There's Been a Whole Lot of Events Going On

It's been a busy month of events for Mostly Books with members of the team hosting authors and pop-up bookshops in a variety of different venues.

On Monday March 26th, YA author Peadar O'Guilun visited John Mason School with students from Larkmead School also in attendance.  Peadar talked about the world he created in his books The Call  and The Invasion to the group whilst keeping them entertained with his unique style of observational comedy.  The following day he did a similar event at Matthew Arnold school.  Peadar travelled from Dublin just to do these events and, given how much the team love his books, we were really happy to host him.

 

On Tuesday 17th April, Didcot resident James Bishop visited Rush Common School to talk to pupils about his newly published book Iguana Boy Saves the World with a Triple Chesse Pizza.  James, who was a runner up in a national writing competition run by TV's Lorraine, attended Rush Common as a boy so we were keen to get him back to the school to promote his book.  The event was the first in James' book tour and it went really well! The children loved the book and enjoyed chatting to James as he signed their copies. 

On Saturday 21st April, Mostly Books hosted a pop-up bookshop at the Kennington Festival of Arts at Kennington Village Centre.  The festival was a celebration of books, humour, art, poetry and music and the books on offer reflected this.  Talks were hosted by Korky Paul, Slyvia Vetta and Michael Smith, to name a few, and were interspersed with music, dance and a great selection of food and drink.  

On Friday 27th April, the Mostly Books team returned to Chandlings School to host a book fair that had been postponed after the beast from the east caused the school to close over World Book Day week.  The book fair is an annual event at Chandlings where children are able to browse a selection of books laid out in the school library before choosing one to take home with them.  It's always a really fun day as we get to chat to the children about the type of books they enjoy and help them to choose something that they will love.

The inaugural Thames Con took place on Saturday 28th April and Mostly Books was there!  The team hosted a book signing with Korky Paul and also offered a wide selection of books related to the celebrity guests in attendance.  It was a lot of fun as the team was next to the entrance which meant that they were able to see all of the wonderful costumes as people arrived.  It goes without saying that Sarah and Julia couldn't resist getting a sneaky picture with some stormtroopers!

On Wednesday 2nd May, book writing royalty Cressida Cowell came to Abingdon.  Cressida is best known for her series of novels: How to Train Your Dragon which have been adapted for the big screen in an award-winning film franchise.  Cressida did two school events, involving six different schools, and came into the shop for a book signing so there was a lot going on!  It was an absolute pleasure to meet such an accomplised author and to watch as she talked to the schools.  Her passion for writing and illustrating is apparent and and the children were totally enthralled.  Cressida was talking about her book The Wizards of Once which came out in paperback on 3rd May.

Mostly Books also provided books for the Abingdon Quilt Exhibition and school events with Korky Paul (Unicorn and Thameside) and Jay Jay Burridge so it's been a busy few weeks!

You can see more photos of our events on our Facebook page here.

Books for Christmas 2016: Grooving in the jungle and stuck in the chimney - no boring picture books for Christmas!

A few months ago there was a bit of a hoo-ha when a very well-known music media mogul (who shall remain nameless) declared that he was writing his own picture book, because he found the current picture books 'boring'.

Difficult to know where to start with that one. On the one hand, huge kudos for setting a great example to Dads and reading to your child (just five minutes a day folks, huge impact, remember that). On the other hand, I would hazard a guess that his 'domain expertise' when it comes to the canon of picture books may not be as broad as perhaps his five minute search on the Internet might have turned up.

Anyway, at Mostly Books we are surrounded by incredible works of art and imagination in picture book form, and of course for every book on display there's a score or more that we can recommend and order in the next day. Picture books are some of our most cherished children's books.

Here are our recommends and books we feel have the 'X Factor' for Christmas 2016. They soar across magical worlds, and stimulate young imaginations like nothing else. Boring? You're having a laugh...

A Child of Books - Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston
Difficult to overstate how wonderful Oliver Jeffers is, with his sparse but incredibly expressive illustration style and huge drama and emotion packed into his illustratins. 'The Day the Crayons Quit' and 'Lost and Found' are modern classics (we recommended 'Crayons' to a local primary schools, and they have used it as the basis as a whole host of writing exercises).

In 'A Child of Books' Jeffers has joined forces with typographical artist Sam Winston to create an inspiring, lyrical tale about the rewards of reading and sharing stories. A little girl sails her raft "across a sea of words" to arrive at the house of a small boy. There she invites him to come away with her on an adventure. Guided by his new friend, the boy unlocks his imagination and a lifetime of magic lies ahead of him...But who will be next? With real wow-factor, it's a wonderful gift for a young child from any book-lover.

Help - Sally Grindley
An interactive version of a classic fairy tale that follows the success of the bestselling 'Shhh!'. Based on 'The Three Little Pigs', 'Help!' physically involves the reader in the narrative and adventure. There's a wolf inside this book and the pigs need to catch him. Can you help them? Don't let him escape! Young children can lift the flaps and peep through the holes as they follow the adventure.

Anyone who has to read to a child should definitely discover Sally Grindley. Her books are almost as fun to read aloud, as to listen to...

Meg in the Jungle - David Walser and Jan Pieńkowski
Meg and Mog are as popular as ever - still illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski, since Helen Nicoll's untimely death in 2012, the stories are now written by David Walser - and they are just as engaging for young readers, with bright, bold shapes and colours.

In this new adventure, Meg, Mog and Owl explore the jungle, meet a friendly elephant, a sinister snake - and a tiger without any stripes! But can Meg's spell help or might things get a little more tricky for our hapless heroes?

Moomin and the Ocean's Song - Tove Jansson
It was a day that really ought to be filled with adventure...Moomintroll and his friends have heard of the legend of the Ocean's Song - held inside a shell, which only its finder can hear. Snufkin takes them to the island of the Hattifatteners but the friends have to turn back to escape a thunderstorm! Will they find the Ocean's Song, and get home in one piece?

This is a brand new picture book adventure based on the beloved Moomin characters by Tove Jansson - perfect for all Moomin fans young and old!

Nuddy Ned's Christmas - Kes Gray and Garry Parsons
Santa's sleigh was on its way just leaving Lanzarote. "Goodness Gracious," Blitzen cried. "Did I just see a botty?"

Yes, it's Nuddy Ned, running riot, completely starkers. Kes Gray does humour brilliantly for young readers (probably best known for his 'Daisy' books, and doing brilliantly with 'Oi Frog' at the moment). At Christmas, Nuddy Ned is desperate to meet Santa Claus, so let's hope there's a few flaps to protect Nud's modesty en route to the North Pole...

Oi Dog - Claire Gray, Kes Gray and Jim Field
Talking of 'Oi Frog', if you haven't already discovered it you must come in and take a look. And then take a look at this hilarious sequel which really will have children rolling around with laughter. After the indignities suffered in the first book, Frog's had enough, he's changing the status quo! Cat insists that there are rules - only mules sit on stools, no one but hares should sit on chairs and however irritating, dogs MUST sit on frogs.

'Well, I'm changing the rules,' said the frog. 'From now on, dogs sit on logs, not frogs!' And everyone else is going to have to sit somewhere else too. Will Cat want to sit on gnats instead of cushy mats? Will spiders like sitting on gliders? Will whales be happy to sit on nails? And, most importantly, where is FROG going to sit?

The Storm Whale in Winter - Benji Davies
It's winter time and Noi's island is covered in a blanket of snow. Even the sea is icing over.

Noi is worried about the little whale he saved last summer: Can he survive the harsh conditions? Little does Noi know that it's the little whale's turn to save him. A magical and touching story about a lasting friendship. A truly beautiful work packing a real emotional punch.

Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake - David Melling
Who can resist Hugless Douglas. The big bear with the big heart can be found making sweet treats for his friends, and just like in his earlier adventures, things are not going entirely to plan...

The honey cakes are taking far too long, and the sheep are getting restless. There is some incredibly naughty behaviour, but the result is that Douglas doesn't have anything to eat. But help is at hand...containing an actual recipe for honey cakes, and David Melling's dynamic and mischievous illustrations, this is another Hugless book to treasure!

Tell Me a Dragon - Jackie Morris
Everyone has their very own dragon, and this book describes many different varieties of the beast, showing in words and stunning pictures exactly why their owners find them so entrancing. They range from a dragon as big as a village to a tiny dragon with whisper-thin wings, from a snaggle-toothed dragon to a sea-dragon which races dolphins on the waves - ending in a page inhabited by every dragon in the book!

Winnie and Wilbur Meet Santa - Valerie Thomas
Korky Paul spent a magical afternoon in the Mostly Books garden earlier this year, so we were very excited to see this fabulously festive story with a spectacular pop-up ending! Winnie is going to be making her television debut early in 2017, so it's going to be a big year coming up for Winnie and and her long-suffering cat Wilbur...

When Winnie and Wilbur write their letters to Santa they never imagine that they are actually going to meet him on Christmas Eve! After the crisis of Santa getting stuck in their chimney, Winnie and Wilbur join him on his sleigh in a desperate race against time to make sure children everywhere wake up to stockings filled with presents on Christmas morning. What a magical memorable night! It's a fun and festive Winnie and Wilbur adventure!

Magnificent Creatures - Sue Tarsky
Anna Wright's stunning introduction to non-fiction and the natural world is enlivened by her gorgeously sophisticated and fun art style which mixes pen and ink, watercolour and fabric collage.

Find out what 'pronking' is and how one jellyfish can become two in the humorous descriptions. Both educational and beautiful Anna's unique picture book shows the character of these animals beyond their familiar forms.

Ollie's Christmas Reindeer - Nicola Killen
When a jingling sound wakes her from her sleep, a little girl's dreams come true when she meets a lost reindeer in the forest. Setting off on a magical adventure together it soon becomes a Christmas never to forget.

Nicola Killen's evocative illustrations are sure to enchant in this beautiful book with die cut pages, foil and flashes of festive red colour.

The Darkest Dark - Chris Hadfield and The Fan Brothers
After Buzz Aldrin, possibly the famous astronaut in the world is Commander Chris Hadfield, he of the guitar-playing exploits on the International Space Station, and regular commentator on space and science. This is his first picture book, and is based on the fact that Chris, when he was very young, was afraid of the dark.

It's a poignant story of a young boy who dreams of wanting to be an astronaut. And he's very busy; saving the planet from aliens is much more important than taking baths or going to bed. Because at bedtime the worst sort of alien appears - darkness. But when Chris watches the first televised moon landing, he discovers that there is a dark out in Space that is much darker than he's used to. It's the darkest dark ever, and he realises that the unknown can be ...exciting! 

Blue Penguin - Peter Horacek 
A heart-warming fable about a friendship and belonging from the award-winning illustrator Petr Horacek. "I feel just like a penguin," says Blue Penguin. "But you're not like us," said the other penguins and they left him all alone.

Poor Blue Penguin. Will he be able to convince the other penguins he is one of them after all? A moving and beautifully illustrated story from Petr Horacek, an illustrator described by the Washington Post as "the thinking tot's Eric Carle".

Coming Home - Michael Morpurgo
Yes, we know this is the story that the Waitrose ad is based upon, but the picture book is so-o-o much better! 

This is the story of the little robin's migration, as he endeavours to be home for Christmas. Few people do animal stories as well as Morpurgo, and this has all the makings of a modern classic.

Read and Draw with Korky Paul!

On Saturday June 4 at 2pm, illustrator Korky Paul returns to Mostly Books as part of our tenth birthday celebrations.

Energetic, interactive and enormous fun, Korky will be welcoming you to the wonderful world of Winnie the Witch in a special interactive workshop for children 'Read and Draw with Korky Paul!'.

In this fast-paced, fun-filled reading aloud workshop Korky demonstrates how to draw for children that is colourful, witty, energetic, and animated.

Korky - the World's Greatest Portrait Artist -
in the Mostly Books Courtyard Garden!

Korky manages to bring home the point that writing, reading, and drawing are things that are inherently meant to be fun. Korky's spontaneity, energy and unaffected manner of drawing shows young artists that every smudge, every line can be transformed into something weird and wonderful.

Magical things always happen when Korky puts his pens and paints to paper! We should know because Korky has weaved his magic in the Mostly Books garden on several occasions. It’s a brilliant and inspiring experience for children - don't miss it!

Known only to himself as ’The World’s Greatest Portrait Artist and Dinosaur Drawer’ Korky MAY just have time to draw ‘Perfect Dinosaur Portraits’ for you to take home. Winnie The Witch will be there, and every child will be issued a ‘Magic Number’ ticket, and have a chance of being drawn from a hat for a special drawing...

We have limited space for this event (in the courtyard garden, weather permitting) so please email to reserve your place.

This event will be suitable for children aged 5-11 (please let us know the age of your child when you book) and tickets are £6 (with £2 off any Korky Paul purchase on the day). Accompanying adults will need a ticket too as space is limited.

The event takes place on Saturday, June 4 at 2pm. Korky will then be signing in the shop at 3pm.

We look forward to seeing you!

Dinosaurs, doggy paws, shark-phobia, Helliconia: The Kennington Literary Festival 2011

This was our third year as bookseller for the small but perfectly formed Kennington Literary Festival, a fantastic little festival which springs out of the passionate and thriving community surrounding Kennington Library - given added poignancy this year by the threats to the library's existence.

This year the festival welcomed the widest possible range of authors, from first time novelists to literary legends, poets, illustrators and local celebrities.

Newly-installed Oxford City Poet Kate Clanchy read poems, and extracts from her memoir Antigona and Me, in which Kate writes about the deepening friendship between her and a Kosovan immigrant whom she employed as a cleaner, and who becomes her friend. Kate uses her own story to explore many aspects of immigration, heimat and our treatment of immigrants in this country. We were also very pleased to have copies of the superb collection of science-inspired short stories she edited: Litmus (we have both books in the shop, and can really recommend them both).

In the main hall, Winnie The Witch illustrator extraordinaire Korky Paul sketched dinosaur portraits and read from the original Winnie book (25 years old next year). Korky also announced and presented prizes to a story and illustration competition held in the run-up to the Festival.

Science Fiction legend Brian Aldiss talked about his life in writing, and also discussed Oxford as a centre for fantasy fiction, in conversation with fantasy author Juliet McKenna.

I was very excited to meet Brian, whose books I consumed voraciously at school and university, and felt particularly privileged to discuss his views on the future of manned spaceflight for a few minutes whilst he signed. Brian was born in 1925, won a short story competition in the Observer in 1955, and then went on to become one of the true greats of Science Fiction - and definitely the grandmaster described on his website. He is also an accomplished poet and (exhibited) artist.

He and Juliet were heading off to the Cheltenham Festival that afternoon, and had other events lined up the following day. Truly inspiring.

A change of tack in the afternoon. Local authors Margaret Pelling and Frank Egerton spoke about their novels Diamond in the Sky and Invisible respectively. MG Harris talked about her bestselling books for confident readers The Joshua Files (and gave news of next year's final installment, with its sexy black cover).

Bill Heine was utterly compelling in talking about 25 years of the Headington Shark. Never heard of the Headington Shark? I'll bet this looks familiar:

The shark celebrated its 25th birthday in August, and Bill has published the definitive account of its history. Bill is a local celebrity and broadcaster on BBC Radio Oxford who, I think it's fair to say, divides opinion. The same can be said of the shark, whose arrival in 1986 on a well-to-do suburban street (an artistic response to the threat of nuclear war) caused all kinds of conflicts, court battles and ultimately led to a ruling from the then home secretary which has had implications for planning laws ever since.

It is frankly an incredible story, particularly concerning the court battles that Bill lost time and again (comprehensively, expensively) and yet the shark survived. Bill is a master storyteller, holding his audience rapt (albeit running out of time). The book has been beautifully produced by OxfordFolio and is a work of art itself, and of course we have signed copies in the shop...

After the authors had signed books and met fans, the local author and journalist Helen Peacocke led a local walk to tie in with her latest dog-friendly walking guide "Paws Along The Way".

Kennington has a very family-friendly reputation. The Friends of Kennington Library laid on tea, coffee and cake (amongst other refreshments) and lots of volunteers gave up a very sunny October Saturday to ensure the event was a big success. Thanks to them, to the authors - and thanks for inviting us to take part too.

Reading Quest Giant Children's Party

On Saturday we took part in Reading Quest's Giant Children's Party at the South Oxford Community Centre. Reading Quest is a home-school literacy project. They go into schools, and work intensively with kids who are struggling with literacy, with the aim of increasing children’s confidence, knowledge and skills in reading and writing. They have an impressive track record - and once a year they hold a giant party, a celebration of reading and stories and attract some big name authors to help out.

This year the fantastic Korky Paul ran a drawing workshop. We obviously are biased, having had Korky at an event in the shop last Summer, but the man is a genius, and he gets kids fired up about drawing like nobody I've ever seen. He got everyone (parents included!) doing their own dinosaur portraits - and here are some of the results:

Local author Anne Pilling ran a poetry session, and staff from the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre were giving some great theatrical story sessions of some of Roald Dahl's best stories (including his brilliant version of Little Red Riding Hood).

Geraldine McCaughrean gave a story session, reading from her book of Greek Myths, but also encouraging the kids themselves to invent their own heroic stories using props, characters and familiar elements of Greek stories.

This culminated in one child being made into a Greek God (the kids really went into the whole dressing up - great fun):
Geraldine then signed copies of her books - she is a very busy author, and was incredibly generous with her time:

(That's a horse in the middle!)

All in all a wonderful day - and a nice end to quite a week!