[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-youth-libraries-group-conference-2013":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"So last Friday I went to a conference in Birmingham and met all my own book characters there! Ha ha, here's a \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i> drawing by blog reviewer \u003Ca href=\"http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/10/26/48-hours-with-melvin-burgess-susan-cooper-jonathan-stroud-michael-foreman-and-more/\">Zoe Toft\u003C/a>'s daughter: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/zoe_daughter_vl_ylg_conf_zpsa512436c-a5e0157150.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more under the cut!-->\\r\nOh look, here is a Sea Monkey photobombing writer \u003Ca href=\"http://melvinburgess.net/\">Melvin Burgess\u003C/a>!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_melvinburgess_seamonkey_photobomb_zps8511284e-7c5dc9d04a.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/10/26/48-hours-with-melvin-burgess-susan-cooper-jonathan-stroud-michael-foreman-and-more/\">Zoe Toft\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nThose Sea Monkeys were everywhere. Even when \u003Ca href=\"http://philipreeve.blogspot.co.uk/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a> was trying to draw a squirrel. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_squirrel_zps4a228c3f-413ee82ad4.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nPhilip and I entertained the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.cilip.org.uk/youth-libraries-group/about/what-ylg-does\">YLG\u003C/a> Sea Monkey army with a reading from \u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i>. I even played solo ukulele (since Philip was going on to Bristol Con and didn't want to haul his instrument around all weekend for one song). But at least he sang with me, I haven't had to sing AND play by myself yet, whew. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_zoetoft_pic_zps0486d649-ae7c64fe2a.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/10/26/48-hours-with-melvin-burgess-susan-cooper-jonathan-stroud-michael-foreman-and-more/\">Zoe Toft\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nOne of the great things about these conferences is getting to have longer conversations with people whom I may have met once at a riotously loud party yelled a few inane things back and forth across a room. This time Philip and I got to have a long chat with writer-illustrator \u003Ca href=\"http://www.levipinfold.com/\">Levi Pinifold\u003C/a> (whom you may remember won the Greenaway award last year for his \u003Ci>Black Dog\u003C/i>). He talked about a time and labour-intensive way of painting layers and layers with tempera (mixing his own paints using egg yolk) and about writing a 50,000 word story, only to pare it down to a 300-word picture book. Here's Levi on the left, with our Seawigs publicist \u003Cb>Philippa Perry\u003C/b>, a nice rep from Templar (can anyone remind me of her name?) and illustrator \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foreman_%28author/illustrator%29\">Michael Foreman\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_sofagang_zps250652ab-979784ffb8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Team Seawigs! \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/aleshabonser\">Alesha Bonser\u003C/a> coordinated our visit and there in the middle is our Seawigs editor, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CWhitston\">Clare Whitston\u003C/a>. One thing I meant to tell librarians in our talk is that they can download free Seawigs activity sheets to use in their libraries: Make your own Seawig, How to Draw a Sea Monkey, How to KNIT a Sea Monkey! Check 'em out, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/oliver-and-the-seawigs/\">here on my website\u003C/a> (I do that for all my books, feel free to browse). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_OUPgang_zpse4e2c952-253afa5d80.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOf course, everyone had to have a moment with the Kraken. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/oup_stand_ylg13_zps80e24a2e-14300f8225.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWith all the book stalls there, it was super-exciting to see some books that haven't even come out yet. I bought this amazing book from \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MarilynBrock\">Marilyn Brocklehurst\u003C/a> of the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.ncbc.co.uk/NCBC/Home.html\">Norfolk Children's Book Centre\u003C/a>, \u003Ci>\u003Cb>Tinder\u003C/i>\u003C/b>, written by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.sallygardner.net/\">Sally Gardner\u003C/a> and illustrated by one of my heroes, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.davidrobertsillustration.com/\">David Roberts\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/Tinder_roberts_gardner_1_zps57fc27b8-2787de05be.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLook at David's amazing linework! And I love the red spot colour, so yummy. The story's brilliant, too, a retelling of \u003Ci>The Tinderbox\u003C/i> fairytale. It's quite horrific and gory, and I usually hate that sort of thing, but somehow David's pictures manage to replace my sense of horror with fascination, and give me a safe sense of distance, partly from the historical, it-happened-long-ago feel and partly because even the goriest pictures somehow have a slight funny side to them in how they're drawn. Not enough to completely subvert the text, but just enough so it quiets a sense of disgust and makes the reading experience rather cosy. A tale told with the nightlight on. (David did this same thing in his \u003Ca href=\"http://www.talesofterror.co.uk/\">\u003Ci>Tales of Terror\u003C/i>\u003C/a> books with Chris Priestley, which I also love.) But while \u003Ci>Tales of Terror\u003C/i> are for fairly young readers, \u003Ci>Tinder\u003C/i> includes references to war, rape and torture, so it's readership will be more young adult and adult. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/Tinder_roberts_gardner_2_zps6e1be496-c08f1bdc26.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHey, look at these trees. I've been paying a lot more attention to how trees are drawn, ever since Philip and I had our year of tree drawing, and David's really good at giving trees a lovely sense of movement and pattern. (I also love what he did with the forest scenes in his \u003Ci>Little Red\u003C/i> picture book.) Find out more about \u003Ci>Tinder\u003C/i> \u003Ca href=\"http://www.hachette.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781780621500\">on the Hachette website\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\nAfter Philip and I taught everyone how to draw a Sea Monkey and sang our sea shanty, mother-son team \u003Cb>Caro and Tom Fickling\u003C/b> gave a talk about \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/\">The Phoenix Comic\u003C/a> and how comics are one amazing way of getting kids into reading. (You can just about see \u003Ca href=\"http://www.fumboo.com/\">Jamie Smart\u003C/a>'s \u003Ci>Bunny vs Monkey\u003C/i> comic strip on the screen. The Phoenix Comic is primarily aimed at kids aged 8-12 (although I know adults without kids who subscribe to it, and little brothers and sisters who love looking at the pictures before they can even read). But Caro also mentioned that she'd love to start up another comic for a younger readership, and I really hope the team will be able to do it. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_phoenix_zps08b2004d-032c8c6b5c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSpeaking of comics for kids, I just got this lovely book through the post from Walker Books editor \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Sprattle_on\">Lizzie Spratt\u003C/a> (who edited my studio mate's comic book, \u003Ci>The Terrible Tales of the Teenytinysaurs\u003C/i>. It's exciting to see, as there aren't enough British comics out there for young children. Here's \u003Ca href=\"http://tooki.co.uk/\">\u003Ci>The Adventures of Tooki: The Secret of the Stones\u003C/i>\u003C/a> by illustrator-writer team \u003Ca href=\"http://tooki.co.uk/authors.htm\">Jamie Courtier and Vicky Kimm\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tooki_covers_zps44b603d4-09761bf912.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe artwork in the book's very gentle and feels a bit like a cross between Jim Henson, the Richard Scary books, the Smurfs and the Moomins. I love some of the cosy interior scenes:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tooki_cave_zpsf73f4be7-5711ba7d76.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAlthough there's a lot of good outdoor action, too:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tooki_storm_zpse70e4da9-2ed98628f5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd peril! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tooki_waterfall_zps524b936b-55243feda3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut the book revolves around cosy community, with elements of folkloric mysticism, and I love seeing the critters tucking into their little gourd soups. Tooki's going to be a big hit this Christmas with gentle comics readers of all ages (along with Gary Northfield's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/teenytinysaurs/\">\u003Ci>Teenytinysaurs\u003C/a>\u003C/i>). Well done, Walker Books, for diving into this reading niche, mostly only filled right now in Britain by certain strips in The Phoenix Comic and the \u003Ca href=\"http://dfb.randomhousechildrens.co.uk/davidficklingbooks_dfclibrary.asp\">DFC Library\u003C/a>. Find out more about it on the excellent \u003Ca href=\"http://tooki.co.uk/\">Tooki website\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tooki_banquet_zpsda5c3b5c-977458e849.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBig thanks to all the librarian organisers of the YLG conference, and for giving Philip and me the chance to meet so many of you and talk about books! You can read more about the conference over on \u003Ca href=\"http://www.playingbythebook.net/2013/10/26/48-hours-with-melvin-burgess-susan-cooper-jonathan-stroud-michael-foreman-and-more/\">Zoe Toft's excellent blog\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ylg13_gang_zps52c6f49f-b933a41148.jpg\">","2013-10-27T23:26:00.000Z","youth-libraries-group-conference-2013",[],"youth libraries group conference 2013",1776628725786]