"the fuel for our future"

In Words & Pictures' first week as a blogzine, one of our posts was Nicky Schmidt's interview with Ferelith Hordon on the judging criteria for the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Award. In this our thirteenth week as a blogzine we saw the 2013 Carnegie Medal won by Sally Gardner for Maggot Moon and the 2013 Kate Greenaway Award won by Levi Pinfold for Black Dog. Many congratulations to Sally and Hot Key Books, our Ask a Publisher, and to Levi and Templar Publishing. Many congratulations too to all the shortlisted, especially our own Elizabeth Wein for Codename Verity - Carnegie Shortlisted Author still sounds pretty damn fine to me.

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Award Winners 2013

As well as congratulating these worthy winners we must also bid what I hope may be a temporary farewell to Nicky Schmidt our Correspondent at Large and the winning features she has produced for us. On Wednesday she concluded her excellent marketing feature with part 2 on Branding. She, I'm sure, will still be very much in evidence on our SCBWI forums, FB and Yahoo, but for the time being, thank you so much, Nicky for sharing your expertise and insight with us here on Words & Pictures.

If this week has had a theme for me it's been children's imagination. I was particularly struck by this...

“The greatest thing a country has is its children and what children have is imagination and that really is the fuel for our future.” Sally Gardner, BBC Breakfast News, 21st June 2013

I was also inspired by the ShoutSouth Festival where a group of volunteer authors and Illustrators  delivered a three day explosion of imagination-busting story creation with South London children and Julia Groves, our new featured illustrator, encouraging us to...

"run any idea past a child if you possibly can, you’ll be amazed at their brainstorming abilities!" Julia Groves

I believe that every life saving and life enhancing discovery as much as every story has started with a 'what if'. Wouldn't it be great if the ShoutSouth model could be recreated outside London? ShoutSouth should certainly be shouted about. Bridget's breathlessly enthusiastic post about the festival was featured by Nick in the blog break.

This all made me wonder what's so special about a child's as opposed to an adult's imagination and why should it be nurtured?

So I came up with the beginnings of a list:

• A child is not blinkered by what experience has taught them. Nothing and everything is 'silly' to a child but still worth trying.

• A child is not cynical.

• A child has a fresh look from a new angle - if you can, get down on your knees and look at the world from their height.

• A child is unhampered by convention or politeness and so less afraid of what people might think.

• A child sees with sparkling clarity what's there not what should be there, think The Emperor's New Clothes. 

As writers and illustrators for children we are part of that nurturing and as much as delivering better books to children, we should also be listening to them more. It's what I hope for the Chalkface Challenge - all of the entries now having been delivered and according to their teacher, to some very happy young people.

Interestingly, the favourites from the young people shadowing the Carnegie/Greenaway judging process were The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan and Pirates and Pistols by Chris Mould. You can read the young peoples' reviews for all the shortlisted books here.


Also in week thirteen, with Bridget, Nick featured some of the graphic novel comic buzz around illustration for older readers, unleashing creativity and some silliness in the blog break on Tuesday. I was delighted how the network news this week came in the comments to Gill's brilliant classification of critique groups on Thursday. Ask a Publisher was as lively as ever, I so appreciate Sara taking time to reply to comments on Monday. If you haven't already, check out Hot Key's own blog for some more of that transparent and adventurous Hot Key spirit. And if you're unpublished and unagented, and need any more convincing about Undiscovered Voices 2014 read Lara Williamson's success story on Saturday's celebrations with Jackie Buckle also celebrating a debut deal.

Next week we have Workshops: How to make them work, another video from our Social Sheila, and Duck & Bear part 4!

I'm off in the van for a couple of days to make headway on the WIP.
Hope yours is a productive week too,

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is older middle grade, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta.

Who's it all for anyway?

If you're reading this on Sunday morning and you're a SCBWI British Isles member you'll still have time to send us the opening 750 words of your middle-grade novel for our first Chalkface Challenge. Do you have one tucked in a forgotten file in some dark and cobwebby corner of your hard disk?

On Wednesday there'll be much excitement when The Kate Greenaway Award and the Carnegie Medal winners are announced. Bridget's overview of The Kate Greenaway reminded me how children and young people are involved in the judging process. For the Chalkface Challenge, which is of course no comparison to these prestigious awards, we've handed it all over to the kids with one judging criterium - which story do you want to hear more of?

There are so many people we create stories for and for so many reasons - agents for representation, publishing professionals for publication, other writers and illustrators for approval, ourselves for our own fulfilment... so many people and so many reasons that sometimes it's easy to forget who we are really writing and illustrating for.

We are the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators after all.

Wanton use of disguised children to illustrate a point.

A year or so back, I drew up a list  of what I thought we give children when we give them a book. The list would be the same if it were what we have the potential to give them when we write or illustrate a book.

Hopefully, as well as the wonderful gift of entertainment, we also give:

• The reassurance that other children feel the same way – they’ll have access to children’s secret thoughts, the ones that aren’t shared in the playground  the thoughts that make children feel they’re the only one. A book can show them they’re not.
• A way to live their lives – not by being told but shown how other people live and the freedom to come to their own conclusions about how to live their way. 
• A hiding place – who hasn’t slouched over their desk behind a text book wall?
• The opportunity to be read to – a bedtime or anytime story is one of those priceless relationship-building times.
• An escape hatch – when everything gets too much.
• A wardrobe door – a gateway to possibilities of the imagination for the real and the made-up worlds.
• Inspiration – kick starts to their own imagination
• The chance to meet extraordinary people up close and personal – often, unexpectedly extraordinary people, who might appear ordinary on the outside but because they’re in a book, the reader will know what’s really going on.

and...

• Hope – bad things will always happen in real life and in a good story you have to have trouble. Books can help children find a way through their own.

The original list is here.

I really like the idea of keeping children at the centre of what we do.

Last Monday would have been Maurice Sendak's 85th birthday, this year is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Where the Wild Things Are. I  hope you caught the marvellous Google Doodle on Monday.

I spotted this on my timeline yesterday...

With the Greenaway overview, we had other goodies this week too  –  an interview with the prolific and award winning Sophie Mckenzie,  Candy Gourlay and Teri Terry's 'perks and pitfalls' of appearing at festivals, brilliant blogs for coffee breaks, Network News, a report of Apps Night at the London Professional Series and we celebrated Paula Rawsthorne's new book.

Next week with breaking for blogs, news and celebrations, we have Ask a Publisher with Sara O'Connor and Hot Key, Nicky Schmidt with Marketing Part 2: 'Brands' and on Friday a new Featured Illustrator.

Excitement all round!

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is older middle grade, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta.