testing books on children

The snow storm didn't stop us. We had loads of fun in Cold Spring NY last Saturday, reading Handbag Friends and How To Be A Baby and laughing and singing. And here we are reading HOW TO BE A BABY and laughing fondly at all the things babies can't do, poor things. (Like, for instance, when you're a baby you don't carry a back pack. You go in one. And you don't read books. You eat them. Stuff like that.) (Thank you Merritt Books and thank you children.)

Reading to children is a great (the only?) way to test a children's book. And here's one really cool thing I learned from a favorite publisher of mine (David Fickling):

I was testing out HANDBAG FRIENDS on some children in its very earliest stage (pencil sketches in a paper dummy) and I came to a bit where the children were asking me loads of questions. Like, "What is a Swamp-A-Stomp?" and "Where is the Murky Space Weed?" and "What do you mean Baglodytes?". So much so that I could hardly turn the page. Later, I reported back to David, "Oh dear I think I should write more in there because they're asking lots of questions." And then he said, no, you want them asking questions. It's when they aren't asking questions you need to worry because then they're not engaged. And you know the definition of a boring book, don't you? A book that does the work of the reader for them.

Isn't that great?

Hmm. Come of think of it, that could apply to more than just books...

British accents and plummyness

yes it's all true.

having a british accent in the US is very handy. you can get away with all manner of foolishness and still appear to know what you're talking about.

which is why I decided to keep mine.

(shouldn't really be giving away the secret but to read more: click here.)

How To Be A Baby in the NY Post!

Great review of HOW TO BE A BABY in the New York Post.

(What fabulous taste that newspaper has.)

ANOTHER NEW PINKLISH WORD?

LONDON--This just in. Sam the Tiger (left) has been hot on the trail of yet another Pinklish word. (Previous discovery, Jan 31, 2007 post)

PONKCORN
(pronounced: pong*'korn)
noun
1) popcorn you are enjoying inside a movie that's all pinkly and lovely

(as in: "We had ponkcorn inside Charlotte's web")

There is, however, some controversy surrounding this latest discovery and serious questions as to whether its etymological origins are indeed Pinklish. Why would it not be called "pinkcorn" for heavens sake? some Pinklish scholars are asking. (Like the notorious Professor of Pinklish--Suley Lloyd-Heap of Pinksford University in Pinkly-cum-Sparkly in the heart of the Pinkswolds).

But for Sam the Tiger there can be no doubt. Ponkcorn is indeed part of the Pinklish language. How does he know? Because first it sounds much more tasty and noisy, and second, it can be yellow or any color and still be Ponkcorn and doesn't have to be just pink. Is he against Pink popcorn, then? No. Far from it. It's just a matter of accuracy. "Basically," says Sam. "Pink Ponkcorn is what that would be."

It's not easy being a baby

Think about it. You have everyone picking you up all the time, and telling you stuff you can't understand, and stopping you from doing anything you want to do, and feeding you stuff you don't even know what it is. And if you try and say something, they stuff a plug in your mouth.

Sometimes on a day like that, there's only one thing for it: screech and bellow and cry and wail and scream your head off. Which is what Annabel is doing here.

Her big brothers and sister are reading to her from THE manual on baby behavior. Which is very helpful of them. I think from this picture, though, she knows very well how to be a baby (and is rather good at it) and doesn't need anyone to tell her.

But seriously Annabel is very lucky. After all, she has Andrew, Daniel, Sarah, and Thomas (all four of them star in HOW TO BE A BABY--strangely enough, also on a pink sofa.) And the quadruplets are very lucky because they have baby Annabel.

But no prizes for guessing who has who wound around their little finger... (clue: she's the littlest one with dark hair)

(BTW: if you're anywhere near Cold Spring, NY, this Saturday, stop by Merritt Books where I'll be reading and signing HOW TO BE A BABY and HANDBAG FRIENDS at 11am-1pm)

my blog interview with eucatastrophe

Love this blog run by Dan Cruver. Check it out. It's a very thought-provoking, moving, inspiring blog by a really cool guy who loves my new storybook bible, which means he is not only really cool but also really extremely smart (!)--no, truly, it is a huge compliment (and he really does know his stuff. He's a Professor of Bible apart from anything, but once you start reading his blog you get the idea.) Anyway, he was kind enough to interview me (to read interview click here <+> ) about what it was like writing The Jesus Storybook Bible.

I knew I'd love his blog the minute I read the quote in the mast head (plus I learned a new word, coined by Tolkein, "eucatastrophe" which I thought at first was an alarming mix of catastrophe and an apostrophe--like some kind of unfortunate grammatical error that might lead to terrible things like the downfall of empires. But, happily nothing of the sort--it means "happy ending." Except Tolkein believed joy doesn't end and neither does the Story... so it's only an approximate translation):

"The story begins and ends in joy." J R R Tolkein.

Harry, The Strong and Cool and Brave

This is Harry (when he was quite a bit smaller than he is now). As you can see, he's full of adventure and an intrepid explorer. Which is why one of the bravest characters in Handbag Friends is named after him. And, just like him, he's very handsome, too (but you don't need me to tell you, you can see very well for yourself).

And I get to be his aunt. (Which only makes me the luckiet, proudest aunt alive.)

Right now I'm working on a story for him. I just hope I can finish it before he's too grown up for it. But then I prefer to think about the lovely thing C S Lewis wrote in his foreward to THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE:

"MY DEAR LUCY, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow up quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C S LEWIS”

The 2007 Oscar-winning Danish Poet

"Can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? ... Is our existence just coincidence? ... Do little things matter?"

These are the impressive, scarily intelligent, completely frightening sorts of questions that might easily give a person a headache if they were not very careful. But, in this oscar-winning best animated short, they are explored to brilliant effect. The Danish Poet is great storytelling, great animation, and great fun. I loved it. And no headache in sight. (Written and directed by Torvill Kove (14 mins 24 s)

(This scene is particularly enjoyable, I think, for anyone in the midst of growing their hair. As I am.)