Harper Collins are moving J R R Tolkien into the digital age as they publish his Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit and The Children of Hurin in an advanced ebook format.
Teenage titles are dominating this years Carnegie Award shortlist with a selection of books weighted towards boys. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 25th June
Mark Haddon has written a book for younger readers, Boom, to be published by David Fickling, follows the adventures of two boys who discover their teachers talking in code when they bug the staffroom. It is to be both written and illustrated by Mark Haddon.
2009 is the year for anniversaries, so far we have had The Very Hungry Caterpillar reaching 40, and The Gruffalo 10 (a special TV animation is due at Christmas). Noddy will be 60 and the first new picture book title for thirty years will be published in celebration. In August Clarice Bean reaches double figures too. Look out for Clarice themed events at the V & A Museum in London as well as an exhibition of the original artwork.
Harper Collins is to continue the hugely successful Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy with a further three more books. The first, the fourth title is due to be published in April 2010.
The shortlist for the Banford Boase Award has been announced - see the Armadillo Blog of 24th May for more information. The shortlist includes The Toymaker by Jeremy De Quidt, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and Bloodline by Katy Moran. The winner will be announced on 9th July.
The Booktime title for 2009, to be given out to all four and five year olds in England will be Ed Vere's Mr Big. The pack will also include an abridged edition of The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems.
Top That! Publishing are to use satellite-mapping websites in a new series, The Astral Legacies, publishing in September as part of the Quest list. Readers will search for GPS locations online and then use them to search for clues.
The Reading Agency is to conduct research into the effectiveness of the Summer Reading Challenge in developing reading skills. The results will be announced in November at their conference marking 10 years of the scheme. The theme for Summer 2009 is Quest, more details will be available from the website in June.
Interactive audiobooks featuring live recordings of authors reading their books to children who have been encouraged to take on roles will be available from the publishers of five children's authors performing at Hay Fever, part of the Hay Festival.
The comedian Bill Bailey will be on the judging panel for the Roald Dahl Funny Award this year along with Andy Stanton, Louise Rennison and Mini Grey with Michael Rosen in the chair. The shortlist will be announced on 7th September and a winner announced in November.
Rachel Russell, director of the W H Smith books business unit, is to act as vice chair for World Book Day 2010 and will be chair in 2011. She said: “My personal passion is to get more children reading, so I am delighted to take up the position of vice chair…to build on the achievements of World Book Day."
Reading for Life, the initiative following on from the 2008 National Year of Reading, is to implement a DCSF-funded summer holiday reading campaign targeting UK-based family holiday centres. Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust which runs Reading for Life, said: "Great Escapes will provide relevant and fun opportunities for families to get excited by reading together. By engaging new audiences with reading, we increase their literacy skills and life opportunities, which are core to the purpose of the National Literacy Trust."
The growth of "virtual learning platforms" in secondary schools is putting school libraries under renewed threat warned libraries campaigner Alan Gibbons. The government is encouraging all secondary and primary schools to introduce a "Virtual Learning Environment" (VLE) to support their teaching resources and pupil assessment adding to pressure on space and budgets. Gibbons wants the government to introduce a statutory obligation on schools to have a library.
It has been reported that poetry for children is facing a downturn. A decline in the amount of children's poetry being published has reached "crisis point" according to Chris Holifield, director of the Poetry Book Society. Fewer collections are being published, titles are going out of print more quickly and it is becoming more difficult to find titles to recommend. There is hope however for the publisher Macmillan still retain a dedicated poetry list. See Armadillo magazine's latest poetry reviews.