Children's much-loved books back in print

Isn't it just wonderful to see books popular with children 30 and 40 years ago are coming back in print? David McKee's character Mr Benn on which a popular television series was based, has been out of print for 30 years. The first to arrive will be Big Top Benn, where Mr Benn dresses up as a clown and is transported to the circus. The next will be Mr Benn Red Knight, where he visits a costume shop and dons a suit of armour and travels to medieval times.

Remember the Wombles? I have the Wombles tune on the phone I have - it was my daughter's. I guess they were popular with her. The books have been out of print for 10 years and are going to be republished by Bloomsbury in November, 2010. The first to arrive will be The wandering Wombles and The Wombles. I'll be ordering copies for myself - I can see they'll make great birthday presents for someone!

I have just seen the award winning documentary "The Cove". I have never been so moved, so deeply shocked and saddened by what humans do to creatures. I admire the work of people who take huge risks to bring to the world's notice such inhuman and brutal and barbaric events that go on, in this case, in Japan. I have been dismayed that Japan has increased its whale killing in the Antarctic waters and to now learn of their treatment of their local dolphin, porpoise and pilot whales, just makes me want to make my protest heard. I am detirmined to find out how I can support the organisations that are going against countries and governments to bring to light these attrocities. Greenpeace, Seashephard, takepart.com/the cove and SaveJapanDolphins.org are worldwide organisations, but our dolphins here in Nw Zealand are also underthreat from inadvertant killing in local fisher's long line and nets.

Why do some parents believe when they find a book that they dont want their child to read, they decide that the book is bad for all children? Books bring so many experiences and varying view points - they provide opportunities for sharing and discussion. Who would expect that children's books are so dangerous. Sendak's response to parents concerned about Where the wild things are

Francesca Simon's top 10 anti heroes. No wonder her Horrid Henry is so popular. He's so Denis the Menace. Why isnt he on the list?

Down in the stacks

How weird is this? I have been updating records on some of the books, the most recent is "Julie of the wolves" by Jean Craighead George. Then I see via SLJ that she has just had her 90th birthday. We didnt have a copy in our Children's Literature Collection which is a Reference collection for students of children's literature, so I ordered copies. Luckily there were some still in print. We also have a lovely copy of her "The wounded wolf" illustrated by John Schoenherr.

This author has written an earlier series: Atherton, which had its own website about the 'world' he had created. This time he's written a very scary book for teens where we have 2 characters - the boy who has written a journal of his experiences and the girl who has video links embedded into his story. It really is quite incredible and will be interesting to see how readers react to this format.

Skeleton Creek
By Patrick Carman.
"Although housebound following an eerie accident, teenaged Ryan continues to investigate the strange occurrences in his hometown of Skeleton Creek, recording his findings in a journal and viewing email video clips sent by fellow detective Sarah. The reader may view Sarah's videos on a website by using links and passwords found in the text." - from the book's summary.
According to one reviewer, Sarah’s video is even more frightening giving a Blair Witch element to the whole experience for the reader. A fascinating mix of story by book / text and visual / video. The two blend together to heighten the reader/viewer’s experience of the building fear for the characters as they are drawn to a derelict dredge and the secret it holds. Check out the publisher’s website for a preview of what this book has in store: http://www.enterskeletoncreek.com/

Finding what titles and what order in series

It can be difficult to know the answer, when asked what are the books in a series and in what order they are written. I found this site which helps when looking for books in a series:

Gaslight Books

Go to the 'Four-Part Trilogy' to find the author or series you are looking for.