National Black Cat Day – Our favourite books about black cats

Today is National Black Cat Day, which was established to draw attention to the plight of black and black and white cats in rehoming centres round the world. Black cats often take much longer to rehome than their more colourful counterparts, though no one is sure why this is. You can find out more on the Cats Protection website.

Here at UWTSD Swansea libraries, we’re always pleased to find an excuse to share some of our favourite books with you, so here are our top five books featuring black moggies:-

1.       Six Dinner Sid, by Inga Moore – Fabulous picture book in which wandering black cat, Sid, discovers that whilst it’s great to have six meals a day, having a multitude of homes to call your own can come with its drawbacks too!

2.      Winnie the Witch, by Valerie Thomas – Here’s a book you can appreciate on a couple of different levels! Just enjoy the story of Winnie, who tries to change her black cat Wilbur so he’s easy to spot in her dark house, or take a look at the way Scope has used Winnie the Witch to describe the Social Model of Disability (in a nutshell: change the house, not the cat!).

3.      Slinky Malinki, by Lynley Dodd – “blacker than black” Slinky Malinki is a rather winsome creature during the day, but during the night becomes “wicked and fiendish and sly”. This rhyming tale of the cat’s dual life is an absolute delight, whatever your age!

4.      Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat, by Ursula Moray Williams – Gobbolino, the little black cat with blue eyes and one white paw, is supposed to be a witch’s cat, but he’d much rather be a kitchen cat sleeping by the fire all day! Can this magical cat find his perfect home?

5.      The Black Cat, by Edgar Allan Poe – We couldn’t leave out Edgar Allan Poe, the macabre master of the short story! This tale sees our protagonist wracked with guilt over an injury he does to his once beloved pet cat. Things get more and more sinister as the story goes on, so maybe don’t read this one right before bed! It’s perfect for Halloween, though, and is available in various free versions online, and can also be found in the Edgar Allan Poe short story collections which we have available in Townhill Library.

We’re sure Colin, our resident Mount Pleasant black cat, would approve!

Children's Book Week

Yes, it’s Children’s Book Week this week! We love a good children’s book at UWTSD Swansea libraries, with lots of quality books for youngsters from early years to teens available in the Teaching Practice collection at Townhill, and a good selection of beautiful picture books available on the shelves at Griffith Library in Dynevor. We all have our favourite reads from childhood, and many so-called 'children’s' books make good reading whatever your age, so do feel free to have a browse next time you’re in.

Children’s Book Week has been going for over 80 years now and aims to support reading for pleasure. You can find out more on the Booktrust web  pages, where you’ll also find links to resources such as Booktrust’s 100 Best Books (how many have you read?) and a toolkit to help parents encourage a love of reading in their children. You can also take a look at the Booktrust Best Book Guide 2014, which has been published to coincide with this week's celebrations. Perfect if you’re looking for some new books for the special little someone in your life!

Festivities officially end tomorrow (4^th July), but we think every day is a good day to enjoy reading a good book. Let’s see how many of the 100 Best Books we can read over the summer!

2014 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway winners announced!

The winners of the most hotly contested prizes in children’s literature were announced yesterday. Kevin Brooks has won the CILIP Carnegie Medal for The Bunker Diary and Jon Klassen has won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for This is Not my Hat.

Jon Klassen seems a bit fixated on hats. He was shortlisted for the Greenaway award last year with I Want my Hat Back. Both books are excellent and good fun whatever your age, so do take a look. This is Not my Hat has a bit of a shock ending, though, so approach with care if you’re of a sensitive disposition! We should also point out that Klassen doesn’t just write about hats. In fact, he had an extra chance of winning this year as he was also nominated for The Dark, his collaboration with Lemony Snicket (of A Series of Unfortunate Events fame). Nothing to do with hats!

Kevin Brooks is no stranger to the Carnegie Medal, having been shortlisted three times before for Martyn Pig (2002), The Road of the Dead (2007) and Black Rabbit Summer (2009), so it’s good to see him finally take home the prize. Brooks has never shied away from tough issues and his books can be a gruelling read. The Bunker Diary deals with homelessness, drug abuse and imprisonment, amongst other things, and as such has caused some controversy. It’s certainly not a book for young children! Despite its bleak nature (Brooks believes that teenagers and young adults don’t always need a happy ending, and it’s patronising to suggest they do), The Bunker Diary won the judging panel over on good old-fashioned literary merit and a compelling storyline.

The Carnegie and Greenaway medals are the oldest and most prestigious awards in children’s literature. They are judged solely by UK librarians. The process of selecting the long lists started back in the autumn, with a shortlist announced in March this year. You can find out more about the awards and this year’s ceremony, including comments from the winners and judges, on the official CILIP awards website. The shortlists for both awards are below. All are available from Townhill Library, so call in and make your own judgement! You’ll find them on our New Books display on the first floor.

CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist 2014:-

The Bunker Diary, Kevin Brooks

Liar and Spy, Rebecca Stead

Blood Family, Anne Fine

Rooftoppers, Katherine Rundell

Ghost Hawk, Susan Cooper

The Child’s Elephant, Rachel Campbell-Johnston

All the Truth That’s in Me, Julie Berry

The Wall, William Sutcliffe

 

CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist 2014:-

This is Not my Hat, Jon Klassen

The Paper Dolls, Rebecca Cobb (written by Julia Donaldson)

Where my Wellies Take me, Olivia Gill (written by Clare and Michael Morpurgo)

The Day the Crayons Quit, Oliver Jeffers (written by Drew Daywalt)

The Dark, Jon Klassen (written by Lemony Snicket)

Mouse Bird Snake Wolf, Dave McKean (written by David Almond)

Oliver, Birgitta Sif

 

 

Desert Island Books...Children's Choices!

Aneurin & Gwennan

We decided to mix things up a bit for this week's Desert Island Books...so we've handed over the reins to the kids! Assistant Librarian Emily Hywel asked her two children Aneurin (aged 6) and Gwennan (aged 4)...plus some friends...what books and luxury items they would choose. Some great choices...bunny rabbits and nail varnish would certainly cheer us up too! 

 

 

If you were stranded on a desert island which 4 books would you like to have with you and why?

 Gwennan & Friends:

Ella Bella Sleeping Beauty – because it all about ballet and I have a friend called Ella

Emily Brown and Stanley the Rabbit – because it has a rabbit in it
The Troll
ANY Peppa Pig books…

Aneurin:

Batman – because it’s about a superhero of course!

Minecraft Annual
1000 Gair Cyntaf Sali Mali – so I know what things are called

 

If you could bring one of the characters to life, for company, who would you choose?

Gwennan & Friends:

Sleeping beauty - cause I like her dress

Emily Brown and Stanley - so we could go on adventures
The Troll - cause he’s a good cook and he cooks fish, even though he prefers goat - but I like fish

Aneurin:

Batman or Steve (from Minecraft) - cause either of them can save the day!

 

You have one luxury item on the island with you... what would it be?

 

Gwennan & Friends:

A sleeping beauty doll (two of them chose this!)

Some of my bunny rabbits… and my nail varnish!! J

 

Aneurin:

A Minecraft computer that builds things in real life so I can dig up the sand and build a base and other stuff….. (I’m sure this is allowed J)

 

You are rescued and can only take one book back with you … which one would you pick?

Aneurin:

 

Minecraft Annual of course – but I don’t want to be rescued….