BBC Young Writers' Award

A brand new award has just been launched for 2015. The BBC and BookTrust are inviting young people (14-18 years) to take part in the BBC Young Writers' Award. You can write 1000 words about anything you like; it just has to be original and creative to catch the judges' eye. Find out more about how to enter and get advice on writing at http://www.booktrust.org.uk/prizes/21.

Christmas party time!

         

Kimbookworms celebrated their last meeting of 2014 with party food and games today.

Charades, a treasure hunt and Christmas music added to the festivities.

Happy Christmas everyone!

            



World Book Night 2015

Check here to see the 20 books that will be given away on World Book Night next year. The brilliant 'My sister lives on the mantelpiece' and 'Skellig' are just two of the titles chosen.

Advent Calendar

Discover a new book every day with the Booktrust's Advent Calendar. Select a door to see who the celebrity is and what children's book they recommend for Christmas.

Introducing our new Graphic Novel section!

It’s only small, but it’s growing! Our brand new Graphic Novel section is located alongside the Lunchtime reads, and boasts some exciting adaptations of favourites by Neil Gaiman and Anthony Horowitz. Find original first volumes of Manga series’ Bleach and Naruto here too, as well as Mamoru Hosoda’s stunning Wolf Children; a beautiful coming of age story about Hana, and her half wolf children Ame and Yuki.

Guardian Children's Book Award

Piers Torday has just been awarded the Guardian Children's Book Award for 'The Dark Wild', his sequel to 'The Last Wild'. Gillian Cross said 'it was a fantastic example of how a book for children can be serious without preaching...a sober parable about our attitude to the natural world'. This dystopian story is all about how if we don't respect wildlife then wildlife won't respect us.

Read an interview with Piers Torday on the Guardian website.

Kids' Lit Quiz

Well done to our two Kids' Lit Quiz teams who took part in the Central England heat at Comberton Village College yesterday. Lots of excellent literary knowledge and book prizes all round!

What we miss when we read screens

Image: Richard Wilkinson

An interesting article from New Scientist on the way digital technology is transforming the way we read and write.

More Potter news...

A new trilogy of Harry Potter spin-off films has been announced, inspired by J.K. Rowling's spin off title 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. The three films will feature Newt Scamander, the fictional author of the book used frequently by Harry, Hermione and Ron, with the first being released in 2016.

Nominations for the Carnegie Medal 2015

Nominations for the 2015 Carnegie Medal have just been published. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) have nominated 91 titles for the Carnegie Medal and 71 titles for the Greenaway Medal.

Kevin Brooks, last year's Carnegie winner, is on the list again with his sinister mystery about Travis Delaney, a junior detective story but with so much more (Northern Irish troubles, jihad and rivalries between the intelligence agencies to name but a few).

SLA Information Book Award

The School Library Association Book Award for 2014 has been awarded to Get into Art: Animals by Susie Brooks. The children's choice winner was Starving the Anxiety Gremlin by Kate Collins-Donnelly, a book on CBT techniques for teenagers and young adults, full of practical help for those suffering from anxiety.

Diversity in children's books

Sita Brahmachari

There has been considerable discussion recently about diversity in children's and young adult books. Malorie Blackman reignited the debate in the summer and suffered online racist abuse as a result.
This week Benjamin Zephaniah and Sita Brahmachari have both spoken about their own experiences and of the need for everyone to be represented in today's literature . Read their comments in these Guardian articles.

Pottermore

J.K.Rowling is counting down to Halloween by playing 'Trick or Treat'. Every day at 4pm, beginning 16th October, Pottermore will be releasing a trick or treat to perplex or delight!

Reader beware, you're in for a scare...

Do you dare read an unknown and simply terrifying book? A special Halloween reading promotion begins this Saturday. Choose a Trick or a Treat bag and discover either a spellbinding fantasy or ghastly horror book. The genre is up to you- but the title is a surprise.

Bernard Ashley visits Kimbolton School

Bernard Ashley, author of our school summer read, ‘The Shadow of the Zeppelin’, spoke to pupils in assembly about his life as a writer. He included details of the research he has to undertake, how he fictionalises historical events and spoke of how a writer is always on the lookout for ideas. He needs to carry around his ‘laptop’, i.e. notebook and pencil, at all times. Pupils were keen to meet Bernard at lunchtime and ask him questions about his work and about ‘Shadow’ in particular.

National Poetry Day

Celebrate National Poetry this Thursday

Which poem do you carry in your head?

Think of a poem that means a lot to you and share it at #thinkofapoem

Or listen to Helena Bonham Carter and others reading their favourite poetry at Sound Cloud

 

WW1: A Soldier's Life

 

Sergeant Tommy Anderson visited the library today to talk to 3rd Form pupils about life in the First World War. He brought hundreds of artefacts with him. The gas masks weren't popular!

 

Hate by Alan Gibbons

Alan Gibbons was inspired to write his book 'Hate' by the horrific murder of Sophie Lancaster who was assaulted and murdered because she dared to be different. This is a hard-hitting thriller that looks at friendship, loss, courage and forgiveness, exploring how a teenage boy and girl cope when they get drawn into a hate crime. Read what Alan has to say about writing this powerful dramatic story in the Guardian's teenage web pages

Bloomsbury release (another) new set of Harry Potter covers

The new cover

Bloomsbury release (another) new set of Harry Potter covers

It has been seventeen years since Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone was first published here in the UK and since then it has been read by millions of people worldwide. Spawning six sequels, eight films and a global studio tour and theme park franchise this small book has changed both the British publishing and British film industries forever. But with no new books or films on the horizon (the first film in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trilogy isn’t expected to be released until the end of 2016) what would be the best way to entice new readers to the series?  UK publishers Bloomsbury think that some exciting new covers will do the trick, but what do you think? 

Take back the skies

Debut author Lucy Saxon is 19 years old. 'Take Back the Skies' is the first book in her young adult, epic adventure series. Lucy began writing at the age of 12 when ME forced her to miss lengthy periods of school. She wrote the first draft of 'Take Back the Skies' when she was just 16 as part of the National Novel Writing Month. This online competition offers no prizes but allows readers to post comments. The response was so positive that Sarah and her parents decided to find out about getting published. The rest is history with the first book published and the series now well underway. Perfect for fans of fantasy adventure with huge world-building, great characters and a page-turning plot. If you like steam punk, give the Tellus World a try.

Sigourney Weaver in A Monster Calls

Sigourney Weaver has joined Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones in A Monster Calls, the feature adaptation of Patrick Ness' award winning book. The down side is we've got to wait another 2 years before this one hits the screens. Hollywood Reporter article

2014 Carnegie Medal announcement

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27975153

 

From a strong shortlist, the Bunker Diary has just been chosen as the winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Kevin Brooks' bleak diary of a 14 year old boy held captive in a bunker, was originally rejected for its lack of hope. Brooks said that teenagers 'don't need to be cosseted with artificial hope' and 'in real life things aren't always right in the end'. Do you agree? Are you happy to read books where there's no happy outcome? For all its tense drama, this novel certainly makes you think: is it a thriller, is it a locked-room story, is it a parody, what does it all mean? An interesting and controversial choice.

Read what the winners of both the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals had to say after the award ceremony: http://www.welovethisbook.com/features/exclusive-interviews-winners-carnegie-kate-greenaway-awards

Well done Jess!

Jess, one of our lovely Kimbookworms, has come second in a national poetry competition. Her poem 'Screaming' was entered in the ALCS and Carnegie competition and was chosen as runner-up from over 700 entries. Jess wins a set of Carnegie and Greenaway shortlisted books - what a treat!

Puffin Virtually Live

Watch all the Puffin webcasts here with favourite authors such as Jeff Kinney, Charlie Higson and Michelle Paver talking about their books and writing.

Win the Baileys Prize shortlist and Baileys Chocolat Luxe Caboodle

Win the Baileys Prize shortlist and Baileys Chocolat Luxe Caboodle

You need to be over 18 to enter this competition....one for UVI and staff!

500 Words: Top 50 stories

You can now read or listen to the top 50 shortlisted stories in the 500 Words competition. The final results will be announced live on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Friday 30th May.

More than this

More than this by Patrick Ness is now out in paperback!

Poetry Competition

ALCS is running a poetry competition in conjunction with the Carnegie Shadowing site.

Think of an event in your life that has affected you and use this as inspiration for a poem. Prizes include tickets to the Carnegie/Greenaway Medal ceremony, a tablet and a selection of the shortlisted books. Closing date is 23rd May 2014.

Win a copy of 'Books that changed the world'



A chance to win a signed copy of Books that Changed the World plus a fantastic bundle of £150 worth of books. Competition ends on 1st May 2014.

Waterstones' Winner

Katharine Rundell has recently won both the Blue Peter Best Story and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for her quirky adventure tale about Sophie, an orphan found as a baby floating in a cello case in the middle of the English Channel! She's now been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal too....will she make it a hat-trick?! Read an extract here or discover Katharine's list of top 10 orphans from children's literature.

CityRead London 2014

Looking for something to do over the Easter break? There are hundreds of amazing activities going on in libraries all over London linked to the City Read, an annual celebration of literature that aims to bring reading to life. This year's books are Private Peaceful and My Dear, I Wanted To Tell You.
http://www.cityreadlondon.org.uk/calendar

Carnegie Medal shortlist

The Carnegie and Greenaway Medal shortlist for 2014 has been announced. Both new and experienced authors have made it on to the shortlist with Anne Fine hoping that 'Blood Family' will bring her success for the third time. Her previous Carnegie winners are 'Flour Babies' and 'Goggle Eyes'.

This year's list has some dark themes with kidnapping, orphaned children and war all featuring - another excellent selection for shadowers to get their teeth into. Watch the authors talking about their books here.



2 billion book sales

Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Mark Robson's visit

Mark Robson met 1st and 2nd form pupils this morning at the start of Kimbolton School's Arts Week. His presentation was wide-ranging from stories about the Red Baron to the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle. One of the highlights was a martial art demonstration (chopping a block of wood in two with his bare hands) as an example of the lengths Mark will go to when undertaking research for his books!

Half Bad

The book everyone is talking about...Sally Green's debut novel, 'Half Bad' is tipped to be the next Twilight.

Nathan Byrne is half bad: half White Witch, half Black Witch. His mother was a healer; his father is a killer. He's wanted by no one, hunted by everyone.
Read the opening to this new trilogy here and reserve your copy of the book at the library.

Celebrating World Book Day - 'Guess who's coming to dinner' and 'Baking for Books'

Competitions and cakes were the themes for today as Kimbolton School celebrated World Book Day. Pupils were invited to 'Guess who's coming to dinner' by checking the clues to each character's plate on the dining table. Over £70 was raised for BookAid International by the Kimbookworms who baked and sold delicious cakes.

Happy World Book Day!

View the ultimate list of 50 books that will change your life revealed today by Malorie Blackman.

See Kimbolton School's own 'Writes of Passage' competition and guess which title each member of staff chose as their favourite.

Tape

Tape is an amazing debut novel by Steven Camden, a leading spoken-word poet (performing as Polarbear). Watch Steven’s introduction to the book in the form of a spoken word poem or listen to an extract read by Steven along with Laura Dockrill.

Internet Safety Week

2nd Form Internet Safety Campaign posters

Internet Safety Week begins today at Kimbolton School. Try out the QR codes in the library to find useful sites linked to online safety or have a go at the Connect with Respect Quiz here.

Carnegie Longlist announced

Photo: Linda Nylind for The Guardian

 

20 books have just been longlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal. See the list and read reviews of the books on the Guardian children's book site. The shortlist will be announced on 18th March with the winner announced in June.