Featherston Booktown and other news

THE GOOD NEWS

Featherston Booktown – a three-day celebration of books, writers and literature – is returning to the Wairarapa town for the second time from May 20-22.

Joy Cowley, who lives in Featherston and composer Gareth Farr have joined together to put rhythm into Joy's book, Scary Music.

Please Google Featherston Booktown for all the details – it should be a very special few days .

Photo of Joy in her Featherston home taken by Maarten Holl/ Fairfax Media

An author virtually unknown in this country has won $50,000 at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Stephen Daisley — originally from Raetihi but a longtime resident of Western Australia — is the surprise winner of the fiction category with his second novel, Coming Rain. He faced serious competition from Patricia Grace, Patrick Evans and newcomer David Coventry.

The prestige of winning the country's top literary honour is capped by the $50,000 Acorn Foundation Literary Prize, which will buy Daisley some time to dedicate to his next book. 

Other awards, each accompanied by $10,000 prizes, went to Witi Ihimaera for his memoir Maori Boy, 

 

Witi at the Edinburgh Festival 2014 - photogapher unknown

David Eggleton for his poetry collection The Conch Trumpet, and Tangata Whenua authors Aroha Harris, Atholl Anderson and the late Judith Binney.

Acknowledgements: I copied this word for word from STUFF

AND THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS

I saw on Facebook this morning that another National Treasure (see Dave Gunson’s book posted earlier), Kate Harcourt, is in hospital following a heart attack.  That she is loved and known by so many people is shown by the amazingly astronomical number of hits and likes this piece of news has already collected. 

NZ Treasures and Traditions

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Dave Gunson

Kiwiana

New Holland 2016  $24.99pb 64pp

All About series

ISBN 978 1 8696 6448 0

Themes: New Zealand culture (mid 20^th century) / New Zealand icons

Remember when we called Tamarillos, Tree Tomatoes and Kiwifruit were Chinese Gooseberries? Do we ‘talk funny’ in New Zillund? (Australians apparently think so). And just what is the story behind the use of the silver fern as an emblem of our country?

In trade-mark bright colours, easily followed text and a cornucopia of information, Dave Gunson has created another title in his All about series – this time one that will be full of nostalgia for the 40 plus adults as well as presenting much up to the minute information for them and for younger readers at whom, of course, the book is aimed.  Who we are, where we are, what we eat and drink, what we make, what animals and plants share the country with us   - it’s definitely all about New Zealand Treasure ands Traditions.

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up – but definitely of interest to adults of all ages.

Marine Life - Children's Picture Book

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Marion Day, illustrated by Jane Thorne

Spiny Sebastian Starfish

AM Publishing NZ 2016  $19.99pb 32pp

ISBN 978 0 9941 3053 2

Themes: Marine life/ Marlborough Sounds, NZ

One morning while he was simply minding his own business and searching for food on the sea floor, Sebastian Starfish found himself hooked, dragged to the surface and thrown into a smelly bucket of bait.   This began a long and anxious journey for him until, at last, he was reunited with his friends. Small children will enjoy identifying the different emotions on Sebastian’s ‘face’ from terror to surprise to, at last, real happiness when he was returned home.

This picture book, the first of a planned series, is available from selected bookshops and from the writer who lives and creates her stories in the Marlborough Sounds. Go to: marionday@xtra.co.nz   

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

A very small climber

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Link Choi

Henry Bob Bobbalich

Scholastic 2016  $18.99pb 32pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3322 4

Themes: Adventurous children/ Anger/ Climbing/ Fathers and sons/ Stories in rhyme

Henry Bob Bobbalich was a small boy with a great sense of adventure especially when it came to climbing  - walls/ trees/ cliffs – nothing was too tall or too difficult – he could scale them all. However this didn’t suit his unimaginative school teacher who felt the boy should be concentrating on matters closer to the ground and Henry lost his spirit. It took his father, a small girl falling from a cliff and a large elephant to turn his fate and for him to be able to listen to the voice inside his head and to follow the sort of life he knew was right for him. Interesting illustrations from Link Choi an Auckland based artist who specialises in producing picture books for adults (this may be his first picture book for children?) and whose prints are available for view on the net. One of the charms of the book is you are really not quite sure where and when it is set. Children will have their own ideas.  As she did in Grasshoppers Dance  (Scholastic 2015) Juliette MacIver has a wonderful way with words  (They read palms and the Psalms, applied balms they had made…) which makes it a pleasure to read aloud.

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

(Is it really a week since I entered anything on this Blog?  Put it down to the school holidays and an avalanche of writers wanting their work assessed! BM)

A New Novel by the Writer of Solitaire

Alice Oseman

Radio Silence

HarperCollins 2016  $19.99pb 403pp

ISBN 978 0 0075 5924 4

Themes: Choices/Friendship/ Identity/ Peer pressure

For Frances the goal has always been to get to university and nothing is going to stop her  - not friends or the events happening around and certainly the small voice inside her that is crying out for the ‘real Frances’ to be acknowledged. Then France meets Aled and an emotional watershed is released.  Alice Oseman, who is in her early 20s is very active on Twitter and Tumblr and her writing is inspired by what she finds there. Read some of the reviews from her readers and you will see how much this understating is appreciated. And follow her on Tumblr: www.chronicintrovert.tumblr.com

Year 9 up/ Age 13 up

A dinosaur for a grandpa?

AVAILABLE on May 2nd

NZ writer and Illustrator

Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones. Colouring by Tara Black

My Grandpa is a Dinosaur

Penguin Random House Picture Puffin  2016  $19.99pb  32pp

ISBN 978 0 1435 0719 2

Themes: Perception

Why does nobody but Wanda notice that her grandpa is a dinosaur?  He has a tail. He is green and scaly. He is enormous. But no one believes her. A story for all those who see so much that adults (and some children) don’t (or can’t) told with minimal text and generous ‘cut and come again’ illustrations. The story of the writer and illustrators is almost as unusual as the narrative – please Google to find the background including the fact that Richard Fairgray is almost totally blind.

Preschool up/ 4 years up

Cats and dogs are Friends

AVAILABLE IN JUNE

Finnish writer and Illustrator

Timo Parvela, illustrated by Virpi Talvitie

Bicycling to the Moon.

Gecko Press 2016  $19.99pb  128pp

ISBN 978 1 7765 7032 4

Themes: Ambition/ Cats and Dogs/ Friendship// Loyalty/ Short Stories and 

a great READ ALOUD

Purdy the cat and Barker the dog are real friends and live together in a sky blue house atop a hill. While Purdy is full of ambition to be a Supercat and to be out of here, Barker is content just to hang around the garden and dig up the soil - over and over. This is an altogether charming book, full of warm good humour and is a pleasure to handle with its creamy, smooth paper and perfect size. I wish I had a group of children around 7 to 10 years old to share it with right now and help them explore all the places the stories would take them in their imaginations!

Recommended as a special book not to miss.

Year 3 up/ Age 7 up