Sound & Vision: March 1988

Andi’s War – a winning newcomer

The children’s book world is always on the look-out for new talent. Last year publishers Faber, the Guardian and Jackanory joined forces to seek out new writers in a competition for unpublished authors. The prize of £2,500 and the promise of publication by Faber and screening on Jackanory attracted 350 entries. From these, judges Gene Kemp, Stephanie Nettell and Angela Beeching (executive producer of Jackanory) chose as the winner Andi’s War by Billi Rosen. The story is set in Greece during the late 1940s. It tells a moving story of one girl’s private battle fought against the background of civil war. Billi Rosen was born in Greece in 1942, educated in Sweden and moved to Liverpool in her late teens. She has worked in television, in education and as a freelance photographer. She now lives in Portsmouth and on Corfu and is married with three children.

Andi’s War is published on 21 March (0 571 15144 2, £5.95) and is to be screened on BBC’s Jackanory from 14-18 March.

Mr Majeika

Mr Majeika has earned a lot of reading friends since the first title in Humphrey Carpenter’s jokey series appeared. (Kestrel Kites, also Puffin. Now he gets the TV treatment. Stanley Baxter stars as Mr Majeika with Andrew Read as Thomas and Claire Sawyer as Melanie, starting Sunday, 13 March until Sunday, 17 April inc. ITV, Sundays, 4.30 (times vary regionally).

BBC Books – alone again

BBC Books have ended their co-publishing agreement with Knight Books – in future all children’s books arising from BBC TV programmes for children will be published by BBC Books.

So far this year there have been six titles:

The Really Wild Show by Mike Benyon (£3.95 pbk) coincides with the third series of the show which in 1986 won the BAFTA award for the Best Factual Children’s Programme.

Letters to Growing Pains (£1.95) is based on letters sent to Agony Uncle, Phillip Hodson, on the BBC’s Saturday morning series Going Live!.

Batty Adventures, Chris Allen (£1.75) is based on the series first shown last autumn – the fantasy adventures of a delivery man.

Which Animal are You? by Anthony Smith and Tales from the Edge of the World by Martin Riley (both £1.75) are based on stories told on Jackanory in February.

Gruey also by Martin Riley (£1.75) is from the six-part BBC-1 series broadcast in February and March. Set in the north of England, it tells the comic adventures of three accident-prone children trying to become rich and famous.