Michelle Robinson Author visit to Sheffield

We are thrilled that Sheffield Children's Book Award shortlist author Michelle Robinson will be coming along to Sheffield Central Library on the 2nd May to read her stories and encourage children to take part in activity sessions.

The sessions are ideal for children aged 5- 10 years. Places are free but need to be booked through me jennifer.wilson@sheffield.gov.uk or you can call in the Central children's library and collect a ticket.

And the winning books are.......

 Congraultaions to all shsortlist authors and particularly the winners.

Sorry for the delay!

Sheffield Children's Book Award ceremony update

Authors and Illustrators confirming attendance at the Sheffield Children's Book Award ceremony on 5th November.

James Dawson - author of the Young Adult Novel, Cruel Summer

James will also be staying on after for a meet the author session for a chat about his book and take your questions. Schools will be invited along to this special opportunity but if your school would like to beconsidered, please contact me for further details.

 

 

Adam Stower - author of the Picture Book Troll and the Oliver

 

Adam is looking forward to meeting a group of children after the ceremony at one of our community librraies, further details to follow.

Charlotte and Adam Guillain , authors of the Picture Book

Spaghetti and the Yeti

 

The husband and wife team that created this book will be availble after the ceremony to meet a group of children to talk about thier book. This will take place in one of our community librraies (further details to follow)

 

2014 Special Category - Poetry

For the past few years we have introduced a new category to the award shortlist to raise the profile of genres not usually recognised by the Award shortlist.
In the past we have had the following special categories;

• Books from a Series
• Community Libraries Favourite Book
• Teachers Favourite Book
• Quick Read
• Stan Lee - Manga/Graphic Novel

This year our Special category is Poetry and 3 fantastic books have been selected

 

The Monster Sale by Brian Moses

Monsters that moan and groan and wail, Buy your monsters at the Monster Sale. Chickens who wear jumpers, all kinds of monsters, a puppy's favourite chews (a lucky dip of forgotten socks), staying awake waiting for your birthday, a bear in his underwear...

In his first collection for younger children, well-known poet Brian Moses has provided a funny and witty snapshot of family life, with a bit of fantasy added in.

Perfect for sharing at home or at school.

 

 

BRIAN MOSES has been a professional poet since 1988. He spends half his time writing and the rest of the time he visits schools across the UK and Europe, performing his poetry and percussion show. His poetry books include Behind the Staffroom Door: The Very Best of Brian Moses and A Cat Called Elvis. His solo collections and anthologies have sold over 1 million copies and he is featured on e National Poetry Archive.

Brian lives in a small Sussex village with his wife, their loopy labrador and a collection of bad-tempered chickens.

Here Come the Creatures! by Wes Magee

Funny, sad, silly, sing-along, the poems are about friends and families, pets and creatures, school, space travel - and more. There is something for everyone in this sparkling collection - with lots of action and joining in.

A brilliant and varied poetry collection suited to early years and key stage one aged childen from this distinguished children's poet.

 

WES MAGEE was born in Scotland, and worked as a teacher and head-teacher until he became a full-time writer twenty years ago. He has published 100 books for children, including poetry, picture books and storybooks. He regularly visits schools, libraries and festivals across the UK and abroad, performing his poetry show . He also runs training days for teachers, talks at educational conferences and runs writing workshops. His best-known books are The Very Best of Wes Magee, which won the Children's Poetry Bookshelf Award, The Boneyard Rap and The Witch's Brew. He lives in Yorkshire.

John Hegerty - I Am A Poetato

From A-Z - Alligator to The Dog Runs (Zoom) - John Hegley has a witty, surprising and always entertaining poem for every letter. Wonderfully varied, there are poems about people, pets and all kinds of other creatures. In each of them John Hegley brings insights by highlighting particular characteristics. G is for Guillemot, in which the poem gives a visual image of the precipitous world in which the bird lives as well as describing its life; Christmas Caterpillar surprises Santa while Quibble will set all readers on a circular and quibbling conversation about exactly what is being described. A terrific anthology for diving into again and again.

 

JOHN HEGLEY was born in north London and brought up in Luton. He now lives in Islington. He started out as a stand-up comedian/poet, performing his work on the festival and comedy circuit and he became something of a cult performer from the early 80s onwards. He has recently started to direct his writing and performances more towards children, but generally his shows will delight all ages. He plays the ukulele as part of his poetry performances. He is a Fellow of the English Association. John Hegley lives in north London.

 

 

 

Congratulation James "Queen of teen!"

James Dawson has beaten John Green to be crowned the first ever male Queen of Teen. Dawson was announced as the winner of the award at a ceremony on Friday 11th July 2014 surrounded by fans, invited journalists and five out of nine of the other shortlisted authors: Cathy Cassidy, Beth Reekles, Natasha Farrant, Holly Smale, Cassandra Clare, S.C. Ransom, Tonya Hurley, Veronica Roth and John Green.

James is the author of Cruel Summer, shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Award 2014 Young Adult category.

The Queen of Teen was launched in 2008 to celebrate the ever-growing range of fiction available for young adults and acknowledge the hugely significant part that fiction can play in the teenage years. Readers are invited to nominate authors for the award and it is their votes that choose the winner.
The changing shape of the shortlists over the years – each one nominated entirely by teens – accurately reflects the trends and developments in the genre of teen fiction. From the hilarious books of the first-winner, Louise Rennison, through the more issues-focused stories of Cathy Cassidy to the darker tales of Maureen Johnson and James Dawson.
Author of Hollow Pike and Say Her Name, James rallied his loyal fans and followers with a vigorous social media campaign and an ‘endorsement’ from Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst. Queen of Teen voters were impressed with his sensitive and entertaining handling of subjects such as challenges affecting the LGBT community.
As one voter commented: ‘There are lots of gay characters in his books. But the books aren't about being gay; they're gay because they're gay and a huge fuss isn't made about it, which is fantastic.’
James said, on being crowned Queen of Teen, ‘I am not the best-selling author on the list. I’m not the most famous. I’m not the most talented. So all I can really do is promise to work twice as hard to be a really good queen. I hope I can take this award and do something with it, and use the platform to shine a light on UKYA.’
For further information on Queen of Teen and how to take part in the voting for next year’s award visit www.queenofteen.co.uk

Congratulation to Rick Yancy!

 

 

The 5th Wave - Overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award 2014

 

Rick Yancy

Rick is a native Floridian and a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago. He earned a B.A. in English which he put to use as a field officer for the Internal Revenue Service. Inspired and encouraged by his wife, he decided his degree might also be useful in writing books and in 2004 he began writing full-time.

Since then he has launched two critically acclaimed series: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, for young readers, and The Highly Effective Detective, for adults. Both books are set in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Rick lived for ten years before returning to Florida.

o    The Infinite sea

o    The Highly Effective Detective

o    Other Works by Rick

o    The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

o    The Monstrumologist

 The 1st wave took out half a million people, the 2nd put that number to shame. Rick Yancey's frightening dystopia is now anticipating its 5th hit and no one knows what to expect. Cassie has lost everything, her parents are dead, her little brother has been captured, to be alive in her world is to be alone. She runs from Them on a daily basis as they kill anyone they find scattered across Earth's desolate countryside. Then she meets Evan. Is he her only hope to rescue her brother and save herself? In this gripping young adult epic, shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award 2014, The Hunger Games meets I Am Number Four to create the ultimate page-turner. Action-packed, intense and just waiting to be made into a blockbuster movie!

Please be advised that some of the content in this book contains mild profanities and themes that are not suitable for younger children.

Author visit by Eoin Colfer

Over 350 local children had the opportunity to meet author Eoin Colfer today at Birley Secondary School.
During the presentation, Eoin talked about his family ( a great inspiration for the characters in his novels) and also about his 2 new books The Reluctant Assassin ( W.A.R.P book1) and W.A.R.P. Book 2
His presentation included a fantastic dramatisation with actors bringing the stories to life with audience participation.
Children attended from Birley Primary, Birley Spa, Charnock Primary and Forge Valley Schools.
Thanks to Birley Secondary School for hosting this event which was a partnership project with the Schools & Young Peoples Library Service.

The Wicked Young Writers Award

The Wicked Young Writers Award 2013/14 has been launched. The award is spearheaded by Michael Morpurgo and aims to recognise excellence in writing, encourage creativity and to help develop writing talent in young people aged five to 25 years.
The 2013/14 Wicked Young Writers' Award is now open for entries and will run until Spring 2014. Writing can include any style from poetry to prose and there are five age categories: 5-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-17 years and 18-25 years. 
Winners from each of the four categories will be announced and will receive a certificate signed by Michael Morpurgo and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, the Wicked Young Writers' Award Anthology and £50 books/eBooks tokens to spend, as well as £100 worth of books for their school library donated by Hachette Children's Books. Entries can be submitted individually or as part of a school group.

The Award is championed by Patron Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. Assisting Michael Morpurgo with the judging process will be Michael McCabe, Executive Producer of WICKED, and Jonathan Douglas, the director of the National Literacy Trust, and Dean Atta, acclaimed poet and playwright.

 www.WickedYoungWriters.com

Press release from Sheffield Star 5/11/13