Book Recommendation - The Diary of Dennis the Menace

The Diary of Dennis the Menace
By Steven Butler
Published by Puffin Books, 6th Feb 2014
RRP £5.99
ISBN 9780141350820

Take a sneak peek at the diary of the one, the only Dennis the Menace! This is your chance to meet Dennis, Gnasher and the gang, exploring Beanotown with Dennis as your guide. Read all about The Beano’s biggest prankster – pictures, doodles, splats and all – with a little help from Roald Dahl Funny Prize shortlisted author Steven Butler.

Becoming a master of menace is not easy. The Diary of Dennis the Menace gives readers inside information on every cheeky trick and prank played by The Beano’s iconic characters.

“What kind of evil granny-monster of a teacher-fiend would ask a kid to write a DIARY over the school holidays? How am I supposed to write stuff down when I’m out MENACING all the time?!”

Also publishing in Feb 2014, The Beano: Official Sticker Book and coming in May 2014, The Diary of Dennis the Menace: Beanotown Battle (Book 2).

Heaps of Dennis the Menace fun to be had just in time for half term! Boys and girls, and young and old will love this edition, it’s a trip down memory lane for some of us and a whole new world of mayhem for others – brilliant!

Highly recommended for readers aged 8+

Book Recommendation - Nelson Mandela by Katie Daynes

Nelson Mandela
By Katie Daynes
Published by Usborne Books, 10th January 2014
RRP £5.99
ISBN 9781409523499

This book is a comprehensive guide to the life of one of the most famous names in modern history.

The complete story of Mandela's life, from his rural childhood to his time with the ANC, his fight against apartheid, his time undercover as 'the Black Pimpernel', the 27 years he spent in prison and finally his appointment as South Africa’s first black president.

A moving story of how a country's most wanted fugitive became its greatest leader and an inspirational icon across the world.

You can find out more about this fantastic book at Usborne Books’ Blog.

Highly recommended for readers aged 7+

Our Recommended Reads from October 2013

Check out the reviews section of our website for the latest recommended reads - from children's fiction to poetry and classic reads we're sure there is something for everyone. We also welcome your reviews too - email them to 'Reviews' at info@bookapoet.co.uk and we'll let you know when we use it!

Below are the titles we recommended during October 2013. (You can read our reviews and recommendations here.) If you'd like to get your book on our reading list send us an email that includes a press release and we'll get in touch!

‘The Hex Factor: Dark Tide’ By Harriet Goodwin Published by Stripes Publishing
‘The Reindeer Girl’ By Holly Webb Published by Stripes Publishing
‘Make a Picture Sticker Book: Monsters’ Published by Usborne
‘The Usborne Monsters Colouring and Activity Book’ Published by Usborne
‘It Can’t Be True!’ Published by Dorling Kindersley
‘Dinosaurology: The Search for the Lost World’ By Raleigh Rimes Published by Templar Publishing
‘Pigeon Pie’ By Debbie Singleton Illustrated by Kristyna Litten Published by Oxford University Press
‘The Lion and the Mouse’ By Nahta Noj Published by Templar Publishing
‘Briar Rose’ By Jana Oliver Published by Macmillan Children’s Books
‘Dinosaur Cove: Stampede of the Giant Reptiles’ By Rex Stone and Mike Spoor
Published by Oxford University Press
‘Poems to Learn by Heart’ By Ana Sampson Published by Michael O’Mara Books
‘The River Singers’ By Tom Moorhouse Published by Oxford University Press
‘The Ghastly McNastys: The Lost Treasure of Little Snoring’ By Lyn Gardner
Illustrated by Ros Asquith Published by Piccadilly Press
‘The Knowledge Encyclopedia’ By Dorling Kindersley Books
‘Rendezvous in Russia’ By Lauren St John Published by Orion Books
‘Butterfly Grave’ By Anne Cassidy Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
‘The Lady of Shalott’ By Alfred, Lord Tennyson Illustrated by Charles Keep
Published by Oxford University Press
‘The Truth That’s In Me’ By Julie Berry Published by Templar Publishing
‘Spooky Winnie’ By Laura Owen and Korky Paul Published by Oxford University Press
‘Because It Is My Blood’ By Gabrielle Zevin Published by Macmillan Children’s Books
‘Sketcher’ By Roland Watson Grant Published by Alma Books
‘The Haunted’ By William Hussey Published by Oxford University Press
‘Resist’ By Sarah Crossan Published by Bloomsbury
‘Young Knights – Pendragon’ By Julia Golding Published by Oxford University Press

 

November's recommended reads will start to appear on the website from this week. A selection of reviews will be published here too, as well as on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BookaPoet) and links from our Twitter account (@bookapoet).

‘Poems to Learn by Heart’ By Ana Sampson - Book Review

‘Poems to Learn by Heart’
By Ana Sampson
Published by Michael O’Mara Books
RRP £12.99 (hardback)
ISBN 9781782431459

'Paths of glory', 'Theirs not to reason why', 'When you are old and grey and full of sleep', 'A handful of dust', 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' - these and many others are famous lines of poetry that often occur in everyday speech. But do you know the rest of the verse, or even the rest of the poem? An anthology to warm the coldest heart or charm the least romantic soul, this is a collection of poems (or in some cases, extracts) that are not only memorable, but lend themselves to being learned by heart.

This is the perfect book for anyone with even the vaguest interest in poetry, providing a wonderful opportunity to revisit those much-loved lines remembered from earlier days.

Highly recommended for readers of all ages

You can purchase the book here.

Our Recommended Reads from September 2013

Check out the reviews section of our website for the latest recommended reads - from children's fiction to poetry and classic reads we're sure there is something for everyone. We also welcome your reviews too - email them to 'Reviews' at info@bookapoet.co.uk and we'll let you know when we use it!

Below are the titles we recommended during September 2013. (You can read our reviews and recommendations here.) If you'd like to get your book on our reading list send us an email that includes a press release and we'll get in touch!

‘The Kills’ By Richard House Published by Picador

‘Lego Star Wars Brickmaster: Battle for the Stolen Crystals’ Published by Dorling Kindersley

‘Lifting The Piano With One Hand’ By Gaia Holmes Published by Comma Press
‘Too Small for my Big Bed’ By Amber Stewart and Layn Marlow 

                                                                 Published by Oxford University Press
‘As Far As I Know’ By Roger McGough Published by Penguin Books
‘Traditional Tales Story Games: Oxford Reading Tree - Practise Your Phonics’
                                                                 By Oxford University Press
‘The Roman Mysteries: Trimalchio’s Feast and Other Mini Mysteries’ By Caroline Lawrence
                                                                 Published by Orion Books
‘Boris the Bait Digger’ By Brian Lovelidge Published by Barny Books
‘Stinky and Jinks: My Hamster is a Spy’ By Dave Love Published by Templar Publishing
‘We’re Having A Party’ By Helen Cresswell, Anne Fine, Jan Mark, Hilary McKay, Susan Price, Robert Swindells and Jacqueline Wilson Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
                                                                Published by Piccadilly Press
‘Winnie’s Pirate Adventure’ By Valerie Thomas & Korky Paul 

                                                            Published by Oxford University Press
‘Saving Silence’ By Gina Blaxhill Published by Macmillan Children’s Books
‘Royal Doll’s House Sticker Book’ Published by Usborne
‘Mondays At Monster School’ By Ruth Louise Symes Published by Orion Books
‘The Highwayman’ By Alfred Noyes Published by Oxford University Press
‘The Littlest Bird’ By Gareth Edwards and Elina Ellis Published by Piccadilly Press
‘Just So Stories’ By Rudyard Kipling Illustrated by Robert Ingpen 

October's recommended reads will start to appear on the website from this week. A selection of reviews will be published here too, as well as on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BookaPoet) and links from our Twitter account (@bookapoet).

Exclusive Q&A with Jane Ray, Children's Author and Illustrator

What gave you the idea for this collection of stories?

I’ve always been a collector – not expensive things like vintage cars or crystal ornaments, but everyday bits and pieces: shells and feathers, useful pieces of string and jam jars. I also collect stories and when I had so many that I’d run out of space in my head to keep them, I decided to write them down and turn them into books.

What did you like most about working on this collection – the stories or the artwork?

It was a delight to retell these stories – some old and traditional, some mythic and legendary, fairy tales, folk tales and made-up tales. The variety of characters is immense: good and bad, trickster and magician, prince and pauper. It was wonderful to be able to illustrate them too, and I decided that instead of working in watercolour and collage as usual, I would return to a technique that I had first tried as a teenager.

All the illustrations in these books are done on scraperboard or scratchboard, where board is coated with finely ground white clay and then covered in a layer of black Indian ink. The image is created by scratching, with a sharp stylus, through the black ink to the white clay layer below. The result is almost like an engraving. The pictures are very small, which leads you, as an illustrator, to think in terms of tiny details that might be missed in a bigger picture.

You’ve described the scraperboard technique, but there is a fantastic variety of artwork in the book – with amazing colours. How did this come about?

The stories come from many different countries and cultures, and this gave me the added creative thrill of incorporating traditional patterns from Africa, Inuit animal carvings or elements of Japanese woodblock prints into the illustrations. David Bennett at Boxer Books then worked his magic with the images, enlarging, adding colour, cropping and generally ‘playing around’ with both the illustrations and the look and ‘feel’ of the books, until we felt we had made something really special.

What is your favourite story in the collection and why? And favourite picture?

I really like Mulungu Paints the Birds – it's funny and charming and I’d never seen it before I researched this book. My favourite picture? I think it’s The Owl and the Pussy Cat dancing together hand in hand by moonlight on p.47. I love the simple happiness of the image, and I was quite pleased with how I managed to get the cat's stance and the moonlit edges of the creatures.

What do you think makes a good story?

Light and shade - contrast. The stories that hold your attention are the ones where you want to know what happens next, where you care about the characters and their destiny. You want them to overcome danger and attain happiness or peace. A story that is too happy is often bland and uninvolving – we all like a bit of drama! Having said all that I realise that my favourite story – Mulungu – isn’t  really dramatic at all!  I guess humour and an acknowledgement of human/animal failing makes a good story too.

Where can fans of your work find out more about you and your work?

I have a website www.janeray.com which I have rather neglected recently but I am about to update it. It's still worth having a look because there is a lot of stuff there. Also there is information about me on my publishers website – Orchard Books, Walker Books, Frances Lincoln ...

Can you sum up ‘The Story Collector’ is only 3 words?

Book of Delights!

***

‘The Story Collector: The Emperor’s Nightingale and Other Feathery Tales’

By Jane Ray
Published by Boxer Books
RRP £12.99 (large format hardback)
ISBN 9781907152597
Reviewed by Lynsey Evans
This is the first edition in a new series of tales re-told and illustrated by Jane Ray. And what a great collection it is! There are fairy tales, myths, traditional tales, folk tales and legends, some you’ll know as classics or favourites and some that are lesser known – something for everyone!
What makes this book amazing is the artwork. Just wow! Jane has used a scraperboard technique for the first time to illustrate a book. These are originally black and white minature pieces of art, which have been blown up and produced in a variety of colours throughout the book to a dramatic and beautiful effect! It looks and feels like a very special book, you can see the care and attention that has gone into it. It's like holding a little bit of art!
This is a great book to read and would also make a fab present for any avid reader.
Highly recommended for readers aged 8+

Thanks to Jane for answering our questions!