Making May Magnificent - Brilliant Books

Over the last year there have been a number of celebrations, celebrations of book birthdays and anniversaries and in 2014 this is set to continue, as we started the year there were anniversaries for a number of books, some quite young, some much older.  Now that we have come to May it is time to celebrate 75 years of T.S. Eliot’s Mcavity The Mystery Cat (Faber and Faber)! Mcavity is probably one of the most famous of criminal cats and he has obviously been lucky enough to have more than 9 lives, being such a grand old age, which means that a new young audience of readers can enjoy his escapades as he is brought to life again with delightful illustrations by Arthur Robins. Mcavity can usually be found in T S Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats but he has been given new life in his own picture book.  This is the perfect combination of pictures and poetry, the second charming picture book from the new Faber and Faber list.  It is as clever a creation as it was when T S Eliot first imagined his trickster cat and it is truly a delight.  This cat will have children and adults giggling, learning at the youngest age how enjoyable poetry can be and pouring over the glorious detail in each and every picture, not wanting to turn the page until they have drunk in every little detail – and there are plenty to see. Baffling, funny, rhyming – a delight for a new generation of Mcavity fans.

 

Whilst we celebrate the anniversary of Mcavity we should also take some time to remember those authors who are sadly no longer with us but whose books continue to inspire, enthral and touch us with their beauty.  One such book that has inspired and touched me this bank holiday weekend is Jim’s Lion by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Alexis Deacon (Walker Books).  Telling in graphic and prose the story of a little boy needing a life-saving operation and the power of dreams this is a modern fable with a dark magic that has been stunningly captured by Deacon and his pen.  I was moved by the power of the pictures and comforted by the words.  This is a winning combination of writing and drawing that is evocative and important, for children and adults alike.  This is a book to comfort those in pain and fear but to also help us all understand the importance of letting a little magic into our lives.

Then finally for today at least, there was The Duck and the Darklings by Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King (Allen & Uwin) another book with a dark heart but a light touch and an important fable to tell us all.  This is the story of a sorry and dark underground land where light is but a distant memory until a wounded duck brings hope and solace.  Mended and well she finds her wings and prepares to fly the nest but with her go the people of Dark, whose hearts she has touched and for whom she has a quite beautiful surprise.  Cleverly crafted, perfect for newly independent readers and as a moral tale this is a book to return to again and again, reiterating its message and enjoying its beauty.

Sam Hay - why we all need Uncles!

Sam Hay is the author of the Undead Pets series, published by Stripes. The latest book in the series - Hour of the Doomed Dog is out now.

Sam grew up in Scotland and worked as a journalist for ten years before becoming a children’s author. She’s written more than 20 books. She lives in Wales with her family, in a small house with a big garden.

Why Everyone Needs a Magic Uncle

Uncles. They sometimes get a bad name in books. From wicked old Uncle Ebenezer who tries to bump off his nephew in Kidnapped. To Harry Potter’s mean-spirited Uncle Vernon who makes Harry sleep in a broom cupboard! Not to mention several Shakespearean rotters - Richard the Third who nabbed the crown off his nephews, and, according to the play, had them killed! And Hamlet’s horrible Uncle Claudius, who murdered Hamlet’s dad, married his mum and tried to poison his nephew! Nice.

But not all uncles are up to no good. Step forward amazing Uncle Charlie!

In the Undead Pets books, it’s Uncle Charlie’s gift to his ten year old nephew, Joe, of an ancient Egyptian amulet, that makes all the magic stuff happen. The amulet turns Joe into the protector of Undead Pets and thereafter a string of ‘help-me-or-I’ll-haunt-you’ critters appear, desperate for Joe’s assistance.

Joe always wanted a pet - now he’s got loads!  And it’s all thanks to Uncle Charlie.

So who is Uncle Charlie? An old fashioned adventurer - part explorer, part archaeologist, part Indiana Jones with the survival skills to out-fire-start Bear Grylls. He’s a man of action. A man who plays poker with pirates. A man who has pulled a Tree Python’s tooth out of his own thigh and not only lived to tell the tale, but brought the tooth back as a keep-sake for Joe.  

Unsurprisingly Joe loves Uncle Charlie. He lives the sort of life Joe dreams of. He turns up when no-one is expecting him, in his battered old jeep with a kitbag full of sand and exciting treasures for Joe.  And that’s another thing about uncles. The gifts!

The magical amulet is amazing, but it isn’t without problems. That’s why a parent would never give it to their child. It’s too fraught with danger!  It’s magic. And magic’s unpredictable stuff. Parents don’t do unpredictable. But Uncles? Awww, hang the consequences! What the hec! Here you go! Take it. Try it. It’ll probably work out okay in the end.

I still haven’t forgotten the look on my kids’ faces last Christmas when a beloved uncle gave them a candyfloss machine. Utter joy. Sugar on a stick! Hurrah!  Or the total enchantment when another favourite uncle set up an amazing treasure hunt complete with video clues, walkie talkie communications and a two mile hike across fields and streams to recover a chest full of chocolate!

And if things go wrong, uncles don’t always need to be there to fix it. When the magical amulet goes bananas and Joe wants Uncle Charlie to sort it out, he’s already long-gone, off on another adventure. And that’s a good thing. Uncles give kids the space to solve their own problems...

I actually based the character of Uncle Charlie on another of my kids’ uncles - my older brother who has lived a dozen different lives - travelling around the world, doing the mad, crazy, hair-raising stuff that I can only imagine from the safety of my quiet desk in Wales. He’s Charlie. I’m Joe. And there’s always an electrical storm of magic in the air when he’s around.

See. Kids with uncles are SO lucky. But they’re even luckier if they’ve got an aunt, as well...

Aunts. Now they’re 100% magic. Maybe even more magical than uncles. But that’s another story...

FAMOUS UNCLES

Uncle Fester - scary-looking sweet-natured uncle in the Adams Family.

Uncle Ben Parker - Spider Man’s kind-hearted uncle

The Man from U.N.C.L.E - spy dudes from the seventies. 

Ziro the Hutt - Jabba’s uncle from Star Wars

Scar - evil uncle from the Lion King

Uncle Tom Cobbley (and all) - a bloke in a Devon folksong about lots of people turning up at a party.

The Quite Beautiful Ava Lavender

The wonderful Leslye Walton has generously written this short piece about her stunning novel, her YA debut, written when she was not busy teaching children how to read, write and be nice to each other.  Perhaps some of the inspiration from this evocative and moving story came from her teaching experiences, perhaps, as she says it cam from a song.  No matter where it came from here we have a beautiful novel about finding yourself, finding your own wings.  With its gorgeous prose, unpretentious storyline, characters that go straight to the heart there is so much to love about this book that its YA readers are quite certain to fall in love with it just as much as I did and hopefully they will spread the word far and wide too.  Now sit back, read the words of Lesley herself, read the book and then join me in waiting for her next offering ...

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender was originally inspired by the song “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You” by Colin Hay. While pondering the logic—or perhaps, the lack of logic—when it comes to love, I discovered Viviane Lavender, a girl who spent her entire life pining after a childhood sweetheart. I imagined the weight of this, the immense burden of loving someone who didn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, love you back. How you couldn’t help but allow that grief to shape the rest of your life.

At this point, I didn’t think I was writing a novel, but months went by, I kept returning to this story—one I had thought I was finished telling.  Soon, other characters began revealing their place in this now-evolving tale. Henry was based on an autistic boy I taught who had a remarkable aptitude for mapmaking. Trouver was a sweet tempered Great Pyrenees I walked to earn money while in grad school. But it was Ava who changed everything. I was looking at a picture of my younger sister, taken when she was perhaps eleven. She was all long limbs and big teeth, wearing an oversize white T-shirt, and running, her shirt billowing out behind her as if she had wings. And it was in that description that I came to a stop, my fingers poised over the keyboard, and I thought No. Not as if she had wings. She has wings. And in that, I also realized I had no idea what I was writing. This wasn’t historical fiction. It wasn’t fantasy. It was something else. I didn’t write again for weeks.

I spent the next few months devouring everything I could that touched on the topic of magical realism—Isabelle Allende’s House of The Spirits, Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, Joanne Harris’ Chocolat. Reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s glorious One Hundred Years of Solitude for the first time was like listening to someone speak a language I thought only I understood. And then I woke up one morning and found the Roux family waiting for me to tell their story, including Pierette, Emilienne’s sister who transformed herself into a canary after falling in love with a man who only had an eye for birds. Once I knew these peculiar characters, the story emerged quite easily from there.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a story about love and loss and longing. I like to call it my love song to the strange. It’s for the lonely, the misunderstood, the unloved. Which is all of us, at some point, in some way or another. So, I guess this book is a love song to you, kind reader. May it serve as a reminder to fly with your own wings.

A Comedy Line Up or an April Fool?

1^st April is traditionally a time for many a practical joke to be played, until midday it is permissible to carry out an ‘April Fool’ and children’s publishing is of course no stranger to such activity.  The good thing, from some perspectives at least, is that these practical jokes last only a few hours.  Children’s books however need to last much longer and so whilst April 1^st is a great opportunity to take advantage of fun and games it is also an important time for ensuring the books marketed are going to have a lasting appeal.

With this in mind, and also considering that we are about to enter into the two-week school Easter break there are some perfect books to entertain big and little readers this April and beyond.

Let’s start with the Funny Fiction line-up created by Scholastic.  Here we have a selection of books, some already published and awaiting their follow-ups., some brand new to the  bookshelves.  Here at Armadillo we have previously introduced you to Emer Stamp and her Top Secret Diary of Pig as well as Jo Simon’s Pip Street. It is exciting therefore to be able to tell you that not only can you still read these first books in the series but that now we can reveal there will be another diary from Pig and that the Pip Street adventures are continuing in Pip Street: A Piggy Pickle in which the brave Bobby Cobbler must investigate the sudden plague of power cuts.  

If investigations tick the boxes for you as a reader then Jonny Zucker’s Fleatectives will be the perfect offering.  With Buzz and Itch, two miniscule but brilliant detectives Larva Town can be assured that no stone will be unturned in the quest to solve the many mysteries that are appearing!  If however it is not animals but people who tickle your fancy then you will love Wild Thing by Emma Barnes a story that finds Wild Thing sticking things up her nose, biting bottoms and getting up to much more mischief besides.  Can having such a little sister ever be a bonus?  Kate is about to find out in this charming modern version of My Naughty Little Sister.  Read all about the marvellous Shrinking Violet who as a mini version of herself solved a number of mysteries?  Well Lou Kuenzler is back with Princess DisGrace: First Term at Tall Towers.  Princess Grace does most certainly not live up to her name but she is excited about her first term at Princess Academy, hoping that she can learn to be a proper princess … I’m sure your imagination can fill in the gaps here and reading this or any of the books in this selection will ensure lots and lots of laughs.  Time to have a giggle-tastic April Fool’s Day this 2014!

Once we have April Fools out of the way the focus is certain to be Easter and of course chocolate (who, apart from me perhaps, does not look forward to this annual event)?  I may not look forward to the chocolate (I can’t eat it) but I do look forward to all the wonderful books that I can indulge in instead.  Macmillan publishers have given me a real treat this year too.  Eggy books, books about rabbits, chicks even bears and hippos feature.  In fact here you will find Emily Gravett’s Bear and Hare as reviewed in Armadillo Spring 2014 alongside books such as

Rabbits Don’t Lay Eggs by Paula Metcalf and Cally Johnson-Jones.  Moving up to an older age group, these latter are picture books, comes the brilliant partnership that is Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell with Scavenger Void or a selection of Judy Blume titles all with new covers including the brilliant Double Fudge, Fudge-a-Mania and Super Fudge!  Teen and YA readers are not forgotten in this line-up either with a choice of the thrilling duo Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody or David Baldacci’s The Finisher.  

Fans of non-fiction have not been forgotten either and with two books on art, Get into Art: Animals and Get Into Art People children will be able to draw their own Easter chicks and bunnies before picking up Wow! I Didn’t Know That! Amazing Facts About the Human Body.

Just a small selection to keep you going for a few days in the run up to the Easter break, much more to come ...