Yatterings

Henry Jenkins has been posting parts of the Julius Schwartz lectures, the first of which was given by Neil Gaiman. The sections cover the “darker” side of his children’s books and his ‘pulp’ roots.

Lyn Gardner, theatre critic for the Guardian, has an overview of the current run of theatrical fairy tales. One might take her to task about the Grimm’s having the originals (they anthologised them from Huguenot sources at the very least) but I’m heartened by her sketch. She gives a nod to the fact that the [...]

The BBC have an interview with Philip Pullman as the stage version of his book, The Scarecrow and the Servant, begins in London’s Southwark Playhouse. It has been compiled from questions sent in by children.

The Times has a great article on the need for lunacy in children’s TV and a brief history of nonsense in children’s literature focussing on Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. Derived from the sad news of Oliver Postgate’s death, it is reminder that we seem to be running short of good lunatics.

Rowling’s Beadle the Bard is sitting on my desk waiting for me to read it tonight (it really is short, you can’t rest your feet on this one!). The Telegraph has an article on fairy tales which I’ve perused but I was almost stopped by the phrase:
The heroines are, however, more feminist-friendly than the norm: [...]

Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book (McKean Cover Riddell Cover) has been a while in the coming but it has been worth the wait. Coming in two editions, one illustrated by Chris Riddell and the other by Dave McKean, the book engages wonderfully with children’s literature as well as Gaiman’s earlier books, Neverwhere and American Gods, in [...]