All posts by Jenny Vaughan

Nibweb member Nicola Davies came away from the School Library Association (SLA) award ceremony on 22 November with two accolades.

Firstly, she was  the judges’ first choice for My First Book of Animals, which brings more than  fifty different animals, birds, insects and marine creatures vividly to life through poems by Nicola and beautiful illustrations by Petr Horace. (The children’s choice was Our Very Own Dog by Amanda McCardie.)

Nicola was also given the very first Hachette Children’s Group Award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books.

The overall winner (judges’ choice) was Survivors of the Holocaust by Kath Shackleton, Zane Whittingham and Ryan Jones – making an exciting break with the children’s nonfiction tradition by being in the form of a graphic novel. Is this something we’ll see more of in future? The children’s choice was Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson with advice from Dr Olivia Hewitt.

A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Petr Horacek. Walker Books, ISBN 9781406359633

Our Very Own Dog by Amanda McCardie, Illustrated by Salvatore Rubbing. Walker Books, ISBN 9781406356205

Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson with advice from Dr Olivia Hewitt, illustrated by Gemma Correll, Hot Key Books ISBN 9781471405310

The SLA Information Book Award is sponsored by Hachette Children’s Group and is supported by Peters Books and Furniture. For more information and a complete list of winners, see http://www.sla.org.uk/blg-winners-of-information-book-award-2017.php

The next date in the children’s nonfiction awards diary is the ALCS/Society of Authors Educational Writers Award, on 5 December at the House of Commons.

Honor Head writes to say she’s just finished a six-book series on social issues for Key Stage 2. They cover Overcoming Fear of Failure; Family Differences; Self-Esteem and Confidence; Understanding Sexuality, and the title she found most interesting of all, Understanding Transgender.
Franklin Watts
ISBN: 9781445155661

In place …
Moira Butterfield has just published two Lonely Planet, City Trail books for children – Rome and Washington. They features themed trails that that introduce readers to history, culture, food and nature, and plenty of amazing facts, too. Look out for her forthcoming book in the same series on Barcelona.
Rome: ISBN-10: 1786579634/ISBN-13: 978-1786579638
Washington: ISBN-10: 1786577275/ISBN-13: 978-1786577276

… and time
1968. A turbulent year in turbulent times, in an age that saw huge advances in science and music that remain with us today. The era was also marked by what seemed like a never-ending war and, in the U.S, 1968 saw the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Brian Williams charts a tempestuous year in, inevitably, Those Were the Days.
The History Press
ISBN-10: 0750984309/ISBN-13: 978-0750984300

And further back still ...
Stewart Ross is pleased to announce that his Timewarp Trials, launched by Evans before they disappeared, have now reappeared under the Readzone imprint. Stewart describes the idea: ‘Professor Geekmeister has found a way to bring historical characters back to life for your readers to put on trial … are they guilty or innocent?’ Titles are Boudicca, Guy Fawkes, Henry VIII and William the Conqueror. Interacative and delightfully illustrated. For ages 7–11.
ReadZone Books
ISBN-10: 1783226331/ISBN-13: 978-1783226337

Dinosaurs may be extinct, but books about them never are.

Dinosaur atlas
Anne Rooney has just published an amazing Dinosaur Atlas, with fold-out maps and ‘lift the flaps’ to reveal all kinds of astonishing facts about the world in which they lived, how they lived, what they looked like – and how we know. It also has information about famous paleontologists and lets young readers measure themselves against life-size bones, teeth and claws. Fantastic illustrations by James Gilleard.

NB: (added December 2018) This book won the School Library Association Prize for this year!

Lonely Planet
ISBN: 9781786577184

And two more …
Steve Parker has just published:
The Science of Killer Dinosaurs, for 8–11-year-olds is about he world in which these predators lived, their physical characteristics, and how they hunted and survived.

Franklin Watts
ISBN-10: 0531269019/ISBN-13: 978-0531269015
And, for slightly younger children, he’s written 100 Facts: Dinosaur Science, with pictures, activities and, as the title suggests, exactly 100 fun facts.

Miles Kelly Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781786172518

Well, maybe not quite, but Sue Nicholson’s two new titles for 4–7-year-olds will help … Can You Touch a Rainbow answers questions such as ‘Why does the sun set? How are snowflakes made? Why is the sea salty? Why do volcanoes explode?’

Quarto Kids/QED Publishing
ISBN: 9781784938369

And if you want to know about animals, turn to Can you Tickle a Tiger’s Tummy? – and find the answer to that as well as to questions such as ‘How slow is a sloth?’ and ‘Who lays eggs as big as a football?’

Quarto Kids/QED Publishing
ISBN: 9781784938376

Nibweb members Ruth Walton and Ruth Thompson have just published two packs of 15 activity cards for the Tate shop – designed to inspire 6–11s with ideas for drawing, collage and painting. Animals encourages young artists to follow in the footsteps of famous artists including Moore, Turner, Blake, Landseer and Stubbs, while Fashion draws on the work of artists such as Sargent, Rossetti, Epstein and Hamilton. Available from shops at Tate galleries and online.

… for the prestigious  Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, is Anna Claybourne, with This Little Pebble, illustrated by Sally Garland. For readers aged six and above, it uses artwork to show the diversity of rocks all around us, starting with a child and a pebble and telling a story that involves volcanoes, tectonic plates, waterfalls, climate change, precious stones, fossils and much more. It also provides great support for for the topic of rocks in both the geography and science curriculum.
Franklin Watts
ISBN-10: 1445149699

Animal footprints
John Townsend has written a fascinating guide to the tracks and prints left by all kinds of animals from all over the world. Life-sized Animal Tracks is aimed at 7–9s, and hopes to ‘open children’s eyes to the wonders of nature and encouraging them to explore and appreciate their local wildlife.’
Book House; (21 Nov. 2017)
ISBN-10: 1912006103/ISBN-13: 978-1912006106

Artists and their pets
Susie Hodge’s Artists and their Pets was produced for a US publisher: ‘a chunky little book with brilliant illustrations’ she says. From this you can discover some very strange facts indeed – such as that Picasso had a white mouse and a goat, and Salvador Dali liked ocelots and anteaters. Age range 9–12. Illustrations by Violet Lemay.
duopress
ISBN-10: 1946064017/ISBN-13: 978-1946064011

Yet more awards for Nibweb member Susie Hodge.

Susie writes: ‘Described by the Wall “A chatty discussion of art and its meanings, both commercial and cultural,” the idea for this book evolved from many visits to art galleries and museums, either in the company of children or surrounded by them, and hearing their questions. (Actually, hearing lots of grown-ups’ questions too). The only real problem in planning the book was choosing which questions to leave out. Well, and choosing what artwork to include and what the illustrations should depict. So more than most children’s art books I’ve written, this was a real case of teamwork, from the sensitive editor, to the resourceful picture researcher and the talented illustrator and designer.

‘Overall, the book is lively and, I hope, informative, asking and answering all sorts of tricky questions about what makes art art. It’s meant to encourage readers to ask more questions and to look more closely at art wherever they may see it. Different types of art from different periods are discussed, and the range is broad and hopefully often unexpected. It explores ideas such as whether or not still life is boring, why contemporary art is often weird, how and why art movements develop, whether you need to be clever to understand art, and of course, why art is always full of naked people.

‘This is part of a teacher’s independent review of the book:

‘“The range of works chosen are well-considered and engaging. The title question was enough to get my class reaching for this book and, having caught their attention, kept it. They found some of the works of art funny, some odd, some beautiful; some they liked and some they didn’t; but what they did do was ask questions and engage with the works the book explores. Perfect for those interested in art…[it]…is also a great starting point for those who know little about the subject. A humorous look at the world of art, it makes a welcome addition to the class or school library!”’

Why is Art Full of Naked People? has so far won: Gold Award for Made for Mums; FILAF Best Young People’s Art Book; and Vlag en Wimpel Honourable Mention.

Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge is published by Thames and Hudson Ltd.

There is a future for non-fiction – and it can be a profitable, challenging and interesting genre. But, it seems, mainly in the United States rather than this side of the Atlantic.

That was Nibweb member Lionel Bender’s message to the Society of Authors’s Educational Writers Group Spring Seminar on 6 May. (See ‘Meet us’ for more about Lionel.) He advised members to ‘try to get into the US market’ – where more money is invested in books and writers, and where more value is placed on non-fiction and non-fiction authors.

Lionel believes that an important reason for this is the Common Core State Standards Initiative, adopted by many states. This stipulates that younger children’s reading should be 50 per cent non-fiction, rising to 75 per cent to older students. The demand this creates is met by publishers with a whole range of different forms of non-fiction – including magazines, picture books, ‘chapter books’, readers and much more. The result is a greater availability and appreciation of non-fiction and non-fiction writers in the US.

By contrast, the National Curriculum in the UK gives little attention to non-fiction, while the decline in school and public libraries has led to fewer non-fiction books being published. A downward pressure on print-runs results in less money to spend on illustration and on authors – making it harder to create innovative, exciting and interesting books.

Lionel also pointed out that the media rarely covers children’s non-fiction, and with such a low profile, there is little demand for it, meaning that few bookshops, or even wholesalers, handle it. In this way, a downward drift continues.

Is it time for a re-think of children’s non-fiction? If it can be exciting and popular in the US, can’t it be enlivened in the UK?