Archive for the ‘Children’ Category
by Lindsay on May 15th, 2012
AFP Relaxnews:
Amazon said it has signed a deal for the electronic books rights to all seven Harry Potter titles English, French, Italian, German and Spanish for its Kindle lending library.
The deal allows subscribers of the Amazon Prime service, which requires an annual subscription, to borrow the electronic versions of best-selling JK Rowling books.
Amazon said it inked the exclusive license with JK Rowling’s Pottermore website to make the titles available to its customers via the Kindle e-reader.
But the deal only allows for borrowing of the ebooks, with Pottermore remaining the only place to buy the electronic versions.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have reached this agreement with Pottermore. This is the kind of significant investment in the Kindle ecosystem that we’ll continue to make on behalf of Kindle owners,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive.
“Over a year, borrowing the Harry Potter books, plus a handful of additional titles, can alone be worth more than the $79 cost of Prime or a Kindle. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library also has an innovative feature that’s of great benefit for popular titles like Harry Potter – unlimited supply of each title – you never get put on a waiting list.”
The Amazon lending library has now grown to over 145 000 books that can be borrowed for free as frequently as once a month, with no due dates.
Books are borrowed to read on a Kindle device, and customers can have one book out at a time. When customers want to borrow a new book, any borrowed book can be returned from their device.
Rowling laid down her pen – and Harry’s magic wand – when she finished the seventh and final Potter book in 2007, and since then the series has sold more than 450 million copies around the world in 74 languages.
Books brought to you in association with Exclusives.co.za
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by Carolyn on Apr 25th, 2012
Verdict: carrot
Best-selling crime writer Margie Orford takes a break from writing about hardened criminals to write about the way greed begets corruption – in a children’s book.
This concerns a fisherman who catches a large fish and then releases it when it speaks to him and reveals that it is a princess of the sea in a different form.
Book Details
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by Sophy on Apr 24th, 2012
By Jackie May for The Times:
Dianne Stewart’s latest work is a children’s book, Who’s Afraid of the Dark. She will be speaking at the Franschhoek Literary Festival next month.
What are you reading?
The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, edited by Harlan Coben.
In a nutshell?
The short story is an accessible genre when working on projects with tight deadlines.
These stories, which have appeared in literary journals, magazines and anthologies throughout the year, are compelling and varied. They include Ed Gorman’s upbeat Flying Solo, a narrative by Tom Franklin and wife Beth Ann Fennelly which is set in the Mississippi Delta circa 1927; Christopher Merkner’s dark but powerful Last Cottage; and Ride-Along by Brendan du Bois, an award-winning author of 12 novels and more than 100 short stories.
Why read it?
The stories are well crafted under the watchful eye of editor Harlan Coben.
They can be read in one sitting and the narratives appeal to various tastes in the crime fiction genre. Of particular interest is the “story behind each story” provided by the contributors’ notes, which give insight into their choice of characters, settings, themes, and so on.
Book details
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by Sophy on Apr 23rd, 2012
Alert! The shortlists for the 2012 Media24 Books Literary Awards – formerly the Via Afrika Literary Awards – and the Jan Rabie Rapport Prize have been announced.
The Media24 Awards recognise work from publishers that fall under the domain of Media24, including NB and Jonathan Ball, while the Jan Rabie Rapport prize is open to all publishers and recognises outstanding debut or early Afrikaans prose. You can find all of last year’s winners here.
Winners receive a cool R35 000 (split in the cases where authors and illustrators share the prize). Without further ado, here are the 2012 shortlistees, in alphabetical order by author:
WA Hofmeyr Prize
– for best Afrikaans literary work across all genres
Onversadig by TT Cloete (Tafelberg)
Sirkusboere by Sonja Loots (Tafelberg)
Wals met Matilda by Dan Sleigh (Tafelberg)
~ ~ ~
Herman Charles Bosman Prize
– for English literature including drama, poetry, prose and fiction
Gallows Hill by Margie Orford (Jonathan Ball)
Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart by Finuala Dowling (Kwela)
Lost Ground by Michiel Heyns (Jonathan Ball)
~ ~ ~
Recht Malan Prize
– for best non-literary or non-fiction book
David Kramer: A Biography by Dawid de Villiers and Mathilda Slabbert (Tafelberg)
Diepsloot by Anton Harber (Jonathan Ball)
The Devil in the Detail by Paul Holden and Hennie van Vuuren (Jonathan Ball)
~ ~ ~
MER Prize for Best Youth Novel
As jy ‘n ster sien verskiet by Maya Fowler (Tafelberg)
Dark Poppy’s Demise by SA Partridge (Human & Rousseau)
Signed, Hopelessly in Love by Lauri Kubuitsile (Tafelberg)
~ ~ ~
MER Prize for best illustrated children’s book
Goblin Diaries by Alex D’Angelo, illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden (Tafelberg)
Jakkals en Wolf by Pieter W. Grobbelaar, illustrated by Séan Verster (Human & Rousseau)
Spookskip by Antoinette Diedericks, illustrated by Astrid Castle (Tafelberg)
~ ~ ~
Jan Rabie Rapport Prize
Alfabet van die voëls by SJ Naudé (Umuzi)
Sirkusboere by Sonja Loots (Tafelberg)
Skool by Theo Kemp (Tafelberg)
~ ~ ~
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday, 8 June 2012. Congratulations to all the shortlistees and especially to Books LIVE members Margie Orford, Finuala Dowling, Paul Holden, Maya Fowler and SA Partridge!
~ ~ ~
Press release:
Media24 Books is proud to announce the short lists for its 2012 Literary Awards and Jan Rabie Rapport Prize. Celebrating literary excellence, these prizes are awarded annually to local authors.
The Jan Rabie Rapport Prize is open to all publishers in South Africa while only titles published by Media24 Books publishers in 2011 qualify for the Media24 Books Literary Awards. The prize money is R35 000 per category (prize money is divided between the author and the illustrator for the M.E.R. Prize for children’s illustrated books).
A panel of 18 judges reviewed the entries for this year’s prizes in the following six categories:
· W.A. Hofmeyr Prize for best Afrikaans literary work across all genres.
· Herman Charles Bosman Prize for English literature including drama, poetry, prose and fiction.
· Recht Malan Prize for best non-literary or non-fiction book.
· M.E.R Prize for best youth novel (ages 8 to 16, however not exclusive).
· M.E.R. Prize for best illustrated children’s book (ages 0 to 8, however not exclusive).
· Jan Rabie Rapport Prize for a debut or early work characterised by fresh and innovative Afrikaans prose.
The short lists are:
W.A. Hofmeyr Prize (in alphabetical order):
Onversadig by T.T. Cloete, published by Tafelberg
Sirkusboere by Sonja Loots, published by Tafelberg
Wals met Matilda by Dan Sleigh, published by Tafelberg
Herman Charles Bosman Prize (in alphabetical order):
Gallows Hill by Margie Orford, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers
Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart by Finuala Dowling, published by Kwela Books
Lost Ground by Michiel Heyns, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers
Recht Malan Prize (in alphabetical order):
David Kramer: A Biography by Dawid de Villiers and Mathilda Slabbert, published by Tafelberg
Diepsloot by Anton Harber, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers
The Devil in the Detail by Paul Holden and Hennie van Vuuren, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers
M.E.R Prize for best youth novel (in alphabetical order):
As jy ‘n ster sien verskiet by Maya Fowler, published by Tafelberg
Dark Poppy’s Demise by S.A. Partridge, published by Human & Rousseau
Signed, Hopelessly in Love by Lauri Kubuitsile, published by Tafelberg
The M.E.R. Prize for best illustrated children’s book (in alphabetical order):
Goblin Diaries by Alex D’Angelo, illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden, published by Tafelberg
Jakkals en Wolf by Pieter W. Grobbelaar, illustrated by Séan Verster, published by Human & Rousseau
Spookskip by Antoinette Diedericks, illustrated by Astrid Castle, published by Tafelberg
Jan Rabie Rapport Prize (in alphabetical order):
Alfabet van die voëls by S.J. Naudé, published by Umuzi
Sirkusboere by Sonja Loots, published by Tafelberg
Skool by Theo Kemp, published by Tafelberg
Media24 Books would like to congratulate these authors and publishers. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony on Friday, 8 June 2012.
Ends
Book details
Scribd.com book preview:
Sirkusboere
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by Carolyn on Mar 28th, 2012
Uitspraak: wortel
Die volledige titel van(Nederlandse titel Broere) deur Bart Moeyaert is Broers – Die Oudste, die Stilste, die Opregste, die Verste, die Liefste, die Vinnigste en ek”. Die verhaalsketse handel oor hierdie sewe broers.
Elk van die 42 verhale word uit ’n eerstepersoonvertellerperspektief vertel – dié van die jongste broer. Nêrens word enige van die broerkarakters op hul voorname vermeld of aangespreek nie. Telkens word verwys na “ons”, “my broer” of “my ander broers”.
Boekbesonderhede
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by Sophy on Mar 27th, 2012
The Times:
Cell 8 – by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström (translated by Kari Dickson)
Anders Roslund is a former Swedish journalist; compatriot Börge Hellström is an ex-con. Together they form one of the best of the wave of Scandinavian writers topping the crime-story bestsellers list.
One of their main areas of focus, thanks to Hellström’s history, is who the real victim of a crime is.
Cell 8 kicks off with a bang, literally. John Schwartz, a cruise-ship crooner, takes umbrage at a drunken guest’s antics and beats him up. While being processed for this relatively minor offence, it turns out he is actually John Frey, who supposedly died on death row in Ohio after being convicted of murdering a young woman.
Grumpy old cop Ewert Grens investigates and is drawn into an international tug-of-war between the US and Sweden over the obligation of turning over a prisoner so that another state can execute him.
There’s the fact that Schwartz/Frey is now living a pretty blameless life in Sweden, and the way that the Ohio murder tore apart the girl’s family.
Cell 8 works on two levels, both as an intriguing crime novel (with a twist) and an examination of the death penalty. It’s a good, if rather unsettling, read. – Julia Beffon
~ ~ ~
Swimming in the Sun, Finding Aunt Joan and Moving House by Jenny Hatton and illustrated by Joan Rankin
The delightful but fictional Lucy is the youngest child and protagonist of a new series of children’s books by Jenny Hatton. I guess Lucy is about four years of age.
In Finding Aunt Joan she goes on a road trip to East London to visit an aunt. From Mthatha, Lucy and her family drive through the rural Eastern Cape. In the back of the car, stuck between her brother Simon, her cousin Sandi and much paraphernalia, she cries: “Are we there yet?”
We have all heard that desperate refrain. We all hate it, especially the youngsters in the family.
In Swimming in the Sun, Lucy and her family are on a beach holiday and a day of pure fun is described.
In Moving House, Lucy’s family is packing up for a move to Bela Bela. Lucy is anxious but her mother persuades her to “like the sounds of this house”.
There is a comforting joy in sharing Lucy’s daily experiences. The beautiful and ethereal illustrations add colour and depth to these South African stories. – Jackie May
Book details
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by Carolyn on Mar 26th, 2012
Uitspraak: wortels!
Wikkels kry ’n verrassingspakkie en binne-in is ’n Marsman van jellie, ’n stokkielekker en ’n Ander Ding toegedraai in papier.
Dié kan hy nie oopmaak nie, want in die een hand het hy ’n ballon en in die ander die stokkielekker. Dan tref ’n ellende hom . . .
Boekbesonderhede
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by Carolyn on Mar 22nd, 2012
Uitspraak: wortels
Dit reën en reën die hele dag – g’n tyd vir speel, g’n tyd vir lag. Nou drink ek maar papawerwyn totdat die son weer môre skyn.
Dis die arme mejuffrou Muis se lot daar waar sy vakansie hou in Plett. Maar toe die son eers skyn, toe is Hotel De Muis ’n paradys “met roomys en met rolletjies / en lekker bloukaasbolletjies”.
Boekbesonderhede
- Mejuffrou Muis en haar lieflike huis deur Elle van Lieshout en Erik van Os, vertaal deur Philip de Vos, illustrasies deur Marije Tolman
EAN: 9781869195342
Spoor hierdie boek met BOOK Finder op!
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by Sophy on Mar 19th, 2012
In an interview for LitNet, Steyn du Toit speaks to Mhlobo Jadezweni whose award-winning children’s book, uTshepo Mde: Tall Enough, was published in 2006 by Electric Book Works as a Xhosa–English edition. uTshepe Mde: Tall Enough has since been released in Zulu–English, Afrikaans-Xhosa, Swedish-Xhosa and Portuguese-Xhosa editions.
Jadezweni says he is currently negotiating with US organisation Teach Twice, who want to release Tall Enough “in as many languages of the world as possible and distribute the book all over the world”:
The last time we spoke to you, you were reporting on the XhosAfrika Conference held in Cape Town last year. Any new noteworthy developments surrounding that matter since then?
The Network made a submission to Parliament on the Language Bill. We hope that this submission will make parliament realise the importance of all the languages of South Africa. The 11 official languages of the republic of South Africa should be used at all times in all official communication. The bill as it was initially would have created a monolingual South Africa instead of a South Africa with a wealth of languages.
Book details
Image courtesy Hannah Morris
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