April 18, 2008
Mr Gum Storms Norfolk Shorts!
Congratulations to Andy Stanton on his Norfolk Shorts award for 'You're a Bad Man Mr Gum'. Another well deserved award for a hilarious book. If you know any eight or nine year olds, buy it for them.
The six shortlisted authors were invited to attend the ceremony, but I had to decline, what with being in Africa and all. So I was asked to send a letter instead.
Dear children,
Don't you just love short books? You can carry a short book in your schoolbag without breaking your back. You can read a short book on the bus (or on the loo) and finish it before you get off. You can recount the story to your friends without them falling asleep.
Sometimes a short book is called a novella, but most people are a bit hazy about what that means. I'm not sure either, but I like to call Sophie and the Albino Camel a novella because it sounds cool and Spanish, like paella.
Not that there's anything Spanish about Sophie and the Albino Camel, mind you; the story is totally African. It's set on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, not far from where I live, and some of the characters are even based on real people. Sophie is based on a real nine year-old English girl called Milly who lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. Muusa ag Litni is based on a bandit who hijacked Gorom-Gorom's ambulance a few years ago and drove off in it, which in my opinion is even worse than stealing a camel!
I've always had a soft spot for African adventure stories. When I was ten, I used to love King Solomon's Mines (by Rider Haggard) and Sahara Adventure (by Wilbur Smith). Stories of exotic and dangerous places used to keep me up late into the night, reading by torchlight under the bedclothes. If you like African adventures, there are lots of recent books for you to choose from. The Door of No Return is very exciting, as is Ringmaster. Or if you enjoyed Sophie and Gidaado's first adventure, there are two more in the same series: Sophie and the Locust Curse and Sophie and the Pancake Plot.
I'm writing this in my study and it's very hot here. In April the temperature gets up to 48ºC in the shade, which is so hot it makes you want to take your brain out of your head and rinse it in cold water! Apart from the April heat, however, my wife and I love living in Africa. We have five hens, one horse and lots of very friendly neighbours.
I feel very honoured to have been shortlisted for this first ever Norfolk Shorts award. I really wish I could nip back to England and pop into the award ceremony to say hello, but I'm afraid it would be a very long way to travel for just one day. If you would like to write and say hi, please do (I love getting snail mail!), or else you can visit my website and leave a message there.
Very best wishes to you all, and happy reading!
Steve
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:47 AM
February 20, 2008
Norfolk Shorts
'Hmmm,' said my lovely wife on learning of the Norfolk Shorts shortlist, 'Does that mean you have to wear shorts at the award ceremony?'
Let's hope not, for everyone's sake.
Here is the list of shortlisted books. I see that little albino camel is up against the funniest children's book in the history of the world, that Bad Man Mr Gum. Oh goodie.
The Norfolk Shorts Award is a celebration of SHORT BOOKS (150 pages or less). I love writing short books for three reasons:
1) Novella sounds nicer than novel.
2) My writing style has always been on the lean/chiselled/tonguetied side.
3) You can write a short book in less than a month.
The award ceremony is on 16 April, and due to factors outside of my control (like living in Africa) I'm afraid I'm not going to be there, not even in trousers. But I'll certainly post something about the result, so watch this space.
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:18 PM
November 26, 2007
Baby Albino Camel
Charlie and I went camel riding the other day, and came across this baby albino camel. Looks a bit like an emu, doesn't he?
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:00 AM
May 15, 2007
Branford Boase Shortlist
Albino Camel not amongst them, but they look a fine set of books. I'm particularly looking forward to reading You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum which sounds like it's the funniest children's book in the history of the world.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:29 PM
May 09, 2007
Sofie en de Witte Kameel
 | Translated by Esther Ottens, the Dutch version of 'Sophie and the Albino Camel' is now out. Apparently, it's een superspannend en grappig avontuur in de Afrikaanse woestijn – voor jongens en meisjes van 7 tot 10 jaar. |
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:28 PM
December 09, 2006
Children's Book Special on Open Book
Pop into most bookshops at the moment and you’re likely to be overwhelmed. The sheer number of books is positively intimidating and nowhere is this more frightening than in the children’s book section.
How do you choose?
In Open Book tomorrow Mariella Frostrup turns to some of Britain’s best children’s authors, Lauren Child, Meg Rosoff, and David McKee, and the Guardian Children's Books Editor Julia Eccleshare in search of an answer, so join them and dispel your Christmas doubts.
A little bird tells me that Sophie gets a mention :-)
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:57 PM
November 04, 2006
One for a rainy afternoon!
Sophie and the Albino Camel is going into a second printing, following its Glen Dimplex success the other night. So if you want a first edition, you might want to get one quick!
Here is a photo of Klaus Flugge (director of Andersen Press) accepting the award on my behalf, flanked by electrical-heating tycoons Sean O’Driscoll (Chief Executive of Glen Dimplex) and Martin Naughton (Chairman of Glen Dimplex).
And here are the winners in the other categories. Congratulations especially to Alice Hogge (left), who won the overall Glen Dimplex New Writer of the Year 2006 award for her book God’s Secret Agents.
Carlo Gébler, one of the judges in the Children’s category, had some nice things to say about Sophie:
‘Of the many books entered for the best first book for children, a few were woeful; many were good; five were excellent; and one was outstanding. ‘Sophie and the Albino Camel’ had a charismatic and inventive central character; the story telling was beautifully clear and unpretentious; and, most importantly of all, it passed the rainy afternoon test. On any afternoon of rain this was a book, we believed, that you could give to any child secure in the knowledge that he or she would enjoy it.’
Here is a Press Release about the Presentation Ceremony.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:55 AM
November 02, 2006
Albino Camel wins Glen Dimplex
I have just heard that 'Sophie and the Albino Camel' has won the Glen Dimplex New Writers Award in the Children's Book Category.
Klaus Flugge, founder and director of Andersen Press, kindly went to Dublin and accepted the award on my behalf. When the result was announced, they showed a little acceptance speech which I had pre-recorded. Quite exciting to win something like this with a first book.
Special thanks to:
- Glen Dimplex and the Irish Writers Centre
- My friends and neighbours in Burkina Faso
- Dave Shelton, for his uncannily apt illustrations
- Robin Watson, for proofreading so thoroughly
- Andersen Press, for rescuing Sophie from the slush-pile and taking a chance on her
- Mum, Dad, Debbie, Sven, Charlie
So much of what we hear about Africa is bad news: war, famine, pestilence, corruption and misery. It is easy to forget that there is also a great deal of humour, courage and faith to be found there, not to mention bottomless wells of wonderful stories and proverbs. My hope is that the Sophie books will make children laugh and inspire them about Africa.
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:31 PM
October 04, 2006
Glen Dimplex
'Sophie and the Albino Camel' has been shortlisted for the Children's Book Award in the inaugural Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards. Winner will be announced at a Do in Dublin on November 2, which I would love to attend but can't.
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:29 PM
July 20, 2006
TES review
Michael Thorn, editor of the children's book magazine Achuka, reviewed Sophie and the Albino Camel for the Times Educational Supplement last week.
Extract:
"The hardest readership to cater for falls between younger picture books and full-length novels: school years 2-4. These children are becoming independent readers, many of them gobbling short chapter books at the rate of one or more a day, while others, somewhat reluctant, need enticing material actively promoted.
Short fiction for newly independent readers performs so many important functions - hooking children onto the reading habit, widening vocabulary, broadening outlook, helping to understand relationships and emotions - it simply has to be well executed. Most importantly, it must be neither dull nor overtly didactic. Beware books that boast of their links to the curriculum or ones that make a self-conscious contribution to citizenship or PSHE.
Sophie and the Albino Camel, written by a missionary who lives among the Fulani herders in West Africa, is a pure adventure story about a girl on a dangerous journey who encounters various risks from snakes to murderous bandits. Sophie learns much about life and customs in the desert and about how to care for a camel from her guide Gidaado, a young storyteller. So too will readers grow in awareness of life in a faraway place. An exceptional short novel."
Sophie was also reviewed in the Northern Echo recently:
Strange but true: I heard this week that Sophie is to be published in Romania. Romanian word for camel, anyone?
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:35 AM
May 15, 2006
Albino Camel Jigsaw
One more free Albino Camel download. A jigsaw. Perfect for that seven o'clock slot when you should be doing your geography homework.
Watch out for the sequels! 'Sophie and the Locust Curse' is to be published by Andersen Press in March 2007.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:25 PM
May 07, 2006
Sophie and the Albino Camel Review
The York Evening Press published this book review of Sophie and the Albino Camel yesterday.
Thanks also to you, Mike, for this kind review on Amazon!
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:05 AM
April 05, 2006
Albino Camel on the shelves tomorrow
It has been a long wait, but finally publication day is here. Tomorrow morning 'Sophie and the Albino Camel' (8+) will go out into the world. You can buy it online on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr, amazon.de and so on, or in your local bookshop (if you are in the UK, that is).
I will be talking a bit about the book on BBC Radio York this Saturday morning, on Kathryn Apanowicz's 'Big Read'. If you do not live in the Yorkshire you can listen in here (10.45 GMT).
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:46 PM
March 30, 2006
Sophie and the Albino Camel bookmark
|
Here is another free download for readers of 'Voice in the Desert': a Sophie and the Albino Camel bookmark, designed by Beccy at Andersen Press, based on Dave Shelton's cover-art.
Download Albino Camel bookmark (270 KB) And here is some Albino Camel wallpaper for your desktop (the background picture on your computer screen). There is a choice of 800x600 or 1024x768 depending on your screen settings (if in doubt, go for 1024x768). Once you've downloaded the picture, right-click on it and select from the menu 'Set as desktop background'. |
First published in 2006 by Andersen Press Limited
Text © 2006 by Stephen Davies
Illustrations © 2006 by Dave Shelton
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:52 AM
March 22, 2006
Andersen Press Authors
Andersen Press have re-designed their website and it is now very slick and user-friendly.
It includes a page of links to Andersen authors' websites.
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:38 AM
March 11, 2006
Sophie and Gidaado's journey
When I was ten, I loved books with maps in the front - especially if those maps contained the words den, treasure, camp, hut or Timbuktu.
Well, four out of five isn't bad:
Sophie and the Albino Camel
First published in 2006 by Andersen Press Limited
Illustration © 2006 by Dave Shelton
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:39 PM
Sophie and the Albino Camel Extract
There is less than a month to go now until the publication of Sophie and the Albino Camel (8+).
Here, by kind permission of Andersen Press, is chapter 2 of the book, exclusively for readers of 'Voice in the Desert'.
Download extract (40 KB)
First published in 2006 by Andersen Press Limited
Text © 2006 by Stephen Davies
Illustrations © 2006 by Dave Shelton