They say “worse things happen at sea”. But what if you are at sea?
What if you’re at sea in a tiny boat with a big smelly bear? And the only food you have left is a sandwich that is so old and mouldy that it glows in the moonlight? And the bear says something about sea monsters but you just don’t know whether he’s joking or not?

Yes, what then? Well, one of the things that you might not expect to come out of such a predicament is wave after wave of laughter. But Dave Shelton has managed to do just that. A Boy and a Bear in a Boat is a book like no other; a story which, in its bare bones, could be utterly bleak: a young boy is lost at sea, with no compass, no food and (seemingly) no chance. But Shelton’s masterful prose transforms this premise into a brilliantly funny and tender tale of friendship. While some of life’s problems are beyond our control, others may seem less worrisome if only you have a cup of tea, a ukulele and a bit of wishful thinking.

This book is rather different from anything we have published before. It is over three hundred pages long and Dave has illustrated it throughout, with several pages of beautiful full colour.

The unique humour of the story also meant that it was tricky coming up with the right cover look. Read the rest of this entry »

In the Sea is the true account of Enaiatollah Akbari’s escape from Afghanistan to Italy. Enaiat was only around ten years old when his mother took him to the Pakistani border and then disappeared in the night, leaving him alone. In doing so, his mother had made an impossible decision. Either Enaiat could stay with the family, where as a young boy he would live in constant danger of being attacked, indoctrinated or made to work as a slave (this had happened to his father, who was eventually killed), or she could give him the opportunity to escape and make his own way to a better life. In the Sea follows Enaiat’s treacherous journey through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Greece, and documents the memorable acts of human cruelty and human kindness that he experienced along the way. Thankfully for Enaiat, he eventually found safety in Italy. Many other boys were not so fortunate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Talking of stories, Candy Gourlay – author of TALL STORY and blogger extraordinaire – is here to spark off our first wave of storyblogs. Thank you Candy!

‘Tilda

I love taking pictures but I hate having my photo taken. I can happily go for years without having a single picture taken of me.

But last year I became an author.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re pleased to share another author blog with you – this time from Linda Newbery, all about an event she took part in last week..

Being shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal has had long-lasting effects. Although I haven’t been on the shortlist since 2004, Lob was longlisted this time, and I was invited to Cardiff for a special Shadowing Day organised by Karyn Chapman, librarian at the Bishop of Llandaff High School. She’s been organising these celebration days for six years now, and the occasion has steadily grown in scale and ambition. This year, it took place at the Gate Theatre, a former church which is now a theatre with gallery space and café, and involved fourteen schools from South East Wales, over two days.

The participants from the various schools were put into mixed groups on Tuesday morning, each to represent one of the shortlisted books in a short dramatisation on Wednesday. Quite a tall order, especially as those taking part had been chosen for reading keenness rather than for acting ability. There were about twelve in each group, ranging in age from year 7 to year 10, each with a teacher or librarian to help them develop their presentation.

My job was to take part in the judging panel, and of course we were assessing the presentations rather than the books. First, I’d read five of the six titles – the one I missed was the book that turned out to be the Carnegie winner, Monsters of Men, by Patrick Ness. From the five I read, I thought it was a very strong shortlist, any of which could deservedly have won.

The groups clearly had great fun devising their presentations. There were two performances – one in the afternoon, for an audience made up from the various schools, and another in the evening, for parents and teachers. As judges, we were told that we could make two different choices, if we wished – and certainly all the groups had refined their acts by the evening. But, in the end, we chose the same one both times – the presentation of Out of Shadows, by Jason Wallace. This group focused well on key events in the Zimbabwean boarding school, including nasty bullying episodes. Everyone played their part well, including the boy who took the role of Weekend, the telephone operator – a small part which he made characterful and endearing.  The female presenter held it all together with presence and style, and was awarded a trophy for best participant overall.

Also memorable were the market scenes from Meg Rosoff’s The Bride’s Farewell, and the creepiness of the chosen episodes from Marcus Segwick’s White Crow.  This book was also voted as the shadowers’ choice for Carnegie winner. Monsters of Men ran the winner close, in my opinion, and Prisoner of the Inquisition was also very dramatic. The group presenting The Death-Defying Pepper Roux , by Geraldine McCaughrean, had great fun with the mixed-up love notes in the department store.

It was a lovely day, well-supported by Camelot Books and Literature Wales as well as by the schools. It’s great to see how the shadowing scheme continues to grow, and particularly good, I think, to bring readers together in a special setting such as the Gate Theatre. I’m sure those children and teenagers will always remember taking part. I only wish such a thing had been going on when I was at school – I’d have loved it!

The Carnegie shadowing scheme is sometimes criticised because the children’s vote, although recorded on the website, doesn’t contribute towards the judges’ decision – the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals are awarded by panels of librarians from the various regions of the UK. So far, CILIP has resisted urgings to include the children’s vote in some way, and I think that’s right. There are numerous awards now which are voted for by children, and the Carnegie must keep its special status as the most prestigious prize for a children’s writer by respecting the judgements of specialists.

I’d like to thank Karyn Chapman and her fellow organisers for inviting me to take part in such a memorable and enjoyable event. Congratulations to Patrick Ness for winning – and at least I can now sit next to a Carnegie winner on the bookshelves!

Linda Newbery

Have you heard of Hay Fever?..

Several DFB authors and illustrators authors caught it this year! Sarah McIntyre, Candy Gourlay and The Etherington Brothers all went down with bad cases of the contagious fever this year, from attending Hay Festival 2011.

Symptoms?

Shivers of excitement, blistering friendliness and a rash of book-lovers..

The cure?

A strong dose of workshops, talks and festival antics, taken with a marquee-ful of your favourite authors and illustrators!

So what did these lovely DFBers get up to all weekend?? Well…

Robin & Lorenzo Etherington(AKA The Etherington Bros) -  sold out their workshop(!), and it sounds like they had a blast monkeying around with their 200+ fans(!!). . When I asked Robin what his festival highlight was, I was  hit with a wave of enthusiasm and a list as long as my arm. But I think that ‘Finally getting to perform our show for our respective wives and see them really enjoy it’ and ‘getting papped by ten year olds and knuckle bumped by a legion of new readers’  were probably two of their more memorable experiences! Check out what else they got up to on their awesome blog here. Or for more details of what these boys can teach and show you, have a look around their new Comic Club site..

Sarah McIntyre and Candy Gourlay appeared as part of a triple-decker event alongside a favourite author of theirs, Geraldine McCaughrean – what a treat for the audience!  And beforehand, when Sarah heard the weather forecast, she drew this fantastic picture of how their trio might end up -

 - but, of course, the event was far from a wash out.

And, needless to say our fantastic authors didn’t leave it at that, they also ran their own their own talks and workshops! You can read Candy’s hilarious blog about the group experience, and of course her own workshop here. Candy’s writing workshop was all about legends… and there were some brilliantly silly ideas.

Sarah was also full of fun and seemed to meet up with nearly ALL the festivalgoers at Hay – even the Duchess of Cornwall!! For the lowdown on how Sarah a)wangled and b)handled this, check out Sarah’s blog, here.

Hooray for Hay, and for our truly brilliant authors who helped make this year’s festival such a success!!

(And if all that wasn’t enough, see how much fun was had by the many celebrity and non-celebrity attendees here.)

We here at DFB are very excited about a new book due out  this July. We’ve shared some proof copies with a few special readers, who have already sent us their thoughts, copied below. IN THE SEA THERE ARE CROCODILES: The story of Enaiatollah Akbari is coming out on 7th July, but you can pre-order a copy here.

READER REVIEWS FROM CENTRAL PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL, LONDON

 “The story took me around the world it’s certainly the best story EVER! I would recommend this book to everyone who wants the next ‘Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.’”

Hafsa Adel

“Describing this [Enaiatollah’s journey] in all great detail, is what I thought was fantastic about this adventure book. It really snatched my emotions and made me feel pity…It also got me thinking about what I would do if I was in that situation.”

Maansib Ahmed Choudhury

“It was very funny at times and it really makes you think about what we have that we take for granted, like a warm bed every night and good food every day. You also learn new words in different languages.”

Namitha Vinayan

“I love the bit where Enaiatollah and his friends run around the beach in their underwear looking for clothes to wear. I loved that bit because it made me laugh after all the sad things that Enaiatollah went through.”

Deva

“I think this book is great and could make a new film. This is because it has great punctuation and the story is great…I hope this story will be famous.”

Fahim

A big thank you to all our readers so far – we’re thrilled that you found Eniah’s story as fascinating and inspiring as we have.

Jenny Downham’s hugely successful Before I Die is destined for the big screen! Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine to star in the film adaptation Now is Good. Filming will begin this July!

The news that Jenny Downham’s critically acclaimed debut novel Before I Die will soon take to the big screen was received with great excitement here at RHCB. Heralded as ‘an extraordinary first novel’ by the Sunday Times, the book has sold over 250,000 copies across all editions following its first publication by David Fickling Books in July 2007, and a film is now in the pipeline as a BBC films project. Titled Now is Good the film will be based on Downham’s life affirming tale of a terminally ill teenage girl and her determination to live life and love to the fullest before her impending death. Hollywood starlet Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine, who will soon make his film debut in the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, have landed the leading roles.

Filming is due to begin in July and will coincide with the release of Jenny’s arresting second novel You Against Me in paperback.

Here you go – just in case you didn’t catch John on Open Book, talking with Mariella and Eoin Colfer about writing for adults and children.  This was prompted by his new adult book, The Absolutist, but John did mention his DFB book NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY,  and Mariella referred to his first children’s book, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS.  A very interesting discussion!

Have a listen, by clicking here.. The show’s only online until Friday, so catch up, now!

I have a strange name. I admit it. And there’s worse: I don’t eat meat. At all. And yet, I wrote a book where cannibals were the good guys.

Imagine you’re living in a world where you are surrounded on all sides by swarms of creatures that want nothing more than to bite your head off. You can’t blame the poor things — they’re starving! But what about you? What are *you* going to eat? All the plants in this world are poisonous. The insects too. And there’s not much nourishment to be had from the crumbling buildings of the vast city in which you live. Even the canals are full of starving monsters rather than fish.

No, unfortunately, the only food for you and your friends are creatures who are just as intelligent as you are…

I’m not quite sure what I would do in such a situation, so I wrote The Inferior to try and find out. Would I chase down the sentient monsters in order to eat them? Or would I prefer to starve? I don’t like books where the decisions are all easy and obvious. So, one of the first things I did in the story was to drop an intelligent, civilised young woman — a *vegetarian* woman — right into the midst of the cannibals. I wondered how long it would take for them to eat her and what the hunter who fell in love with her might try to do about it. His name — Stopmouth — is even stranger than mine!

Well, you can see the answers I came up with if you read the book. The results have been described as “heart-stopping”, “scary” and “enthralling”. However, some people were upset that the whole thing ended in what might be described as a cliff-hanger. The good news on that front, is that the tasty creatures working at David Fickling Books, will be publishing a sequel called, The Deserter, that answers most of the remaining questions. Best of all, The Deserter will not leave you dangling after the last page.

I hope you enjoy it!

Peadar O’Guilin

The Deserter comes out in paperback today!

That’s right, The Green Man – also known as Lob – has been spotted! Many believe that The Green Man is a character from English myth and legend, but we here at DFB know otherwise.. And now we have evidence! Lob was caught on camera on World Book Day, see for yourselves -

Have you got any World Book Day stories to share or photos to show us? Please do send them in.

Biggest thanks to Lob for joining in World Book Day and making this year such a special one.