A Christmas Round-Up

What a wonderful selection of Christmas books have been made available this year for readers of all ages and whilst for the younger members of our audience many of these have a Christmas theme some are just very good books that Christmas allows the leisure of time to read!

It is with enormous thanks to Macmillan books that I present you with the first part of my selection, a wonderful parcel of goodies that arrived in my office just this week , part two is a pair of books from Hot Key Books and Picacdilly Press' Christmas highlights, then if you head over to Armadillo Magazine you will see a great selection from a variety of publishers to read this Christmas (these are featured as a round-up in the Also Out section but don't forget all the other great books that we feature too!)

Now back to my current selection, sitting next to me on the desk and begging for readers just like you are ...

The Macmillan Alice, Advice for Modern Women: What Would Alice Do? with a foreword by Lauren Laverne.  In this wonderful pocket-sized book are selected quotes from Alice on the themes of Inspiration, what to do when having a bad day or a tough day at work - keep your sense of humour and remember that each day will come to a natural end!.  And so it goes on with plenty of wit and humour these selected quotes will help you get through the day and maybe even encourage you to read Alice all over again, a real treat and beautifully illustrated too.

If getting through the day means having a good colouring in or doodle session then Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Colouring Book could be just what you need and in fact is featured in the Winter edition of Armadillo.  Or why try something from our current Children's Laureate, Chris Riddell's Doodle a Day should keep many a doodler happy for an entire year ... packed with Chris' own illustrations and plenty of tips and hints this book could create some master doodlers in a year's time!

Three stories in one slim book make up the very special The Christmas Star: A Festive Story Collection from Eva Ibbotson.  Read and discover how a young Viennese girl discovers the magical meaning behind the family celebrations or how the words of a fortune teller can change the life of a family and finally a heroic fish who, destined for the Christmas dinner plate wins over his would-be eaters!

For comedy at Christmas try William at Christmas by Richmal Compton or for comedy of a non-christmasy but still very funny type why not pick up Mooneboy: The Fish Detective by Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy, the hardback has a great front cover cut out feature and the story - well it is just a laugh a page!

A Thousand Nights by E. K, Johnston is a classic re-imagining of the famous 1,001 Arabian Nights story and has been reviewd in Armadillo so I won't go into detail again here suffice to say it is an arresting, clever and unusual read.
Another title already mentioned in our main magazine is Julia Donaldson's What the Ladybird Heard Next with its glorious glittery cover this is a must read for fans of the little ladybird and the wonderful creative imagination of Julia Donaldson and her illustrator Lydia Monks.

From Hot Key and Macmillan not only two charming books but they were in a delightful red envelope complete with snowflakes and a mini candy cane, quite charming.  snowball: The Baby Bigfoot is a delightful addition to The Secret Animal Society series by Ruth Symes and illustrated by Tina Marchington.  The story is perfect for younger readers with its mix of fantasy and reality, the delightful characterisation and the warm appealing story.  Lily and the Christmas Wish by Keris Stainton is a magical Christmas story abut how wishes really can come true, in the most unexpected of ways.  This magical story of mix-ups is a delightful read, perfect for sharing at Christmas and ideal for helping to realise that there are many ways in which wishes can come true - not always for the best ...

To conclude this blog two very Christmasy titles, from Macmillan imprint Campbell books Busy Santa a board book introducing the youngest of readers to the busy time that Santa has every Christmas with plenty of options to 'push, pull and slide' keeping little fingers busy... then The Best Christmas Present Ever by Ben Mantle with its glorious glittery snowy cover and wonderful story of love and friendship at Christmas what could be a better way to round off this Blog?

As always your comments welcomed...

An Evening with Michael Grant

A balmy Wednesday evening in April.  Waterstones Piccadilly the venue, bloggers, fans of Michael Grant, children and adults alike gathered (I was lucky enough to have won a pair of tickets to the event) to hear Michael in conversation with one of his publishers.

Michael began with the shocking revelation that each of the 7 books in the Gone series has been written without a plan, without a sense of direction!  He has written 5 books in 6 years, a superfast output fuelled mostly by coffee.  His revelations did not however stop there.  Not only does he not plan in advance (though he does always send his publishers a vague outline to keep them happy!) he only writes for a few hours each day.  This was a revelation and also a refreshingly honest insight into the work and life of a writer – they are not all slaves to their desks, computers, notepads or even stories.  They do not all agonise over every word and every stage of the story.  So how does he do it?

Michael begins with the title.  This is his guide to the way in which the story will develop.  There is then, in his own words, lots of faffing!  Lots of formatting.  The first page will be written.  The first 20-30 pages will then be written, they may not stay as the first pages but the bare bones of the story is now beginning to take shape.  A solid opening in place and the linear structure of the story continues, speed comes not only from coffee but also from experience – Michael has been writing for years (he was one of the authors of the Animorphs series among other books).

He has taken his inspiration from many place but particularly of interest was Disney films – the death of parents is a big inspiration ... Gone was therefore started on the principal that the parents were Gone from the outset!  He is also inspired by other authors – Stephen King, now a friend, has been a big inspiration for example.

Michael is often asked if the deaths in his stories are too gruesome, too inventive?  He just laughs at the level of gruesomeness and knows that the children who read his books will too – children don’t have the context that adults do, they love to be ‘grossed out’, they love to feel the power of their emotions, this is what Michael taps into with his books.  He explained that what he hopes he is doing is giving them the ability to feel – I think he is certainly doing that!

Having had many jobs and many experiences of life Michael explained that he always knew he would and could write, an ability he was born with, it was just finding the moment.  He began his writing career as a co-author with his wife using pseudonyms so that many, many books could be written!  Now he concentrates on his own work but the Gone series is certainly complete and new projects are on their way ... Messenger of Fear was one title mentioned ...

As we all look forward to completing the Gone series and the next book from Michael we must also thank him for providing such enthralling and gripping books for teens, for his enthusiasm for writing and for a great evening!