February 2009 – Bookmonitor – news from around the world

Night Flight by Michaela Morgan

T3042 Stump the white horse, bedraggled and forlorn has a stump in the middle of his forehead. It takes Danni to recognise that he is more than just a horse. Amazon link.

Danni is new to this country, he has made it over here, a terrible journey, which he can only remember with pain. His family are left far behind, the ways that he knew are not a part of the world he finds himself in. In the city, there are no wide open spaces to play, no freedom to run and, it seems no places to hide.

Being picked on by the class bullies is not what Danni wants at all. But then he finds Stump or as he re-names this special horse, Moonlight. A friend and a friend in need.

But Danni is just a bit too late….

A wonderful ending with lots of sadness and promise, but you will need to read it to find out.

A great book for children of any age from about 7-11 years.

Michaela Morgan has written lots of really good books, she writes for a number of publishers, including Frances Lincoln and Barrington Stoke.

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Try ‘Respect’ also by Michaela. Amazon Link

Michaela joined us at LeytonStories at Newport Primary School in East London. We had some great workshops and terrific questions from the year 6 students.

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Dan and the Mudman

T3053 The Golem of Prague, emerged through a clay model as a fierce looking giant. It gave Dan some courage when he knew he was being bullied. He had felt alone and isolated. Amazon link.

His friend, Lucy was there but even she wasn’t convinced that Dan was anything but okay when he started to tell her that his clay model could talk.

Being zapped back into the 16th century, going where
danger was beating at the door and finding just how tough he was, could only be the best thing for Dan. Hard as it was!

Jonny Zucker, author of Dan and the Mudman, has captured a real sense of what it is like to be bullied and singled out for something you can’t escape from. Amazon link.

The adventure, and links with the historical setting of the 16th century make this both an exciting read and a story which lots of children will relate to.

Published by Frances Lincoln the book has a band reading of 9+, but as a story it’s a great read for younger or older children.

It was recently read by 10 and 11 year olds at LeytonStories, in East London,they had some really rave reviews. Jonny was one of three authors, giving workshops and talking about books.

Visit our home page at Dolphin Booksellers.co.uk

Brothers Grimm – Once upon a Time…….

cinders Cinderella doesn’t have a Fairy Godmother and Sleeping Beauty didn’t have an evil step mother. Rapunzel has a hidden secret, and Frog Princes seldom get kissed, well would you?

The world of the Brothers Grimm in Germany in 1812 was not the sort of place that you would expect a collection of fairy tales to come from. Yet the two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm gathered series of tales from around the country and published them first as folk tales. (Amazon link). The first book was called “Children’s and Household Tales”. It was so popular that another 70 stories were added to the next volume and it went on growing for six more editions. Finally the book had over 200 stories.

But are Fairy Tales all that they seem, why have they managed to exist for so long and why even now are they the source for so much materials in film and in children’s books?

The stories have in fact changed continuously, they have been adapted, added to, sections removed and still the understanding of the story is much the same. There are complete sets of morals and a way of finding out about the world from the relative safety of a book. In vivid characterisations and settings that may only appear in a world of dreams the very young child finds themselves confronting danger, conflict and right versus wrong comes through in abundance!

In Bruno Bettleheim’s The Uses of Enchantment (Amazon link) there is much about the stories being a focus of where the child actually is in their emotional and psychological being at an early stage.

And so often these are stories that are shared with parents or teachers, and that makes a difference.They can also be read and re read, knowing where the scary bit is in the story can really bring on the anticipation!

They are stories of kings and queens, castles and forests, animals and witches, magic and fantasy.But whatever has happened right always wins over wrong and happiness is found in the end. What more could we want!

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Visit our home page at Dolphin Booksellers.co.uk.