Featured children’s book – Page 13 – Bookmonitor

Breaking the Spell

Stories of Magic and Mystery from Scotland.

I just love the cover of this book and illustrator Cate James has continued the magic through all the stories.

Lari Don, an acclaimed story teller, has spent most of her life in Scotland, and she has compiled these ten magical and funny stories into Breaking The Spell.

They are all stories from Scotland told to children north of the border.

And with all stories, they change ever so slightly in the telling….and Lari hopes that these stories will come alive with whoever reads them and passes them on.

Stories include; The Selkie’s Toes, The Witch of Lochlann and The King of the Black Art.

A great book from Frances Lincoln publishers, a magical present to share.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best

in children’s books, always on line.

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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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Two New Titles from Jane Nissen Books

These two classics are brought back to life by Jane Nissen Books, beautifully presented and a joy to read or to re read.

Bringing classic children’s books back into print is the mission for Jane Nissen Books and as Jane says,’ To enable a new generation of readers to discover for themselves high quality timeless titles that should not be lost’.

The Lost Prince is the story of two boys brought together by fate and given an enormous task of adventure to find different people across Europe. They set out with little money but high determination and courage.

King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry is the story of the Godolphin Arabian, who travelled in around 1724 from Morocco to Cambridge.

It’s a great story and more than worthy to be read.

Click on the book covers and buy both as a treat for Christmas… I bet you will find yourself reading at least one of them before you can get it wrapped!

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on

Jackie Morris and Help Musicians UK in Covent Garden

card Jackie Morris was in Covent Garden on 12th September, well actually, in the beautiful Swiss Church in Endell St, Covent Garden, to show her new Christmas card design and to talk about her life in writing and illustrating.

The talk was on behalf of Help Musicians UK and proceeds from sales of Jackie’s designed card will go to support musicians of all ages and Jackie also donated prints of her work to be auctioned.

Jackie talked about how she includes all of her life into her art and writing, her walks at St David’s and into the fields and with views across the sea and hares racing across the fields.

Engaging, creative and just beautiful,and sitting in the midst of the London hubbub, it is easy to drift away into that delight of the Pembrokeshire countryside and wish you were there.

JM hare Her latest book,The Song of the Golden Hare, published by Frances Lincoln is out in print in October. It’s a must!

Follow Jackie’s work through her blog and on facebook. You can buy the cards too from Help the Musicians and you can buy her books, details on her website.

We are pleased to work with Jackie on getting her stories and books to the children, who don’t have much chance to see them.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on line

The Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture 2013

Kevin Crossley-Holland,celebrated author and President of the School Library Association, delivered an enchanting and beautifully crafted lecture:

‘Footprints on the Grass: Speaking of Gardens and Children’s Books’ to a full house at Homerton College Cambridge on 6th September.

The theme of gardens was delicately drawn into ways in which children use imagination within places where there is space, beauty and security.

Kevin talked about John the Peddar from Norfolk, is journey to London following a dream about a pot of gold, only to turn back and return home where the pot was in his back garden.

‘ The greatest treasure in the world is on our doorstep, but you may have to go away and come back to find it.‘

There were many references to Philippa’s writing, and especially her most famous book, Tom’s Midnight Garden.

Philippa Pearce died in 2006, but respect and affection for her writing is as strong as ever. In her memory, a series of lectures is now underway, each intended to celebrate excellence in writing for children.

The inaugural Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture was held on 11th September 2008, at Homerton College, Cambridge, and focused on Philippa Pearce’s own writing and contribution to children’s literature. Subsequent lectures have ranged more widely and speakers have included Michael Rosen, Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman and Malorie Blackman.

The 2014 Lecture will be given by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Kevin’s speech was filmed and will be available on the Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture website soon. http://www.pearcelecture.com

Poetry for Children

Poetry will be back in the mainstay of children’s learning at school. Frances Lincoln have just published a brilliant array of books in a series called, Poetry for Children.

Titles and authors include; Kathy Henderson with The Dragon with a Big Nose, Cheryl Moskowitz with Can it be about Me?, Brian Moses with The Monster Sale along with Roger McGough, Grace Nichols and Wes Magee.

The new Primary National Curriculum, to be introduced from September 2014, will bring a focus on poetry. The Bookseller said,

“The move could help to boost children’s poetry publishing output, support poets in schools and encourage booksellers to revitalise their limited children’s poetry offer.”

Take a look at the Frances Lincoln poetry books, and from our Dolphin site go to Anytime Book Shop and shop via Amazon. When you buy books through Dolphin we will donate 20p per book to supporting children at school in Nepal(or at least getting to school as the recent monsoons have meant a long break!).

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on line

Max the Champion

Max is a small boy mad about sport, and every day Max imagines that he is the most successful sports person,taking parts in all sorts of exciting sports.

In his world, he dives into an Olympic swimming pool, he takes the lead in the bob sleigh and he scores a winning goal in an amazing football team.

His friends are there in his dreams too, and in the illustrations, which speak as much as the words, you can find many aspects of disability and inclusion. Look carefully and you will find a hearing aid and an oxygen tube, and more…

What a wealth of opportunity for all children and a book that will go down really well in the classroom as teachers can use both as a good story book and also as a real resource for inclusion and disabilities as part of everyday life.

Max the Champion, written by Sean Stockdale and Alexandra Strick and illustrated by Ros Asquith and published by Frances Lincoln. As publishers, they are amazing at delivering books that are both great reads and meet the needs of our diverse and rich culture.

You can buy this book through Dolphin Booksellers today.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books – always on line.

Books go Walkabout – e-Print Publisher

Books Go Walkabout has just started on a new journey, into e-publishing. The project is now able to publish books for authors and creative writers around the globe.

Books go Walkabout is the e-publishing arm of SmithMartin LLP, the parent practice of Dolphinbooksellers.

An exciting new adventure and we are pleased to start our journey with the first book in series called Writing about Africa. Short stories about Africa, fiction, travel, interest and lots more to come.

The first story, The Goat That Vanished is by Ifeoma Onyefulu. A story of a goat, some elders and a wedding gift that went wrong… a story of culture, humour and family life.

Ifeoma Onyefulu - a story about a goat — The Goat That Vanished

Ifeoma writes for children and uses her captivating photos of African life as she travels across the continent.

Buy from the Amazon Kindle Store for less than the price of a cup of coffee here.

Our publications are set to grow, in conjunction with the Worldreader programme, who provide 300 stories on a Kindle free to individual children throughout Africa. Great readers!

Our publications are designed to feed into social projects supporting children and literacy in Africa, but their interest is world wide. already the story is available across the globe, in 9 different countries.

A real success for Books Go Walkabout…join us on the journey.

Books Go Walkabout – Children and authors using technology across the globe

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013 –

Now in its fourth year, the Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award, will announce the winner on Thursday May 23rd at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The award, continues the Frances Lincoln’s tradition of promoting writing which celebrates cultural diversity and cultural and social tolerance. It provides a platform for new authors to present their work and celebrate aspects of their own culture through the world of children’s books.

The award is also supported by The Arts Council and encourages writers to have a voice and to reach out to all children, and especially for children who can find reflections of their own lives in the stories.

“Diversity in children’s books is crucial – in this ever-shrinking world we are all foreigners somewhere. I’m delighted to be part of an award recognising the importance of this element in young people’s fiction.”
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties)

This year the short list is

One of a Kind by Jude (Najoud) Ensaff

Samosa Girl by Swapna Haddow

You’re Not Proper by Tariq Mehmood

From dark secrets, from characters whose existence is shaped by issues of war,to children with multiple identities, these are all great books to be short listed.

Dolphin Booksellers will post the announcements.

Sue Martin – Dolphin Booksellers, best in children’s books, always on line.

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

A most beautiful story,from Jackie Morris with her wonderful illustrations of a polar bear, forests, skies and seas. A story, which Jackie describes as…

” …there are some stories that when you hear them for the very first time it is as if you know them, as they are part of your soul. You then spend the rest of your life trying to understand them…. It is a journey, an adventure, a love story that in the writing took an unexpected turn.”

It is a magical story and a book to treasure and return to. It will make you go back to it and try and relive the story or find yourself as the girl seeking through all the winds to find her lost love in the castle east of the sun and west of the moon.

Published by Frances Lincoln the book is available via this Amazon link. The format of the book is wonderful with a neat hardcover. It’s a book for a present and especially for yourself too, a treat and a joy.

Jackie lives in a small house by the sea in Pembrokeshire where she writes and paints. She has a range of wonderful books, such as The Snow Leopard and Can You See a Little Bear? Jackie’s website is a dream and is worth hours of exploring.

There is a competition to win the necklace from East of the Sun, West of the Moon on Jackie’s blog.

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on line.

The Power of the Page

The Federation of Childrens’ Book Groups annual conference was a great event held over the weekend of March 23rd and 24th.

Not the usual Spring like feel as the snow blew in from the east and in Suffolk, that means cold!

The engaging authors,publishers stalls,splendid array of books for sale(Norfolk Children’s Book Centre) made it a weekend of books, stories and illustrations.

Saturday was the busiest day and authors enlivened the discussions with slides and talks about their writing, their books and all the things that just makes their books special.

Authors we especially connected with;

Marcus Sedgewick, Annabel Pitcher,Liz Pichon, Emma Chichester Clark, Gill Lewis, Adele Geras and Colin Mulhern. Worth looking at their websites and following their work. Brilliant stuff!

But especially the work of Gill Lewis,

Sky Hawk, White Dolphin and Moon Bear. Her work as a vet has a big influence. Her childhood of hating books and librarians must have turned her into a great writer!

‘I turned my back on books, but other children got lost in the magic of books, I couldn’t get lost in that world.’

You can buy more books from the pages of Dolphin Booksellers, and we will make a donation to supporting Kalpana to get to school in Nepal.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers- the best in children’s books always on line

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