[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-six-til-death-prehistoric-partying":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"See that little silver-coloured box that \u003Cb>Ben Haggarty\u003C/b>'s holding? It's a piece of natural cube pyrite, and when Ben found it, he wondered what people would have thought if they'd come across it 10,000 years ago... and then the stories of \u003Cfont size=\"3\">\u003Cb>\u003Ci>Mezolith\u003C/b>\u003C/i>\u003C/font> began to uncoil in his storyteller's brain. \\r\n\\r\nHurrah for Ben and one of Britain's most remarkable artists, \u003Cb>Adam Brockbank\u003C/b>, the authors of the second installation in the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk/davidficklingbooks_dfclibrary.asp\">DFC Library\u003C/a>. And man, \u003Ci>Mezolith\u003C/i> a corker. Adam's mostly been working in film (he created a lot of the Harry Potter monsters) but I'm so glad he put himself on pages this time. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_ben_adam-c984b0a1a2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOur DFC publisher, David Fickling, gave one of his trademark rousing speeches, and made everyone laugh when he said people ask him what ages these books are suitable for. His reply: \u003Ci>six... 'til death!\u003C/i> \\r\n\\r\nI was excited to see a whole bunch of the \u003Cb>DFC Team\u003C/b>! You can see what we've been getting up to and visit websites over at the \u003Ca href=\"http://supercomicsadventuresquad.blogspot.com\">Super Comics Adventure Squad\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_dfcgang-3e6bd8e2d1.jpg\"> \\r\n\u003Cb>Adam Brockbank\u003C/b> and \u003Cb>Ben Haggarty\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Mezolith\u003C/i>), back row from left: \u003Cb>Lorenzo Etherington\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Monkey Nuts\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>Dave Morris\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Mirabilis\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>Sarah McIntyre\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>Emma Vieceli\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Violet\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>David Fickling\u003C/b> (publisher), \u003Cb>Patrice Aggs\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>The Boss\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>James Turner\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Super Animal Adventure Squad\u003C/i>, \u003Cb>John Aggs\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>John Blake, The Boss\u003C/i>), \u003Cb>Robin Etherington\u003C/b> (\u003Ci>Monkey Nuts\u003C/i>)\\r\n\\r\nSome wondefully atmospheric pages from the book. My favourite story is the one about the swan maidens. Gary and I were laughing at how much some of the characters look just like Adam. (Which makes sense, he modelled the main character, Poika, on his son.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_pages-4e6d214587.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Lots more photos here under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_adam_shirley-e8fa92fc0a.jpg\">\\r\nAdam in conversation with children's book legend \u003Cb>Shirley Hughes\u003C/b>, still a great regular on the party circuit. I had a big grin on my face listening to \u003Cb>Paul Gravett\u003C/b> and \u003Cb>Ian Rakoff\u003C/b> trying to convince her to make more comics after being so impressed by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.alfiebooks.co.uk/allaboutshirleyhughes_otherbooks.asp\">\u003Ci>Bye Bye Birdie\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, Hughes' first graphic novel for adults.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_caro-06ee4e81e7.jpg\"> \u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_agent-34fd41c82c.jpg\">\\r\nDavid's wife, \u003Cb>Caro Fickling\u003C/b>, and Adam and Ben's agent, \u003Cb>Suresh Ariaratnam\u003C/b>, examining the mysterious crystal.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_ethering_aggs-fb6b1c8f3e.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cb>The Etherington Brothers\u003C/b> and \u003Cb>John Aggs\u003C/b>. Look out for the Etherington's \u003Ci>\u003Cb>Monkey Nuts\u003C/i>\u003C/b>, which comes out a month before my \u003Cb>\u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i>\u003C/b>!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_shirley_pat-80931e8ae4.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cb>Shirley Hughes\u003C/b> talking with John's mum \u003Cb>Patrice Aggs\u003C/b>. (The mother-son team wrote and drew \u003Ci>The Boss\u003C/i> together.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_randomhouse-3ba189a1d8.jpg\">\\r\nRandom House team, editor \u003Cb>Helen McKenzie-Smith\u003C/b>, publicist \u003Cb>Lauren Bennett\u003C/b> and new publicist \u003Cb>Rosi Crawley\u003C/b> (\u003Ca href=\"http://twitter.com/Random_Rosi\">Random_Rosi\u003C/a> on Twitter.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_cover-f96b638b50.jpg\"> \u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mezolith_daunt-df4337a897.jpg\"> \\r\n\\r\nThanks so much, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/\">Daunt Books\u003C/a> for hosting the event! They seriously have one of the most beautiful bookshops I've ever seen.","2010-04-09T12:11:00.000Z","six-til-death-prehistoric-partying",[],"six 'til death: prehistoric partying",1776628717907]