BfK News: September 2005

NEWS

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , the sixth title in J K Rowling’s phenomenal series, broke a new record on its publication day, selling 2,009,574 copies, more than any other book in UK history. Nearly a quarter of sales were of the adult edition.

PEOPLE

Elaine McQuade has been appointed Managing Director of Scholastic Children’s Books. She was previously Consumer Development Director at Penguin. McQuade is chair of the PA’s Children’s Book Group.

Rebecca Linsley has been appointed Publicity Manager at Walker Books. She was previously a Publicity Director at Random House.

NATIONAL AWARDS

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals

Frank Cottrell Boyce is the winner of the Carnegie Medal for Millions (Macmillan). Chair of Judges, Sharon Sperling, said, ‘The panel was unanimous in their choice of Millions …Cottrell Boyce writes with exceptional assurance and lightness of touch.’

Chris Riddell is the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal for Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’ (Walker). Sperling commented, ‘Chris Riddell has given us 144 pages of fantastic, faultless illustrations which constantly extend the power of the text.’ The award ceremony, due to take place on 7 July, was postponed following the terrorist incidents in central London.

CLPE Poetry Award

The winner of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Poetry Award is Sensational! Poems Inspired by the Five Senses (Macmillan) edited by Roger McGough. The judges were Valerie Bloom and Tony Mitton, with Margaret Meek Spencer as chair of the judges.

2005 Bisto Book Awards

The Gods and their Machines by Oisín McGann, published by the O’Brien Press, has been awarded the Bisto Merit Award in the 2005 Bisto Book Awards, Ireland’s only annual children’s book awards. The judges praised the book for its outstanding drama and political insight and for its contemporary relevance.

The 2005 Tir Na n-Og Awards

The winner in the category Best English-language Book with an authentic Welsh background is Jackie Morris for a picture book for readers aged 7-9 years. The Seal Children (Frances Lincoln), a version of the legend of the Selkie, counterpoints the grim reality of life on the Welsh coast where the poor are subservient to the landowners.

The winner in the Best Welsh-language Fiction category is Emily Huws for Eco (published by Cymdeithas Lyfrau Ceredigion), a novel for 9-12 year olds portraying the tensions in the life of a 9-year-old girl whose mother is an enthusiastic and active eco-warrior.

The book that wins the Best Welsh-language Non-Fiction category is Byd Llawn Hud (published by Gwasg Gomer), an appealing volume of 20 new poems by contemporary Welsh poets – Tudur Dylan, Sonia Edwards, Ceri Wyn Jones, Mererid Hopwood, Elinor Wyn Reynolds and illustrated by Chris Glynn, exploring the themes of nature, friends and family. It was published under the auspices of the WJEC.

The English Association’s English 4-11 Picture book Awards

Key stage 1 Fiction

One More Sheep , by Mij Kelly, ill. Russell Ayto (Hodder Children’s Books)

Key stage 1 Non-fiction

Voices of the Rainforest , Mick Manning and Brita Granström (Franklin Watts)

Key Stage 2 Fiction

An Anthology of Aesop’s Animal Fables – Unwitting Wisdom , retold and illustrated by Helen Ward (Templar)

Key stage 2 Non-fiction

Erica’s Story , by Ruth Vander Zee, ill. Roberto Innocenti (Jonathan Cape)

Exceptional category winner

Michael Rosen’s Sad Book , by Michael Rosen, ill. Quentin Blake (Walker)

REGIONAL AWARDS

Nottingham Children’s Book Award 2005 – Celebration Day

A total of 8,000 children in 65 schools and 60 nurseries voted for their favourite books in the sixth Nottingham Children’s Book Award. The winners were:

Foundation: Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway (Little Tiger Press)

5-7s: Billy’s Bucket by Kes Gray, ill. Garry Parsons (Red Fox)

8-9s: Vesuvius Poovius by Kes Gray, ill. Chris Mould (Hodder)

10-11s: Final Cut by Tony Bradman, ill. Martin Chatterton (Egmont)

Angus Book Award

Following an intensive few months of reading and debate in all eight Angus secondary schools, Terence Blacker has won the tenth Angus Book Award for his novel Boy2Girl (Macmillan).

EVENTS

The Children’s Bookshow 2005

Outside In: Children’s Writers in Translation

The Children’s Bookshow, Outside In, is touring the best writers and illustrators from France, Italy, Sweden and the UK. It will begin at the British Library in National Children’s Book Week – 3-10 October – and will end in November at L’Institut Français in London. This year’s theme, Outside In: Children’s Writers in Translation, has been chosen to introduce British children to the richness of other cultures and to help them understand lives and cultures other than their own through poetry, stories and pictures. Events with writers from abroad will be held in theatres in cities throughout England including London, Sheffield, Manchester, Leicester, Newcastle and Oxford, and a series of schools workshops on the same theme, Outside In, will be given free to schools using writers, poets, translators, storytellers and illustrators. For further information: contact Siân Williams, email: sianwilliams1@gmail.com, tel: 020 8960 0602 or Nicky Potter, email: nicpot@dircon.co.uk, tel: 020 8889 9735.

Dorset Conference – Other People, Other Places

Some inspirational children’s authors will be among the keynote speakers at a major reading conference which takes place in Dorset on Saturday, 12 November 2005. Tony Ross, Debi Gliori, Nigel Hinton and Cathy Cassidy will join Meg Rosoff as guest speakers. The conference will be opened by Amelia Foster of the National Literacy Trust and will culminate in a performance of storytelling by Cat Weatherill. The conference will be held at Bovington Middle School, near Wareham, and is intended for teachers, literacy governors, teaching assistants, Volunteer Reading Helpers, librarians and other enthusiasts of children’s books. Further details can be obtained from Philip Browne, Conference Organiser, The Dorset School Effectiveness Centre, Bovington Middle School, Bovington, Wareham, Dorset BH20 6NU, tel: 01929 405060, email: p.browne@dorsetcc.gov.uk