BfK News: May 1990
The Green School Competition
At last, the long-awaited Young Green Consumer Guide by John Elkington and Julia Hailes (Gollancz, 0 575 04722 4, £4.99 pbk) has just been launched.
It was produced in response to demand from teachers and parents who had attempted to use the amazingly successful adult version, by the same team, with children and who now wanted an edition more relevant and accessible to youngsters. No bones about it, it has achieved all its objectives and we now have available the best green guide for children yet published. By relating green concerns to children’s direct day-to-day experience, offering easily understood information and then encouraging children to take positive action, the authors have produced a book that should be in every junior and lower secondary school classroom and in every home.
As part of the promotion, Gollancz are also mounting an interesting competition to unearth Britain’s greenest school. A Green School Audit lies at the heart of the competition (closing date 30th November 1990) sponsored by Varta UK, manufacturers of Britain’s first mercury-free battery and other environment-friendly battery initiatives. The competition asks schools to submit environmental assessments (or audits) of themselves using as a model the audit laid out in The Young Green Consumer Guide. In addition, the judges, including John Elkington and Julia Hailes, will want to know what green initiatives the school has already made or is planning to make.
Entry forms are available from your local branch of W H Smith or by sending an SAE to The Young Green Consumer Guide Competition, P 0 Box 53, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN17 7EH. The prize for the winning audit team is £2000 plus a 3-day environmental trip to West Germany (max. 20 people, including teachers). There’s even a prize for entering but you’ll have to get the entry form to find out what it is.
And where does Books for Keeps stand in all this? Well …
The BfK Green Guide to Children’s Books
…we’re about halfway towards publishing our own Green Guide to Children’s Books this coming Autumn. Following the successful formula of our Children’s Books for a Multicultural Society (now in the process of being updated and regrettably out of print at present) and Poetry 0-16 (very much in print and selling well!), the Green Guide will have a large bibliography divided into Fiction, Poetry and Information Books, plus feature articles linking children’s books, education and green concerns, and a further information section. Watch this space for more details on what we hope will be another useful BfK resource for teachers, librarians and parents.
Paying by Plastic
You can now pay for your BfK subscription or other BfK publications by credit card (Access, Visa, Eurocard or Mastercard). Our new BfK order form (available from 6 Brightfield Road, London SE12 8QF) includes a credit card section and we can also accept credit card orders by phone (081-852 4953).
The Earthworm Award
Another distinguished panel of judges has agreed to take on the task of looking for books which highlight the many threats to our natural world and celebrate its richness, variety and beauty. Each judge is responsible for one category and the winners of each category will make up the shortlist. The 1990 judges are: Quentin Blake (Infant Picture Book); Brough Girling (Innovation); Geoffrey Lean (Senior Non-fiction); Michael Morpurgo (Author); Jenni Murray (Infant Non-fiction); John Rae (Junior Non-fiction); Fiona Waters (Junior Fiction).
The award covers fiction and non-fiction books published between 1st June 1989 and 31st May 1990, with the winners to be announced in September. Prize money for I990 has been substantially increased to £2,000 plus the large wooden bowl for the winner, and £250 for the three runners-up.
For further information about the award, contact Claire Harrison or Charmian Davies, Vikki Stace Associates, 26 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5RH (Tel: 071221 3754).
CONFERENCE IN CAMBRIDGE
Inside Story: A conference about children’s books
This conference will explore and celebrate books, poems and stories for children through a programme of seminars, workshops and lectures by well-known writers and educators. There will also be opportunities to enjoy storytelling and poetry sessions as well as the chance to browse around exhibitions of books from publishers, books by student authors and books by children for children.
The conference is being organised by tutors in the Language Team at Homerton College. Sessions, workshops and lectures will be led by them but will also include contributions from well-known speakers, broadcasters and writers with a particular interest in children’s books. These will include John Agard, Helen Arnold, James Berry, Margaret Meek, Grace Nichols, Jan Ormerod, Philippa Pearce, Chris Powling, Michael Rosen, Morag Styles, Liz Waterland and Victor Watson.
Write to: Carole Bennett, Homerton College, Cambridge C132 2PH.
Conference in Worcester
Worcester College of Higher Education Summer School:
Children’s Literature and the National Curriculum
The Summer School covers the world of children’s books linked to the new perspectives of the National Curriculum. Speakers this year include Aidan Chambers (author); Catherine Brighton (illustrator); representatives from publishing and television; plus expert knowledge from an educational adviser and resident lecturers. Visits to places of interest with regard to children’s books have also been arranged as well as seminars and workshops.
Write to the Director, Summer School, Worcester College of Higher Education, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ.
Babar and the Ivory Ban
Babar plus elefriends are at the centre of a Spring promotional campaign by the Collins Publishing Group – a campaign incorporating storybooks, videos, audio cassettes and the release of Babar – The Movie this summer, all aimed at alerting children to the slaughter of elephants by ivory hunters. The campaign is scheduled to run till Christmas 1990.
