BfK News: March 2011
EXHIBITION
Once Upon A Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children
11 February – 30 October 2011 at the Imperial War Museum, London
This family-friendly exhibition takes a fresh look at five of the best-loved books written for children about conflict – The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden, The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley.
Through stunning life-size sets, intricate scale models and interactive exhibits, families are invited to enter the imaginary worlds of these five classic war stories. From the bleak landscape of no man’s land in War Horse to the imposing tower blocks of London’s gang warfare in Little Soldier, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey through conflicts from the First World War to the present day.
To mark this celebration of children’s war literature, the Imperial War Museum has commissioned a new short story by author Michael Morpurgo to be illustrated by Michael Foreman. Published in Spring 2011, the book takes its inspiration from a unique object in the Museum’s Collections. In addition, there will be a children’s war literature festival at Imperial War Museum during August 2011 with a series of author-led lectures, discussions and workshops.
AWARDS
Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2011
The winner is debut novel Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari (Macmillan), an insightful, honest novel exploring the delicate balance, and often injustice, of life and death – but at its heart is a celebration of friendship, culture – and life.
The other shortlisted books were Curtis Jobling’s Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf (Puffin), A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master (Bloomsbury), Mortlock by Jon Mayhew (Bloomsbury), The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham (Scholastic), Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books), The Pain Merchants: The Healing Wars by Janice Hardy (HarperCollins), When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Andersen) and Fantastic Frankie and the Brain-Drain Machine by Anna Kemp (Simon & Schuster).
The 2010 Early Years Awards
The winner of The Best Book for babies under one year old is I Love My Mummy by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Emma Dodd (Orchard Books).
The winner of The Best Picture Book for children up to five years old is One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell (Jonathan Cape).
The winner of Best Emerging Illustrator for children up to five years old is The Django by Levi Pinfold (Templar).
The 2011 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation
The winner is Martin Cleaver for his translation of Letters to Anyone and Everyone by Toon Tellegen, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg (Boxer Books).
The other shortlisted titles were:
The Pasta Detectives by Andreas Steinhöfel translated from German by Chantal Wright (The Chicken House)
No and Me by Delphine de Vigan translated from French by George Miller (Bloomsbury Publishing)
David’s Story by Stig Dalager translated from Danish by Frances Østerfelt and Cheryl Robson (Aurora Metro Publications)
Awarded biannually since 1996, The Marsh Award was founded to highlight books made accessible to young people through translation, and to address a situation in the UK in which less than 3% of work published for children has been from the non-English speaking world. It aims to emphasise translation as an art.
