May 6, 2013 · 8:00 am

Once Upon a Slime by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

Is this the right book for you?

Take the SLIME TEST and find out.

- Have you ever wondered where ideas come from and how stories are made?

- Would you like to know the true stories behind some of Andy and Terry’s books and characters?

- Would you like to discover 45 great ways to have fun with words and pictures?

SCORE: If you answered YES to any of these questions, then this is definitely the right book for you! If you answered NO to all of these questions then you are an IDIOT and this is DEFINITELY the right book for you!

Once Upon a Slime is a must-have book for young writers and fans of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. The book is crammed full of ideas from Andy and Terry’s books to get you writing and have fun while doing it. There are heaps of examples of the crazy, stupid and disgusting stories from Andy and Terry’s books, along with 45 writing and storytelling activities.  They give you ideas for writing lists, instructions, cartoons, letters, personal stories, poems and pocket books.  You can have a go at:

  • Designing your own crazy machine
  • Draw something exploding
  • Make an ‘I hate’ list
  • Write a list of scary things
  • Make the unbelievable believable
  • Write your own time wasting cartoon

The book is aimed at kids so it’s easy to read and great to dip in and out of.  It’s also a great resource for teachers as there are heaps of great writing ideas that are quick and fun ways to get kid’s imaginations flowing.

I tried using some of the activities on the Christchurch Kids Blog last week as a school holiday activity and got some really cool writing from the kids.  Check out their Andy Griffiths Writing Challenge samples and why not try them yourself.

Grab a copy of Once Upon a Slime from your library or bookshop now and let your imagination run wild!

Here’s a video of Andy Griffiths talking about the book and trying some of his own writing activities:

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May 4, 2013 · 11:48 am

YA Sci-fi Giveaway

Like many of you, I can’t go walk past a bookshop without going inside to have a look.  Often I emerge minutes (or hours) later with books that I don’t have the money for or time to read, but I now have new worlds to explore and friends to make. While walking past a chain bookstore this morning I noticed their sale table had some awesome books on it for a fraction of their normal cost so I grabbed some to give away here on the blog.

YA prize

I have 2 sets to give away of:

  • Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
  • This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
  • Flip by Martyn Bedford

All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 10 May (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Lynley and Annie.

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May 3, 2013 · 8:00 am

Picture Book Nook: Bang by Leo Timmers

I’ve been a huge fan of Leo Timmers ever since Gecko Press first introduced us to his work when they published Who’s Driving? Each book of Leo’s that Gecko publishes seems to be funnier and more clever than the last.  Leo’s latest book from Gecko, Bang, is his best yet.

Bang is virtually wordless but Leo Timmers proves that you don’t need words to tell a hilarious story.  It all starts with a book-loving deer who is driving his car while reading.  Everyone knows that’s a bad idea and that it’s not going to end well.  What starts off with one ‘Bang,’ quickly escalates into a multi-vehicle pile-up, with animals, food, clothes, and paint ending up in one huge mess.

I absolutely love this book!  Leo brings his characters to life in his characteristic, vibrant illustrations.  I love how each of the animals have their own distinct personality and a vehicle that seems to be a perfect match for them and their outfit.  The cat has a very small, pink car and the rabbit has a very long car to fit all her children. Leo’s characters also have very expressive faces that portray all sorts of emotions throughout the story, from the horrified expression of the pig before he crashes, to the stressed expression of the mother rabbit.

There is a wonderful sense of anticipation throughout the whole book.  Each time a new character crashes you wonder what effect it will have on the other characters, and it often has unexpected results.  The sign of a excellent picture book is being able to turn the page and not know what will happen next.    Just when you think you know how the story will end, Leo surprises you.  Each time you read the book you’re bound to find some quirky detail you didn’t see last time.

The book has been beautifully produced by Gecko Press, with delightful end-papers and the wonderful fold-out page right at the end.  One of the reasons I love Gecko Press picture books is that they produce beautiful hard-back editions that will be treasured for many years, and this book is no exception.

Bang is a picture book that adults will love just as much as children and you’ll want to read it again and again. Thank you Gecko Press for bringing us the magic of Leo Timmers!

Win a copy of Bang

Thanks to Gecko Press I have a copy of Bang to give away.  All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 10 May (NZ only).

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· 8:00 am

Learn to draw from Oliver Jeffers and Jeff Kinney

If you’ve run out of things to keep your kids entertained in the last few days of the holidays why not get them drawing.  Who better to teach them than Oliver Jeffers and Jeff Kinney!

Oliver Jeffers teaches you how to draw a moose.

Jeff Kinney teaches you how to draw Greg Heffley

Jeff Kinney teaches you how to draw Manny Heffley

 

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May 2, 2013 · 8:00 am

Make some Sneaky Art with your kids

With the weather getting colder and wetter it’s great to have something crafty up your sleeves to entertain your children.  I was pretty useless at art as a kid (and still am) but my dad helped me make some pretty wicked crafty creations.  There are some great art and craft books around and our library shelves are always bursting with them.  Candlewick Press have just released a really cool new craft book by Marthe Jocelyn, called Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight.

Sneaky Art is chock full of quirky yet simple craft ideas that kids will love to make.  Marthe says that sneaky art ‘is quick to install and effortless to remove’ and that each project in the book is ‘meant to be displayed in a public place, for people you may know or may not know, in a made-you-look-twice spirit of fun.’  There are Fractured Faces that you can stick anywhere, tiny bunting for a teeny party, a teensy-weensy washing line, and miniature houses to place in unexpected places.  My favourite idea is something I might just try in the library – Library Shouts.  These are large speech bubbles, with sayings like ‘Best Book Ever!’ and ‘Read Me!’ that you can stick in books to make them jump out at you.

The thing I love about all the ideas in Sneaky Art is that you can make them from stuff you already have at home, including junk mail, magazines, and Post-it notes.  Part of the fun of making the things in this book is finding somewhere funny to leave them.  Together you can plan your sneak art attack.

Next time you’re looking for something to entertain your kids grab a copy of Sneaky Art from your library or bookshop.

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May 1, 2013 · 8:30 am

2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Finalist: The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De Goldi

The ACB with Honora Lee is a finalist in the Junior Fiction category of the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.  I reviewed it in October last year,  so if you want to hear all about it and find out what makes it such a worthy finalist, read on.

Kate De Goldi’s last book, The 10PM Question, was a wonderful story and won many awards.  It’s a story that’s loved by adults and children alike, and Kate’s latest book, The ACB with Honora Lee, is bound to have the same crossover appeal.  I first heard about it when Kate talked about it at the Schools Programme for the Christchurch Writer’s Festival and I’ve been dying to read it ever since.  I immediately fell in love with Perry and the residents of Santa Lucia.

Perry’s mother and father are busy people … they’re impatient, they’re tired, they get cross easily. And they think that only children, like Perry, should be kept busy. On Saturday mornings Perry and her father visit her gran, Honora Lee, at the Santa Lucia rest home, but Gran never remembers them. ‘Who is that man?’ Honora Lee asks when Perry’s father leaves the room. After movement class is abruptly cancelled, Perry is allowed to go to Santa Lucia on Thursday afternoons. She discovers her Gran has an unconventional interest in the alphabet, so Perry decides to make an alphabet book with the help of Honora and the others. Soon everyone is interested in Perry’s book project.

The ACB with Honora Lee is a quirky story about an unusual girl who finds friendship in an unlikely place.  The story is brimming with humour, joy, wisdom, and a cast of colourful characters.  It’s set in the Beckenham loop in Christchurch (where I live) and I only wish that I could go and meet Perry, Honora Lee, Dorris and the rest of Kate De Goldi’s characters.  Perry is a unusual girl, who acts and sounds older than her 9 years.  She seems quite lonely when we first meet her.  Her parents are wrapped up in their own problems and don’t seem to have time for her.  They don’t take much notice of her and enroll her in after school activities that she doesn’t really enjoy.  Even when she really enjoys going to visit her gran and the others at the rest home, her parents don’t understand.  Perry makes lots of new friends at Santa Lucia, including her gran’s friend, Doris, and Stephen and Audrey who work there.  The fact that her gran doesn’t remember her doesn’t seem to worry Perry, she just reminds her who she is each time she visits.  The thing that I like the most about Perry is her love of words.  If she hears a word she doesn’t understand she has to find out what it means.

Perry’s gran, Honora Lee, is a real character.  She may not remember who the people around her are, but she remembers songs and lines of Shakespeare.  As one of the characters describes her, she’s ‘crabby as an old apple,’ but she comes out with some hilarious lines.  I especially like it when her and Perry are playing I Spy, because she always gets it around the wrong way.  Here’s a great example, ‘I spy with my little eye,’ said Gran,’something beginning with fat.’

It’s Kate De Goldi’s whole cast of wonderful characters that make The ACB with Honora Lee such an enjoyable read.  Their interactions provide some funny, embarrassing and touching moments.  It’s a story that will be enjoyed by the young and the young at heart and it will leave you with a smile on your face.

4 out of 5 stars

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April 30, 2013 · 8:00 am

What books hold a special place in your heart?

I read a lot of books.  Some of them I forget about almost straight away, but others stick with me long after I’ve turned the last page.  There are only a handful, however, that have a lasting effect on me and hold a special place in my heart.

Some books feel as if they’ve been written just for you, like my favourite children’s book, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.  As soon as I started reading it I knew that I would love it, and the more I read it, the more I felt like Cornelia had written it just for me.  She felt exactly the same about books and stories as I did and it was like she had put the thoughts and feelings inside my head down on paper.  I can’t tell you what I was doing or where I was at the time I first read it because I was completely caught up in the story and didn’t want it to end.  My favourite adult book, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, also had this effect on me.  I’m going to meet him at the Auckland Writer’s Festival in a couple of weeks and I think I’ll probably die of excitement just listening to him talk.

Some books unsettle you and creep in to your head so that you can’t stop thinking about them.  Alex Shearer’s The Speed of the Dark was one of those books for me.  I can’t remember much about the story (I will have to reread this again soon) but the sense of mystery and feeling of unease I got while reading has stuck with me for many years.

Some books just wrench your heart out, by putting you in to the head of a character that faces some horrific situations.  I’ve just finished reading Morris Gleitzman’s books about Felix, Once, Then, Now and After.  These were books that I had been meaning to read for a while but hadn’t got around to reading.  Last year one of my best friends, who is a school librarian, told me I had to read Once.  I did and I’m incredibly grateful to her for making me do so, as this book (and it’s sequels) had a huge impact on me.  Morris Gleitzman is a very talented storyteller, who can write incredibly funny stories as well as incredibly sad and moving stories.  Morris’ stories of Felix’s fight for survival in Poland during World War II are heartbreaking and I know that I will always carry these stories in my head and my heart.  Once, Then, Now and After are stories that everyone should read.  I’ll be meeting Morris Gleitzman at the Reading Matters Conference in Melbourne next month and I’m sure I’m not the only one who will be telling him how much I love these books.

What books hold a special place in your heart?

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April 29, 2013 · 8:00 am

Books to Treasure: Beautiful books from Walker Books

Walker Books are renowned for publishing not only great stories, but also producing some beautiful books.  Their books are a pleasure to hold, touch, look at and read and you want to have them on your bookshelf to read whenever you want.  Two of their recent publications are new additions to my bookshelf – East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris and Mysterious Traveller by Mal Peet, Elspeth Graham and P.J. Lynch.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris

An extended version of the Norwegian fairy tale, set in the 21st century.

From the moment she saw him, she knew the bear had come for her. How many times had she dreamt of the bear… Now, here he was, as if spelled from her dreams. “I will come with you, Bear,” she said. It is the beginning of an extraordinary journey for the girl. First to the bear s secret palace in faraway mountains, where he is treated so courteously, but where she experiences the bear s unfathomable sadness, and a deep mystery… As the bear s secret unravels, another journey unfolds… a long and desperate journey, that takes the girl to the homes of the four Winds and beyond, to the castle east of the sun, west of the moon.

This is a wee gem of a book that you can carry around with you wherever you go.  Jackie Morris’ gorgeous watercolour illustrations are sprinkled amongst her magical fairy tale retelling.  I love the smaller format of the book as it’s easier to share, but you don’t loose the magic of the illustrations.  It’s the perfect book for those young and old who love folk tales and fairy tales.

Mysterious Traveller by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illustrated P.J. Lynch.

A moving and beautifully researched story about camels, lost princesses and the strength of wisdom and knowledge.

This is the second tale in a trilogy from acclaimed storytellers Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham. This tale begins with a disgruntled camel, desperately trying to protect a little baby from a violent desert storm whipping up all around him. He is rescued by Issa – the desert guide – who takes the child in, naming her Mariama. She becomes Issa’s family and, as he begins to lose his sight, his eyes. Many years later, a mysterious stranger arrives at their doorstep, a stranger who will change both their lives for ever.

Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham are gifted storytellers who have woven a touching tale.  I’ve always loved P.J. Lynch’s illustrations and his illustrations for this story are absolutely stunning.  Like Mariama is the eyes for Issa in this story, P.J. Lynch is the eyes for the reader, creating an image of the characters and showing us the beauty of the land.

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· 8:00 am

Win Red Rocks by Rachael King

Rachael King’s fantastic children’s book, Red Rocks, was recently named as a finalist in the Junior Fiction category of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.  Since then, it has also been named a Storylines Notable Book and been nominated in the Best Youth Novel category for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards (for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing).

Thanks to Random House New Zealand I have 3 copies of Red Rocks to give away.  All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Sunday 5 May (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Adrienne, Cushla and Lynley.

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April 26, 2013 · 2:04 pm

Department 19: New Recruit

New Recruit is the second part of the Department 19 animated web comic created by Will Hill and Tom Percival.  You can watch the first part, If you go down to the woods today, here on the blog.

The latest book in Will Hill’s Department 19 series, Department 19: Battle Lines is out now.

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