OLCSS Library News

StoryQuest is a UK-wide festival of tale-telling, reminding us of the joy of stories.

From 27 October to 17 December 2006, the Quest is on to find, remember and tell stories! Every event held in the name of StoryQuest aims to create the magical moment when a story gets inside you and fires your imagination. Coming soon (2 November) from StoryQuest -how to make storytelling events at home.

The Library is organising our very own Reading and Storytelling Festival Week, 20-24 November. More information next month!

The shortlist for The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation has been announced. This award is given to the translator, who wins a prize of £1000. The winner will be announced on 23 January 2007.

The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer
translated from Dutch by John Nieuwenhuizen
(Young PicadorPan Macmillan 2006) First published in Holland in 2005

A Bridge to the Stars by Henning Mankell
translated from Swedish by Laurie Thompson
(Andersen Press 2005) First published in Sweden in 1990

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
translated from German by Anthea Bell
(The Chicken House 2004) First published in Germany in 2000

The Flowing Queen by Kai Meyer
translated from German by Anthea Bell
(Egmont 2005) First published in Germany in 2001

Just Like Tomorrow by Faiza Guène
translated from French by Sarah Adams
(Random House 2006) First published in France in 2004

Mimus by Lilli Thal
translated from German by John Brownjohn
(Allen & Unwin 2005)First published in Germany in 2003

The judges are:

Patricia Crampton, winner of the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation 1999,
Wendy Cooling, author, critic and Educational Consultant,
Elizabeth Hammill, critic and Co-Founder and Collections Director of Seven Stories, The Centre for Children’s Books, and
Caroline Horn, Children’s Books Editor of The Bookseller & Director, Reading Zone.

Following his successful sell-out UK tour in April 2006, children's author, Eoin Colfer, creator of the Artemis Fowl series, will be making his West End debut with a one-man show over half-term at Trafalgar Studios, Studio 1, London.

The author will be combining story-telling with stand-up comedy in a show called Fairies, Fiends and Flatulence.

Read Eoin Colfer's interview with BBC's Newsround earlier this year.

History Matters is a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of history in our everyday lives. The idea of One Day in History is to create a mass blog to get a picture of life in the UK on 17 October 2006.

The diary day is open to anyone who would like to contribute, and will be available to historians and researchers of the future via the British Library's Web Archive. Up to 650 words can be written, and your diary can be entered up to 1 November. If you are under 18 you must have your parent's or guardian's permission.

For most people, October 17 will be an ordinary day, filled with familiar tasks, surrounded by common sights and objects, and interspersed with encounters with familiar faces. In fact, an early 21st century day much like any other.

You are, however, encouraged to include in your diary-blog something about how history impacted on you that day - whether it be simply travelling past an historic landmark, discussing family history at home, watching another repeat of Only Fools and Horses, or listening to Dad's 60's music, again! It could be anything.

Information above taken from the History Matters website.

On Friday the 13th, two and a half million copies of The End, the 13th and final volume of the Series of Unfortunate Events, went on sale.

"All bad things come to an end — including the really, really unlucky run of accidents, crises and tragedies that have been befalling the three Baudelaire siblings in the witty Lemony Snicket children's books." Read more, including a link to an interview with the author, here.

Source: http://achuka.co.uk/achockablog/

Kiran Desai was named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Inheritance of Loss.

The Indian-born writer, who is the youngest ever woman to win the prize, has a strong family tie with the prize as her mother Anita Desai has been shortlisted three times since 1980 but has never won.

Author of the 1998 universally praised Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, Desai is the first woman to win the Man Booker since 2000 when Margaret Atwood scooped the prize with The Blind Assassin. Her winning book, The Inheritance of Loss, is a radiant, funny and moving family saga and has been described by reviewers as ‘the best, sweetest, most delightful novel’.

Taken from the press release at http://www.themanbookerprize.com

A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve has won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. This book is the final instalment of the inventive Hungry Cities quartet, which began with Mortal Engines, followed by Predator's Gold and Infernal Devices.

This year's judges were Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon and last year's winner Kate Thompson.

Read more here.

A wonderful way of enjoying books is to have them read aloud to you. There are many ways to listen – audio CD, tapes, and even mp3. But the easiest way is to ask a friend or someone at home to read aloud to you, or to read aloud to someone else, maybe taking turns. Now there is also the BBC’s Big Toe Radio Show. You can listen to it on the radio or via the programme’s website.

The Big Toe Radio Show is broadcast on BBC 7, which is one of the BBC's new digital radio networks. Regular programme are on at the same time every day - a mix of the best of BBC comedy, drama, and books as well as a brand new daily live kids' show, the Big Toe Radio Show.

On the programme’s website click on the Books section to choose from a number of books being read aloud. The list includes the following well-known books:

Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson (10 episodes)

Room 13 Robert Swindells (10 episodes)

Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman (14 episodes)

There is also information about many authors who write for children.

This is a website to visit time and gain.

Members of Year 8 reading group have received copies of a book which has just been published this week, Rift by Beverley Birch. They will be reading the book this half-term, and then writiting reviews which we plan to pass on to the publisher Egmont.

I read a proof copy a few weeks a go, and enjoyed it immensely. It’s a gripping thriller, about the people searching for four teenagers and a journalist who have vanished without a trace from a camp below a steep rock ridge, in Africa. What’s more we’ll be able to enjoy a visit by the author during the library’s Reading and Storytelling Festival in November. I’m very grateful to the Oxford Children’s Book Group for helping to arrange this visit and to Egmont Books for donating the books to our reviewers.

Click here for more information about the book and to see a picture of the great front cover.