|
Deakin Newsletter December 2005
Newsletter and reviews written by Dr. Andrea Deakin.
Picture Books
Sophie is a worrywart. What should she wear to school, what about the danger of thunderstorms, or big dogs or....... Her greatest worry is that there will be a sea monster under her bed; and one night there is. The sea monster, who lives on socks, eating one from each pair, turns out to be as much of a worrywart as Sophie. Their joint fear makes them good companions, and then friends, helping each other to deal with their worries.
This is a straightforward story; but told with such glee and energy by Don Gillmor, and so wittily and energetically illustrated by Michael Martchenko, that it is a delight; even after I had read it five times non-stop to one little girl. The acid test lay in how fast she was still joining in the sea monster's song and finding new details in the illustrations.
Top
Expect the unexpected from Steadman and he is at it again. His hero this time is the tiny, indispensable and hard-working dot, friend to everyone who uses a computer. This is a childlike but necessary dot who does his job quietly and steadily until the computer is turned off. Then he takes off in a scrabble of speedy movement to visit his friend the Duchess and be replenished with ink. Splash ably refueled, he lets loose, causing anarchy and big splots of ink wherever he goes. He barely controls his expansive nature until, fortunately, someone turns on the computer and he returns to being his hardworking self. There is the proviso, however, that the computer will have to be turned off shortly- he has to be best man at a wedding.
Energetic and explosive, the book has the joy and vitality of a restricted, but hard-working and virtuous personality, suddenly let loose to cause a little good-natured mayhem in his world. This is as much an adult's picture book as it is a child's. Little.com was commended for the National Art Library Award for Illustration and was runner-up for the Premio Critici in Erba.
Top
In a simply - stated text Mary Newell tells the life story of a tree that was home to many creatures, flowering in spring, fruiting in autumn. Its seeds traveling farther than the old tree knew. The time comes when her branches snap, the trees falls, and eventually crumbles into the earth. Into this soil her grandchildren's roots sink deep as they, in turn, repeat her story.
The text is simply stated, yes, but each word counts and the seemingly simple illustrations carry a wealth of additional information and feeling in the gestures of the birds and animals and in a page which chronicles, in vignettes, the changing aspect of the seasons and the life of the tree as it reaches maturity.
This thoughtful book not only describes the cycle of the tree's life, but also all life, as the tree " basked in the sun, bathed in the rain, swayed in the breeze, and danced in the wind”. Her death, after a full life, is not sad, for her grandchildren are nourished by all that she has been.
Top
Satoshi Kitamura tackles the fear of every creative person, a creative block. It happens to children as well as adults, and, in this case, it happens to Pablo the elephant. The question is - how can he overcome it? We follow Pablo from the studio out into the countryside- his friends have suggested a landscape. Still frustrated because the picture just will not come, he eats a good lunch and falls fast asleep, only in a dream to find his solution. Kitamura offers children the joy of painting and shows how the creative artist uses not only a conscious approach to what he creates, but also how his creativity is influenced by the sub-conscious. This is no sterile lesson, we feel for poor Pablo, we enjoy his friends and their attempts to help him; we relish his satisfaction at solving his dilemma, and his quiet contentment at the adulation of his friends at the gallery opening, even if he is a little embarrassed by their enthusiasm.
Top
This is a "look and find" book for young children. In every page a little bear is traveling and playing with a group of circus performers, and the game is to find him. James Mayhew has provided a simple rhyming text full of clues for both the child and any illustrator, but it is the combination of this text with Jackie Morris's richly-coloured, exotic and fanciful illustrations that makes this such an appealing book to share with children. Parrots and a walrus wearing a hat, vividly dressed circus performers set against a winter landscape dotted with minarets and palaces, a great balloon soaring over giant whales, camels, dolphins and peacocks woven into the rich colours of the troupe, are all a feast for the eyes; and there is always that appealing little bear.
Top
David Almond's first picture book explores the realm of the imagination. Is Kate's moonlit adventure a case of transformation, or is it a powerfully imaginative dream? Almond is known for his subtle exploration of the place between reality and illusion where his characters stand uneasily on the edge of both.
In Kate, the Cat and the Moon a small girl is awakened by a cat, "Meow, called the cat. Meooow!". As the cat calls her, Kate is gradually transformed into a cat herself and follows the other out into the night, through the town to a hill where they can see a cat-moon that calls down to them. Suddenly the sky is full of dreams for Kate to explore until, as the stars go out, she is returned home and to her human state. In the morning the family ask, "Did you dream, Kate?" and she answers "Meow". The words and images in Kate's story, a poetic exploration of a dream and a sensitive and imaginative visual interpretation of the text, combine together in an unusual and engaging picture book.
Top
It seemed to me as a child that every teacher in junior school wanted an essay, "The Story of a penny". Sometimes they wanted it once a term. Of course it is a perfect starting point to prick the imagination; I passed on the topic myself. The point is that it takes a familiar object and asks you to think of where it may have traveled and who has owned it. The possibilities are endless.
So MaxineTrottier takes her story of a white scarf, but not just any scarf, a scarf with a V embroidered on one end, a scarf belonging to a young Princess Victoria. A troublesome breeze seizes the scarf from around Victoria's neck while she is driving in her carriage, and drops it into the Thames. A man who is fishing finds it, and takes it home for his daughter, and she wears it on the day that she sees Victoria on her way to her coronation. The daughter, in turn, gives it to her brother, off to fight in the Crimea, and so on. Eventually a little girl, granddaughter to a lady- in- waiting, sees it in a shop and returns it to Victoria as a gift on her Jubilee. A simple story for young readers, it is illustrated in rich colour, its pictures full of detail of Victorian Britain.
Top
Jerusalem is the ancient home of three faiths. Its skies are said to have held off the rain during the day for seven years while Solomon built his temple. A star rising in that sky foretold the birth of Jesus, and a black daytime sky oversaw his crucifixion. Through that same sky Islamic belief says Mohammed went to heaven. Seventeen times, as faiths fought over it, Jerusalem has been torn and rebuilt.
Mark Podwal poetically reinforces the enduring importance of the city to all three faiths as he describes the importance of Jerusalem to them all, and illustrates in flowing shimmering paintings a visual experience of the city. This is a beautiful and important picture book to share with young children, and to enjoy for its own sensitive portrait of an ancient centre to these three faiths.
Top
Rink lives in the deep country, through the ancient trees beyond the town. He has an unusual family, including an uncle who tames rattlesnakes; but Rinke himself is born with the most unusual of gifts. Every full moon he sprouts flowers over his body, and every morning after the full moon his mother gently clips the flowers before he sets off for school.
With such an unusual gift, Rink is shy and quiet, banished to the back of the room and ignored by all the other students who have heard strange rumors about his family. One day a new pupil, a girl with one leg shorter than the other, joins the class and questions the treatment the children offer Rink. Touched by her concern, he does her a kind act. The result brings friendship, happiness and acceptance. This is an unusual tale about reaching out to others that succeeds because of skilful telling and evocative and sensitive illustrations by Montreal artist Steve Adams.
Top
It is an ordinary day and an ordinary boy gets up, and dressed, and off to his ordinary school. But then something extraordinary happens, for there is a new teacher, a teacher with imagination and a gift for sparking the imagination, not perhaps of all the children, but of some. He plays music and encourages the children to see pictures in their mind's eye.
It is magic for the ordinary boy with an extraordinary imagination, an imagination that only required encouragement. He begins to write what he sees, "It was as if a dam had burst in his head and words just came flooding out...” Oh, when school is over the ordinary boy returns to his ordinary home, but what extraordinary dreams he has. This celebration of the power of music to awaken the mind is, in its quiet way, inspiring and most moving. Satoshi Kitamura has captured that experience, moving from the grey and white of the ordinary into the colourful energy of the awakened imagination.
Top
Ruth Sawyer's Christmas story was first published in 1941, and has now been re-issued with new illustrations by Max Grafe.Oona was left, as a baby, on a cabin doorsill in the village of Carn-na-ween. Adopted by Bridget and Conal, she grows up to be pretty, gentle, clever, and kind; but no young man comes courting for Oona's parents are unknown, and who would marry a tinker's child.
Oona has a dream, that someday someone will leave her a cottage of her own; but when her parents die she has to leave the cottage with only her share of the linen and the hope that she will find a roof over her head in return for her work. So she moves from cottage to cottage where she can find work until, old and feeble and with no work left in her, she becomes a victim of the poverty brought by the potato famine, and is forced to leave her last place on a cold Christmas Eve. When she is close to the last of her strength, however, the little people find her and build her a Christmas cabin. She begs them to bring the lost folk to her door,"- old ones not long needed by others, children crying for their mother- a lad or lass for whom life has gone amiss." She asks this so that she might warm and comfort the lost; and so it is.
This tale of patience and virtue finally rewarded lasts well, the text capturing the tone and spirit of traditional tales. Max Grafe has entered into the feeling of Ruth Sawyer's story, illustrating it with traditional soft yet rich tones and realistic detail.
Top
/Library/Images/deakin/The+Nutcracker.jpg) |
|
The Nutcracker.
By Karen Kain.
Illustrated by Rajka Kudesic.
Tundra Books. 2005 |
The first thing to be aware of is that this Nutcracker is based on a James Kudelka/ National Ballet of Canada production. This means the story differs from the traditional tale. Instead of Marie helping to fight the Mouse King and being taken into a fantastical realm with the Nutcracker , now a handsome prince, at her side, it is Marie and her brother Misha who jointly have the adventure . For me, as a child, a great deal of the delight lay in the fact that it was Marie's adventure alone, at a time when it seemed only boys had adventures.
All of this apart, Karen Kain retells this version of the story in a clear energetic way that makes it accessible to young readers, and Rajka Kupesic has illustrated it in richly coloured, imaginatively detailed illustrations.
Top
Fiction Books
Barbara Nickel's novel, which was shortlisted for the Governor-General's Award, is the story of two girls, centuries apart, who are linked by the music of Bach and the tragedy of loss. The story is played out in passages joined and contrasted like the music of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, the music that unites them.
Catherina, Bach's daughter, watches her mother transcribe her father's music, in particular the Concerto. Papa pays little attention to her, wrapped up as he in his sons; but when tragedy strikes he discovers his daughter's strength and ability, in particular her beautiful voice, a gift his wife had been encouraging. Hanna's mother was a violinist, encouraging her daughter's playing; their musical relationship was based around the Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor by Bach. Tragedy has already struck, however, and Hannah's father, devastated by his loss, has left his position and stays home, offering little support to his grieving daughter.
The Concerto becomes a link for the girls who, joined over the centuries by Bach's music, gradually draw together in support, their stories separating, echoing and linking, like the conversation between the two violins in Bach's Concerto.
Subtle, sensitive and compassionate, the book goes beyond the conventional historical or mystical story into a heart-felt duet between the two, and a convincing and emotionally powerful expression of loss and restoration.
Top
John Wilson's latest novel deals with the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, examining it from two main points of view. Vasily is a patriot, a young soldier who is determined to rid Russia of the Nazi invaders. Conrad is a young German tank officer, confident, expecting another quick victory. Linking their stories is eight-year-old Sergei. Sergei begins the story when, close to retirement, he is called to a building site in Volvograd where a foreman has found two bodies during the excavations. Sergei quickly recognizes that they are war dead, and the experience of examining the bodies brings back vivid memories of the war and the civilian struggle for survival.
Conrad is eighteen when the story opens, a tank officer filled with a sense of his destiny as the latest in a long line of those who had fought for their country, and proud of his place in the spearhead of the German army. We watch the coming battle through his eyes and those of seventeen-year-old Vasily, a platoon scout in the 13th Guards Rifle Division. Each is sure of the justice of his cause, each filled with youthful enthusiasm ,and each about to be rudely awakened in a vicious and bitter struggle.
John Wilson's success lies in the way he makes both lads real, even sympathetic, characters, our interest and compassion equally engaged, for both are victims of the ambition and ruthlessness of their leaders. These lads today would be in Grade XI or XII, and Wilson makes us acutely aware of their youth and the contrast in their lives with those of young people today.
Top
The Roman Conspiracy takes place during the age of Cicero and Julius Caesar which is, although the participants do not realize it, the last days of the Roman Republic, set up after the defeat of the Tarquins and now, in a few brief years, to return to imperial rule under Octavius/Augustus. After the murder of his uncle, Young Aulus Lucinus Spurinna, a youth in his teens from the provinces, has become the head of his family. The family lands are being threatened by renegade soldiers ,so he goes to Rome to seek assistance from his family's protector- Cicero, consul of Rome. With the help of Cicero's able daughter, Tullia, he tries to find justice and in the process finds himself also trying to defend the city.
This fast-moving adventure story not only tells a strong story well, it also gives a lively picture of Rome and the period. Like Karleen Bradford, who brought the period of the crusades energetically and realistically to life for readers, Jack Mitchell has set his mark on the Roman period, and hopefully this is only the first of many stories. Both Canadian writers are in the classic tradition of Henry Treece, who wrote about the Vikings, Rosemary Sutcliffe, and of adult fiction writer Jack Whyte. It all promises to fill the gap in our non-Canadian historical novels. Good historical fiction helps to encourage an interest and enthusiasm for history, which makes The Roman Conspiracy a welcome addition.
Top
The Cannibals is a sequel to Lawrence's earlier story of Tom Tin's misadventures, which began in The Convicts. Tom is now aboard a ship, captained by his father, that is taking the convicts to exile in Australia.Much as he wishes otherwise, his father, threatened by the power of Mr. Goodfellow, is unable to help Tom regain his good name and achieve his freedom. Tom and Midgely decide to go overboard , only to discover the boat they take is also occupied by some of Tom's young enemies. The only guide to a series of islands they are seeking is blind Midgely's memories of a memoir he had read. Needless to say, nothing is straightforward, and between his young enemies, the enigmatic survivor, Mr. Mullock, and canoes full of cannibals that seem to be following them, Tom and Midgely have their work cut out to survive.
A vigorous and energetic adventure, Iain Lawrence's latest book in this series is bound to grasp the attention of the most hesitant young male reader.
Top
Nicky Singer deals with many themes wrapped within this one story - love and responsibility, revenge, death and terrorism. Thirteen-year-old Cassina takes her younger sister, Aelfin, into a CD shop in the station at the same time as a terrorist blows up the same station. Abruptly Cassina and her sister are transformed. Aelfin disappears from Cassina's consciousness, dead, while Cassina is transformed into a para-spirit - a being who lives in other people's minds and can travel through their bodies. There she can experience not only her host's present experience, but can also draw on their memories. Eventually she finds herself in Akim's mind- a dangerous place filled with conflicting emotions, guilt, and the threat of horrifying action.
Cassina knows that she must find some way to stop him. Cassina grips the reader's attention and sympathy from the outset, capturing our attention and drawing us into the dilemma she faces, while never losing the personality of the young teen. It is an interesting and thoughtful book that also tells an absorbing story.
Top
Jacqueline Wilson is Britain's new Children's Laureate and a popular writer of novels for teens. She is the most borrowed author from British libraries and an award-winner - The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Smarties Prize, and the Children's Book of the Year. She was awarded the OBE in 2002.
It is therefore with some embarrassment that I admit to having neglected reading her novels- now, I realize, to my own loss. Love Lessons is an empathetic and subtle book that follows the traumas of fifteen-year-old Prue. Prue and her sister Grace have been home-schooled all their lives under the control of a strict unimaginative and out-of-date father. He has kept a tight rein over both their mother and the girls. When he has a stroke Prue and her sister are sent to schools for the first time. Dressed in poorly made home-mades and hand-me-downs and with a very unbalanced early education, the girls are at a terrible disadvantage. Prue, fifteen but inexperienced and socially awkward, finds that the only person she can talk to is her kind and attractive Art master. She begins to long for his understanding and conversation until things begin to get away from both of then. Prue acts from natural, but suppressed affection and sexual awakening, and Rax finds his natural kindness and consideration becoming something more dangerous.
Jacqueline Wilson is adept, engaging, and very skilful and perceptive in her presentation of teens and their problems - a subtle and sophisticated writer.
Top
/Library/Images/deakin/Pocahontas.jpg) |
|
Pocahontas.
By Joseph Bruchac.
Harcourt/ Raincoast Books. 2005 |
Now available in paperback, Joseph Bruchac tells the real story of Pocahontas in this engrossing novel. The story is told alternately through the voices of eleven-year-old Pocahontas and the English settler, John Smith. Each comes immediately alive as Bruchac's text changes tone from the straightforward recital of the young girl to the careful Seventeenth Century English text of Smith, part account of the settlers' struggles with the First People, with nature, and with each other, and part personal description. We begin to see how the two peoples misunderstand each other, their customs and laws clashing, the cultural misunderstandings leading to strife. It requires careful reading and repays that with a deeper understanding of the differences between the two peoples and the difficulties they raised.
The legends of Pocahontas' people and the descriptions of the land help to bring the story even more vividly alive. The novel lets the princess and John Smith become more accurately presented, to be understood and appreciated.
Top
Reprints
Raincoast Books deserves our gratitude for reprinting Christie Harris's Mouse Woman Series. The first, Mouse Woman and The Mischief Makers was re-issued in 2004. Mouse Woman is a narnauk - a human/animal shape shifter. In the stories she keeps peace and order between narnauks and humans, keeping a close eye on the young, and trying to set things that have gone awry to rights. This edition of Mouse Woman and The Vanished Princesses keeps Douglas Tait's original drawings.
Top
Poetry
/Library/Images/deakin/The+Lady+of+Shalott.jpg) |
|
The Lady of Shalott.
By Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Illustrated by Genevieve Cote.
Kids Can Press. 2005 |
This is the third in the Kids Can Press series, Visions in Poetry, the first two being Jabberwocky and The Highwayman. Again the intent is to put another twist on the work, to take it from the world and style in which it was conceived and plunge it into modern idiom. It worked reasonable well with Jabberwocky, which it took from the young and plunged, with its bitter and powerful social and political illustrations, into the drama of the mid Twentieth Century. It could work, although it took the poem from childhood into the realm of adult satire, because Jabberwocky is a nonsense poem.
The Highwayman, although strongly interpreted by Murray Kimber, was not so successful. The problem was that it moved a poem written in the early Twentieth Century about an Eighteenth Century figure, into the 1930's. The result was that the visual and aural clues of the poem were ignored, producing mental gymnastics for the reader. It is hard to think of a motor-cycle going "clip clop”. I may be criticized for not being open enough to the process- but you ignore strong visual and aural clues in the text at your peril. However powerful the illustrations, they put the poem off balance.
Now, having proved myself a purist, let's look at The Lady of Shalott. This is a well-known and beloved narrative poem by Tennyson which uses visual symbolism to contrast the shadow world of the fated Lady with the energetic and lively world of Camelot. The story is a version of Elaine, the fair maid of Astolat (Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur). Tennyson said that he originally took the idea from an Italian story from the early Renaissance and that, at the time, he did not know the earlier story of Elaine. His lady is bound by a curse - forbidden to look directly out into the world, but to observe it only through a mirror.
The sight of Lancelot and her love for this knight from the world outside, makes her break the enchantment and entice reality. She has safely looked at the world through a mirror and depicted it in her tapestry. Entering reality leads to disillusion and death.
The illustrations have an early Twentieth Century aura with soft flowing colour , dominated by blue, which floats the story from page to page, tableau to tableau. This is early Twentieth Century, for the knights riding on horseback wear uniforms that suggest the First World War. The mirror cracking is very effective with the threads of the loom sweeping across the page followed by the jagged and violent fracture of the mirror. The almost gentle world of enchantment is savagely shattered. The Lady's discovery of the boat and her movement through the water is calm and gentle in contrast, her dying, an acceptance of the price to be paid, as her blood slowly freezes and her eyes turn to Camelot. The knights overlooking the river show their curiosity and sadness while Lancelot's enquiring face depicts compassion. Cote has the Lady transform, at the last, into a butterfly leaving its chrysalis, this is by far the most successful transformation in the series. I have only one hestitation - in the first few pages "many-tower'd Camelot" and the "Four grey walls, and four grey towers" look very much like the 1930's power-stations of my childhood.
Top
/Library/Images/deakin/Oxford+Christmas+Poems.jpg) |
|
The Oxford Book of Christmas Poems.
Oxford University Press. 2005 |
This collection of Christmas poems, edited by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, was first issued in 1983. This is the first paperback edition, just published. It is an outstanding collection of over 120 poems for the Christmas season, composed of a mixture of work from authors like our old friend "anonymous", traditional verses, and work by Martial, Donne, and John Clare, to that of G.K.Chesterton, Gerald Manley Hopkins and Walter De La Mare, and the work of more recent poets - Ted Hughes, Roger McGough, Michael Rosen and Charles Causley.
This book covers every aspect of the Christmas season from Andrew Young's "Christmas Day" and T.S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" to John Betjeman's celebration of a family Christmas and Donald Sladen's " A Summer Christmas in Australia". There is a wide range of old favourites and new surprises, and is a collection to share with children for many years. The book is illustrated throughout by artists such as Charles Keeping, Tudor Humphries and Ian Beck.
Top
Non-Fiction
/Library/Images/deakin/Oxford+Atlas.jpg) |
|
Oxford Satellite Atlas of the World.
Oxford University Press. 2004 |
Familiar terrain become abstract paintings with coastlines, mountains and rivers breaking the contour of the land , but, from space, colour and contour give a new appreciation of landscapes where boundaries cease and country flows into country. This new atlas gives us a whole new way of looking at our world. Blending art and science this is also a rendering of scientific exploration through the data provided by the very latest satellite technology. The land we know, seas, lakes, mountains and rivers can all be looked at anew.
The atlas covers the six continents, but focuses in on individual countries, the world's principal cities, and even well-known landmarks.
There is a forward by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and a brief introduction to satellite imagery followed by that striking image from space showing the spread of man-made light over the landscape of night. From the image of London with Buckingham Palace and its gardens clearly visible, to Rome and the Vatican, to the great Australian desert, and Mecca, to the spreading networks of the Ganges Delta, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the great smudge that is Ayer's Rock in Australia and the brilliant blue seas around Christchurch, New Zealand, the fjord-like inlets of Baffin Island, the sprawl of New York, this is a compilation of breathtaking and beautiful images of our world that should appeal to everyone of every age.
Top
Bateman's book is an introduction to identifying birds for the younger readers. He presents twenty-five of the more common birds- easy to find - with a brief text describing the bird and with notes on basic information- length, wingspan, weight, voice, food, habitat and range. There are short essays on bird senses, the cycle of family life, migration, how to attract birds to your backyard, and ways to differentiate between the different types of sparrow. This is a book to give a child who is showing interest in the visitors to the bird feeder, an introduction to the pleasures of birdwatching. It gives just enough information and covers a small enough range to intrigue without overwhelming.
Bateman's paintings, which generously illustrate the text, not only add clarity, but much beauty to the book. These alone make the book attractive to all ages.
Top
Here is a book to absorb and inform every youngster with a practical turn of mind. The way we design, the things we invent and use, all go, in the end, through the same kind of stages before the finished product. Bill Slavin takes us through the processes by which a variety of products, from baseballs to yogurt, are created. He also discusses the making of the basic products used in manufacture, like aluminum, cement, paper, and rubber. The book contains a glossary.
Most of all the text is accompanied by step-by-step illustrations in Bill Slavin's special style- clarity, explanation, and lots of humour. My Secondary Education Professor used to drum into us, "More facts stick in the head with sugar than they do with vinegar!" Bill Slavin is a master of the sugar technique.
Top
Awards
The Norma Fleck Award for Non-Fiction
The Norma Fleck Award for Non-Fiction, worth $10,000, has been given to Shari Graydon for In Your Face, Annick Press, a critical look at the culture and industry of beauty throughout the ages. It is a guide for teens to the modern culture of beauty and the workings of the beauty industry. It provides the information and encourages young people to make their own decisions about the products advertised and the images the industry puts forward.
Top
TD Canada Trust Canadian Children's Literature Award 2005:
The first annual TD Canada Trust Award was awarded to Marthe Jocelyn for her book, Mable Riley, Tundra Books. The new annual award is worth $20,000.
Top
The Governor General's Awards:
Governor General’s Award for Text
Governor General’s Award for Text went to Pamela Porter’s The Crazy Man, published by Groundwood Books/House of Anansi. It is set on a wheat farm in southern Saskatchewan in 1965. When Emaline chases after her runaway dog, her father accidentally runs over her leg, leaving her permanently disabled. Grief-stricken, her father shoots her dog and abandons the family. Her mother hires a patient from the nearby mental hospital to help with the farm. The small town's prejudice towards Angus almost ends in tragedy, but Angus is a healer of hearts who helps Emaline come to terms with her injury and her father’s abandonment. The story is told in free verse.
Top
Governor General’s Award for Illustration
/Library/Images/deakin/Imagine+a+Day.jpg) |
|
Imagine a Day.
Illustrations by Rob Gonsalves
Text by Sarah L. Thompson
Simon and Schuster |
Governor General’s Award for Illustration went to Rob Gonsalves’ paintings for Imagine a Day, published by Simon and Schuster. His surreal paintings for Sarah L. Thompson's text are a voyage into the realm of the imagination which takes the viewer from the realm of the everyday into that of the possible, allowing children to expand their view of the world around them. In 2003 Rob Gonsalves' Imagine a Night was a finalist for the award.
Top
Shortlist for the Whitbread Award for Children's Literature:
- Frank Cottrell Boyce. Framed.
- Geraldine McCaughrean. The White Darkness.
- Hilary McKay. Permanent Rose.
- Kate Thompson. The New Policeman.
Top
The Blue Peter Awards have just been announced:
- The winner of The Book I Couldn't Put Down Award was Michael Morpurgo for Private Peaceful.
- The winner of The Best Book of Facts Award was Simon Chapman for Explorers Wanted! At the North Pole.
- The winner of The Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud Award was Julia Donaldson for text and Axel Scheffler for illustration for The Snail and the Whale.
- The Overall Winner of The Blue Peter Book of the Year Award went to Michael Morpurgo for Private Peaceful.
Top
A very Merry Christmas, a Joyful Chanukah, and all the best to everyone who celebrates, or just enjoys, this coming holiday season!
|
|
/Library/Images/deakin/Sophie.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/little.com.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Grand+Old+Tree.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Pablo.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Little+Bear.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Kate+the+Cat.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Long+White+Scarf.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Jerusalem+Sky.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/The+Boy+Who+Grew+Flowers.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Once+Upon+a+School+Day.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/The+Wee+Christmas+Cabin.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Hannah+Waters.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Four+Steps.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/The+Roman+Conspiracy.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Cannibals.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Innocents.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Love+Lessons.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Mouse+Woman.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Backyard+Birds.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Transformed.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/In+Your+Face.jpg)
/Library/Images/deakin/Mable+Riley.gif)
/Library/Images/deakin/Crazyman.jpg)