Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Wishing you all loads of great books to read over the holiday!

(photo from Aberdeen InvestLiveVisit)

And in the new year?  Watch out for some fabulous ferrets!

Happy National Non-Fiction Month!

November is National Non-Fiction Month, and my book of the month is Gill Arbuthnott's What Makes You You?  

What's it all about?  Here's the blurb -

What Makes You You? is a mind-blowing introduction to the building blocks of life, DNA, what it is, how it works, and what we can do with it ... Packed with amazing 3D style illustrations and explanatory diagrams that jump off the page as well as amazing tales of scientific discoveries and what's in store for the future, Gill truly brings science to life.

AND it's been shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People's Book Award 2014 - so what are you waiting for?  Get reading!

Do you have a favourite non-fiction book you think I should read?  Let me know - I'm happy to read non-fiction any month of the year!

Remember Those Golden Envelopes?

Way back last term, Barry Donaldson (aka Reading Bus Man) went out into the world with some golden envelopes - and in the golden envelopes there was a challenge - and the challenge was ...

... to create some amazing cover images for The Wickit Chronicles!  And here are the winners (and a couple of Honourable Mentions) from Heatheryburn Primary School -

For Ely Plot, we have Hollie Thompson's bold design - 

Then, Keia Robb's cover for Fen Gold -

For Ice Road, we have Evan Michael Forrest's picture - 

And for Witch Bell, the last book of the series, here is Dylan Carroll's cover -

I wanted to also post 2 Honourable Mentions - Bradley Robertson's energetic Ely Plot picture -

and Ella Webster's scary poisoner -

Was it hard to choose the winners?  You bet it was.  I want to thank all of you for letting me see your cover ideas - it absolutely made my day!  Huge congratulations! 

And now, let's see what amazing challenges Barry can come up with next - 

Hold that Sign!

This is another of the occasional series - Writers and Other Strange Folk Who Think Books are Great! - where I take photos of the Aberdeen Reading Bus sign out on its travels. And this time, the sign made its appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, in the hands of magnificently-costumed Kate O'Hearn and her equally awesome sidekicks, brother Dave O'Hearn and Derek Marshall.

And the lovely lady in the hat?  That's Janet Smyth, festival organiser extraordinaire, who made all of the school events - including Meet Leif! - possible.  And yes, she's in her pajamas.  Don't ask.

Writers and Other Strange Folk!

Hello and welcome to the first of a now-and-then series of photos, featuring writers and other strange folk posing with the Aberdeen Reading Bus sign!

First up we have Linda Strachan, author of the Hamish McHaggis books, among many others. You can visit Linda's website here.

Then there's Susan Price, winner of the Carnegie Medal and writer of more books than you could shake a stick at, should you feel like doing so.  Susan's website is here.

And then ... well, just because you're a statue/exhibition case by Eduardo Paolozzi in the National Museum of Scotland doesn't mean you don't like books!

That's all for now, but who knows who I'll grab next?  You'll just have to wait and see!

Things in Envelopes

Welcome back!  Last time I mentioned Barry Donaldson's (Reading Bus Man) small golden envelope with a challenge inside ... which has resulted in a large white envelope full of fabulous book covers arriving at my door!  Who sent them, you ask?  What are they book covers of?  And which are my three favourites???

All will be revealed next month, when the schools go back!

But that wasn't it for excellent envelopes.  My postman also brought me these - advance copies of my new Viking books - in a large brown envelope.  Leif Frond and the Viking Games and Leif Frond and Quickfingers will both be available from 14th August.  Exciting!

Meantime, who's my favourite author this month?

Diana Wynne Jones

Which of her books have I read lately?

Howl's Moving Castle

and

Enchanted Glass

Which of her books should I read next?  You choose!  Let me know and I'll dive right in.

Bye for now!

Patron of Reading for a Bus!

This is what the outside of the beautiful Aberdeen Reading Bus looks like…

 … and this is what the inside looks like …

… and this is what a Patron of Reading and a bevy of readers look like!

That’s right – fuzzy! I think it’s because, behind the camera, 5 classes of P5s from Heatheryburn Primary and Brimmond Primary in Aberdeen were thundering about the place! We had a great time together, finding out about Pip and the gargoyle Perfect and their adventures in my books The Wickit Chronicles, trying on medieval costumes, and discovering some squishy and revolting facts about the Middle Ages. And if that wasn’t enough, Barry Donaldson, king of the Reading Bus, has set those schools a fabulous challenge … in a golden envelope … 

What can it be? 

I’m Joan Lennon, Patron of Reading for a Bus – and if you want to find out more about me, or what on earth a Patron of Reading is, or what Barry hid in the golden envelope, then come back soon!

(Meantime, you can find out more about Aberdeen's Reading Bus here!)