The Countdown Begins . . . #12 The Magical Snowman

Little Rabit has made a wonderful snowman. He doesn't want to leave him! "He is just a snowman," says Daddy. "He isn't real." But when Little Rabbit gets lost in the snow, a soft light sparkles through the trees and a very special friend appears to take him on a magical journey home . . .

This book obviously has echoes of the Raymond Briggs classic, The Snowman. It's a really sweet story, probably more suitable for a younger age group, perfect to snuggle up with as a wintry bedtime story. I love Alison Edgson's illustrations because her animals are so gorgeously soft and fluffy you could be forgiven for attempting to reach out and stroke them. You can't really tell from the picture, but the snowman is glittery on every page, and a bit of glitter is always rather nice at Christmas!

So, to get your hands on a copy, please comment below telling me what you would most like to build out of snow and find come to life. I will pick my favourite. Keep it clean, please, it's a kids' book!

The Twelve Days Until Christmas Commences!

That's right people, as of tomorrow I will have just twelve days left in the office before I head back to the wet, lovely land of song I call home. And as Christmas is a time of giving, I have decided to give my dear readers a Christmas treat.

I spend a fair amount of time worrying that no one is actually reading my ramblings, but then my good friend Simon over at Big Green Books pointed out that I could put a counter up and find out the truth, and it turns out a fair few people have actually stopped by, although whether by accident or not, I can't be sure. Anyhoo, I will be rewarding the people who are interested in what I have to say with some lovely books from Little Tiger, Stripes and Caterpillar.

Each working day for the next twelve days I will be posting a little bit about one of our lovely Christmassy books, along with a competition question. At 5pm each day I will select a winner at random who will get a copy of the book. Pretty simple really.

See you back here on the morrow for book one! Which of this lovely lot will it be??

Small but Mighty

I'm here to talk about being small but mighty, specifically in the book trade. Rather than, say, Persil, which is apparently small but mighty but in an area I know very little about. If you're not already familiar with the small but mighty force of The Big Green Bookshop, shame on you. Find out about them here: http://www.biggreenbookshop.com/ First, a little background about how I got involved with The Big Green Bookshop in a friend/supporter kind of capacity.

Two years ago I left my hometown of Swansea, where I was a Children's Bookseller at Waterstone's, to take up the post of Publicity Assistant at Little Tiger Press and Stripes Publishing. One day, I was perusing The Bookseller website, when I came across a guest blog by Simon Key (co-owner of the BGB). I believe they were at the stage where they were waiting for various bits of paper to be passed around before they could get their hands on the keys, but I forget as I was so intrigued that I hopped straight over to this blog: http://woodgreenbookshop.blogspot.com/ to find out more. I was more than impressed by what Simon and his partner in crime Tim West were doing and the exposure they were getting, so I immediately offered my services in whatever way I could.

When I told my friends I was going to help some people I had never met get ready to open a bookshop, I think they thought I was a bit mad, but they weren't particularly surprised. They'd written me off as bookshop obsessed long ago. A word about people who've worked for Waterstone's. Any two people who've worked for the big W will ALWAYS have something to talk about. So, surrounded by current and ex-Waterstoners, I knew I was amongst friends. Ever since this day, spent making green bunting (which still adorns the shop) and putting books on shelves, I have been hooked on the world of all things BIG and GREEN, because they are, yes, SMALL and MIGHTY. They prove that size should be no obstacle to success, and they aren't afraid to think big. Regular readers of Simon's blog will know that they were listed as one of The Bookseller's top ten independent bookshops, before they'd even opened their doors and they won a Haringey Business Award in their first year. Most importantly, they are probably the most innovative and forward-thinking bookshop I have ever come across, and I spend A LOT of time in bookshops all over the country. The entrepreneurial skills these boys demonstrate are just incredible. They are in constant dialogue with their customers and the trade about how they can improve and function more effectively as a business. They may be a small business, but this doesn't stop them from thinking BIG and more importantly, CREATIVELY.

The company I work for started out in a similar way. Little Tiger Press actually began as two brothers and an uncle selling a book (written by the brothers' mum) out of the back of a van. Over the past twenty-two years, this has grown to a work force of fifty, working across three imprints: Little Tiger Press, Stripes Publishing and Caterpillar Books. This year alone, Little Tiger Press has won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal (the most prestigious award in the UK for children's book illustration) and published two of the thirteen titles selected for CITVs Bookaboo. This month it was announced that two of the nine books shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award were published by Stripes, a feat matched only by Macmillan Children's Books. All this goes to show that though small, we too can prove ourselves to be worthy opponents for the bigger publishing houses.

This month The Big Green Bookshop announced that they would be twinned with Gallic Books. This kind of original thinking is what sets them apart and makes them a force to be reckoned with within the industry.

I hope all this doesn't come across as a big gloat, that is not the spirit in which it is intended. I hope it is inspiring. I hope it gives people hope for the future of independent bookshops and publishers. I think it's good to celebrate success when so often people only comment on the downside of the industry. More than anything else, I hope it awakens the entrepreneurial side in others. I'm not sure I could do what my directors and friends have done, and at my age I wouldn't rule out ever working for one of the big houses, I'll try anything once. But I will never lose my sense of admiration and respect for smaller businesses that strive for mighty results!

The now infamous bunting outside the mighty Big Green Bookshop.

Gleeful co-owners Tim West (left) and Simon Key. 

Both now have considerably longer hair.

Stripey author Martin Chatterton does Big Green Wednesday.

And . . . breathe . . .

Well, my poor little blog has been woefully neglected over the past month or so, but I literally haven't had time to think, never mind organise my thoughts into some kind of vaguely comprehensible narrative. It's ironic that when I have the most interesting news to report, I don't actually have any time to blog! So, where did it all go crazy?

It all kicked off at the beginning of October with the arrival of Children's Book Week. We had two authors out and about during this week, Guy Bass and Harriet Goodwin, but more about them in a little while. I was actually in the office that week ensuring all the preparations were in place for the Dirty Bertie Tour. There are so many things to think about before embarking on a tour and as much as you try to ensure that all will run smoothly, you have to rely on a lot of other people (booksellers, teachers, librarians, parents) to get things right too. It can be hard to remember that they've got plenty of stuff going on too and whilst your priority is the tour, it's not necessarily theirs. So I basically spent that week doing as much as I could to be prepared for any eventuality but, at the end of it, all I could do was get on the train to Liverpool and cross my fingers!

My big coup prior to the commencement of the tour itself was getting David Roberts a slot on the Billy Butler show on BBC Radio Merseyside. David (who is originally from Liverpool) has been listening to Billy's show since he was a nipper. He seems to remember Billy doing a birthday shout out for him when he was about eight years old. When he was living in Hong Kong in his early twenties, David's parents used to send him tapes of Billy's shows and just hearing the familiar Liverpudlian accent would transport him home. I am reliably informed (by David's dad) that Billy's accent is a proper old school Liverpudlian accent, "more Beatles, than Brookie." We had a fantastic time in Liverpool as we got to spend some time with David's extended family, who are incredibly warm and welcoming. In fact I'm always impressed by the warmth of the people of Liverpool. Even in shops and hospitality you get a totally different experience to the coldness of much you encounter in London.

Reading from the Dirty Bertie picture book at Borders in Speke

From Liverpool, we headed to Leeds. I can't speak highly enough of the team at Leeds Libraries. It was a brilliantly well organised event and the kids were lovely. One school was so patient and well behaved (David signed autographs for every child, and there were about 200 of them!) that I was compelled to praise them to their teachers. It wasn't just that they were well behaved, they were just really nice kids. I was chatting to them while they were queueing and you could have a perfectly mature conversation with them. Lovely.

We then headed on to Preston, where once again we were terribly well looked after by the Children's Libraries team. David gave a presentation at the inaugural meeting of the Lancashire Children's Book Group. There was such a lot of passion and enthusiasm for kids' books there, I really hope the group will go from strength-to-strength.

Wednesday night we got to sleep in our own beds - bliss! But on Thursday morning it was back on the road. We had to nip over to Tiger Towers in Fulham to pick up the Bertiemobile and then whiz down the M4 to Bristol where we picked up a pair of lovely Bookseller's from Waterstone's in Cribbs Causeway and headed off to a local primary school where we participated in a fire drill, before getting down to the business of drawing Bertie. Then it was back on the M4 to SWANSEA!!!

My Bertie

I don't think David Roberts has too much to worry about . . .

Oh, it was good to be back on the right side of the Severn (I'm from Swansea, you see) and we had a lovely tea with my mum, brother and sister, who were all charmed by the lovely David Roberts. The following day we spent the morning at Swansea Central Library and the afternoon at my old school, Terrace Road Primary, awwww!

Swansea Central Library

Last, but my no means least, we headed up to Cheltenham for their tremendous literary festival. It was a full day and I had four consecutive events to juggle with David appearing twice, the lovely Caroline Juskus leading a puzzling workshop for Minnie Piper fans and Steve Smallman warming all our hearts with his lovely bear stories.

Caroline Juskus and a Pair of Puzzlers

By the end of the day I was starting to feel a bit peaky. Disaster! I still had to drive back to London and in a couple of days set out on the road once more with the irrepressible Guy Bass.

To be continued . . .

Time to blog? I must be doing something wrong . . .

Well, maybe not quite. It's been a month between blogs and I am just squeezing this one in after a hastily scoffed down dinner of - no I can't possibly confess the shameful depths to which I have sunk in search of quick fix nutrition (if you can call what I have just eaten nutritious . . . )

Anyway, enough about my shocking culinary habits (I am usually a bit of a domestic goddess), it is ten to ten and I have just got in from evening work event #1 of three this week. Now I'm not looking from sympathy, far from it, I am in fact just making it quite clear that I don't fall into the "if you're a book publicist and you're not in a state of anxiety/stress from August to October then you're doing it wrong."

I can't remember who said that first (I believe it was a member of the twitteratti) and of course I paraphrase, but you get the gist. These are busy times. Exciting, but busy and we don't get a lot of time to stop and reflect. At least not until November. I will try to adopt a little and often approach to the ol' blog to keep it on its feet, but alas, I'm not too good at being brief. At least not anywhere outside Twitter, where I am forced to keep to 140 characters.

This weekend was the YLG (Youth Libraries Group) Conference at Warwick University. Basically, a load of fantastic library folk get together and talk about books, libraries, reading, all the important stuff and they invite a bunch of us publishers to join in the dialogue. It's brilliant for us as we get to meet the people who are taking our little treasures out into the world and putting them into the hands of readers and it's great for them because we bring along some of our lovely authors and illustrators to join in their discussions, which I know means a lot to them.

It was especially nice for us this year as the YLG are the people who bestow the Kate Greenaway medal upon their top illustrator for the year, and as I've probably mentioned once, twice or a gazillion times, this years recipient was Catherine Rayner. One of the highlights of the conference is the re-presentation of the medal, giving the wider YLG contingent a chance to hear from the winner, and a big dinner afterwards to celebrate. This meant that Catherine and I got to set on the 'top table' with some of the committee and some other special guests, which was rather nice. It was a bit like being at a wedding! I got to sit next to Wendy Cooling, who is a lovely and fascinating lady and has the breadth of knowledge of children's books which I aspire to posess one day.

We also had the opportunity to hang out with our fellow publicists which is always a great laugh, but that's about all I can say on that matter. What happens at YLG, stays at YLG.

Sadly, being the busy period that it is at the mo', there is no rest for the wicked and it was straight back to the office today. I got some good news about a venue for our Big Draw event, (More on that ASAP!) and then this evening it was off to Farringdon for Words and Pictures: What Use are Picture Books? at the Free Word Centre. The Free Word Centre is a fantastic new centre dedicated to the promotion of the written and spoken word and the protection of freedom of expression. This evening was my first visit, but hopefully we should see plenty more brilliant things come out of this unique space. Check out the website to find out more about it http://www.freewordonline.com They are running a programme of free events up until the 9th of October to celebrate the opening of the centre, so it is well worth a look. This evening's event was hosted by the lovely people at Booktrust and was a panel event featuring Children's Laureate Anthony Browne, along with the fantastic Emily Gravett and our very own Catherine Rayner. Holding court, expertly I must say, was children's book reviewer, Nicolette Jones. Nicolette asked the three illustrators all sorts of pertinent questions about their development as illustrators, what impact picture books had on them as children, and even offered up anecdotes featuring her own children. (Apparently when she suggested her daughter might not be the target audience for a picture book, the fifteen year old asked "Since when is anyone too old for a picture book?" "That's my girl!" conceded Nicolette.)

These really are exciting times for the picture book. There is a whole wealth of talent right across the industry at the moment, and Anthony Browne as Laureate, but foremost as one of our best illustrators, seems well placed to fly the picture book flag and be noticed. The Tigers will certainly be supporting him every step of the way!

It is now quarter to eleven, and all hopes of an early(ish) night seem dashed. Forgive me if I have rambled/been boring. I really am rather tired. Nighty, night!

Bookish Japes in Charlotte Square - Part 1

For most people, August is synonymous with summer holidays. Everyone gets a bit of time off from work or school and either takes steps to flee the country for a bit of sun, or (as has been particularly in vogue this year) elects to make the best of the British summer by embarking on a 'staycation'.

For the publicists of the book trade, however, (and their author/illustrator charges) August means just one thing. It's the month we pack up our best dresses, team them with a pair of wellington boots and make the pilgrimage to Charlotte Square for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. This year I had so many authors and illustrators appearing that I had to make two trips, so I'll do two blogs, y'know, to break it up a little.

The first trip was definitely the busiest. I arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon and then on the Sunday I kicked off early doors with Catherine Rayner and her latest gorgeous picture book Sylvia and Bird. Catherine was the inaugural Illustrator in Residence at the book festival this year so as well as doing a number of her own events she also chaired the masterclasses of fellow illustrators, including Mini Grey and Oliver Jeffers, designed the book festival 'passport' and had various of her illustrations popping up all over the square. Her event went down very well with little-ees and parents alike. 

Catherine Rayner admires her creation Harris in the festival bookshop window.

(P.S. We don't have pint-size authors, Harris is not to scale!)

Next up was the always delightful David Roberts, who performed to a packed out audience of around two hundred and fifty Dirty Bertie fans. David's events have gone down very well for the past couple of years, but each time he performs Bertie seems to accrue yet more devoted fans. I was very impressed by the number of kids who could recount scenarios and characters from the books - they are Bertie-mad in Edinburgh! David nearly didn't get away in time for his train because his signing queue was so long!

And I almost didn't get away for the third Little Tiger of the day, Steve Smallman. Thank goodness I did though, because I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I sincerely wish Steve could read everyone a bedtime story every night because he would just send everyone off so peacefully. It was lovely to see all the little-uns sprawled out on cushions, totally mesmerised by Steve's stories. Although once he'd got them good and relaxed with There's No Such Thing as Monsters he stirred them right up again with the mischievous The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom.

Monday morning saw Kathryn White introducing a clever monkey and a nuisance crocodile in Click Clack Crocodile's Back! One of the terrific things about the festival is the chance for authors and illustrators to mingle with their peers and it's always lovely to see the sense of camaraderie between them. Stuck for someone to play the part of the crocodile in her event, Kathryn called on the very obliging Julia Donaldson, who played the part with great gusto!

Kathryn White with her croc' AKA Julia Donaldson

So that was all the pros done and dusted and Tuesday and Wednesday was time to focus on the Edinburgh novices. Illustrators Caroline Pedler and Simon Prescott ran terribly creative/messy events in the workshop tent. I always feel you've been cheated if you don't leave that particular venue covered in glitter, and I wasn't disappointed. (I think there'd been some fairies in there just before us!) Rounding the trip off nicely was Paul Bright, whose interactive event featuring dinosaurs AND underpants, not to mention a huge inflatable globe, went down a real treat. (You can't go wrong with that kind of combo!) He really got the kids pepped up and we met some die-hard dinosaur fanatics! 

(L - R) Lacey, Caroline Pedler, James (Caroline's other-half and a dab hand with a paintbrush, too!), Simon Prescott hanging out in the yurt.

I can't speak highly enough of this festival. The lovely Sara Grady and her dedicated team do a fantastic job of co-ordinating hundreds of events across two and a half weeks and the festival itself always runs exceptionally smoothly whilst appearing totally laid-back and effortless. I really don't know how they do it but I would very much like to know their secret!

Coming up in Part 2:

Zombaliens invade Charlotte Square, along with a giant moose.

Children's Laureate Anthony Browne is full of praise for Catherine Rayner.

I took some nice people for dinner and we all had a lovely time.

I managed to see some bits on the fringe and chuckled quite a lot.

I Love Libraries

I've got a card to prove it and everything. Ok, so it is my library card, but still. It's a pretty nifty little thing which proclaims 'Love Your Library'. And I do.

I have recently reacquainted myself with the library, and I couldn't be more satisfied with our rekindled relationship unless it started taking me out to dinner and telling me it loved me back. Now that we're back in each other's arms, I don't know why we ever parted ways.

I suspect it was probably because I started getting my free books elsewhere. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it already but before I joined the tigers whom are little I was a Bookseller for a big, shiny bookselling chain. At first I thought the extent of the benefits would be our generous discount, although this became somewhat surplus to requirements when deep discounting became in vogue, but I was soon to discover the joys that are review copies. When publishers cotton on to the fact that you've got an opinion on books and you aren't afraid to use it, they will actually send you free copies of their titles in the hope that you will review them/tell anyone who sets foot inside your shop how great they are.

Sadly this all came to an end when I became the person who sends out the free books, rather than the one receiving them. By this point I had accumulated a vast number of books, but on moving to London I was forced to downsize drastically (rental prices in London being somewhat different to Swansea) and the most obvious way to do this was to box up all my books and leave them in my mother's spare room. So I hit the big smoke with a handful of can't-live-without books (Paddington Goes to Town, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, a dictionary, an encyclopedia and Mr Shakespeare's complete works, for those who were wondering) and a suitcase full of dreams. Two years on and somehow that handful has multiplied into (hang on, I'm just going to count them) ninety-nine books (golly gosh!) adorning my bookshelves. That's not to mention the stack on my bedside table, the two in my handbag and the shelf next to my desk at work. This had to stop. My book purchasing had to be curtailed. The only sensible thing to do was to join a library.

As a child I absolutely loved going to the library. Many a happy Saturday morning was spent selecting my week's reading at Swansea Central Library and I also used to enjoy the activity sessions during the school holidays. Shamefully, my library attendance as an adult had been lamentable and how they have changed! I love Stoke Newington Library, my local, as it's quite old school and fits in nicely with the retro chic of Church Street. However, I am equally fond of the space age 'Idea Stores' of Tower Hamlets. I am all for bringing stuff into the 21st Century and I think the IS is an inspired move. 

So now I'm all about book-borrowing and the benefits are two-fold. I am richer and have more space. Ok, I'm lying, I just buy more shoes. I will leave you with, in no particular order, my favourite things about libraries:

1) Randomly picking up a book that I would never buy in a shop because 'it's not my thing.' and discovering it totally is my thing. (Most recently this was Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.)

2) The whizzy, modern reservation system. I can reserve pretty much anything and if my library doesn't stock it, they'll just get it from another library and send me a little note to let me know when I can go and pick it up - brilliant!

3) Chatting to the librarians. There is nothing better than talking to someone who is enthused by what they do. I can't take anything out without swapping recommendations.

4) Not being driven by price. I am habitually thrifty but it would really upset me to think that this governed what I read. 

5) Peeking inside Little Tiger and Stripes books and seeing how many times they've been stamped. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

6) Taking authors and illustrators to libraries for events. It still feels somewhat anarchic to speak above a whisper in a library, let alone encourage youngsters to roar like a monster.

7) Picking books with my nieces. Last time we went four year-old Bess took out seven books and we'd read three of them in the car before we even got home. I can't imagine where she gets it from . . . 

Summer holidays with kids can be severely draining on the finances, but there is at least one free thing you can do - take them to your local library and sign them up to Quest Seekers http://www.questseekers.org.uk/. It's a summer reading challenge run across libraries nation-wide which encourages children to read six books over the summer holidays. Should provide a bit of peace and quiet for at least a day, giving you time to get stuck in to some newly discovered gems. 

Go forth and borrow!