A sneak peek at PRINCE RIBBIT, my next picture book with Poly Bernatene

It's not out until next summer, but here's a sneak peek at the next picture book I've created with Argentinian illustrator extraordinaire Poly Bernatene and Macmillan Children's Books.

Poly and I have done three books together so far: The Santa Trap, The Princess and the Pig and Here Be Monsters. 

Our fourth book is called … (drum roll please) …

Although it's not a sequel, it's sure to appeal to fans of The Princess and the Pig as it's another fractured fairy-tale with lots of bookish characters.

The main characters are:- independently-minded, non-fiction-loving Princess Martha …

… her romance-obsessed, fiction-loving older sisters Arabella and Lucinda …

… and a cunning little frog who calls himself Prince Ribbit.

Poly has created another set of stunning illustrations for the book. Here's one of my favourite spreads.

That's all I'll tell you for now, but the word cloud below (created using the text of the book) might give you some more clues as to what the story is about.

Prince Ribbit will be published
in the UK by Macmillan Children's Books on 28 July 2016
and in the US by Peachtree Publishers (date to be announced)

Doncaster Reads HERE BE MONSTERS Free Event

If you live near Doncaster, you might like to come along to my free Here Be Monsters event at the Doncaster Reads Pop-up Literacy Shop in the Waterdale Shopping Centre on Tuesday 27th October at 2.00 pm.

The event is being organised by Re-Read, a brilliant Doncaster-based organisation that provides books to communities where they can make a difference to literacy, educational achievement and quality of life. The Doncaster Reads Pop-up Shop will be in the Waterdale Centre for a whole week, from Saturday 24th to Saturday 31st October. Pop in to pick up a free book, get information about reading and literacy or to take part in some fun events and activities for children and grown-ups!

If you come along to my Here be Monsters event on Tuesday, you can hear a swashbuckling tale of dastardly pirates and mysterious monsters and draw your own monster-infested treasure map. And – if X marks the right spot – you could win a signed copy of the book!

Draw your own treasure map for a chance to win a copy of the book

Here Be Monsters Event

2.00 pm Tuesday 27th October

Doncaster Reads Pop-up Literacy Shop

30 Kingsgate

Waterdale Centre

Doncaster

Admission FREE

Find out more about Re-Read

Find out more about the book and download the free card game on my web site

Why we seriously need a new funny prize

This post was originally published on Picture Book Den, a blog about picture books by picture book authors and illustrators.

The demise of the Roald Dahl Prize is nothing to laugh about 

Like many involved with children’s literature and children’s literacy, I was dismayed to learn that the Roald Dahl Funny Prize was coming to an end.

The prize was launched in 2008 by the Roald Dahl estate, Booktrust and author Michael Rosen, as part of Rosen’s work as children’s laureate. The Dahl estate have said that they were withdrawing their support for the prize because it did not fit in with the estate’s plans for next year’s Roald Dahl centenary.

I was dismayed for a couple of reasons. The first reason is extremely selfish. I was an avid Roald Dahl fan as a child, Dahl has been a big influence on my writing and the books that I’m proudest of are the ones that - like most of Dahl’s – make children laugh. Although I don’t write books to win awards, if I could choose one adult-judged award that I’d liked to have won it would be the Dahl Funny Prize. When I met the 2011 Funny Prize winning author Peter Bently at an awards lunch a few years ago I contemplated holding my butter knife to his throat and forcing him to take me to his house so that I could steal his trophy confessed how much I coveted the prize. Now I’ve had to give up any hope of that dream coming true. *sobs uncontrollably into keyboard*

The second reason is less selfish. Scholastic’s Kids and Family Reading report published last month demonstrated that, “above all, children want books that make them laugh.” When children were asked what they looked for when choosing a book to read for fun, humour was the most commonly cited factor by a considerable margin.

"Above all, children want books that make them laugh"
(Graph from the UK Kids and Family Reading report 2015)

Research shows that children that read for pleasure do better in maths, vocabulary and spelling than those who rarely read and they gain advantages that last their whole lives. The Kids and Family Reading report shows that if we want kids to read for pleasure, then we need to recognise and highlight the huge value of funny books. The Roald Dahl Funny Prize was the only high-profile book award that did this.

Funny books play a vital role in establishing reading habits at an early age and are particularly good at engaging reluctant readers. My son and daughter both adored Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum series and I’m always recommending them to parents who are struggling to engage their children with books. I don’t think many people appreciate how difficult it is to write something as absurdly funny as Mr Gum unless they’ve actually attempted it. As John Cleese once said, “it’s much easier to be clever than it is to be funny”.

Fortunately, I’m not the only person to feel this way. Once news of the Dahl prize’s demise got around, many people started calling for a replacement funny prize. Author Andy Seed suggested on Facebook that any new award should include separate categories for picture books, fiction, non-fiction and poetry. I love the idea of a funny book awards with multiple categories like the Oscars. You could have great fun with the awards ceremony by poking fun at some of the conventions of more serious awards. Instead of sitting there with a fixed grin, clapping politely when the winner is announced, runners-up could be encouraged to shriek “NOOOOOO!”, tear at their hair, wail inconsolably or shout insults at the winner. I’m sure that the kids attending would find it far more entertaining than a regular awards ceremony where the nominees are expected to behave themselves and I suspect that the authors and illustrators might enjoy it more too.

It would be hilarious to have an award ceremony where the runners-up were encouraged to voice their disappointment.

The recently created This Book is Funny website does a great job of waving the banner for funny books. When the Roald Dahl news broke last week, the team behind the site announced that they were already gearing up to step into the breach which is heartening news.

If there is a new funny books award, I hope that it will have a children’s vote to pick the winners rather than a panel of adult judges. Humour is largely subjective and there are no better judges of what children find funny than children themselves – as this second graph from the Kids and Family Reading report illustrates.

The best judges of what kids find appealing are kids themselves.
(Graph from the UK Kids and Family Reading report 2015)

We seriously need a funny prize, so – whoever organises it and whatever it's called – I have all my appendages crossed that we'll have a new one soon!

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UPDATE: Great news! The week after this post oringally went online on the Picture Book Den blog, Scholastic UK announced a new funny book prize – The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (AKA The Lollies)! 

The prize will be awarded in three categories:

• Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
• Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8s
• Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13s

A panel headed by Michael Rosen will select four books to make up the shortlist in each category but the winners will be decided entirely by children’s votes. You can find out more on this page of the Scholastic website.

HERE BE MONSTERS • Stage Show Production Photos

Mayflower Productions have just released a smashing set of production photos of the new Here Be Monsters stage show created by Robin Belfield and Simon Slater. The show is an adaptation of the  picture book, written by me and illustrated by Poly Bernatene. You can find the photos on the show's new Facebook page, but I thought I'd share them here as well.

"Captain Cut-Throat was a pirate and a fearless pirate too …"
Ben Tolley as the foolishly fearless fox.

"… He had the fastest pirate ship and the fiercest pirate crew."
Top: Findus Spew (Josh Sneesby). Middle: Quilly von Squint (Lauren Storer)
Right: Stinky O'Bleary (Toby Vaughan). Bottom Left: Sneaky McSqueaky (Eloise Secker)

"So despite the mate's misgivings, they set sail that very day, …"

"… And with a fair wind in their favour, they were quickly on their way." 

"So the first half of the voyage passed without a hitch,
As the crew talked of the gemstones and how they'd all be rich." 

Lookout Quilly glumly surveys the horizon

"Then something burrowed through the hull and broke in from beneath,
Something smooth and slippery, with far too many teeth." 

You can find details of the 2015 tour dates on the Mayflower Productions web site. Details of 2016 tour dates coming soon.

You can keep up with the latest news and tour dates by following the show on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can find out more about the picture book on this page of my web site.

Production Design © Rachel Fox and Photography © Ian Holder

Nottingham Telling Tales Festival • CLOCKWORK DRAGON event

If you live in or near Nottingham and are interested in children's storytelling you might like to come along to this year's Telling Tales Kid's Festival of Imagination on Saturday 10th October.

Aimed at children from 3 to 13 years, the festival is a great day out for all the family, with a varied mix of ticketed and free drop-in events. As well as author and illustrator events, there are filmmaking and claymation workshops, face-painting and plenty of other art and craft activities.

If you come along to my event at the Poppy and Pint pub you can hear me read The Clockwork Dragon, my picture book with illustrator Elys Dolan. I'll also tell you how the story came about and you'll get a chance to make your very own pop-up dragon mask.

Here's a quick description of the story …

The Kingdom of Rodney is being terrorised by Flamethrottle the dragon. Fortunately Max, a young toymaker, and Lizzie, an armourer, are more than a match for this man-eating monster and the two of them come up with a clever plan to drive it away.

Here's a trailer for the book …

And here's me wearing one of the masks we'll be making. Just think, you too could look just as handsome as this!

EVENT DETAILS

10.00 - 11.30 am Saturday 10th October

Poppy and Pint Pub 


Pierrepont Road, Nottingham, NG2 5DX

Suitable for children aged four to eight
Children's tickets - £5
Accompanying adults - FREE

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

You can find out about the other events and activities at the festival website:

nottinghamtellingtales.org.uk

And keep up to date with the latest news and updates by following the festival on 

Facebook and Twitter

HERE BE MONSTERS & THE SANTA TRAP rehearsals (UPDATED)

Following on from my last post, I popped down to the Theatre Royal, Winchester this week to spend an afternoon at the rehearsals of the Mayflower Productions' new Here Be Monsters and Santa Trap stage shows.

The Here Be Monsters show opens at the Theatre Royal,
Winchester  on the Saturday 19th September 2015 

Although the two shows are being created side by side, The Santa Trap opens a couple of months after Here Be Monsters, so it was not as far ahead in terms of rehearsals, but I saw the company run through the first half of the script including a couple of Simon Slater's songs.

Despotic brat Bradley Bartleby is played by Toby Vaughan. I don't know what sort of a child Toby was, but he did a worryingly convincing job of stomping around the stage, throwing tantrums, while the rest of the cast quivered and cowered on cue. There are only three main characters in the book – Bradley and his parents – but writer and director Robin Belfield has extended the cast for the musical by expanding the roles of the three secretaries (Robin christened them Scribble, Scribe and Smythe) who are hired to type up Bradley's Christmas list.

The three secretaries, who only appear on one page of the
book, get a bigger role in the play.

After lunch I saw a complete run though of the Here Be Monsters show. The music for both of the shows is performed live on stage by the cast but the two scores are played on different instruments. While The Santa Trap score includes a baritone sax and electronic piano, the music for Here Be Monsters includes an accordion, banjo and cajón and is more folky in style (composer and musical director Simon Slater aptly described some of the songs as having a Mumford & Sons feel). The Setting Sail song that the pirates sing on their way to the mysterious island is so catchy, by the third time I'd heard it, it was a struggle not to start singing along – but I decided to leave it to the professionals. You can watch the cast rehearsing it, and hear Eloise Secker (AKA Sneaky McSqueaky) tell you more about the show in the video below.

Here Be Monsters

A few words from Sneaky McSqueaky (aka Eloise Secker) on the brand new musical from Mayflower Productions and Belfield & Slater Musicals, Here Be Monsters.See Here Be Monsters in Winchester 19 & 20 September.

Posted by Theatre Royal Winchester on Monday, 14 September 2015

The talented cast play the score as well as the characters (Photo: Marco Piras) 

While the cast of The Santa Trap is bigger than that of the book, the cast of Here Be Monsters is slightly smaller. Crew members Blue-Bottomed Bart and Dead-Eyed Dirk (the baboon and crocodile in the book) have had to walk the plank, but all of the other crew members are still on board for the musical. The fearsome Captain Cut-Throat is played by Ben Tolley whose accordion playing gives the show a properly piratey atmosphere.

Ben Tolley plays the villainous Captain Cut-Throat. (Photo: Marco Piras) 

Producer and production designer Rachel Fox was also at the rehearsal and showed me some of her set designs for the shows. Like most touring shows, the sets are designed to be taken apart easily so that they will pack into the back of a large van, but the sets for these shows are especially ingenious as they are double-sided. So the pieces of The Santa Trap set that show the interior of Bartleby Hall can be turned around and reassembled to show the deck of Captain Cut-Throat's pirate ship. This will be particularly useful for venues like the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, where both shows will be performed on the same stage on the same day.

The sets were still being built when I saw the rehearsals, as were some of Marc Parrett's monster puppets, but I did get a sneak preview of the kraken's tentacle …

Exit, pursued by a tentacle: My rather blurry photo of  Sneaky McSqueaky (Eloise Secker) being snatched by the kraken.

… and a couple of the costumes for the Here Be Monsters show as Lauren and Elouise tried them on for the first time.

Lauren Storer tries on her Quilly Von Squint crow costume for the first time.

I always have a sense of trepidation when one of my stories is adapted for another medium, but I needn't have worried in this instance. Robin and Simon have created two smashing shows and I was hugely impressed by the talented cast and crew who have done a great job of bringing the characters and settings to life. I can't wait to see the finished shows!

Here I am with the cast and and crew.
From left: Robin Belfield (writer & director), Adam Stewart (technical stage manager), Toby Vaughan (Stinky & Bradley), Lauren Storer (Quilly, Mrs Bartleby & Scribble), Ben Tolley (Captain Cut-Throat & Mr Bartleby), Rachel Reeve (company stage manager), me, Eloise Secker (Sneaky & Scribe) and Josh Sneesby (Findus & Smythe).
(Photo: Marco Piras) 

And here's Robin and me with composer and musical director Simon Slater. (Photo: Marco Piras) 

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Here Be Monsters premieres at the Theatre Royal, Winchester on 19 September 2015 before going on to another 8 venues in October & November with further dates to be announced.

The Santa Trap premieres at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 15 November 2015 and then does a couple of days at The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, before its main run at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth from 19 December to 3 January 2016.

THE SANTA TRAP and HERE BE MONSTERS stage shows

I’m thrilled to announce that two of the picture books written by me and illustrated by Poly Bernatene are being adapted into stage shows by Belfield & Slater for Mayflower Productions.


Theatre director Robin Belfield first got in touch with me five years ago to say that he was interested in adapting the The Santa Trap for the stage, having read the book to his young daughter. Robin wasn't able to get the project off the ground at that time, but last year he came back to me with a proposal for a musical stage show in collaboration with composer Simon Slater.

The show is being produced by Mayflower Productions, a newly created-subsidiary of the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, set up to create touring shows. The Santa Trap is obviously a Christmas show with a seasonal appeal, which is why – to my great delight – the same team are also creating a Here Be Monsters show to be performed by the same cast for the rest of the year.

Rehearsals started last week in Southampton and, since my family and I happened to be in the area, we dropped in to meet the cast and crew.

Here I am with the cast, crew and producers of the shows

It was only the second day of rehearsals, so they were just trying out the scripts and experimenting with some prototype puppets and props.

Puppet-maker Marc Parrett gets to grips with his giant claw. 

Cast member Lauren Storer with one of the “cracking” baby monster prototype puppets.
(Sadly, the legs, kindly provided by producer/designer Rachel Fox for this photo,
won't feature in the finished puppet. )

This prehensile prototype prop will double up as both a kraken’s tentacle in Here Be Monsters
and an elephant’s trunk in The Santa Trap.

They seemed like a lovely, enthusiastic group of people and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they bring brattish Bradley and Captain Cut-Throat’s villainous crew to life.


Here Be Monsters premieres at the Theatre Royal, Winchester on 19 September 2015 before going on to another 8 venues in October & November.  Most of the 2015 venues are in the south of England, but there are plans to tour the show further afield in spring and autumn next year.

Click here to go to the Mayflower Productions website for the Here Be Monsters tour dates and booking links.

The Santa Trap premieres at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 15 November 2015 and then does a couple of days at The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, before its main run at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth from 19 December to 3 January 2016.

Click here to go to the Mayflower Productions website for The Santa Trap dates and booking links.

I’ll be visiting the company again next week, so watch this space for an update on their progress.

Find out more about The Santa Trap book at my website

Find out more about the Here Be Monsters book at my website