Remembrance Day For Lost Species by Human Activity

Today 30h November is, ‘Remembrance Day For Lost Species by Human Activity’. It a day dedicated to the species of animals that humans have had a hand in their extinction, to raise awareness about our impact on other species especially those which are endangered.

 

From the pin up of all extinction caused by humans – the dodo, where our activities, not only, wiped them out in its natural habit in Mauritius, but we now know that we shot what we knew at the time to be last living specimen, which was executed in captivity in Oxford (read more here) . To its cousin the Passenger Pigeon that once had flocks so large that it would block out the sun when they migrated across North America, which were hunted to extinction in just a few decades.

From The Great Auk, that tragically we knew we’d hunted to near extinction, and in bid to gain more knowledge about how to conserve the species, we killed the last living specimens in the name of research. To the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger that we hunted to extinction and carelessly let the last one was freeze to death when a zookeeper failed to let it in one winter night.

Of course as its me so I can’t not mention the mighty mammoth where is looks increasing likely that our activities played a role in their demise. Sadly the list of tragic cases like these go on.

So I thought I’d do a little post on recommended documentaries and of course books that tie in with this important theme.

Extinct – Channel Four Documentary series is free to stream and its accompanying book by Simon Furman

This series looks at six different extinct species and dedicates an episode to investigating what cased their demises. There are some where humans did not cause their extinction but others where we with varying levels, had a hand in their ultimate fate. It is definitely worth having a watch/read.

Lost Animals a Photographic record by Errol Fuller

This is a very poignant book, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It shows the last photographs – sometimes grainy or out of focus as many were taken when photography was a new science/art form, of a species before they became extinct. In many case the species were already functionally extinct with no way to reverse the process and knowing that the person behind the camera were aware that they were making a historical record of an animal that soon not to frequent the planet is very sobering.

Weird and Wonderful Extinct Animals by Cristina Banfi and illustrated by Rossella Frionfretti

This is a beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book, which is a great introduction to the subject for children. It starts with an easy and un-scary but informative introduction to extinction, what it is, what causes it, including a paragraph about how humans can contribute of cause extinction of other species.

It than has double pages dedicated to extinct fauna, with illustrations and facts, on some there is an explanation to why they went extinct and if we as a species had a part to play in their demise. About three questers of the way through there’s a page about extinction here and now, which includes a section about what we are a species and as individually can do to stop of slow the process of extinction.

Endangered by Tim Finch

This is hefty but beautiful coffee table photographic book. That feature exquisite photographs of endangered species. This can be used as a call to arms, seeing all the animals that need our help with conservation efforts to stop them sliding out of existence. But most poignantly is the page desiccated to the already extinct passenger Pigeon, with a beautiful but sobering photograph of a taxidermy specimen of the last known of its kind that died in captivity. What a bold editorial choice to juxtapose it with the full colour high definition images of existing but endangered animals. It really hones the point, that these creatures could be next if our species don’t modify our behaviours.

I do hope some of you read or watch these recommendations. It’s a tough subject but we can learn so much from the past, and there are lesson we should definitely teach to the next generation, in order to stop these type of tragedies occurring again.

Bear in mind we human although the most destructive animals on Earth, we also are unique in as much a we care about other species. We are curios and we care for the other fauna and flora we share the world with, so lest put these attributes to good use!

World Book Day 2024, Celebrating as a Pre-Published Author with no Small Children (anymore!)

Happy World Book Day everyone!

World Book Day in years gone past was a big thing on our family calendar. Me writing, and immersed in the kid’s lit world, and two bookworm children excited about all the school WBD festivities. It was grand, read more [press here]. 

But then the kids grew up so no more WBD dressing up scrambles, and me still being unpublished, having no events to attend. This can be difficult as it really makes the notion of success as a writer seem binary, published v’s non-published, as everywhere on social media there are authors doing events. I have in the past years used the days to dream how I would do an author event if I were published but it can be lonely [press here to read more], so this year I decided to be proactive.

So my World book Day 2024 plan is…

Spread the love…

• Having been on the booksellers end of WBD, I decided to give a WBD Bookseller’s Survival Care Package to my local Indy bookshop.

• As I am literally across the road from a pre-school, and I make story sacks, I made and delivered a mammoth themed story sack for them which I will deliver on the day.

• I am going to spend some time doing reviews on Amazon /Goodreads for books I read recently.

For me…

• I have a virtual coffee scheduled with another author/illustrator, to raise a cup of some caffeinated substance in celebration.

• I will read. Read with abandon, without guilt that I could or should be doing something else!

• A trip to a bookshop.

So that is my World Book Day shorted. What are you doing?

One Village Spreading Cheer during Corona Virus Chaos with Stories.

After weeks of lockdown and uncertainty and for those with younger children – home-schooling and working from home, often in a confided space, spring 2020 is proving to be chaotic. During all the madness, and with so much darkness in the world, stories are more important than ever. Stories of hope. Stories of flight and fantasy. Stories form escapism. Stories that give us strength. Many of which come wrapped up in the exquisite form of books.

And to quote Mason Cooley...

 “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

With high streets and libraries closed, distribution unsettled, getting access to books can be difficult. However I do have to do a shout out here to all the Indy bookshops that are providing great home delivery and postal services! So it is really soul-lifting to see individual’s and communities coming together to spread cheer through stories. From online communities, like the Our Corona Diary project, to smaller physical communities. Here is a little post, about how one small village is spreading the joy of stories.

The Village – (the aptly named) Penn in Buckinghamshire.

The community has like many others has risen to the emergency in multiple ways; displaying rainbows in their windows, making PPE for the local hospital and care homes, collecting donations for The One Can Trust, clapping for NHS and so on. But it has also embraced stories.

Since the lockdown began many people have started to put boxes of books outside their houses - free to whoever would like them, so people can pick them up on their daily walks.

We as a family were one of the first, making a market stall out of an old pallet, and offering free books, and toys and extra plants and seeds. It soon became popular and getting donations from locals, and the library. We are ideally located next to park, and close to a popular dog walking route, so on sunny days, there’s lots of foot traffic. From my writing desk, I often look out the window to see children and adults browsing and picking books.

What is lovely is many people are doing similar things, so wherever in the village you live there’s a little free book stall nearby.

Our village was also home to a world famous second hand bookshop, which is rumoured to have inspired Discworld’s Library. Sadly in 2018 it closed after 70 years – (Press here to read by post about it closing). But the building is still there and is apparently still full of books. During the recent weeks, it has been putting books outside – for donations which are going to support the NHS. It is lovely to see the bookshop open in any form, and there is always people social-distantly browsing the stock.

One lady in the village, is making story sacks, and selling them for really affordable prices on the local Facebook page, with all proceeds going to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Corvid Appeal. Thereby helping parents with providing fun educational tools for home-schooling and supporting a great cause. 

Also, out local town university of High Wycombe is running a project collecting local people short stories about Corona Virus and lockdown, and publishing them on their web-site. Both encouraging people to write, which is therapeutic, and great for maintaining mental health, and sharing stories that may help others to navigate through the chaos, by knowing they are not alone.

Lastly, the call out of people to put up bears in their windows for children to spot on their daily walks has been embraced my many, many people. As you walk around the village you see so many cheerful teddies smiling back at you, that it really does bring cheer to you heart. #NationalBearHunt

So here it is, one small village, an a whole load of stories about the gifting and giving of stories., in a time of struggle.

Pan’s Labyrinth – Novel – Review and Musings about Anticipation of Adaptations - Guillermo Del Toro - Cornelia Funke

Many people experience excitement and a certain amount of anxiety when they hear that one of their favourite books is coming to the silver screen. Concern whether the adaptation is sympathetic and close to the source text. Worry that they may get the characters wrong. Anxiety that the image on the screen won’t marry with the image you have carried in your mind since reading the book.

This phenomenon has been played out in Armageddon-esk proportions with the recent release of the TV adaption of Pratchett and Gaiman’s ‘Good Omens.’ After almost thirty years in print, with an army of devoted fan’s the anticipation and anxiety was at a max, with one question very much on everyone’s twitter feeds – would it work? In fact one of my friends tweeted comments ahead of its release on the small screen saying that one character ‘didn’t look right’.

I have to confess, I didn’t quite have the same reservations about Good Omens, as I only read the novel in January AFTER the character publicity photos had already hit the web, so I wasn’t quite as invested as other fans who’ve loved the book for decades.

However, I know exactly how they felt. As this is what I experienced when I heard that a novelised version of one of my all-time favourite films, Pan’s Labyrinth was in the works. The excitement was there, after all I love fairy tales, I love books and I adore the movie. However there were bucket loads of anxiety too. Some of the worries included…

Concerns that with the film such an exquisite visual feast, and with a picture worth a thousand words then surely the novel would become a monster rivalling War and Peace just to stand a chance of evoking the same imaginary in the readers mind that the movie does with its cinematography.

Worries about whether it would emulate the same excitement reading the story as it did watching it the first time? After all you can only experience the same story once for a first time. Will it retain the same poignant messages or will they be lost in translation?

All in all I was worried. The Pan’s Labyrinth film is the ultimate fairy tale movie, the benchmark that others are compared; it is not a far cry from perfection. So how could the novel ever live up to the movie?

My concerns, however, were totally unfounded, and with Guillermo Del Toro the visionary director behind the original movie and master wordsmith Cornelia Funke author of the Inkheart series at the helm the novel is quite simply; beautiful.

It delivers a true adaptation of the film and yet adds layers that make it an even more intricate tapestry if storytelling. In the novel you get to delve into the minds of the key characters, their innermost thoughts and physiques laid bare, making the line between good and evil blur. As for imaginary, I can honestly say I have never before read a book where I’ve stopped reading so many times just to admire and dwell on a sentence or description. Funke’s penmanship is awe inspiring and economic. With minimum words she evokes intricate images and complex emotions, that really does rival the film.

In addition this book is scattered with beautiful illustrations by Andy Williams, which both capture the story in the novel and replicate the imagery of the film. The spacing of the illustrations throughout the book and the monotone style emulates the style of traditional fairy tale anthologies further endorsing its fairy-tale credentials. 

All in all the Pan’s Labyrinth novel is a beautiful and poignant fairy tale which is exquisitely told and produced. So I urge any fan of film, fairy tale enthusiasts, of lover of fantasy to go read the book.

Power of Stories and the & Responsibilities of Storytellers

Last week was an interesting week for me, it was a roller-coaster ride of acute sadness and unbridled joy.

It kicked off with a funeral of a friend and colleague, who passed away much too young. The funeral was poignant and beautiful, capturing the true essence of an inspiring, remarkable and lovely woman, who spoke to us all from beyond the grave, in her father’s voice as he read out a piece of her writing. The extract was about how, as a very young child, she immersed herself in stories (specifically Roald Dahl’s) using them to give her the strength and fortitude to battle very serious childhood disease, and how they shaped the woman she became. It was a deeply moving piece, not only as it’ll be the last of her words I’ll ever hear, but also because it goes straight to the heart of why stories and books for children are so important. 

Stories and books are more than just some words printed on paper that are bound between the covers. They have power. Power to empower the readers. Power to challenge and change the reader’s perspective. Power to increase intelligence and empathy. They can mould people, and when those people are young children, they can have an impact on how they develop, and therefore on whom they are and will grow to be.



With this, the people wielding the pen, keyboard and editors hats, have responsibility too. A responsibility to write the best books we can. A responsibility to write and publish varied and diverse books, so that every child can find the stories that give them strength. For some it’ll be Dahl, but for others it’ll be books with protagonists from other ethnicities, or disabled heroes and heroines, and so on. A responsibility to publish accessible books, one’s for challenged readers, ones for those who are gifted readers but aren’t quite ready for the Young Adult titles, and all the children in between. We have responsibility to ensure all children can have access to books, by keeping libraries open and retaining school librarians, and maybe publishing some books at smaller prices, like the WDB titles.

  

There have been a lot of discussions about celebrity authors being marketed so heavily and crowding the bookshelves in shops, pushing out other titles, and although I know publishing is also a business, it seems dangerous and irresponsible to restrict children’s choices in books. Books can help young minds in many ways, but not all minds are alike. Give children access and variety, then more children will become readers, and more reader means more book sales, and crucially more children finding their strength and themselves in the stories. 

My week was a roller coaster, it started with a funeral, it ended with a birth; a brand new nephew. Although this nephew is far from the first child to call me Aunt Sally (cue – Worzle Gummidge references), his arrival hammered the point home. Stories and books have power to shape young growing minds. So I, as a writer and occasional reviewer and bookseller, have a responsibility to ensure that there is enough accessible choice of books for those new minds to pick from. I will continue to write (and you know someday, even get published) and I will continue to champion diverse and varied books.

Running my first Small Creative Writing Session for Children

So this summer has been one of firsts; first job in over a decade, my eldest child’s first days in secondary school, first submission with an agent, but perhaps the most nerve wracking – my first small group creative writing session.

I submitted a lot to a charity blind auction, a creative writing session for a small group of children. To my utter surprise the lot was brought, and therefore I began preparing. The group was four children of varying ages and ability; one six year old, one seven year old, one nine year old and an eleven year old. The winner of the lot asked specifically if I could do a session to try and inspire her daughters to write; make it exciting!

After a lot of thought, I decided that the session had to be three things…

1. Exciting (as per the brief)

2. Interactive

3. Fun

So I planned some activities based around the notion that EVERTHING is exciting, no matter how mundane it may initially appear, as long as you allow your imagination to run free.

So we started with a food. I asked the children,

How exciting is a sandwich?

To which I received the expected answer: not very – or - not at all. So I read a passage out of the Dave Shelton book, ‘A Boy and a Bear in a Boat,’ about the heroic antics of the VLS, VERY LAST SANDWICH. All the children giggled and gawped, and I could see that they were opening up to the concept that in creative writing there are no rules, and that you are only restricted by the scope of your imagination.

We then talked about other foods with exciting properties, like the cakes from Sarah McIntyre’s and Philip Reeves Cakes in Space, and we even made our own cake monsters. The discussion also covered food from Harry Potter, George‘s Marvellous Medicine and then the land of the most exciting food, Wonderland. To make the talk interactive we drunk from bottles marked ‘Drink Me’ and ate mushroom sweets and pretended to shrink and grow.

“My daughters had a wonderful time during the creative writing session with Sally. I was very impressed by the amount of effort that she put into preparing for it. She kept the girls engaged and gently led them back to their writing piece when they got distracted. It has really helped them to see literacy in a more fun way and hopefully they will bring this enthusiasm with them into the next school year.” From Mrs O

After all the excitement we sat down and talked about each child’s favourite food, and started to think how that food could be exciting, and then began to build a story around it. To make the session easier I provided each child with a pre-prepared pack with story wheels, and vocabulary sheets. All the children’s imaginations soon warmed up and their stories became magical and exciting. It was lovely to see them al enjoying their own crazy worlds and ideas. 

The session was short, but the children really seemed to have fun, and took to the notion that writing can be fun. To help the children to continue to develop a love of writing, I sent them so additional activities through the post in the following weeks.

I am very pleased at how my first small creative writing session has gone, and will certainly be thinking of ways to improve and develop it for the future sessions. But one thing I know for sure, it has to be exciting and interactive and most of all fun!

Celebrating Independent Bookshop Week 2015, with a blog post dedicated to my family’s favourite Indy Bookshop – Mostly Books!

As a reader, writer, book blogger and mother I LOVE books. As a contentious buyer I LOVE independent shops, we buy our meet from a village butchers, we buy our books from an independent bookshop. My favourite book shop is the wondrous Mostly Books in Abingdon.

Mostly Books is a family business headed up my husband and wife team Nicki & Mark Thornton, who run the shop with a team of enthusiastic staff (endorsed by Imogen being short-listed for the Young Bookseller of the year award earlier this year) who are all passionate about books. The façade on the picturesque Stert Street in Abingdon could almost be off of Diagon Alley and walking inside the shop is full of hand picked books with vibrant seasonal displays and dedicated children’s room and even court yard garden.

What makes Mostly Books my favourite Book Shop is its; soul, character and its dedication to literacy, bringing a whole of host of events to the shop and to other local venues partnering with schools and societies. That and of course its stock of books, all chosen thoughtfully by Mark, Nicki and the team, who therefore really know their stock and are very equip to match books to readers.

The shop has really helped my small people to embrace a love for books through events, competitions, meeting authors, and by finding books that really engage them.

My daughter helped out on the Nosy Crow Take Over in celebration of Independent Bookshop Week 2013, meeting Helen Peters, Hitchcock and Paula Harrison, therefore inspiring her to read their book and their recommended books which pushed her to read outside her usual comfort zone and vastly improving her reading skills.

My son, really loves Hugless Douglass and was thrilled to have met David Melling at one of Mostly Books author events back in 2013. Also that year he met Jane Hissey and the Old Bear characters which inspired him to draw and write a book with his own teddy ‘Red Ted,’ this was the first time he ever wrote anything my choice.

Loving the shop and getting to know Nicki and Mark, I began to help out both on the shop floor and at events. This has provided me with much appreciated company (as much as I love it writing can be rather solitary), plus has been a fabulous experience, meeting authors and illustrators and seeing how they engage and inspire children. There is something very humbling and magical about watching children be so enthralled about the written world, and feel very privileged to have been able to observe this. 

Helping out at Mostly Books has been a learning curve, I’d worked in shop before but I soon discovered that being a bookseller is a vocation and very different to peddling clothes, or vegetables! Knowing your stock and customers is key, and I soon discovered my talents are almost exclusively children’s books. I really enjoy helping children pick books, conversing with them to find out what they like and suggesting titles that I think will really hook them. I like selling to adults too, and since spending time at the shop I've read more adults books than ever in my life and discovered some truly fantastic authors. 

The Mostly Books staffs are innovative with their events, competitions, groups and offers. They are always finding ways to improve and modify their unique service to bring their customers the very best Independent book shop experience, this is something which is truly inspiring and also contiguous. In 2014 Mostly Books was announced as Julia Donaldson’s Independent Bookshop for the month of August, ahead of which me and the small people made a Gruffalo Child to assist the publicity spreading the word that The Gruffalo was to visit the shop. 

  

In short I LOVE Mostly Books, it is my and my family’s favourite bookshop. But it’s not the shop or the books alone, but the dedicated hard working team that gives Mostly Books its soul.

An Slightly Late Celebration of Tell A Fairy Tale Day (which was yesterday)…

Usually I’d be shouting from the roof tops on Tell A Fairy Tale Day, last year I posted a video blog of me telling a self-penned fairy tale [press here to view] but yesterday I was somewhat pre-occupied. However today is a bright sunny new day, and I shall mark the great Tell A Fairy Tale Day, a tad late with this small post of  how, on the Tell a Fairy Tale day, 26th of February 2014, Fairy tales are featuring in my family.

My small people got Kindle’s for Christmas and were reading Grimm’s Fairy tales, the original darker less edited versions and when I spotted them stumbling into some of the grimmest tales, I thought I should possibly encourage them toward more age suited tales. Enter Michael Buckley’s Sisters Grimm series, the middle grade adventures of Daphne and Sabrina, the fairy tale detectives who discover their descendants of the famous Wilhelm and Jacob, and must save their parents from a fairy-tale villain in the town of Ferryport Landing, which is populated entirely by fairy tale characters called Everafters. I ordered the first book for my daughter (aged nine), who read it in hours, and then continued on to book two, and is now nagging for me to purchase book three. Then my son (aged seven) a more reluctant reader liked the sound of the books so much he’s how reading the first book too.

I’m currently reading Jasper Fforde's fantastic first Nursery Rhymes Division book, The Big Over Easy, which is a hilarious detective yarn, following DI Jack Spratt (who has a nasty reputation for killing giants) as he and DS Mary Mary, try to crack the murder of Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty’. I’m immensely enjoying watching the detectives as they try and work out who done it, with an escalating pile of corpses, and growing list of suspects, from Humpty’s lover Rapunzel, small time crook Thom Thumb, to crime king-pin Giorgio Porgia. It’s a cleaver, witty and  quirky read, that takes fairy-tales to a genre which is unique to Jasper Fforde.

My husband, and me and well everyone who comes around to visit are dipping into the remarkable and humorous, ‘Tigger on The Couch’ by Laura James. This coffee table book was published back in 2007, and is incredibly hard to come by, but is worth the search. Tigger on The Couch, diagnoses the ‘Neuroses, psychoses, disorders and maladies of favourite childhood characters’. Of course Fairy Tale characters feature heavily, for example; Snow White’s Stepmother who has ‘ Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) which manifests with her experiencing severe problems with personal relationships and in controlling her obsessive impulse. It’s an entertaining read from Cinderella’s trouble with Approval Addiction, to the more serious Bluebeards Psychopathy which results in callous disregard for others and serial murder.

Finally, my son is practicing every waking moment for his upcoming concert, which is a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s version of Jack and the Beanstalk. So as you can see on Tell A Fairy Tale day 2014, my family is indeed focused on fairy tales!

If that wasn't enough, I'm off to the fantastic book launch this evening of fellow SCBWI member and Undiscovered Voice 2012 Honorary Mention Liz De Jager's fairytale YA Novel Banished! 

Never Judge a Book by it's Movie? But Trust the Movie to Help Kid's Stretch their Reading Abilities to Read the Book!

I'm really pleased to see the news article this week about the impact of movie adaptations of books on children reading. Using my best finely honed craft, revered usually for one line pitches, I’ll give you the summery; that watching movie adaptations of books, inspires children to read books above their reading age thereby challenging, improving and expanding their reading abilities. To read the full article press here.

I personally welcome the research, as there is always an argument that movies and television are some way in conflict with reading which I stringently disagree with. You see as any of you who have read my blog before will know I’m dyslexic.

My dyslexia was horrendous as a child, and reading was a hard heart breaking and potentially volatile endeavour, and reading despite me LOVING it (and hating it in equal measure) took a great deal of commitment and investment. I read slowly, one word at a time, and usually ended up in an emotional mess because I couldn't read the words, and couldn't look them up in a dictionary either (dictionaries are quite frankly hell for dyslexics!). So reading was a gamble, when I was sacrificing so much time, and investing so much, I was reluctant to read a book if I was unsure that it would pay off. The pay-off, that the story was good enough to make the endurance worthwhile.

Movies, however I watched lots of (still do), and if I really liked a movie then I’d read the book, and even if they were way beyond my reading capabilities, as I knew that there'd be a pay-off. I knew I’d like the story, so the risk factor was removed.

Here’s a few…

When The Whales Came, was an amazing English production starring Dame Helen Mirren, released in 1989, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel. Again, I fell hook line and sinker for the film, and watched it until the VHS tape started getting lines and going all crinkly, and then I watched it more. This inspired me so much I actually spent my heard earned pocket money (a blog for another time) on a copy of the book with the movie tie-in cover; I read this book many times as a consequence of watching the film.

The NeverEnding Story I saw the film which was made in 1984 probably two years later when I was eight, (and was still reading the equivalent of Biff and Chip starter readers) I LOVED the film, and watch it again, again, and again. When I found a copy of Michael Ende’s, original book a few years later (1990 ish), I read it despite the fact that half the print is in green and other in red, and it’s the size of a brick, and that it’s adapted from German so it is a tad trickier to read than something that has not been translated, I struggled through and LOVED it even more than the movie.

My first ever adult book, was as a result of watching the epic ground breaking CGI masterpiece movie adaptation. Cast your mind back twenty years ago, guest it yet? Back before the invention of contemporary YA novels, all my friends were reading Virginia Andrews's Flowers in the Attic or Stephen King, or The Interview with a Vampire series, and I had nothing the right reading age or anything that inspired me enough to consider tackling adult novels. Then at aged fourteen, I went to the tiny cinema and watched Jurassic Park. The effects, the story, everything about it blew me away, so I brought the book and struggled through it, loving every hurdle, and the pay-off was major. This was the book where I realised just HOW MUCH BETTER, book were than there adaptations. I then went through a brief phases of reading every Michael Crichton novel I could. 

The same thing happened with my children most notably with Percy Jackson, which has not only inspired my daughter to read the Rick Riordan’s novels, but also anything and everything that feature Greek mythology, thereby stretching her reading capabilities and improving them. I sometime help out at a fantastic Indy Book shop Mostly Book’s Abingdon, and whenever a movie adaptation is realised there is always a notable increasing in people coming in to buy the books.

So this little blog is essentially just to say that movies and books aren't in direct competition, but in a misunderstood partnership, helping one another to boost kids reading abilities and love of story, or at least that’s my take on it!

  

Goodbye 2012, the year of the Fairy Tale. Hello 2013, let the Fairy Tale Frenzy Begin…

2012 really was the year of the Fairy Tale. As I detailed in my earlier blog posts (click here and here) it was destined to be fairy tale mad. 2012 did not disappoint, bringing gifts of Fairy Tale films, television shows and books that all built up to the finale; the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Brothers Grimm’s, ‘Children’s and Household Tales’, on the 20th December.

But wait, fear not, fairy tales are not ‘so 2012!’… 2013 has a whole host of fairytale delights.  Read on to review some of the highlights from last year, and what’s in store in the coming months…

2012 Review

We had a fairy tale revival for the small screen, with the reboot of the 1980’s classic ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Grimm’, and ABC’s  ‘Once Upon A Time’, starring Jennifer Morrison and Robert Carlisle.

We had fairy tales hit the big screen too, with varied levels of success. For my money, ‘Mirror Mirror’ being on the poorer end, but then ‘Snow White and The Huntsman’ proving that Hollywood can pull off a good Fairy Tale Yarn. I think the key difference between the two film bases is simple, quality of the writing team; ‘Snow White and The Huntsman’ hired; The Sussex Centre for Folklore Fairy Tales and Fantasy, to be consultants for the film!!!

It wasn’t just western film makers, China’s film goers were also treated to a fairy tale caper; The ‘FairyTale Killer,’ about ‘A fearless cop is appointed to investigate a series of puzzling murders which resemble Fairy Tales.’

September saw the ‘After Grimm: Fairy Tales and Story Telling Conference’ in London. (Click here to see the right up in the SCFF Newsletter).

2012 saw a fair share of fairy tale literature, I can’t go through all of the fabulous books, but here are a few. Graham Joyce, the author of one of my all-time favourite fairy tale-esk adult novels, ‘The Tooth Fairy’ published his book ‘Some Kind of Fairy Tale.’ Alley Shaw followed up his award winning ‘The Girl with glass feet’ with his second fairy tale novel for adults, ‘The Man Who Rained’

Then in autumn we saw the hugely anticipated Phillip Pullmans ‘Grimm’s Tales for Young and Old’.  This book is truly beautiful, with a cover that is so inviting it looks like you can walk straight into the books. What’s between the covers is even better, with a fascinating introduction, and compelling retelling of a selection of The Grimm Brothers most intriguing (not necessarily best known) Tales.

And finally, the 20th December was the bicentenary of the first publication of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s ‘Kinder- und Hausmärchen’.  With wide celebrations in Germany (click here for more), and an interesting series of programs on BBC Radio 4 (press here to listen). This rounded up a fantastic year.

2013 Highlights

2013 sees more Grimm adaptations but it also welcomes Hans Christian Anderson to the party. Yes The Snow Queen see’s not one but two animated adaptation's for the silver screen. First come Wizarts ‘The Snow Queen’ which is Russian made CGI picture (press here to seethe trailer). Later we have the Disney version ‘Frozen.’

Then more movies; Bryan Singer’s ‘Jack the Giant Killer’, and ‘Hansel and Gretel; Witch Hunters.’

Pans Labyrinth’s director, Guillermo De Terro’s animated ‘Pinocchio’ is currently in post-production, so will hopefully be released in 2013 and the images that have been released so far look stunning (press here). Although sadly there is no new news on his live action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at present. But one thing is certain, if Pan’s Labyrinth is anything to go by, then both these films will be true fairy tale – *can’t wait!*

Other things in the making include the Disney Sleeping beauty adaptation that sees Angelina Jolie taking on the title role as the evil sorceress ‘Maleficent’ (Press Here to see Angelina in costume).  And there are rumours of a new live action Disney adaption of ‘Cinderella’ due to be directed by Mark Romanek (director of One Hour Photo), and starring ‘The Hosts,’ Saoirse Ronan. (to read more press here).

One thing is clear, the Fairy Tale rival is still going strong, with more films being commissioned, and an ever growing audience with a thirst for fairy tales that reference their heritage, not shying away from things that go bump in the night. 

200 Today! Happy Birthday; Hans My Hedgehog, Red Riding Hood, Bearskin all Grimm Folk!

200 Year's old today! On the 20th December 1812 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm First published their, 'Kinder- und Hausmärchen' / Childhood and Household Tales, which now iconically known as the Grimm's Fairy Tales. 

I am Uber Excitied about this fanastic anniversary, and will be back later today with a Grimm inspired #Book_in_Every_Stocking blog, so please come back and check it out later this afternoon!

Dawn Finch's Stocking Filling Suggestion for Santa...

I'm delighted to have yet another published writer on the blog today supporting the #Book_in_Every_Stocking campaign. Today’s author is uniquely qualified to recommend books as she is also a Librarian. So welcome and a big thank you to Dawn Finch…

Dawn Finch is the author of the ghostly fantasy for 11+ readers – Brotherhood of Shades - pub Harper Collins (authonomy), for more info press here. It is out now in e-edition (all formats) and in print 2013. Sadly it on in a physical form to go in this years stocking, but SANTA - it can be a great book to give anyone who is getting a e-reader for Christmas...

...and next year it'll be in traditional book form, ideal for stockings!

Thanks everyone for checking out the blog and supporting our campaign to get Santa to put a book in every stocking. If you want to support us further, then comments leaving your book stocking filler suggestion for Santa.  Please remember that the louder we shout the more likely the big man in red is likely to here us in the north pole, so please tweet and Facebook...

#Book_in_Every_Stocking