Storywriting competition for 5-11s

Another World Book Day launch, this time from National Literacy Trust which has teamed up with Katherine Holabird, author of the Angelina Ballerina books, and Build-a-Bear Workshop to announce a storywriting competition. Katherine has written the beginning of a story and children aged between 5 and 11 are being challenged to write the rest of it.

Guardian's new site launched on World Book Day

On Saturday, the Guardian published an article about its new online children's book club which launched today, World Book Day. The site has been designed and curated with the help of a dedicated editorial panel of 100 children and teens from around the world, and that's how it will continue to work: by children, for children. The front page is bright and welcoming, with links to news, quizzes, audio and video. Also, running across it is a colourful row of numbers from 1-16 - clicking on one takes you into the section for that age group. Featured today are interviews with several authors, including Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson, and you can also watch a video in which some of the young people who have helped to design and curate the site explain why they love reading and what the site offers young readers. Definitely worth checking out.

Shaun Tan's "The lost thing" wins Oscar

Oscar congratulations to Shaun Tan : The Lost Thing, based on his book, won Best Short Film. Read a review of the book from Books for Keeps and Trevor Cairney's blogpost about Tan, watch the film online and borrow the book from us - we have several Shaun Tan books on our catalogue.

Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books

The award ceremony was yesterday and the winners were:


Bookbug Readers 0-7 Category
What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Lydia Monks


Younger Readers 8-11 Category
Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles by Barry Hutchison


Older Readers 12-16 Category
Grass by Cathy MacPhail


I'm delighted to say we have all the titles in the Library (check SUPrimo for details.) For more information, including photos of the award ceremony hosted by Janice Forsyth, see the Scottish Book Trust site. There are also write-ups in the Edinburgh Reporter, the Bookseller and Booktrade.info and you can read illustrator Lydia Monks' blog about her day at the awards here.

PS Coverage also in the Glaswegian 3/3/11

Children's authors dominate list of favourite UK library books

For more than 20 years the Public Lending Right organisation, which organises the small royalty payments to living authors for books borrowed from public libraries, has compiled an annual list of the most borrowed books. The list is dominated by children's books -  for example, Jacqueline Wilson books have been borrowed at least a million times every year between 2000 and 2010. Authors whose books we stock are listed below with their position on the list and a link to their books on our catalogue. Read the full story in the Guardian.


4. Jacqueline Wilson - best known for almost everything she writes! Maybe the Tracy Beaker books which were televised. A former Children's Laureate.

5. Francesca Simon - best known for the Horrid Henry series.

6. Mick Inkpen - best known for picture books about Kipper the dog.

7. Julia Donaldson - best known for the Gruffalo. Enough said!

9. Lauren Child - best known for Charlie and Lola, picture book characters who have also made it onto TV.

10. Terry Deary - best known as author of the Horrid Histories series, but also writes fiction.

The Next Chapter - new blog from Barrington Stoke

Barrington Stoke, the Edinburgh-based publisher of books for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers, has a new blog, The Next Chapter, with inclusive literacy ideas for teaching with their books. First up is a write-along competition based on Ninja: First Mission by author Chris Bradford. Check out the blog to see how your class could win.

Jordanhill Library has a good selection of Barrington Stoke books. See our Reluctant Readers page for more information.

Brian Jacques 1939-2011

Children's author Brain Jacques has died on the 5th of February, aged 71, after a heart attack. He is perhaps best known for the Redwall series. There is more information in the Guardian in Julia Eccleshare's obituary and on their Books Blog.

For more obituaries see Books for Keeps, the Herald, the Scotsman and the Telegraph.