The Puffin Blog

Links

Puffin UK

Terms

Remember that by posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use If you consider any content on this site to be inappropriate, please report it to Penguin Books by emailing reportabuse@penguin.co.uk

Subscribe with RSS

You can keep up to date with the latest blog entries by subscribing to our RSS feed.

RSS icon Subscribe with RSS

May 25, 2012

Ed Vere in concert!

Ok I admit it, I like Jazz . . . in different ways it's leaked into a couple of books I've done. Most obviously in Mr Big, a story about a jazz piano playing gorilla.

So when I saw a band called The Neil Cowley Trio last year at The Village Underground, their driving & rhythmic piano led music made a big mark on me. I've listened to them a lot since.

Cut to a couple of months ago and an email arrives from The Wigmore Hall (famous music venue) asking if I'd be interested in doing a couple of concerts based on my book 'Mr Big' with The Neil Cowley Trio . . . a complete no-brainer, yes please!

So, there'll be Neil on piano, Rex on bass, Evan on drums, Russ on the mic and me live drawing to it all. There'll be improvising all round and a very high margin for live catastrophe! There'll also be opportunities for children to come on stage for some jazz related madness. Should be a lot of fun.

It's at The Wigmore Hall in London on June 9th at 3pm.You can book tickets now at www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/mr-big-plays-jazz-the-neil-cowley-trio-30016

Go baby go!
Ed Vere

Remember that by posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use. If you consider any content on this site to be inappropriate, please report it to Penguin Books by emailing reportabuse@penguin.co.uk

Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

May 03, 2012

Behind the scenes of The Great Escape . . .

I'm a huge animal fan and have two dogs of my own; Traffy and Bella who I love to pieces even when they decide to dig their own escape tunnel in my garden!

When Puffin asked if I’d like to write a book set in World War II about three animal heroes, I immediately said yes.

The animal characters in the book are two dogs and a cat, plus some heroic homing pigeons, and it was really important to me that I got these animal characters right. Fortunately, I've got a friend who has six rescue collies (one of them was just left tied to her garden gate late at night and she found him there in the morning). They became the inspiration for Rose in the book. My neighbour’s cat helped with my research for Tiger. And a Jack Russell getting stuck down a fox-hole and needing to be rescued by the local fire-brigade helped me bring Buster to life.

This is the only story I've written that I needed to do some historical research for, and I loved visiting the museums and chatting to the people at Twinwoods Airfield, where I found out about Mosquitoes and Spitfires and Blenheim planes. I never realized how cold it was inside a World War II plane, or how vital homing pigeons were, until then.

My favourite part of the research was when I got to take my own dogs Traffy and Bella (there’s lots of photos of them on my website and their blogs) on a steam train like the pets in the book do.

Traffy and Bella liked looking out of the window very much but they liked it even more when the train stopped and they got to race along the beach.

I used to work for a charity that trained dogs so I wasn’t surprised by the amazing things dogs and cats did in the war, but I was horrified when I learnt about all the pets that were put down at the start of World War II, and desperately wanted to save some of them – even if I could only do so in a story. It made me think about Traffy and Bella and what would have happened to them. Would they have been able to escape? Maybe they’d have a chance but what about when they were just puppies?

Traffy

Bella

Pets are so special that Puffin is running a competition about your pets and what makes them a hero to you. I can’t wait to read the entries and see the pictures! You can enter the competition here.

Megan Rix

Posted at 11:56 AM in The Great Escape | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

April 24, 2012

Try the Tom Palmer Euro 2012 challenge . . .

Euro 2012 kicks off on 8^thJune and I’m challenging Puffin readers to beat me in predicting some of the main events of the tournament. Read on to find out what you need to do.

I’m particularly interested in the Euros this year because my new book – Black Op – is set just before the tournament kicks off. Black Op is the first book in a new series (called the Squad) about five child-spies who use the cover story of being players in an England youth football team to monitor and prevent threats to the UK.

In Black Op the government have intelligence that someone is planning an attack on the England first team as they prepare for the tournament in Krakow, Poland. The Squad has to stop that happening. But can they work out who is planning what and stop it in time?

Okay. Now it’s time to make your Euro 2012 predictions. I’ve guessed five things about the tournament. Check out my predictions; then work out your own.

Who will win Euro 2012?

[Tom’s prediction: GERMANY]

Who will be the leading scorer of Euro 2012?

[Tom’s prediction: VILLA, Spain]

Which England player will play for the most minutes during the tournament?

[Tom’s prediction: Joe Hart]

How many goals will there be in the tournament in total (not including penalty shootouts)?

[Tom’s prediction: 93]

How many times games will England win during the finals?

[Tom’s prediction: TWO]

Everyone that does better than me in predicting the five facts above will be put into a draw. (There may be hundreds of you! Or a dozen…) Five lucky (and clever) winners will win a signed copy of Black Op. All predictions need to be emailed to info@tompalmer.co.uk by midday on 8^th June. Prizes to be sent out to winners in early July.

I’m also happy to announce that I am working with the National Literacy Trust on a range of resources for schools and families that will give football fans great ideas around reading about Euro 2012. They’ll include a free 21-part story written daily during Euro 2012, writing exercises, a blog and a pack of ideas for games, quizzes and activities to try during the tournament. Have a look at www.tompalmer.co.uk or email me for more details.

Throughout the summer I will be in Waterstones bookshops up and down the country hosting penalty shoot outs and table football tournaments. There will be prizes! I’ll be in Manchester, Preston, Southport, Trafford Centre, Truro, Cardiff, Birmingham, Huddersfield, Doncaster, Kettering, St Albans, Portsmouth, Bridport, Plymouth, Camberley, Southampton, Berkhampstead, Chesham, Bradford, Leeds and York. Please come and say hello and collect a free Euro 2012 scorecard. For more details about the events visit www.footballdetective.blogspot.com.

Black Op is published 3 May. Good luck with your predictions.

Tom Palmer

Posted at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 12, 2012

Secrets of the Henna Girl

The run up to March 2012 was a big deal for me because I was anticipating the release of my first YA novel Secrets of the Henna Girl. The story follows a sixteen year old British girl called Zeba who is taken by her parents to Pakistan for a forced marriage. But Zeba holds a secret that could possibly help her escape. Want to know more about the secret? Well, you’ll have to read the book.

March started with much preparation for the launch event. When I was writing the book, I approached the Forced Marriage Unit at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for help with my research as the Unit plays a crucial part in the story. The FMU were brilliant with their support and even offered the Lacarno Suite in the Foreign Office building for the book launch. You can imagine my delight and excitement at this wonderful generosity as the Lacarno rooms are grand and regal, and normally reserved for events to host important visitors to our country.

We planned the book launch for International Women’s Day which is celebrated on the 8th of March every year. I thought this was appropriate as the day recognises and applauds women’s achievements as well as observing and highlighting inequalities and issues. Furthermore, this year’s theme was about ‘Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures’.

The event was successful, although I spent most of the day dreading the fact that I would have to stand up in front of over one hundred people and deliver a speech! So many wonderful people attended and I just remember feeling very touched that they had come to support my book. We had a few speakers too. Francesca Dow, the Managing Director of Penguin Children’s and Puffin Books welcomed me to the Puffin family (hurray, childhood dream realised at last!). We also had Charles Hay, the Director of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as well as Irfan Akram, the Director of the Muslim Writers Awards. Anne-Marie Hutchinson the leading lawyer working to help victims of forced marriages also spoke as did Shahien Taj, the Director of the Henna Foundation. Shahien is the woman who inspired me to write ‘Secrets of the Henna Girl’ as I’d first heard her speak out against forced marriages in the Houses of Parliament many years ago.

So with the book launch over, it was time to begin my schools tour organised by Puffin. My publicist Jayde accompanied me (without whom I would have been quite lost) and we travelled all over England from Leeds to Huddersfield, Manchester, Coventry, Birmingham and then back down to London. I had a fabulous time meeting pupils and answering their questions about my background (I used to work in the Houses of Parliament) as well as my writing. The most fun part was the dress up session. In every school, one girl would dress up as the Henna Girl and four others (boys participated too!) would tie belly dancer belts around their hips. Accompanied by Bollywood music and carrying henna plates the group of five would dance/walk around the room to demonstrate a traditional henna party.

Following the tour I was exhausted, but I’m also slightly disappointed it’s over. I’ve had so much fun that I’ve decided to visit schools on my own. If you’re interested in inviting me to your school for the hour presentation, I can be contacted directly at sufiyaahmed@live.co.uk

Sufiya Ahmed
Author of Secrets of the Henna Girl

Posted at 04:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

March 02, 2012

Wimpy Kid winner!

The nation’s children have voted . . . and Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is Blue Peter’s Best Children’s Book of the Last 10 Years, beating J K Rowling’s boy wizard to the top spot in a special online vote!

A delighted Jeff said of his win:

'I'm thrilled and honestly stunned that kids in the UK voted Diary of a Wimpy Kid as the best children's book of the past ten years. When I saw the terrific books on the Blue Peter shortlist, I thought mine didn't stand a chance. I'm so grateful to all of the Wimpy Kid fans in the UK who have supported my books right from the beginning. I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of my readers in the UK over the past year and I can't wait to come back to say 'thank you' for this great honor in person!'

And if you'd like to vote for your favourite Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, check out the Wimpy Kid elections today!

Posted at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 01, 2012

Happy World Book Day!

Today is World Book Day; a global celebration of books, imagination and the joy of storytelling. The event has been reinvented for 2012 with a brand new website packed with resources and ideas, a live online festival featuring a fantastic line-up of authors and illustrators including Eoin Colfer, Andy Stanton, Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson and Jeremy Strong plus a brand new app for teens containing exclusive short stories including one from Young Bond and The Enemy creator Charlie Higson.

Children everywhere have been encouraged to dress-up as their favourite book character and to redeem their £1 World Book Day token on a range of stellar titles, from Roald Dahl's Fantabulous Facts to Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon: The Day of the Dreader.

The World Book Day message is to Read a Book and Share a Story - recommend books you love to your family and friends and spread the word of reading. So that's why I've featured the wonderful, the funny, the gloriumptious The BFG alongside our World Book Day book for this year. Happy reading . . .

Sarah Topping
Puffin Marketing

Posted at 11:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

February 14, 2012

Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge

One of the best things about working for Puffin is meeting new authors who might never have written a book before. We’re so lucky to publish their books first and read them before anyone else!

That’s what happened with a new book, which published this month – Keeper of the Realms: Crow’s Revenge by Marcus Alexander. Marcus had published this book himself before but, when a Puffin editor heard about it, she decided that we had to have it!

In this book Charlie Keeper is forced from her home by a bloodthirsty and terrifying stranger, but in escaping she discovers her house holds the gateway to the realm of Bellania - a place of myth, magic . . . and an evil Lord with a very bad attitude.

Charlie is no ordinary girl; she is full of energy, attitude and determination. How many other young girls could survive in a strange new realm far from home, making unbelievable new friends and even unlocking secret powers they never knew they had?

Even more impressive – in between making new friends (and enemies), learning to control her new powers, and getting used to life in Bellania, Charlie manages to learn a new sport – K’Changa – which is based on different martial arts and dance styles that author Marcus has encountered during his travels around the globe.

Which is how I ended up at Hendon gym in London a couple of months ago filming some of the moves that Charlie learns whilst playing K’Changa. From break-dance moves to Kung-Fu-inspired kicks and flicks, freerunning, dance, gymnastics as well as some wushu and XMA (extreme martial arts) influences, the Hendon gymnasts showed how all these could combine to create a Bellanian sport to rival football in our world.

Take a look at some of the tutorial videos here and see some K’Changa moves for yourself!

Julia Teece
Puffin Marketing Assistant

Posted at 05:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

January 19, 2012

New year, new resolutions . . .

So it’s January and the start of another year, the Christmas holidays really did speed by, didn’t they! The New Year brings with it both good and bad things: the realisation that Christmas is 355 sleeps away, a new school term, the appearance of Easter chocolate in the shops (yes really!) and of course New Year resolutions. Now I love making resolutions at the start of a New Year. It’s just the perfect excuse to try something new or put an end to that bad habit.

But historically I’m not the best at resolutions, mainly because I choose ones that are just too hard. For example last year I came up with the idea of only eating chocolate once a week, I mean seriously that was never going to work was it? Similarly the idea of walking home from work every day (only an hour a day) was a big fat fail when it rained on January 5th. So this year I was determined to come up with a more realistic resolution and so I’ve settled on the idea of a reading resolution, so in 2012 I’m going to read more. 52 books to be precise, one book a week for the whole year. I think this is a fairly realistic resolution and will be a lot of fun (although ask me again in December when I still need to read 20 books in three weeks)!

Coming up with my reading themed New Year resolution got me thinking about what other resolutions you could make that are related to books and reading. So below I’ve shared some of the ideas I’ve come up with, who knows it might inspire you to make your own reading New Year resolution.

Read every book written by Roald Dahl – Roald Dahl is the World’s Number 1 Storyteller so reading all his books would be a fantastic treat. What fun it would be to be transported to the wonderful world of The Twits, James and the Giant Peach and Danny the Champion of the World.

Read all the Puffin Classics – Anne of Avonlea, What Katy Did, Wuthering Heights, Peter Pan, Black Beauty, The Wizard of Oz and The Railway Children. There are so many fantastic Puffin Classic books available that I wouldn’t know where to start with this, but it would certainly get me reading more!

Read all the books featured on the Puffin blog – this would be a fun reading challenge and help me keep my resolution of reading more books in 2012. It would also involve quite an eclectic mix, a bit of Wimpy Kid, a dash of Wereworld and finishing off with everyone’s favourite The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Read one new book a month – Here at Puffin we publish lots of books each month for children of all ages; from picture books like Happy Birthday in Dragon Wood to fantastic series like Spy Pups and books for teenagers like The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder. So it would be great to read a brand new book each month, who knows I might find a new favourite book!

What do you think, do any of these reading-related resolutions tickle your fancy or are you going to stick to more traditional New Year resolutions like eating better and playing more sports? Whatever resolution you choose, fingers crossed you have a reading-filled and absolutely splendiferous 2012.

Fiona Evans
Marketing Executive
Media and Entertainment and Puffin

Posted at 10:35 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

January 09, 2012

Roald Dahl stamps launch today!

They say the art of letter-writing is lost in this age of emails and texts. But if you still like putting pen to paper then get ready for a most marvellous, a fantastical, a truly splendiferous sight:

Yes it's true - today the Royal Mail has launched these wonderful Roald Dahl stamps to adorn your envelopes. Aren't they delightful? Now Charlie Bucket, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Twits and The Witches will make your envelopes the best-looking envelopes in all the land.

And if you're wondering where that Big Friendly Giant is, then look no further:

This year is The BFG's 30th anniversary and he gets his very own sheet of four stamps featuring scenes from the book! Look out for lots more Big Friendly Giant fun coming this year, and don't miss your chance to give your letters the Roald Dahl stamp of approval.

Sarah Topping
Puffin Marketing

Posted at 04:35 PM in Roald Dahl stamps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 04, 2012

Building a Cyborg: How Cinder Changed Throughout Revisions

The idea for Cinderella re-envisioned as a teenage cyborg, part-human and part-machine, came to me as I was drifting to sleep one night. Some elements of her cyborgness were there from the start: she always had a robotic hand. She always had a robotic foot that she’d long outgrown. She always had a
keen understanding of mechanics and robotics.

During the writing of the first draft, I also discovered net-connectivity in her brain, which she used to download user manuals and blueprints, but the information she could gather this way was rather limited.

Then, after I finished that first draft and (months later) sat down to read through it, I realized something. For having written a cyborg who had the potential to be awesome in all sorts of ways, I’d somehow managed to make her entirely lacklustre.

I had no intention of writing a superhero into the story, and I didn’t want Cinder to become so high-tech she wasn’t recognizable as a sympathetic human being anymore. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have some more fun with her abilities. I talked to some sci-fi-geek friends of mine, and asked what skills they would want if they were a cyborg. I watched movies and read books that starred part-machine characters. I read scientific articles on all the cool things that scientists are doing right now that involve cybernetic organisms.

Over the next few drafts, Cinder’s cyborgness developed into something cooler than I’d ever imagined her to be.

I found a hidden compartment in her leg, useful for storing tools and other secret items. I discovered a retina display that could scan the things she was seeing and overlay images across her vision—whether it was connecting a prince’s features to the global database, or laying a blueprint of a car engine across her eyesight so she could figure out how it worked. Her net-connectivity became more complex, allowing her to dig up all sorts of useful information. She surprised me in a late revision of the story by suddenly having the ability to tell when people were lying.
And all the while her skill with mechanics became more impressive, until a girl who had started out doing small jobs around the house for her stepmother, eventually—inevitably—became the most renowned mechanic in the entire city.

As I revised, I felt like I was gradually uncovering Cinder’s character, or maybe that she was slowly letting me in on her secrets. And the weird part is — the less physically human she became, the more human she felt to me. The more real she became.

Marissa Meyer

This blog first appeared on www.thebookrat.com as part of the CINDER Official Blog Tour 2012

Posted at 05:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)