A Non Fiction Celebration

Perhaps it is because there are a number of imprints now under the Quarto Publishing Group that there are such a wealth of titles, I am not sure but what I am very sure about is the quality of these titles, it really, honestly is outstanding.

I have had so many wonderful books arriving in my post recently, many of them non-fiction which is wonderful from my perspective of a Librarian as well as an editor of a children’s book review magazine for me there is always a need for fresh, exciting, informative non-fiction for children of all ages.  Younger children who just devour facts and information, yearning for knowledge need a wide range of materials to satisfy their needs and older children too still have a thirst to learn only they also need the books to support their school learning and subject knowledge development.  The difference is perhaps subtle but it is there and it needs to be addressed.

Frances Lincoln and Wide Eyed Editions both have an amazing output of highly quality books that not only do I strongly recommend but that I use in my own library or send to local primary schools.  It would be wrong of me to recommend something I have not read or used myself so I make sure to make use of and read all these books too – I really do – not having a television provides so much more time to read and I love it!

Now to the books, let us start with Frances Lincoln titles:

The My First Experiences series by Ifemoa Onyefulu, continues with Deron Goes to Nursery School and Grandma Comes to Stay sharing the experiences of these activities in an African setting allowing children to capture the universality of such first experiences. 

Continuing with the theme of setting books around the world, as we all know football is a global phenomenon and with Goal! Football From Around the World by Caio Vilela we can see the excitement of football in action around the world.

Then a book with charity endorsements, from Street Child Africa and Streets Ahead, Street Children by Anthony Robinson addresses the plight of six real children, and their families who must live and work on the street.  Here are stories from Zimbabwae, Mozambique and Guatemala of people who are resilient and live in hope.  An important message not only about hope but about remembering how lucky we are to live the lives we do and how much others around the world need our support now as much as ever.

Another title with an African setting is Thank You Jackson by Nicky Daly and Jude Daly with illustrations that glow and a story that will make smiles shine from the faces of readers this is a touching picture book tale of manners and thank you’s.

Family and friendship are strong and repetitive themes in children’s publishing but they are so for a reason, because these two are incredibly important for children to understand and learn about in the course of growing up.  Therefore the paperback edition of The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith is a welcome publication and will hopefully mean more libraries and schools will now be able to afford to stock copies.  Another title in this series is now available too.  The Great Big Green Book attempts to explain why we need to look after the earth and be conscientious about conservation.

Understanding the people around us, family and friends, is important, as is knowing about those of a similar age around the world but we must not forget issues closer to home. Victoria’s Day by Maria de Fatima Campos is again new in paperback but this is a title which explains, in a child friendly style, the way in which a child with Down’s Syndrome is just like any other and can be integrated into main school activities.  Particularly touching is the personal touch with this title having been photographed by her mother.

In partnership with Amnesty International comes the feast of visual imagination and story Dreams of Freedom in Words and Pictures. This title combines the words of some of our heroes of human rights with stunning illustration from around the world.  This book has a powerful message to be explored with young children and it is done in a uniquely sensitive way.

Now let us turn to adventure with Wild Adventures by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom, an adventure in the playground of nature for the whole family to enjoy that will inspire an awareness and love of the natural world too.  100 Family Adventures by Tim, Kerry, Amy and Ella Meek is a family book by a family team encouraging family adventure outdoors, an inspiring get out and do title!

For a book close to home what better title could there be than ABC London by James Dunn and Kate Slater.  An alphabetic tour of our capital city not only does this book help children learn their alphabet and a selection of words it also introduces them to the unique cultural identity of one of the world’s best known cities.

Before this Blog post closes I must tell you about the most wonderful fiction from Frances Lincoln for they do this beautifully too.

In a new series Classics Unfolded classic literature from throughout the ages is transformed into works of art and a bite-sized version of the story.  Each book is condensed into 16 scenes featuring quotes from the original, close-up pictures of main characters and summaries of the key themes in the story.  I can see these being used in displays as well as to quickly give pupils in school an overview of the main thrust of some classic texts before they are studied.  This is an ingenious new idea that will have a wide appeal.

Now to the Wide Eyed Editions.  I think I mentioned these in my last blog post as some of the forthcoming titles were displayed at the recent Quentin Blake event.  Now I have some of my own to share with you!

The Learning Garden series, to date two titles Colours, Counting is a new series of board books with sturdy flaps to lift, teaching children how to spot and know their colours and how to count.  Gloriously chunky and colourful these books are a true delight.

One Thousand Things by Anna Kovecses is a visual encyclopedia of things to spot and say with a difference, the pictures are strong, bold and dominate the page, the labels are clear and defined but it is not just about the learning, it comes with a game too, a little mouse to spot on every page!  Compulsive and instructional fun, minimal and modern.

There it is!  A quick romp through and round-up of a selection of fiction and non fiction titles from one of our outstanding children’s book publishers.

How Quentin Blake Told Us A Picture

Wednesday 4th March, a calm and balmy evening and a surprisingly revamped walk through Kings Cross to the House of Illustration, a place that I think I would love to work - how inspiring.

What was I doing?  I was going to an event to celebrate the work of Quentin Blake, the re-issue of his glorious Tell Me a Picture and also the first year of the Frances Lincoln imprint Wide Eyed Editions.

In a beautifully white and sparkly gallery, with a sparkly glass in hand, the invited audience filled the space in anticipation of Quentin's speech, a chance to see the illustrations from the book and a chance to view the most recent exhibition.  The buzz was wonderful, we were all there because we love Quentin, because we love children's books and because of the stunning work that Frances Lincoln do to bring us the very best and most beautiful books we can imagine.

15 years ago Quentin Blake was made out first Children's Laureate, as the first he was able to shape the role, a privilege and one that he took seriously, making now a notable title.  Back then no-one knew what the laureate should do and so Quentin made it up as he went along - his words and managed to get children's book illustration into the National Gallery!

In developing his story he created some stunning pictures, pictures that have stories in them that come together to make their reader think about stories in pictures and the name of the book.  Today, 15 years on, this book is still with us and it has been reissued as part of Frances Lincoln's Wide Eyed Editions list - a list of simply stunning books of the very highest quality which make us realise just how important art is in books for children and in books for all ages.

Quentin explained to us how proud he is of the book, how proud he is that it still exists, that it is not just an exhibition but a tangible book to be read and loved, treasured too.  Here is a book with educational value to love and treasure, a book that encourages questions to be asked and every reader to create their own story from its pages.

Thank you Quentin for inpsiring us all, thank you Frances Lincoln for a wonderful evening and I highly recommend not just this book but the new list, we will be featuring its titles over the coming months and years, hoping, that just as Tell Me A Picture it will endure and continue to bring great pleasure to us all.

Books to Lift the Spirits

January is such a long month, we had the pleasure of Christmas, the excitment of new year, we have had promises of snow (Surrey has had none) gale force winds, rain and much else besides, we are now all looking for signs of Spring, well I can give you one, my two new hens have both started to lay!  However to help banish those January blues how about some great books to read, get lost in another world and forget this one for a while!

What am I looking forward to in 2015? Plenty!

First there is the brilliant, funny, in fact laugh out loud, Love Bomb by Jenny McLachlan.  If you didn't read Flirty Dancing I want to know why not and demand you go and find a copy to read now after all you need to in order to read Love Bomb. Well I suppose you don't really but it would make sense to!  Love Bomb is brilliant, it tells Betty's story, Betty is one of the group of girls who were once best friends.  Finally Betty is about to have a chance to fall in love but is she ready and what will it feel like?  A great reminder of that hilarious first kiss moment for some readers and a way to break the ice for others.  This is my first recommendation for the year!

On the subject of love and romance there is also Malorie Blackman's latest anthology, Love Hurts (Penguin Books) is in time for Valentines and is in fact more cheering than it sounds but more than that it is filled with brilliant short stories by a group of fantastic writers.

What about a book for young readers?  I adore 15 Things NOT To Do With A Baby by Margaret McAllister and illustrated by Holly Sterling (Frances Lincoln). This is not only perfect for new parents or those children new to being a sibling it is also a fun, funny picture book that everyone will love for its great pictures and warm text.

Oh and not forgetting non fiction titles there is the brilliant Baby Animals colouring book from Buster Books, not only hours of fun colouring in but also learning about lots of different animals, their names and their appearance.  Educational colouring at its best!

So there we are, some of my first suggestions for the year. This weekend I am off to tea with Scholastic then next week it's the Chicken House Big Breakfast so there will be plenty to report after those. Coming up I also have a launch for the 50th anniversary of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Malorie Blackman's Love Hurts, Daisy Hurst's The Girl With a Parrot on Her Head. Phew, its going to be a busy time and that will just be all the reading I'll be doing.

Interveiws with John Burningham on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Lisa Williamson on The Art of Being Normal are promised too so watch this space...!

Celebrate! Its National Non Fiction November

Educational, fun, inspiring, creative.

When  I think of non fiction books these are the words that come to mind.  Why? because it is all these things and more that non fiction books pack into their pages.

There are non fiction books for every age and every taste, even for those who claim not to love reading,I bet they love facts and they need to read in order to find these so put them in front of a non fiction book, see their faces light up and help them to realize that in fact reading is great fun, it just doesn't have to be make believe, it can be very real!

National Non Fiction month is a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the world around us, to learn a new fact, a new language or even a new skill.  

For me craft books are the real draw, for others it could be science, nature or even art.  In my school library it is university guides and obscure topics being researched for A Level independent study that are currently popular.

What is the topical non fiction November book where you are?

In Armadillo we make sure always to review a selection of titles for younger and older readers, it is important to remember them all and to remember that they are not just for homework they are for pleasure too.

My non-fiction book for November has to be the brilliant Yo Er San: My First Chinese Nursery Rhymes selected by Jie Mu and illustrated by Patrice Aggs (Frances Lincoln) which has taught me my very first words of Chinese thanks to the accompanying CD - I cannot fathom the text but I love the gentle illustrations.

Then of course there is also the stunning pop-up panorama of New York bought to us by Jenny Maziels and paper engineer Richard Ferguson (Walker Books).  This amazing book captures the glamour and scale of New York with its 3-D skyline and fascinating accompanying facts.  I love it!

So there we have it, a very brief look at some non fiction to help celebrate National Non Fiction November.

I hope you have found something to surprise you this month, something to love, something to learn and a new love of all books to keep you going until the same time next year!

Championing Diversity

Max the Champion, co-written by Sean Stockdale and Alex Strick with illustrations by Ros Asquith and published by Frances Lincoln books is a picture book that is at once fun, inclusive of all and full of imagination.  It is a picture book that champions diversity without making an issue of the subject.  It is subtle, pervasive, clever, intelligent and much more.

At Blackwell's bookshop on London's Charing Cross Road on a balmy June evening the book was launched to a small, select group of friends, family, press, librarians and illustrators and disability champions all of whom were keen to hear more about how the team worked together to produce this wonderful picture book.

Tim Kilmartin

 Introducing us to the Blackwell's diversity list Tim Kilmartin explained how the books on the list had been chosen and why - for the way in which they tackle disability head on without pushing it; for the way in which they can help teachers and librarians normalise the subject with children and adults; for the way in which they normalise the subject of disability; for the way in which they represent disabled children.  All this is as important to adults as it is to both disabled and able children.  The books on the list, an Max in particular, do not limit their disabled characters to those in wheelchairs either, they are careful to consider disability in all its forms.

Alex Strick

Following on from Tim's introduction to the Blackwell's list Alex took to the microphone and promised us that once she started talking her incomparable excitement at having the book published might mean that she couldn't stop - non-one minded, we all wanted to hear what she had to say!

Alex told us how she saw Max as the 'poster boy' for the Blackwell's list and that his story was lovely, a reflection of society and a celebration of inclusion and equality.  Writing a book about disability she explained is a careful balancing act, there are moments of frustration, anger and then action, wanting to be inclusive not correct and include as many different, diverse images as possible.

Alex and Sean first met when they were both working on the NASN book awards, NASN is the uk professional association embracing special and educational needs and disabilities, they found a shared passion and the partnership grew from there.

Sean Stockdale

Sean then stepped up to make his short speech, sharing his feelings about the publication of the book explaining how it had been a five year process from the first meeting to the actual publication!  As a first time author he was keen to thank all involved particularly Ros who he described as being like an old friend for the way in which she went the extra mile for Max patiently bringing him to life.  Originally the book had been planned as a post-Paralympics title but the team were pleased they waited for now they can raise the profile of disability once more, add substance to the body of children's literature on the subject and help it to become the norm.

Ros Asquith

Ros then explained a little about the way in which she drew on the story to recreate the characters in her drawings and the importance of showing even the smallest of disabilities including - and look out for this detail - a hearing aid.

Aminder Virdee

We then heard from Aminder Virdee who, along with her brother, as a disabled child met with misunderstanding and the wrong type of sympathy and reaction.  Both she and her brother have helped the team create Max and his story in a way that presents all children as equal.  It is important Aminder noted, that children, able and disabled, recognise that disability is not second class and Max does this brilliantly.

Alex & Janetta

In creating Max the Champion the team have played a small part in changing the landscape of attitudes towards disability.  This one book may be just a small drop in a big ocean but it is a step in the right direction.  Anyone interested in knowing more should visit the website and help the book world realise that it is time they began to portray society as it truly is, no longer idealising it for children in every book.

Like parents sending their first child on its way Alex, Sean and Ros were happily emotional, thanking their whole team and all of us who went along to support as well as all of you who will become the books' intended audience.