Morris Gleitzman at the launch of his new book, Too Small to Fail at The Little Bookroom in Melbourne last night.
Morris Gleitzman at the launch of Too Small to Fail
The Treasure Island author's fairytales are finally to be published in one set, as he intended
Robert Louis Stevenson lived out his last years on a Samoan island. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis
The literary betrayal of one of the most popular writers in the English language, Robert Louis Stevenson, is to be avenged in the first collected edition of the great Scottish writer's little-known Samoan fairytales. => http://bit.ly/eNcyY4
The Going to Bed Book
(Board book)
By Sandra Boynton
And for a little one who is reluctant to go to bed, sometimes a silly book is just the ticket. And when it comes to silly books, Sandra Boynton is the undisputed queen. In The Going to Bed Book, an ark full of animals watches the sun go down and then prepares for bed.
Go to http://bit.ly/kMErxi for more about the book and to watch the trailer.
“What is the use of a book,” thought Alice, eerily foreshadowing a critical question in the age of digital media, “without pictures or conversations?”
Soon enough, she plunges down the rabbit hole and finds pictures and conversations aplenty. But her question lingers for us today in modified form. With electronic books — a technology teeming with children’s titles, many of them stunningly rendered for the Apple iPad — mere pictures and conversations are passé, at least pictures that don’t move and conversations that you can’t hear. Nobody has to feel sleepy or stupid anymore, not with a fully charged iPad with a book on it. => http://nyti.ms/iXddyt
Audio books are great for long car journeys or other places where you can't physically read a book, but I'm not sure if they're a great idea for kids who are still building their reading skills. This Lego helmet lets kids simply look at the pictures while the stories are read aloud to them. => http://bit.ly/fgACOE
by Jackie French
He sleeps. He eats. He gets bored.
He creates havoc wherever he goes!
He's Mothball's baby - and he's even cuter, naughtier and more determined than his mum.
Created by writer Jackie French and illustrator Bruce Whatley, Baby Wombat?s Week is an irresistible new picture book by the award-winning duo of the international bestseller Diary of a Wombat.
The very long awaited follow up to Diary of a Wombat - the illustrations are as beautiful as ever and the simple story will be adored by young children. Best of all, Mothball herself features in the story. Adults with an appreciation of Australian wildlife and children's literature will cherish these books as well. Weaver has the obstinate behaviour of wombats down pat but her affection for the animals is very obvious.
Teachers Notes => bit.ly/er2ur5
Buy the book => http://bit.ly/gLXAkj target="_blank"
Why Should I Read?
Excellent question! Why should you? Why should anyone? You could be doing hundreds of other things instead – watching a movie, preparing dinner, going for a run, or spending time with your family. But when your kids ask you the same question, you’d better have an answer prepared. “Because I told you to” probably won’t cut it. “Because it’s good for you” isn’t going to work either. At least not if you don’t have some solid evidence to back it up. => http://bit.ly/i0rufA
A friend gave me Sylvia Plath's “The Bell Jar” at a sleepover for my fourteenth birthday. After the other girls fell asleep, I stayed up and read the entire novel. A likely choice for a moody teen-ager already contemplating the inexorable passing of her youth.
So when I heard that a study published this month had found that reading books improves the moods of adolescents, I became curious. Did the study’s authors take the types of books into consideration?
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/04/books-the-new-prozac.html#ixzz1Jop1fisB
He is more comfortable with platform 9¾ than the electronic devices of the muggle world, but, despite that, Harry Potter is about to go digital - and potentially earn JK Rowling a further £100 million. => http://bit.ly/hjb5Ua
Puffin Books today announced plans to publish a major new series by Eoin Colfer, the bestselling author of Artemis Fowl. WARP, an acronym for Witness Anonymous Relocation Program, used by the FBI to hide important witnesses in the past, is a high concept series described by the author as 'Oliver Twist meets The Matrix'.
The first book features a Victorian boy, Riley, who goes on the run in 21st century London pursued by a ruthless assassin from his own time. Riley must rely on his wits and the help of a young FBI agent if he is to survive.
http://bit.ly/eDwCet
