She published her first book in her 40s and became the biggest selling author of the past decade in any genre – The Gruffalo alone has sold 13m copies. How did this former busker make it so big?The room where the children’s author Julia Donaldson writes – the heart of her vast picture book empire – is down a winding staircase, in the cellar of her grand white house in Steyning, West Sussex. Her desk looks out on the street at knee height. “I’m thinking of writing a book about legs,” Donaldson said, as she showed me around the house this summer. Children from the nearby school often wave in at her as they pass. Donaldson is well known in Steyning, due to her frequent signings at the local bookshop. She and her husband, Malcolm, a retired paediatrician, recently bought the local post office to save it from closure. But elsewhere she can walk the pavement without being recognised. “I got a letter the other day for Jacqueline Wilson,” Donaldson told me. “It said: ‘You’re my favourite author!’”If you are not someone who spends much time with young children, you may only be dimly aware of Donaldson’s work – although you will probably be familiar with her most famous creation, the Gruffalo. If you have children, however, you will know her as a cultural juggernaut whose influence among children is perhaps only surpassed by the works of Disney and CBeebies. Donaldson, who is 72, has written more than 210 books: chiefly picture books, but also poetry, plays, a 60-part phonics... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 06:00:31 UTC ]
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Old school newspaper hawkers will be handing out copies of the ‘Gotham Gazette,‘ a newspaper inspired by the new show ‘The Penguin.’ Given the semi-annual world-ending events and the bevy of unhinged, heavily costumed folks behind them, a comic book universe would be an objectively terrible... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-09-19 14:04:17 UTC ]
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This week's new books include an excellent graphic memoir, a fiercely honest memoir, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-17 15:30:00 UTC ]
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Authors discuss how having their work targeted by censors has directly affected their livelihood and their well-being. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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If you’re an avid reader, an Amazon Kindle just makes sense. You can carry hundreds of books with you everywhere you go, and you don’t have to break your back doing it. The thing is, the Kindle doesn’t go on sale very often, which is why this rare discount is so exciting. Right now, you... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-08-26 16:30:38 UTC ]
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Chicago booksellers and other literary-minded organizations are responding to the crowds in town for the Democratic National Convention by selling books, promoting causes, and, in the case of one publication, reporting on the proceedings from a literary perspective. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Some stories come and go, but there are some stories that are part of fundamental questions that the book world is asking and trying to answer. Here are the ten that I find to be the most important at the moment. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-21 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Times are hard for print media in Saskatchewan. This is true for Indigenous-focused news outlets just like any other. But some are adapting to change and hoping to inspire the next generation of Indigenous journalists. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-08-19 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Contemporary literature is one of those four-dimensional things that seem to expand whenever you take a closer look. No one really knows more than a corner of it, perhaps a very large one, but a corner nevertheless. This quality, this mercuriality, of literature makes it more endless than any... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-08-16 11:05:00 UTC ]
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I reviewed Lev Grossman’s The Magicians when it was launched in 2009, with amazing timing: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book, was out in paperback, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was at last onscreen. Fans were bemoaning the coming Harry Potter vacuum. Grossman, at... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-23 08:55:43 UTC ]
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A new photo book goes inside the homes of the creative community in Joshua Tree, Pioneertown, Yucca Valley and other high desert locales. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-07-18 10:00:44 UTC ]
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Last week, The New York Times Book Review published a list of the “100 Best Books of the 21st Century.” (Well, so far, obviously. Why not just call it the best books of the last 25 years? Do they know something we don’t? Oh well.) To put it together, the Book Review surveyed “hundreds of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-16 08:56:08 UTC ]
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Painter Julie Heffernan’s lush, surrealism-infused graphic memoir debut, Babe in the Woods: The Art of Getting Lost (Algonquin, Sept.), follows her winding path through fear and memory after taking the wrong turn on a hike with her infant son. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Burned out. Exhausted. Traumatized. Suffering. Lonely. Angry. Fearful. Grieving. To judge by many religion books on the fall horizon, we're all a mess right now. PW asked four editors and publishers about new books aimed at uplifting people from the spiritual pits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Launching Books into the World: A Conversation with Carolina Orloff, by Aitana Bellido Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/01/2024 - 15:54 Carolina Orloff is a translator, author, and researcher of Latin American literature. In 2016, after... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-07-01 20:54:02 UTC ]
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A self-imposed deadline of June 28 by Booktopia to revive trading of its stock has come and gone, with the struggling Australian online retailer asking for another delay until July 19. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Time has joined a growing number of publications to sign a licensing deal with OpenAI. The ChatGPT creator will legally be able to train its large language models on 101 years worth of the storied publication's journalism, as Axios first reported. OpenAI will also have access to real-time... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-06-27 14:40:58 UTC ]
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Washington D.C.'s Folger Shakespeare Library reopens with an impressive new exhibit, audiobook narrators get their due, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-24 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Print sales are up. Celebrity picture books. Instagrammable Bookstores. These and more on Book Riot today Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-20 16:03:10 UTC ]
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World Literature Today Announces Finalists for 2025 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature News and Events [email protected] Mon, 06/17/2024 - 12:19 Top row (left to right): Samira Ahmed (photo by Erielle Bakkum), Hatem Aly;... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-06-17 17:19:26 UTC ]
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I’d bought my copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses at a Barnes and Noble in Manhattan in 1999, the summer before I left for college, along with a stack of other novels that I was convinced my much-smarter classmates would have already read. How I even decided which novels those were, I am still not... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-14 08:56:12 UTC ]
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