girl readers, which is perhaps an inevitable outcome, as its two protagonists are female (whereas Claude and Dixie O’Day are, of course, both canine characters).

The packaging for Dixie O’Day – like Claude it is a hardback, and also jacketed – made it feel like quite an “adult” book for some of us: it has a beautiful, vintage style in its illustrations and lettering, and some of the introductory material feels quite grown-up. One person in my group, a primary school teacher, thought that this was the book that she would be able to give to her year-2 class most happily, on the basis that the language was most appropriate and the story easiest to follow – and someone else noted that the story was particularly strong, saying that “Shirley Hughes experience as a storyteller reveals itself – it’s effortless, the way it flows”.

We all felt that all three books would be particularly good for reluctant readers, and for children who are starting to read independently – the illustrations make them not-too intimidating, and the short chapters make them easily digestible and satisfying to get through (with our resident primary school teacher noting that this was particularly important – children want to feel proud of how much they have read). Hubble Bubble was picked out in particular in this regard, and several of us liked that it was split into three stories. Some of us also thought the format of all three books would work well for reading aloud – with one chapter a night for bedtime reading.

Several of us recognised that “story” was not as important in all three books. Some people felt that Claude was “humour-led” rather than “narrative-led” (and, as a consequence, that Claude and Sir Bobblysock were more stand-out as characters than Dixie O’Day and Percy) and enjoyed this aspect – the idiosyncratic use of language and strings of jokes – and it was also pointed out that in some ways, this narrative approach mimics the way children tell stories.

We discussed the fact that there are varying degrees of distance between author and illustrator in all three books – in one case, Claude, they are the same person; in another, Dixie O’Day, they are a mother-daughter team; and in the third book, Hubble Bubble, they are a conventional author-illustrator team working separately. Some of us thought that producing both the text and illustrations meant that Alex T Smith had a freedom to create a second, quite separate, set of jokes and story in the illustrations to the text, where as in Hubble Bubble and Dixie O’Day the illustrations were more straightforward representations of what’s being described. Several people pointed out that this meant Claude wouldn’t “work” as well without the illustrations, whereas Hubble Bubble in particular could stand up on its own as a text.

I think there was still a fairly unanimous sense, though, that the words and pictures did work well together in all three titles: a point we kept returning to was that all three books were beautifully produced and lovely objects to look at and hold. The three art styles feel quite distinctively retro (and one person observed that the use of colour harked back to printing processes from the last century) but not necessarily dated: this sort of heavily illustrated fiction seems to be having something of a “moment”.

And in fact we enjoyed the format of the evening – and discussing books for younger readers – so much that we’ve decided to do something similar next month. We’ll be discussing a trio of full colour picture books next time: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers, and Weasels by Elys Dolan. The group will meet here at the Crow’s Nest on Thursday November 14 at 6.30pm – if you’d like to attend, send me an email at tom@nosycrow.com.

If you joined in, we hope you enjoyed this month’s titles, and we can’t wait to see you next month!

Neil Gaiman: 'No such thing as a bad book for children'

Last night, Coraline author Neil Gaiman delivered the second annual Reading Agency lecture in London, and he used the opportunity to issue a passionate plea against library closures, to speak about the importance of child literacy, and to advocate a wider range of reading material for children.

Here’s some of what Gaiman said about libraries:

“We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future.”

And here he is on literacy rates:

“Literacy is more important than ever it was, in this world of text and email, a world of written information. We need to read and write, we need global citizens who can read comfortably, comprehend what they are reading, understand nuance, and make themselves understood.”

And finally, here he is on letting children read what they want:

“I don’t think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. Every now and again it becomes fashionable among some adults to point at a subset of children’s books, a genre, perhaps, or an author, and to declare them bad books, books that children should be stopped from reading. I’ve seen it happen over and over; Enid Blyton was declared a bad author, so was RL Stine, so were dozens of others. Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy. It’s tosh. It’s snobbery and it’s foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different.”

We’ve written many time about the importance of libraries and literacy (and how the two are connected), and have also re-posted, with permission, Caitlin Moran’s brilliant column on the subject (this morning on Twitter, commenting on Gaiman’s speech, she wrote that, “The continuing library closures are just appalling. When people say “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” – libraries ARE the bootstraps”).

And there’s little to be said on the subject that Gaiman did not cover in his brilliant, ferociously articulate speech – you can read an edited version on The Guardian’s website here. To live in a civilised society in which libraries are closing, rather than opening, is simply impossible to comprehend (so thank goodness for events like the opening of Birmingham’s new Central Library).

Neil’s latest children’s book, the very funny Fortunately, The Milk, is available to buy here (and will doubtless also be available from your local library).

Design Day Out: Judith Kerr

A few weeks ago, on a wet, grey Sunday afternoon, Zoe and I attended a retrospective talk from Judith Kerr. Held as part of the Highgate and Hampstead Literary Festival, it was to commemorate the publication of Creatures: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Judith Kerr.

I grew up adoring The Tiger Who came to Tea and the Mog books, so though it outwardly appeared work-related, it was the child in me whose appetite needed sating.

We walked into an already captivated room, headed up by Judith Kerr and Julia Eccleshare. The talk started, naturally, with her childhood and the fascinating experiences she had growing up as a German refugee in both France and England during World War II. Though turbulent, she described it all as an “adventure”. This period of her life later became the basis of her (partly-autobiographical) novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.

As Kerr continued, we heard about her time at Art College, working at the BBC, and her family life. Like many women at the time, she stayed at home to raise her children. It was then that early versions of ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ were being told to her young children. Her husband would often work late, or away, which she found, at times, could be lonely, and she would imagine what would happen if an unexpected visitor were to call. . .

Kerr told many stories to her children, but the one about the tiger proved the most popular request from her daughter. The enthusiasm for this tale, plus further encouragement from her husband (also a writer) became the starting point for an incredible career in children’s books.

Both Zoe and I found Judith Kerr to be incredibly modest, positive and entertaining. Her ability to observe and record the everyday, with a touch of artistic license, was very inspiring and relatable. It was particularly pleasing to find out Mog was in fact the family cat, although as the series spanned many years, he had a few replacements.

The talk was rounded off with a preview of Kerr’s new work, and a Q and A session. At which point, a concerned young fan was keen to check whether Kerr was “still upset about Pink Rabbit?”

36 hours at the Frankfurt Book Fair

Our rights team are still hard at work selling to foreign publishers at the Nosy Crow stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair, but my flying visit has come to an end and I’m back in the Crow’s Nest – tired, happy, and starting to feel the after-effects of a whirlwind trip and only a few hours sleep.

I went to Frankfurt on the invitation of the Fair itself, who’d asked me to speak at two events: a Q&A discussion on the Publishing Perspectives stage, and a three-hour panel session alongside Francesca Dow, of Penguin, and Jonas Schenk, of Oetinger, as part of the Frankfurt Academy Programme, entitled ‘Children’s and YA Book Market: From Idea to Product World’.

Both events saw some spirited and lively discussion on the merits and risks associated with making apps, the future of digital publishing, and how we can best create really engaging reading experiences for children, on screen and in print. Unfortunately I didn’t really have the wherewithal to arrange for anyone to take pictures, but here’s a write-up of the Publishing Perspectives discussion, for the Book Fair blog. And here’s a photo I did take, during the Q&A with Jamie Byng, CEO of Canongate, on the Publishing Perspectives stage:

Thankfully, in between these events I also had the opportunity to see some of the rest of the (ENORMOUS) fair, spend some time at the eye-catching Nosy Crow stand, speak to some of our great foreign publishing partners, and meet some interesting new people doing exciting things in digital innovation.

The fantastic Beltz & Gelberg stand in Hall 3, featuring a familiar-looking family…

The Nosy Crow rights team, hard at work meeting foreign publishers.

The Grunts series author Philip Ardagh with Kate at the Nosy Crow stand.

And the trip ended on a high note – as I was leaving, we learnt that Nosy Crow has been shortlisted for two FutureBook Innovation Awards! Rounds: Parker Penguin and Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm are both shortlisted in the Best Children’s Digital Book category – the winner will be announced at the FutureBook Conference next month.

Here’s the trailer for Rounds: Parker Penguin:



Find it on the App Store.

And here’s a short trailer for Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm:



Find it on the App Store.

This was my first time at Frankfurt, and even though my experience involved a LOT less work than that of the rest of our team, it was still great to get a flavour of the fair – I can’t wait to go back next year!