BfK News: September 2002

NEWS

Books for St Lucia

An appeal has been launched by Anne Marley, Vice-Chair of the Youth Libraries Group and Senior Librarian at Hampshire Library and Information Services, to raise £5,000 to buy books for the poorly stocked libraries in St Lucia. Ms Marley was ‘devastated’, on a visit to a library in the island’s capital, Castries, ‘by the terrible state of the books the children had to choose from. The stock was old, in very poor condition – mildewed, dog-eared, torn and yet was still being borrowed and used by the children and parents I saw there.’ If you would like to help with funding or new books, contact anne@marleyhcl.freeserve.co.uk

The National Centre for Language and Literacy

The Reading and Language Information Centre has been merged with REACH National Advice Centre for Children with Reading Difficulties. The newly formed organisation which will provide a one-stop service for teachers and parents is known as The National Centre for Language and Literacy (NCLL).

PEOPLE

Congratulations to the First Children’s Laureate, Quentin Blake, who has been named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture in recognition of outstanding artistic work. Fellow recipients of this distinguished award include Susan Sontag, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

Congratulations also to BfK’s ‘Classics in Short’ contributor, Brian Alderson, whose scholarship in the field of children’s books has been recognised by an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey.

Yet more congratulations are due to illustrator Posy Simmonds (MBE), writer Jacqueline Wilson (OBE) and Bolton librarian Julie Spencer (OBE) who were all honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

David Kewley has stepped down as Managing Director of Scholastic UK. His future plans are not known.

Sally Floyer, Managing Director of Warne, is to take charge of a new Penguin publishing division, as yet unnamed, which brings together Warne and Ladybird.

Mandy Suhr, formerly Publishing Director for Campbell Books and Macmillan picture books, has been appointed Picture Book Publisher at Puffin. This is a newly created position.

Marc Lambert, formerly Assistant Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, has been appointed Chief Executive of Scottish Book Trust.

Egmont’s Managing Director, Susannah McFarlane, has resigned her post to return to Australia. Her successor has not yet been announced.

Linda Davis, formerly an Editorial Director at HarperCollins and Dorling Kindersley, has joined the Greene & Heaton Literary Agency with a brief to build the children’s list.

EVENTS

The 2003 Children’s Literature International Summer School will be held at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature at the University of Surrey, Roehampton from 25-30 July 2003. CLISS is not a conference but a five-day period of study for which delegates prepare, attend lectures and contribute to seminars. Projected areas for study in 2003 include ‘Radical Visual Texts’, ‘The Literature of War’, Children’s Literature in Translation’ and ‘Creative Writing for Children’. Further information from Jilly Paver on 020 8392 3816 or j.paver@roehampton.ac.uk

NATIONAL AWARDS

The Children’s Book Award

The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Children’s Book Award has been won by Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses (Doubleday). Allan Ahlberg’s The Man Who Wore All His Clothes, ill. Katharine McEwen (Walker) won the Books for Younger Children category and Michael Morpurgo’s Out of the Ashes, ill. Michael Foreman (Macmillan) won the Books for Younger Readers category. 20,000 children took part in the voting.

The Bisto Book of the Year Award

Kate Thompson’s The Beguilers (Bodley Head) has won this year’s Bisto Book of the Year.

The Eilís Dillon Award

Gillian Perdue’s Adam’s Starling (O’Brien Press) has won the The Eilís Dillon Award for a first novel.

Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

The shortlisted books for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize are Bernard Ashley’s Revenge House (Orchard), Julie Bertagna’s Exodus (Picador), Susan Cooper’s Green Boy (Bodley Head), Keith Gray’s Warehouse (Red Fox), Sonya Hartnett’s Thursday’s Child (Walker), Elizabeth Laird’s Jake’s Tower (Macmillan), Linda Newbery’s The Shell House (David Fickling), Terry Pratchett’s The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (Transworld) and Marcus Sedgwick’s The Dark Horse (Orion). Chaired by Julia Eccleshare, the judges are Kevin Crossley-Holland, Beverley Naidoo and Bali Rai.

Askews Children’s Book Award

The first Askews Children’s Book Award has been won by Anthony Horowitz’s Point Blanc (Walker). Runners-up were Sharon Tai’s Grandma You’re Dead! (Bloomsbury) and Helena Pielichaty’s Simone’s Diary (Oxford).

REGIONAL AWARDS

Lancashire Children’s Book of the Year

Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses (Doubleday) is the winner of the 16th Lancashire Children’s Book of the Year Award. The runners-up were Tim Bowler’s Storm Catchers (OUP), Melvin Burgess’s Billy Elliot (Chicken House), Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl (Viking), Malachy Doyle’s Georgie (Bloomsbury), William Nicholson’s Slaves of the Mastery (Egmont), Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass (Scholastic), Bali Rai’s (Un)Arranged Marriage (Corgi), Louise Rennison’s Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas (Piccadilly Press) and Jacqueline Wilson’s Vicky Angel (Doubleday). Year 9 (13-14 year old) pupils throughout Lancashire judged the award.

Portsmouth Book Award

The Portsmouth Books Award for the Longer Novel has been won by Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy (Bloomsbury). The Shorter Novel was won by Annie Dalton’s Friday Forever (Barrington Stoke). They were judged by Year 8/9 (12-14 year old) pupils and Year 5 (9-10 year old) pupils respectively.

OBITUARY

Mildred Wirt Benson

10 July 1905 – 28 May 2002

Using the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, Mildred Wirt Benson was the creator of Nancy Drew, the titian haired girl detective whose adventures were translated into 17 languages and sold millions of copies. She was paid $125-$250 a title, with no royalties. She wrote the first Nancy Drew title when she was 24 and had a career in journalism spanning 60 years. Benson was also an experienced pilot and aviation columnist. At the time of her death she was still writing a monthly column for the Toledo Blade.