This is how the story begins. In the dark dark town there was a dark dark street. In the dark dark street there was a dark dark house. In the dark dark house there was a dark dark staircase. Down the dark dark staircase there was a dark dark cellar. And in the dark dark cellar… Funnybones was 40! Continue reading
In this week’s Deeper Reading podcast, Damaris Young discusses how the Lie Tree inspired her debut children’s novel, the Switching Hour. Perfect reading for Halloween. Continue reading
Of all the mythical creatures to have stalked our nightmares over the past few thousand years, witches are perhaps the most troubling. Orcs, ogres and goblins are scary, if you like that sort of thing, but witches are the only ones to have stepped out of our imaginations and into the real world. An idea taken … Continue reading
I’ve loved scary stories since I first learned to say ‘boo’ to a goose, and have done my level best to introduce my kids to the pleasures of a good bit of fear. We like to begin the season’s thrills with a pilgrimage to the village of Lacock and the house where Harry Potter lost … Continue reading
There was a fun exchange on Twitter last week under the #PBNatter hashtag about scary picture books. The special guest was Jose Domingo, whose comic and game book hybrid Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption you really must seek out. He mentioned a favourite ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ style book called The Castle … Continue reading
A novelty tie in of a much loved children’s book normally means a poorly stitched soft toy stapled to the front cover, or perhaps a collection of screen grabs taken from a lacklustre animated movie with text written by somebody in the publicity department. In the case of the Fungus the Bogeyman: The Plop-Up Book, … Continue reading
Today I have taken the brave step of discovering what dreadful things await me, as foretold by the Fantod Pack, a deck of Edward Gorey designed Tarot cards. The cards are interpreted by Madame Weyrd, author of Floating Tambourines, a collection of esoteric verse and The Future Speaks Through Entrails. So you know you’re in … Continue reading
In No Such Thing a girl called Georgia notices that things keep going missing in her beautifully appointed home. Her brother, cat and the old lady across the way are all in the frame. But despite Georgia’s rational protestations, perhaps there’s another explanation – ghosts. I asked Ella Bailey, author of this stylish halloween treat … Continue reading
In 1968 three films were released that showed that Sci-Fi was versatile and capable of reaching a mass audience; 2001: A Space Odyssey proved SF could be truly mind-expanding; Barbarella made the genre sexy; Planet of the Apes proved that high concept craziness could make an awful lot of money. Also that year came a … Continue reading
The thing that really got me interested in this whole sci-fi thing in the first place wasn’t Star Wars or Doctor Who, it was a story about a witch called Meg who takes her scraggly cat Mog on a birthday outing to the moon. But she wasn’t the first witch in space, and she wouldn’t … Continue reading
Apart from the numerous times I climbed through the toilet window, slipped out the school gate, crossed the road, and broke back into my own home, these lines are probably the happiest memory I have from my first years of Primary school. Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s Funnybones was the book that first introduced me to … Continue reading
