Where do they get their ideas from?

Did you know that the wizard from Oz was based on capitalist giant John D. Rockefeller? Or that The Gremlins was originally a short story by Roald Dahl to explain mechanical problems experienced by RAF fighter planes? How did the real Christopher Robin feel about his depiction in his father's Winnie the Pooh stories?

Find out more in this article published in The Atlantic on the sometimes surprising inspiration for several much loved children's books. Read and enjoy here!

Review: The Spirit of the Titanic by Nicola Pierce

As we approach the one hundred year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, it is appropriate to mark the event by a reading of Nicola Pierce's debut novel The Spirit of the Titanic. The sinking of the RMS Titanic on the 15th of April 1912 claimed the lives of 1,517 people and remains one of the worst maritime disasters in history. Pierce's book centres on the experience of a fifteen year old boy - Samuel - whose fate is inextricably linked to that of the ill-fated steamship.

Samuel Joseph Scott was an early casualty of the Titanic, having perished in a fatal accident in the Harland & Wolff shipyard while the liner was being built. His death is the first to be linked to the Titanic, though seven others would die in work related accidents in the course of its construction. For Nicola Pierce however, Sam's story does not end in a Belfast shipyard. Two years after his death his ghost will accompany the passengers and crew of the Titanic on her maiden voyage. 

Happy Birthday Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll
(1832-1898)

Happy 180th Birthday to Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll was an writer, mathematician and Anglican clergyman. A prolific author, Carroll is best known for his work for children, including  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky." Lewis Carroll excelled in the genre of literary nonsense and to honour the date of his birth I invite you to read again and enjoy the wonderful Jabberwocky. A quiet read is fun to appreciate the plethora of neologisms. But for full effect the Jabberwock DEMANDS to be read aloud. And reader, beware - you must tread carefully and remember to always shun the frumious Bandersnatch!

Harry Potter Grows Up

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe stars in the film adaptation of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. Radcliffe plays the role of Arthur Kipps, a lawyer who encounters the terrifying haunting of a small English town by a vengeful spectre. Radcliffe talks here about his experience in his first adult role for film. Interestingly, he is not the only member of the Potter cast to star in the film as Aberforth Dumbledore (Ciarán Hinds) also makes an appearance.

NEWS FLASH!: Arthur Quinn takes over Dublin

Alan Early,
author of Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent

Dublin City Libraries and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature launched the reading initiative Children Save Dublin on the 17th of January.  Children Save Dublin is to be the city's first ever citywide reading project and parallels the adult Dublin: One City, One Book project. Children around Dublin will be encouraged to read and enjoy the same book over the months of January, February and March 2012. The book in question is Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent by first time novelist Alan Early (see review in this post). Early's book is the perfect choice for this award in that the main action takes place on the streets of Dublin and around key monuments such as the O'Connell Street Spire. A full report of the initiative is available here. In the meantime, enjoy the book trailers below.

Quentin Blake pays tribute to the late Ronald Searle

In an article published recently by The Guardian newspaper, illustrator Quentin Blake pays tribute to his artistic hero Ronald Searle, who died on the 30 December 2011, aged 91. Searle was a satirical cartoonist and artist who is probably best known for his St. Trinian's School and Molesworth illustrations. Referring to Searle as a "graphic hero", Blake describes him as a " he is a striking representative of a great British tradition, of something we do well, and where he stands with his own heroes, George Cruikshank and Thomas Rowlandson. Read the full article here.

Laureates in Conversation: Julia Donaldson meets Siobhán Parkinson

Siobhán Parkinson,
Irish Children's Literature Laureate

Julia Donaldson,
UK Children's Literature Laureate

The Royal Irish Academy in Dublin was the venue yesterday for a meeting between Irish and UK Children's Literature Laureates, Siobhán Parkinson and Julia Donaldson. Siobhán Parkinson has written numerous award-winning novels for children, young people and adults, which have been published in over twenty languages.  Julia Donaldson has written numerous books of children's fiction, picture books, plays, songs and educational books.  She is probably best known for The Gruffalo, a runaway success which sold over 10m copies and has been developed into plays on both the West End and Broadway. The following post summarises* their thoughts on the roles of the laureate, current initiatives they are spearheading, and the future of children's literature.

Interview with Illustrator AnnMarie McCarthy

Illustrator AnnMarie McCarthy is a native of Limerick, Ireland. Her first book was Fungie, on which Ré Ó Laighléis collaborated. AnnMarie and Ré further collaborated on Fungie & Mara, which was published in February 2011. A new edition of Fungie, with accompanying DVD was published in August 2011. 

Potter Puppet Pals

A bit of fun for Harry Potter fans....

Potter Puppet Pals present The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Book Trailers

The book trailer is a recently developed marketing ploy geared to sell the printed word to an audience who have become increasingly enamoured with film and interactive digital media. While many book lovers are horrified at the notion of video being used to advertise books, the reality is that less people are reading, more people are watching. Hence the book trailer. But can moving images effectively sell printed books? And how can you create a trailer for a film that doesn't exist?

Review: Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent by Alan Early

Arthur Quinn is forced to leave Kerry for Dublin when his father gets a job on the new Metro project. The engineers' underground digging seems to be disturbing a threat that the Vikings have hidden deep below the streets of Dublin and Arthur is having some fairly weird dreams. Will Arthur and his friends, Ash and Will, be able to triumph over the World Serpent or will Ragnorok destroy the world as we know it?

Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent is the first of a trilogy to be published by Mercier Press. This is a story about Vikings and yet, Arthur Quinn is definitely a product of modern Ireland. Characters live in houses with flats screen TVs and rely on mobile phones and Facebook as a means of communication. For me, it is this skillful weaving of Norse myth with everyday Irish life that makes it such an enjoyable read and makes for the original and highly memorable battle scenes at the climax.

Roald Dahl Stamps

Fans of children's author Roald Dahl can enjoy their favourite characters and stories in the form of postage stamps! The Royal Mail has released a set of stamps celebrating the author's work and featuring the original illustrations by Quentin Blake. A spokesman at for the Royal Mail has announced that the Dahl stamps will be followed by a set of Dickens stamps later this year, no doubt to mark the bicentenary of his birth.

Get 'em Reading (through any means possible?)

McDonald’s have recently announced a decision to give away 9 million children’s books by author Michael Morpungo as part of a Happy Meal campaign.  Aiming to capitalise on the popularity of Steven Spielberg’s recent blockbuster adaptation of Morpungo’s War House, McDonald’s have scheduled the book giveaway to coincide with the film’s cinema release this week. A huge TV and broadsheet campaign will accompany the giveaway, helping to spread the word.

Review: Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

The byline from the author website says it all: "A tale of trying to solve a problem by throwing things at it." Floyd's kite is stuck up a tree. In an effort to dislodge it, he throws a series of increasingly unlikely objects (a lighthouse, an orangutan, a house) into the tree after it. Like the old woman who swallow a fly, this delightful tale quickly moves from the quotidian to the ridiculous.

Stylistically, Floyd is a barely drawn boy. A stick figure with dots for eyes, Floyd is less a character than an idea, a chain of thought that follows through to a wonderfully illogical conclusion. The scribbled handwritten font allows the reader to appreciate Floyd's increasing frustration and mental bewilderment.

Review: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

The bear's hat is gone and he wants it back. In the course of his search he encounters several animals whom he questions in turn but neither the tortoise, the fox, the mole, the rabbit, or the deer seem able to help. All seems lost. Then bear remembers that he HAS seen his hat. The surprising climax to this tale is both shocking and thrilling in its "no holds barred" denouement. It is fair to say that Klassen is exploring bold and uncharted territory here.

I Want My Hat Back is Jon Klassen's debut as both illustrator and storyteller. It has deservedly been included in the New York Times' Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year (2011) and continues to receive critical claim from all circles. Klassen has  been involved in numerous other projects including work as animator for the stop-motion animated film of Neil Gaiman's Coraline and illustrator for Cat's Night Out, which won him the 2010 Governor General's Literary Award for illustration.

Children's Art Installation

Before and After

In December, artist Yayoi Kusama invited children into the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art for a unique installation. Over the course of two weeks children were invited to transform a spotless domestic space into The Obliteration Room. Armed with thousands upon thousands of dot stickers, the young artists created a unique and vivid space. For a full report read this.

Stephanie Meyer Vs. Literary Greats

Amusing article by Lizzie Stark "If Famous Writers had Written Twilight". I'm particularly fond of the Flannery O'Connor and Haruki Murakami efforts. Worthy Dr. Seuss hommage in the comments section.

Scary Kids on Film

Interesting video by Mark Kermode here. In it he proposes that the reason scary kids in film inspire terror is not because of their inherent evil natures per se but because of their potential to surpass their parents. They are scary because they are smarter than us. Lynne Ramsay's film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel We Need to Talk about Kevin is a key focal point in this discussion of a sub-genre of films that explore a fear of children and young people. Further comments and discussion are available on Kermode's film blog.