BfK News: November 2005
NATIONAL AWARDS: THE WINNERS
The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
Kate Thompson for The New Policeman (Bodley Head).
Booktrust Early Years Award
Lara Jones for Poppy Cat’s Farm (Campbell), Jack Tickle for The Very Dizzy Dinosaur (Little Tiger) and Kanako Usui for The Fantastic Mr Wani (Little Tiger).
REGIONAL AWARDS: THE WINNERS
The Bolton Children’s Book Award
Robert Muchamore for The Recruit (Hodder).This is a new Award, judged by 500 students from 11-14 from 13 secondary schools.
Lancashire Children’s Book of the Year
Jonathan Stroud for The Amulet of Samarkand (Random House). The award was judged by over 350 Year Nine students from 12 high schools.
Medway Book Award
Robert Muchamore for The Recruit (Hodder).The Award, for the best debut novel for teenagers, was judged by students from six Medway secondary schools.
Portsmouth Book Award
Longer novel: Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (Collins)
Shorter novel: Grow Up, Dad! by Narinder Dhami (Barrington Stoke)
Picture book: Jennifer Jones Won’t Leave Me Alone by Frieda Wishinsky, ill. Neal Layton (Picture Corgi)
Berkshire Children’s Book Award
Anthony Horowitz for Scorpia (Walker). Young readers both nominate the titles to be considered and select the winner.
WRITING AWARD
The winner of the 2005 Kelpies Prize to encourage new Scottish writing for children has been won by Mike Nicholson for Catscape which will be published in 2006. Submissions are now invited for the 2006 Kelpies Award. Further information from www.florisbooks.co.uk/kelpiesprize
PEOPLE
Congratulations to Malorie Blackman who has won the Eleanor Farjeon Award 2005. The Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
PUBLICATION
Riveting Reads 3-6 by Derek Jowett is an annotated bibliography of more than 250 titles published by the School Library Association aimed at parents, teachers and librarians working with 3-6 year-olds. £7.50 (SLA members £6.00) inc p&p from Unit 2, Lotmead Business Village, Lotmead Farm, Wanborough, Swindon SN4 0UY.
FELLOWSHIP
The Eileen Wallace Research Fellowship in Children’s Literature , valued up to $5,000 (CDN) per annum, invites proposals for research and scholarship using the resources of the University of New Brunswick’s Eileen Wallace Children’s Literature Collection. Proposals are welcomed from anyone who can provide evidence of competence and scholarly background and outline a practical and worthwhile project using the resources of the Collection. Application forms are available from: Office of the Dean of Education, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada. Telephone (506) 453-4862 or on the website http://www.lib.unb.ca/collections/clc/ . Deadline for application is 1 March of any year, with fellowship to be awarded after 1 July of the same year.
EXHIBITION
Beatrix Potter, Artist and Illustrator includes early sketches, unfinished and first drafts of her illustrations, designs and watercolours as well as first editions of her books. At the Dulwich Picture Gallery (020 8693 5254) until 22 January.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor
Just to say how much I appreciated your editorial on Mayne ( BfK No. 153). Beautifully balanced. I still think he’s probably the most important author, but I also have four daughters.
I suspect, though, that we adults are left with a different problem. Knowing what I now know about Mayne, can I possibly read his books without witch-hunting? Books are not ‘the sum of you as person’, but you are in your books. And, what’s the ethical position of giving his books to children, to be read innocently by them? This might be a useful debate for your readers, leaving Mayne aside. As you say, who would ’scape whipping?
Professor Peter Hunt MA PhD FISTC
West Sundial Cottage, Downend, Horsley, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 0PF
Obituary
Helen Cresswell (1934-2005)
Nicholas Tucker writes…
Outspoken, indomitable, generous with her time and forever fascinated by the writing process, Helen Cresswell was an utterly individual novelist with numbers of fine achievements to her credit. The Piemakers (1967) is a beguiling fantasy of an idyllic rural Britain in the grip of a competition to make the largest pie, and The Night-Watchman (1969) is one of those dream-like mysteries never quite explained but totally engrossing while it lasts. Some of her most popular work was also re-written for television at the same time, with the Lizzie Dripping series (1972-4) especially popular with young audiences. The Bagthorpe Saga (1977-2001), eventually running to ten volumes and also televised, was a particular favourite of the author herself, based in part on her own experiences of noisy, eccentric family life. In later life she became expert at adapting other authors from E Nesbit to Enid Blyton for the television. Despite failing health, Helen never lost her enthusiasm for her work or for the Nottinghamshire countryside where she had always lived. A true original, she will be much missed.
CORRECTION
Olivia O’Sullivan, author of ‘Early Years Reading, ICT and early literacy’ ( BfK , No. 154), would like to point out that on most of the CBeebies Story Circle stories, sound is available as is animation and interactivity, although these features are unavailable in the World Stories section at present.
