November 28, 2007
Children's books set in Africa
Congratulations to Sarah Mussi for her triumph in the Children's category of the 2007 Glen Dimplex Awards.
I read The Door of No Return earlier this year and really enjoyed it.
The surge of children's books set in Africa recently has been extraordinary. Was it really only last August that Amanda Craig commented in her Times column that it had been a long time since a children's author dared to write about Africa? That column elicited THIS BEAUT LETTER from my dear Mum (at a time when she was also going into Waterstones and carefully adjusting copies of 'Sophie and the Albino Camel' to make them more prominent - not that I've ever done that, of course!).
Since that time, there have been so many good children's books set in Africa that I am half afraid to list them, for fear of missing off a brace of classics. Here goes anyway:
Plus, of course, my own offerings are linked from the sidebar on this page.
Great to see Africa firmly back on the reading list. And well done to Glen Dimplex for having the courage to give the Children's Award to an Africa-based book two years running. Noice.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:12 PM
March 21, 2007
Dave Shelton's Life of a Pen is back!
Caloo, calay, he chortled in his joy.
Dave Shelton has revamped his website. Very user-friendly and pleasant it is too.
Dave Shelton: Drawing and Colouring in
But even more wonderful than this is that LIFE OF A PEN IS BACK FOR A SECOND SEASON. Don't miss it - it's wonderful, imaginative, disturbing, intriguing and altogether A Good Thing. This time the pen is a 25p black biro. Sheer class.
http://daveshelton.blogspot.com/
If you missed season 1, here are the 'Life of a Pen' rules.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:07 PM
March 10, 2007
Climb the Cliff
Atiko was a Dogon boy who lived with his grumpy gran at the foot of the Dogon Cliffs.
Like other Dogon boys, Atiko enjoyed eating onion soup, playing the tamtam drums and chatting to Galemba the Talking Snake.
Unlike other Dogon boys, Atiko was SCARED OF HEIGHTS.
One day, Gran said, ‘Today I’m going to the cliff-top, Atiko, to visit my onion-patch. I want you to come with me.’
‘I can’t,’ said Atiko. ‘I’m SCARED OF HEIGHTS, innit.’
Continue reading "Climb the Cliff"
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:07 PM
February 16, 2007
Author site launched
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:32 PM
December 17, 2005
Dave Shelton - illustrator
Got the proofs for Sophie and the Albino Camel
You can also have a look at Dave Shelton's blog, which includes lots of his pictures and occasional wonderful extracts from his sketchbook. In the blog there are occasional references to days of camel-drawing work, for which I am extremely grateful.
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:06 PM
November 11, 2005
Pre-order 'Sophie and the Albino Camel' on Amazon
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| You can now pre-order a copy of Sophie and the Albino Camel on Amazon. This means that when Amazon starts receiving the book from Andersen Press (6 April 2006) they will send one straight to you.
That way you won't have to go outside in those April showers. |
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:08 PM
November 09, 2005
Andersen Press Spring 2006 Catalogue
 | Andersen Press has just released its 2006 Spring Catalogue, and it is full of treats. I like the look of 'Misery Moo' (3+) by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross, a "heart-warming story about overcoming bad moods", and also 'Burger Boy' (3+) by Alan Durant and Mei Matsuoka, about a lad who eats so many burgers he turns into one - and gets chased across the countryside by a mob of hungry dogs. For teenagers, Melvin Burgess weighs in with a new novel 'Sarah's Face' about a girl who plans to give her face to an aging rock star. Noice. |
(8+) is also in there. The blurb goes something like this:
'Keep up with this exciting camel chase through the Sahara desert! Sophie, Gidaado the storyteller, and his albino camel, go on a journey through Burkina Faso. As they travel, Sophie realizes just how dangerous the desert is - it's full of djinns and deadly snakes, not to mention the infamous Moussa ag Litni, a ruthless bandit who steals camels...'
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:10 PM
October 24, 2005
Mr Benn - what was it all about?
Andersen Press publish the books of David McKee, author of the Elmer the Elephant books and creator of Mr Benn. Remember Mr Benn? "As if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared"? I have many happy childhood memories of watching his all-too-short adventures, which all started in that fascinating costume shop. Some brief surfing turned up the following excellent website - Mr Benn - What was it all about? - which comprises 12 theories about the deeper meaning of Mr Benn. Great stuff, by someone who truly cares about the world of Mr Benn. It's sites like that which make the Internet worthwhile.
My own Sophie and the Albino Camel
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:21 PM
October 23, 2005
Hawk and Hen
Told to me this week by Tamboura Muusa:
A very very long time ago, Hen went to Hawk and said 'Can I borrow a needle to repair my children's clothes?' and Hawk said 'Very well then, here you are.'
The weeks went by and Hen did not come to return the needle, so Hawk paid Hen a visit.
'Salam aleykum,' said Hawk.
'Aleykum asalam,' said Hen. 'To what do I owe the honour of this visit?'
'My needle,' said Hawk. 'I need it back now.'
'I've lost it,' said Hen. 'Please forgive me.'
Hawk was furious. 'No,' he said, 'I will not forgive you. Every week I will take one of your children until you return my needle.'
AND SO TO THIS DAY, Hawk regularly steals Hen's children. And Hen spends her days scratching around in the dust looking for the lost needle.
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:33 PM
September 30, 2005
Draft Cover for Sophie and the Albino Camel
The good people at Andersen sent me today this draft of the cover for Sophie and the Albino Camel
Now I need to get on and write the blurb for the back. I had not realized that authors write their own blurbs, although I suppose it is logical. Thankfully, I recently came across John Warner's excellent Blurb-O-Matic.
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:01 PM
June 20, 2005
The White Giraffe
There are only three web-logs which I look at every time I go online: Under the Acacias, Boing Boing and Achuka. The formidable 'Achuka' is edited by Michael Thorn and updated daily with news, reviews and gossip from the world of children's publishing. This is a heady time of year for Thorn, with one London publishing house after another throwing its summer party; somehow or other he gets invited to all of them. On Monday last week he went to the Puffin Party in the Orangery at Kensington Palace, and on Thursday he attended the Orion Party at the Oktober Gallery. (Thorn's analysis was that Orion's food this year was not quite up to last year's 'glorious spread of bread, cheese, fruits and dips'. Made me feel hungry just reading it, and as soon as I left the telecentre I rushed across the road to buy a mango off a passing girl's head. Anyway, I'm straying from the point here.)
Thorn took photos of various Orion people having a good time, including an arresting picture of two ladies grinning from ear to ear. The caption was even more arresting:
Jo Williamson, Orion Publicity Officer, with Lauren St John, whose first novel in a 5-figure 3-book deal, 'The White Giraffe', will be published in the autumn. It is the story of a 9-year-old orphan who is sent from England to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa. With few friends and feeling an outsider, her adventures begin as she gradually learns the secrets of the reserve, including the story of the fabled white giraffe who is rumoured to live there.
Hello, I thought, this 'White Giraffe' book sounds rather similar to my own Sophie and the Albino Camel
The 5-figure 3-book deal thing is where Lauren St John and I part company. St John is an established author (of biographies) with a good literary agent. My book has only been accepted via the 'slush-pile', which is how publishers refer to the dozens of unsolicited manuscripts which they receive every week. I am grateful to the readers at Andersen Press for bothering to even look at 'Albino Camel', and to Klaus Flugge (director), for being willing to take a chance on it.
'The White Giraffe' is set to be published in the autumn by Orion, and I am looking forward to reading it. I am sure it is very good indeed, gnash-gnash, and I wish Lauren St John the best of luck with it. Sophie and the Albino Camel
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:06 PM
April 30, 2005
Offer
Okay, so this is my good news for the day:
A certain children's publisher (best known for Elmer the Patchwork Elephant) have offered to publish Sophie and the Albino Camel
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:54 AM
July 14, 2004
The Camel and Hassan Djiwa
(for Mum, 5 August 2004)
In the west of Africa there is a hot, dry country called Burkina Faso. You can find it on a map if you look hard enough. As you know, many people in hot countries use a camel to help them get around. In Burkina Faso there are hundreds of camels, maybe thousands.
Camels have four legs, and two knees on each leg. Can you imagine trying to keep track of eight knees? Also, they have a big hump, sometimes two. A camel with one hump is called a Dromedary. A camel with two humps is called a Bactrian. (Here is an easy way to remember the difference: just put the first letter on its side and count the humps. D has one hump, B has two).
The Fulani people of Burkina Faso say that God has one hundred names, and that humans know ninety-nine of them. They say that only the camel knows the one hundredth name of God, and that is why he smirks.
Here is a story about a man from Burkina Faso who did not have a camel and decided to steal one. It turned out to be a very special camel indeed…
Continue reading "The Camel and Hassan Djiwa"
Posted by sahelsteve at 12:26 PM
July 06, 2004
Ouedraogo, Sauodogo and the Chobbal
Two Mossi merchants were travelling to Ouagadougou together, a journey of two days through the semi-desert. Their names were Ouedraogo and Sauodogo. Ouedraogo had brought provisions for the journey, Sauodogo had not.
By the afternoon of the first day the merchants were hungry. Seeing a well not far off, Ouedraogo decided to stop and eat. He sat down on the ground and took off his turban. Sauodogo did likewise. Ouedraogo opened his bag and took out four balls of chobbal. (Chobbal is a mixture of cooked millet and herbs. You mix it with water or milk and eat it like porridge).
When he saw the chobbal, Sauodogo's eyes lit up and he licked his lips.
'You aren't going to eat that all by yourself, are you?' he said.
Ouedraogo certainly was going to eat it all by himself. But he said nothing.
Continue reading "Ouedraogo, Sauodogo and the Chobbal "
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:49 PM
September 17, 2003
Don't Fall Asleep!
In the west of Africa there is a hot, dry country called Burkina Faso. You can see it on a map if you look hard enough. In Burkina Faso lives a tribe of people called the Fulani. They keep cows, sheep and goats, and sometimes they have to travel around to find grass and water for their animals.
In one Fulani family, in a town called Aribinda, there were three sons: Abdullai, Moomooni and Ali. One evening, their father said to Abdullai and Moomooni: "Boys, tomorrow you must take the animals to Gorom-Gorom, your Uncle Abraham's village. I hear it has rained there and the grass is tall and green. If you walk well, the journey will take two days. And in the night, you will need to watch the animals, so whatever you do, don't fall asleep."
Continue reading "Don't Fall Asleep! "
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:14 PM
November 10, 2001
Interactive map of Africa
Do you know where Burkina Faso is?
If you don't, here is a fun way to find out. Look at this interactive map, and move your mouse around until you find Burkina Faso. What is the capital called?