Monday, May 23, 2011

Don't Worry Douglas!

Children's author David Melling has released another title in his adorable 'Douglas' series!

Those young readers taking part in our Picture Book category this year may already have read David's first book in the series, Hugless Douglas, which won a place on our Picture Book shortlist this year. The book follows Douglas on his quest to find the perfect bear hug and is packed with all the humour and charming illustrations we have come to expect from David Melling's books.

 Children's author, David Melling       
David's new book in the series, Don't Worry Douglas!, was released in April and features another of Douglas' adventures. Douglas is given a fantastic red, woolly hat by his dad; Douglas is so excited with his new gift  that he races outside to show it off to his friends. But it isn't long before his excitement (and his hat!) unravels, leaving Douglas wondering what to do for the best. His friends have a variety of hilarious (and useless!) ideas and it is inevitably left to Douglas to decide how to put things right...

Fans of David Melling's wonderfully charming books will not be disappointed by his latest edition to the Douglas series... To find out more about the book click here, or to find out more about David and his other work click here to visit his interactive website!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Inspired to Read

Find reading inspiration from the best book awards in the country!

If you're enjoying reading this year's shortlisted books and you’re looking for some ideas as to what to read next then why not check out the shortlists of some of the country's other major children’s book awards. Their lists, like our own, reflect the very best of children's fiction and could help you when tyring to pick out a book at your next visit to the library! If you're not already a library member click here to join!

Photo courtesy of Maxim Lachmann

Some book awards have already announced their winners for this year, including the Costa Book Award, the Galaxy National Book Awards and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. One of our own shortlisted books, The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies, featured on both the Galaxy and Waterstones shortlists, even scooping the winner's prize for best children's book in the Waterstones award. While one of our Longer Novels, Annexed by Sharon Dogar, won a place on this year’s Costa Shortlist.

To find out the other 2011 winners of these national book awards, as well as what other books made it on to their shortlists, visit their websites by clicking on the links toward the bottom of the column running down the right hand side of the screen. Hopefully they might give you some ideas as to what to read next! 

There are also still some book awards – like our own – which are yet to announce their winners for this year. The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards as well as the Lancashire Book of the Year Award are still waiting to announce their winners. The Greenaway Award focuses on younger children, while the Carnegie and Lancashire Book Awards concentrate on books for young adults.
You can check out their websites by clicking on the links on the right.

The Carnegie and Greenaway Award has a fantastic website with sections on the 2011 Awards as well as a ‘Living Archive’, featuring all the books to have won the award. The Carnegie Award has been going for more than 70 years, and the Greenaway for more than 50, so, with a book award that has been running for that long you’re sure to find a title that catches your eye! You will also find a link to their ‘Shadowing Site’ on the homepage where you can read reviews, download free resources and generally get involved in the award! The Lancashire Book Award also has a website featuring their 2011 shortlist as well as a comprehensive archive of the award’s previous shortlists.

We really hope that you’re enjoying reading the fantastic books on this year’s Sheffield Children’s Book Award shortlists and that this post might give you a few hints as to where to go to find further inspiration for your reading!