tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post207083901172355692..comments2024-03-29T11:39:24.656+00:00Comments on Picture Book Den: What's your favourite children's book? • Jonathan AllenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-89688522712486812382015-09-21T18:45:26.113+01:002015-09-21T18:45:26.113+01:00PS: Made an error, here's the fan trailer I ma...PS: Made an error, <a href="https://youtu.be/yAk1XwFYtYY" rel="nofollow">here's the fan trailer I made for "Ballerino Nate"</a><br /><br /><b>(Accidentally linked the Flats Brown trailer to Nate Blogger doesn't make this easy...)</b>Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-79267807513030748312015-09-21T18:38:21.369+01:002015-09-21T18:38:21.369+01:00But to end on a positive note, here are some books...But to end on a positive note, here are some books I've read recently that I highly recommend-<br /><br />"Jacob's New Dress" by Sarah and Ian Hoffman <b>(illus. Chris Case)</b> <b>[<a href="http://www.talkinganimaladdicts.com/weekly-readings-20" rel="nofollow">See My Review On T.A.A.]</a></b><br />Love this book and it's non-preachy message, whether or not you <b>(or someone you know)</b> is like Jacob, for anyone's who buck trends and doea their own thing, this book celebrates you.<br /><b>(<a href="https://youtu.be/Z7rApFNn3AA" rel="nofollow">Here a video I made celebrating it's 1st anniversary, not traditional book trailer, BTW</a>)</b><br /><br />"The Blues of Flats Brown" by the late Walter Dean Myers <b>(illus. Nina Laden)</b> <b>[<a href="http://www.talkinganimaladdicts.com/weekly-readings-18" rel="nofollow">See My Review On T.A.A.</a>]</b><br />A GREAT book for older readers and touches on animal abuse in a real way without traumatizing younger kids.<br /><br /><br />"Bad Dog" by Nina Laden <b>(<a href="http://www.talkinganimaladdicts.com/weekly-readings-13" rel="nofollow">See My Review On T.A.A.</a>)</b><br />Out of print, but worth hunting for and seeing if your library network has a copy.<br /><br />"Ballerino Nate" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley <b>(illus. R.W. Alley)</b> <b>[<a href="http://www.talkinganimaladdicts.com/weekly-readings-8" rel="nofollow">See My Review On T.A.A.</a>]</b><br />Also out of print, but WORTH hunting down, ESP. if you've got ballet boys in your life!<br /><b>(<a href="https://youtu.be/8HiZnlfBWg8" rel="nofollow">Made a fan trailer for this book</a>)</b><br /><br />"Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam" by Tracey Corderoy <br /><b>(illus. Steven Lenton)</b> <b>[<a href="http://www.talkinganimaladdicts.com/weekly-readings-8" rel="nofollow">See My Review On T.A.A.</a>]</b><br />Wonderfully charming, it's like an avant garde short film in book form, love the use of shadow and light.<br /><b>(<a href="https://youtu.be/ASkqza9UfhI" rel="nofollow">Check Out My Fan Trailer</a>)</b><br /><br />"Hector Fox and the Giant Quest" by Astrid Sheckels <br />Beatrix Potter for the "Modern Age" and it's just as awesome as it sounds. First in a series, I hope they announce book 2 soon!<br /><b>(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBIOuOoqI-4&index=12&list=LLXaZSMw3JR9jEo-x7B549wQ" rel="nofollow">Check out the OFFICIAL Trailer</a>, not made me, LOL)</b><br /><br />Take care,<br />Taurean W.Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-75405082873132503702015-09-21T18:35:57.101+01:002015-09-21T18:35:57.101+01:00I didn't have the "classic picture book e...I didn't have the "classic picture book experience" as many writers I know did, but I would've been addicted to the "Lyle the Crocodile" picture books by the late Bernard Waber<br />if they'd been read to me as a lit. rattling. <br /><br />I know adaptions of books don't always impress <b>(even when they don't take major departures from source material, as in the case with your favorite book, Jonathan, my condolences)</b>, but I have the animated musical special to thank for my discovering Lyle FAR later in life, and now I have and read nearly all the Lyle books, I'm taking my time reading "Lyle at the Office", the last book in the series, knowing it's the last one.<br /><br /><b>(I was the same way with the last Hermux book, though I didn't know it was the last book, which the author later revealed before taking the hermux site down, and to be fair, the blurb on the jacket didn't say "The thrilling conclusion.")</b><br /><br />As a kid, or rather a teen, my favorite book was "<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780374400316" rel="nofollow">A Rat's Tale</a>" by Tor Seidler. It's the first book I ever bought with my own money and of my own conviction, I love how eloquent Seidler's prose is, and it has wonderfully expressive illustrations from the late and great Fred Marcelino. This book was also the spark for writing <a href="http://www.gabrielandrum.com" rel="nofollow">my forthcoming debut novel, "GABRIEL."</a> <br /><br />While it's still one of my favorite books <b>(and I enjoyed it's follow-up companion book, "<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780374362577" rel="nofollow">The Revenge of Randal Reese=Rat</a>" FAR more than the harsh review from Publisher's Weekly)</b> it's now tied with "<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780142409848" rel="nofollow">Time Stops For No Mouse</a>" the first book in the Hermux Tantamoq Adventure series by Michael Hoeye.<br /><br />This book gave me hope during the dark days of drafting/rewriting GABRIEL <b>(before it sold in 2012)</b> that there are still great animal fantasy stories <b>(OUTSIDE the medieval-esques battle tribes and over-the-top sexy paranormal fare)</b> in THIS CENTURY!<br /><br />Because much of what I'd read and/or was "suggested to me" by beta-readers in their critiques of my work, pre-dates both my birth and even my mother's, and when you're advised to ALWAYS real what's being published NOW <b>(versus decades ago)</b> that doesn't help your morale as an author who didn't live in the previous "Golden Age of Animal Fantasy." <br /><br />Unlike teen romance, paranormal and/or dystopian fiction, finding middle grate book with non-naturalistic animal characters in this modern world is not easy, and apparently a "Hard Sell" as I'm often told.<br /><br /><br />On top of that, when the only modern examples <b>(outside picture books or comics, as I'm primarily a novelist</b>) are clan-based warfare in the vein of "Redwall" and "Warriors" and your books aren't in that mold, this is is why I HATE comparing books for marketing purposes....<b>(Sigh, keep it together, Taurean)</b><br /><br />Anyway, I loved the Hermux series so much, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJIIAcJubZs&list=PLRMok0pg8Zsb0PcXeZdlzJ-wJ4E8bH98T" rel="nofollow">I made fan trailers for all four books</a> in hopes they'll spread the good word.<br /><br />While it's a little "long in the tooth" for the purposes of "market study for authors trying to sell their books" as a reader I feel it's timeless, but it's nice to read and love books that exist within my own lifespan, just saying.<br /><br />To be continued...Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-80740808116531020962015-09-20T18:49:49.588+01:002015-09-20T18:49:49.588+01:00Thanks Pippa, I hope you manage dig it out. I actu...Thanks Pippa, I hope you manage dig it out. I actually found a larger format Australian version of The Magic P in one of Royston's many charity shops, several years ago. Great quality reproductions of the drawings, which were charcoal originally I think. Amazing the diversity of stuff that turns up in this small town's charity shops. I could write an essay about it ;-)<br />That talk of clogs and windmills etc makes me think of 'Emil and The Detectives' by Eric Kastner which was a childhood fave. Partly for the dutch boys costume. Caps, clogs and sort of big Tintin trousers. . . Outlandish to me in my clarks sandals and grey school shorts etc ;-)Jon Burgess Designhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686489273842347796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-83454791400979014562015-09-19T12:11:31.263+01:002015-09-19T12:11:31.263+01:00I've been saving reading this until the weeken...I've been saving reading this until the weekend so that I could read it at leisure. A treat! I do remember the pictures of that book, but don't remember it being either read to me, or me reading it (I was a poor reader so would have been put off by what is clearly wonderful strange dialogue). I'm going around to my mum's to see if I can find it now. Wonderful to learn a bit about its creator and the challenge to write a story about 'food and fighting'. What other alliterative combinations might appeal to children? Bears and bullying? Jellies and juggling? My favourite childhood picture book was The Cow That Fell in the Canal, so another one with a foreign setting, but that was exactly its appeal. Those clogs and windmills and rows of tulips, the cheeses being carried on great slings. And, again, really top rate artistic skill. I must go and look at that one again now too. Thanks, Jonathan.Pippa Goodharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17709422048047155208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-30055453888193707102015-09-18T17:03:12.677+01:002015-09-18T17:03:12.677+01:00It's funny, Dr Suess wasn't part of my chi...It's funny, Dr Suess wasn't part of my childhood, my Mum didn't like his books for some reason, so I was deprived! I have since caught up, and Green Eggs and Ham is my fave, because it's rigorous simplicity and it's imaginative variations on such a simple idea.Jon Burgess Designhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686489273842347796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-57530870018694238252015-09-18T16:59:31.618+01:002015-09-18T16:59:31.618+01:00Babar! I love how the old character, Cornelius (?)...Babar! I love how the old character, Cornelius (?) is sort of crinkly round the edges as shorthand for 'old'. I remember the book where Babar defeats the rhinos from when I was very small.Jon Burgess Designhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686489273842347796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-17614883372475332092015-09-18T16:55:42.002+01:002015-09-18T16:55:42.002+01:00My all-time favourite picture book is Horton Hears...My all-time favourite picture book is Horton Hears A Who! by Dr Seuss. I only came across it as an adult so I don't know if the young me would have enjoyed it so much, but I think that one's as close to perfection as is possible to get. Every time I read it aloud I have to blink a lot.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-30884421466280959112015-09-18T13:50:26.763+01:002015-09-18T13:50:26.763+01:00Wow! I love the sound of this book! Thank you, Jon...Wow! I love the sound of this book! Thank you, Jonathan. I'm going to check it out further. I'm trying to write a novel for this age-group myself, and keep it as crazy as possible. I've even been doing improv classes to get that free thinking going on. This will be some further inspiration. I liked Babar books as a kid but I haven't read them in ages. I remember them being quite weird and occasionally dark, which was perfect. I wonder if I might be disappointed if I read them again though. Moira Butterfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17355420549929911500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-2108338847487768842015-09-18T08:27:12.086+01:002015-09-18T08:27:12.086+01:00Thanks Paeony,
Paddington was a huge favourite of...Thanks Paeony, <br />Paddington was a huge favourite of mine. Peggy Fortnum's drawings are lovely and defined him for me. I have zero desire to see the film, even after hearing people who purport to like the books saying it's great. I saw a clip of the bath incident, which is nothing like the book at all and that totally put me off. Though it's got to be better than the US cartoon version I got on video once for my kids. (complete with gratuitously added American child. . .) <br />I remember your post about old picture books ;-)Jon Burgess Designhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686489273842347796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-30204394734940754752015-09-18T01:34:33.616+01:002015-09-18T01:34:33.616+01:00Interesting. What an unusual book, Jonathan! I'...Interesting. What an unusual book, Jonathan! I'm intrigued how it's all right in cartoons and films to have the sort of 'Marx Brothers' violence depicted in the images you've shown, but when it appears in books it's perceived differently.<br />You mentioned ages 7-8 and I suspect Paddington Bear was my favourite then - lovable but always getting into trouble.<br />If my favourite ancient picture books are of interest then here are a few: http://picturebookden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/throwing-out-old-picture-books-by.html <br />Paeony Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13129555451791248798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758609568631190155.post-44378641694093769512015-09-17T08:22:23.333+01:002015-09-17T08:22:23.333+01:00An intriguing post, Jonathan. Although I'd hea...An intriguing post, Jonathan. Although I'd heard of The Magic Pudding, I knew nothing about it or Norman Lindsay. It sounds and looks brilliant. I will have to check it out. Jonathan Emmetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11413964991466780348noreply@blogger.com