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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Join our community book club. Our mission is to get Southern California reading and talking. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-04-13 19:22:10 UTC ]
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Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
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La Verne Wimberly, whose Sunday morning selfies in her fabulous hats went viral, is promoting the newly released 'My Sunday Best' during Easter season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sci-fi novelist Annalee Newitz will discuss "The Terraformers" March 28 at the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-28 21:24:50 UTC ]
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At a long-awaited hearing last week, a federal judge sounded skeptical of the Internet Archive’s program to scan and lend library books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Even the most passionate bibliophile gets annoyed by aspects of books and the book world sometimes. Here are some examples. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-03-22 10:34:00 UTC ]
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The world's largest international book publishing trade show opens its 75th iteration with 'Chronicles' of its past right up to this year. The post The 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse: A Time Line appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-15 14:07:57 UTC ]
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When Alice Winn stumbled on the archives of her British boarding school’s newspaper, she discovered a world, only to see it “destroyed and dismantled” during World War I. She brought it back in her novel, “In Memoriam.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-03-05 14:54:05 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman advises budding authors to pick up on news stories, but Julia Donaldson warns of pitfalls – and Alan Moore says you should read terrible books as well as good onesThe key to being a good writer? It’s being a good reader, authors including Carol Ann Duffy and Alan Moore have said... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-03-02 15:43:52 UTC ]
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More important than culture-war noise are the multiple threats to British children learning to love books of any kindBack in the days when everything took place on Zooms and Teams, I was part of a World Book Day event that was livestreamed from the set of the hit musical Matlida. The set is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-03-02 11:42:37 UTC ]
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Media mogul’s admission in Dominion Systems election case that he let cable network broadcast falsehoods stuns observersIn his 71 years as a media executive, Rupert Murdoch has proved himself to be a grand master in the arts of survival. He has weathered bruising battles with British trade... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-28 21:09:35 UTC ]
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Almost four years after it was announced, Pokémon Sleep, a mobile game that tracks your sleep, is finally on the way. According to yesterday's Pokémon Presents event, it’ll arrive sometime this summer, after it was meant to debut in 2020. It features Snorlax (of course) and Professor Neroli, a... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-28 12:15:44 UTC ]
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The SMH and the Age’s Peter Falconio story made headlines around the world but quickly fell apart, while the Weekend Australian stuck to safer ground with a flattering profile of its own starFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-24 14:00:26 UTC ]
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The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes recognize works in 12 categories, with winners to be announced at USC in person on April 21. James Ellroy will receive a lifetime achievement prize. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-22 15:00:07 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Kids tablet offers a more eye-friendly reading experience than the regular Kindle Kids, but that features comes at a premium price. Right now, though, they're on sale with the biggest discounts we've seen yet, letting you grab one for just $105 or $55 (34 percent) off... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-22 11:58:13 UTC ]
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So many libraries, so little time! As writers and readers, we here at Electric Literature know there’s nothing quite like stepping into a space that has been specifically designed to invoke and perpetuate a love of reading. With book-banning efforts escalating across the country and funding for... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-02-17 12:05:00 UTC ]
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The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award is given annually to the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish author of 35 or under. Here at the British Council, we're proud to work with the Prize to support the selected writers early in their... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2023-02-13 14:40:41 UTC ]
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Book "trends" are not what the world needs; we present here an extremely comprehensive overview of what the book world could really use. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-13 11:37:00 UTC ]
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Quantum Mechanics is the science behind nuclear energy, smart phones, and particle collisions. Yet, almost a century after its discovery, there is still controversy over what the theory actually means. The problem is that its key element, the quantum-mechanical wave function describing atoms and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-10 09:52:54 UTC ]
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While Paul Tremblay is a fan of M. Night Shyamalan's take on his novel 'The Cabin at the End of the World,' he's still chewing over the film's 'way darker' ending. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-08 14:00:18 UTC ]
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