Happy 75th Birthday!

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

These are  J R R Tolkien's opening lines of his groundbreaking story The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins' comfortable life is changed forever by the visit of the wandering wizard Gandalf. Gandalf's visit is soon followed by the equally unexpected visit of 13 dwarves looking for a fourteenth member to join their group. After many adventures with trolls, elves and orcs, they reach their destination - and somehow must defeat the fearsome dragon Smaug.

The Hobbit is 75 years old this month. First published in September 1937, The Hobbit and the subsequent Lord of the Rings trilogy could claim to be some of the most influential works of fiction published during the 20th Century. These books have inspired generations of writers in the field of heroic fantasy, and thousands of readers have loved the stories and passed that love on to their children and grandchildren.




I first read The Hobbit aged 11, and it has been a story which has stayed with me all my life, in fact I feel another re-read is in order to celebrate this 75th anniversary - possibly my well-loved hardback copy of the 50th Anniversary edition! And possibly even with a hobbit-style second breakfast at the weekend, just to keep me going.

Happy 75th Birthday Bilbo!

The Music of Zombies

 

The latest in the Five Kingdoms series, The Music of Zombies by Vivian French was published in August this year. In this story, a deadly train  of events are set in motion by the self-centred and not terribly bright Prince Albion of Cockenzie Road. He plans the most magnificent day of celebrations for his kingdom's national day - processions, speeches and competitions including a talent show which Prince Albion predicts he himself will win.  After all, his grateful subjects will have had a Cockenzie Road Day to remember so are bound to vote for him in gratitude.

 

Zombie musician Fiddleduster Squint has other ideas, he thinks the talent show prize is his by rights and a fiendish plot is hatched. Refused entry to the kingdom by the magical barrier which keeps out evil creatures, Fiddleduster Squint and his shadow enlist the unwitting help of some sleepy giants to break the barrier and leave everyone in the Five Kingdoms helpless against the power of the Zombie's music.

 

As usual it is up to Gracie Gillypot, Prince Marcus, Gubble the Troll and Marlon the bat to save the Kingdoms and everyone living there. Helped out by Alf, Marlon's nephew and Marcus' twin brother Ariosto, our heroes manage to defeat the zombies. Then it is a race to reach the giants and persuade them not to cause disastrous earthquakes which will destroy all of the Five Kingdoms.

 

Ross Collins has done his usual superlative job illustrating this story - the Zombies are truly evil, the Giants a bit confused-looking about the world they have been woken into, and Gubble must be one of the cutest trolls in fiction.

Roald Dahl Day

It's September 13th, time to celebrate the birthday of Roald Dahl, one of the most popular children's authors ever!

You could mark the day by reading your favourite Roald Dahl book, or bake an enormous chocolate cake, or pop some whizzpopperingly colourful party streamers. Have a look at the website for more amazing and fun ideas at www.roalddahl.com, and choose the option for Roald Dahl Day 2012.

Puffin publishers are hosting a live webcast by Quentin Blake, who illustrated all the stories, in conversation with Michael Rosen at 2pm on Monday the 24th September 2012. On the Puffin website there is a short trailer to watch, with Michael giving more information about the webcast. You can find the webcast here www.puffinvirtuallylive.co.uk/author/roalddahlday.

Michael Rosen has just written a new biography of Roald Dahl called Fantastic Mr Dahl, which was published in June 2012 - coming to a library near you soon.

Welcome Back to a New Year of Reading

Hello!

Welcome back to a new school year and a new year of utterly brilliant reading. It has been lovely to see you all coming into the library over the past week and talking about all the books you have read over the summer holidays, and giving me lots of suggestions for books to buy for the library.

There are some exciting things happening in the library this year - new books, author visits and a brand new reading challenge for Book Week in March 2013. You will be hearing a lot more about that later on!

Remember to bring back any books you still have at home from last year, we will be delighted to have them back.