OLCSS Library News

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
To celebrate the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on 21 July 2007, J.K. Rowling will be signing the night away at the Natural History Museum in London. 1,700 fans will have the opportunity to meet J.K. Rowling and have their book signed. The first 500 randomly selected winners will attend the midnight reading. The subsequent signing is expected to last until dawn. Every ticket holder will receive a free book from Bloomsbury Publishing. Tickets to the event are free and will be available by prize draw which will run from 23 May to 11 June. Winners will be notified by 18th June. To enter the online draw click here http://www.bloomsbury.com/jkrevent/ Only one entry per person, household or organisation. Tickets are limited to one per individual and a maximum of four per family group. Each family group must include at least one adult over the age of sixteen.

Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
The longlist for this year's Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize:
The Boyhood of Burglar Bill by Allan Ahlberg
Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher
The Falconer's Knot by Mary Hoffman
Fearless by Tim Lott
The Penalty by Mal Peet
The Truth Sayer by Sally Prue
Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire by Andy Stanton
Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine

The winner, who will receive a cheque for £1,500, will be announced in the Guardian on 28 September 2007. This year's judges are Philip Reeve, who won last year with A Darkling Plain; Linda Newbery, winner of this year's Costa children's book of the year with Set in Stone; and Eleanor Updale, creator of the Montmorency novels.

The Guardian is also launching a young critics' competition, to run in parallel with the fiction prize. Write a review of not more than 200 words on one of the longlisted books and submit it, with an entry form, to the Guardian. Entries can be made as individuals aged 16 or below, or as part of a school group of four or more students. The 10 that most impress the judges will win a set of the longlisted books for their schools and a book voucher for themselves.
Click here for more information: http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/childrenandteens/0,,2088278,00.html

Dickens World
Dickens World opened on 25 May 2007. This is a brand new and exciting indoor visitor complex themed around the life, books and times of one of Britain’s best loved authors, Charles Dickens. It will take visitors on a fascinating journey through Dickens’ lifetime as they step back into Dickensian England and are immersed in the urban streets, sounds and smells of the 19th century. Dickens World is at Chatham next to Chatham Historic Dockyard.
For more information: http://www.dickensworld.co.uk/

Bisto Book of the Year 2006- 07
Dublin born author, John Boyne won the Bisto Book of the Year for his book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This tells the story of a nine year old boy struggling to understand what is happening around him in Auschwitz during World War II.
Three CBI Bisto Honour Awards were also presented to:
Oliver Jeffers, author and illustrator of The Incredible Book Eating Boy,
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne for Hurlamaboc,
and Siobhán Parkinson for Something Invisible.
This year’s Eilís Dillon Award, awarded to the author of an outstanding children's book, went to Siobhan Dowd, author of A Swift Pure Cry. More information: http://www.childrensbooksireland.com/newstastic/news.php?item=464

Royal Society Prize for Science Books
Winners were announced for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
There are two categories: the junior prize, which is given to the best book written for under-14s, and the general prize, for the best book written for a more general readership.

Can you feel the force by Richard Hammond won this year's Royal Society Junior Science books prize. Author Richard Hammond is best known for co-presenting "Top Gear" alongside Jeremy Clarkson. He is passionate about science and learning, and is the host of "Brainiac: Science Abuse" on TV. The book is crammed with fascinating physics facts and interactive experiments, and explains how science affects everything, from roller-coasters to fighter pilots.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert won the general prize. Psychologist Daniel Gilbert reveals how and why the majority of us have no idea how to make ourselves happy. Issues covered by the the other shortlisted books include climate science, human evolution, biodiversity and medicine.
The six books shortlisted were:
Homo Britannicus by Chris Stringer
In Search of Memory by Eric R. Kandel
Lonesome George by Henry Nicholls
One in Three by Adam Wishart
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
The Rough Guide to Climate Change by Robert Henson
The author of each shortlisted book receives £1000.
More information: http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/booksnews.asp?id=6630

The Branford Boase Shortlist
Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer.
A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd.
Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher.
Beast by Ally Kennen.
The Awful Tale of Agatha Bilke by Sian Pattenden.
You’re a bad man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton.
Note of Madness by Tabitha Suzuma.
The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on 28 June at Walker Books in London.

Citations were read for all six Honour Librarians before the announcement of the SLA's School Librarian of the Year 2007. Congratulations to Ingrid Hopson of George Abbot School, Guildford, who is a worthy winner. At the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Ingrid was presented with her award by School Library Association’s president, writer and raconteur Gervase Phinn.

Later, Schools Minister Jim Knight launched a major drive to encourage more teenage boys to read for pleasure with a new Boys into Books list created by the SLA, available exclusively online. He congratulated Ingrid Hopson and paid tribute to the work of school librarians, “The dedication, passion and professionalism of school librarians are considerable assets to schools.”

More information http://www.sla.org.uk/slya.php

I am delighted to announce that I am one of six school librarians in the Honours List for SLA School Librarian of the Year 2007.