3 Illustrators and a woolly armadillo….

MA3 Illustrators in conversation and a woolly armadillo, that took central stage!

Jackie Morris, Petr Horacek and Jan Fearnley were talking about their illustrations at the Federation of Children’s Book Groups conference.

Then out of Jan’s bag appeared not a canvas with the latest drawing but a woolly armadillo called Milo. Brightly coloured in a stripy outfit he was the answer to Jan’s problems . Find out more about Jan’s books, a very successful author and illustrator.

SGPetr’s, Suzy Goose, just wants to be different to all the other ducks. On her adventures she finds herself in front of a very scary lion.

There’s a fantastic video on Petr’s website that’s well worth a look. Plus his other books, like Elephant,who went inside. Petr started out in Prague,working in communist Czechoslovakia and also studying at the Academy of Fine Art, that was until the revolution and student strike!

SLJackie Morris, with her amazingly beautiful illustrations and huge range of books, both illustrated and written. The Snow Leopard, published by Frances Lincoln and The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems, published by Barefoot Books are two of our favourites. Her web site is full of interest,things to buy and blogs to read!

I love the shots of her studio and the walks by the sea. It makes me feel better about having lots of stuff around me, helps with the creativity, or at least that’s my excuse.

Milo Armadillo – Amazon Link

Silly Suzy Goose – Amazon link

Elephant – Amazon link

The Snow Leopard – Amazon link

Barefoot Book of Classic Poems – Amazon link

You can visit our home page of Dolphin Booksellers. Bringing information about the best in children’s books direct to you. Working with authors and illustrators in schools and book events.

Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.

Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.

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The Knife of Never Letting Go

knifePatrick Ness, author of ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ was talking with Nikki Gamble at the Annual Conference of Federation of Children’s Book Groups, 3 – 5 April 2009.

The Knife of Never Letting Go Amazon link.

Fantastically good to listen to, and a real empathy with teenagers. He made us all think! The issue of moral dilemmas vs. a real need to do something maybe you shouldn’t. The main character in the book, Todd, who struggles with himself over whether or not he can use his knife,” a big ratchety one with the bone handle and the serrated edge that cuts into practically everything in the world“.

Some of the questions that came up on the day got everybody thinking.

Is evil something you are or something you do?

Should you always, ultimately be on the right side and can the actions be justified?

They speak the same language but why don’t they talk the same?

How loud is the world ?

The Knife of Never Letting Go, published by Walker Books is the first book in a trilogy, called Chaos Walking.

askThe second book, The Ask and the Answer is due to be published in May 2009.

This was Patrick’s first novel for teenagers and it won the Guardian Children’s fiction prize in 2008. An exciting read, based around the whole idea that the world is full of noise and gets even noisier when thoughts are heard and nowhere remains silent.

The Ask and the Answer Amazon link.

You can visit our home page at Dolphin Booksellers. Bringing information about the best in children’s books direct to you.

Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.

Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.

We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.