Ten-Minute Blog Break - 3rd December

December has crashed into my life, and I suddenly feel the impending pressure of trying to find exactly the right Christmas presents for my wife and daughters. Luckily, quite a few bloggers have pitched in to suggest the perfect gift.


Space on the Bookshelf are running their festive Book In Every Stocking campaign again this year, asking authors, illustrators, editors, bloggers and other book-lovers to write to Santa with their recommended stocking book fillers. It's a great way to get Christmas gift ideas, together with a more serious message about the importance of literacy for every child. I'll be visiting the Children's Giving Tree at Oxford Blackwells again this year, and I know that some of the other Blackwells stores around the country will be having similar promotions.

I feel a bit remiss that I haven't featured Sarah McIntyre on the Blog Break up until now, but to be honest she blogs so often that it's all a bit overwhelming! Sarah is an awesome powerhouse of creative energy, and this week she's turned her attention to Christmas, with 20 Top Tips for Great Holiday Prezzies. Can I have all of them?

There were a couple of great posts focusing on graphic novels this week. Over at Big Little Tales, Katriona Chapman is listing her three Recommended Reads from the past few months. One of them, The Black Project by Gareth Brookes, was the winner of Myriad Editions' 2012 First Graphic Novel Competition. Amanda Lillywhite has blogged about the 2014 competition, which sounds so good that I'm sorely tempted to start my own graphic novel! I can write a masterpiece by March, surely...

There's no substitute for having first-hand knowledge when writing a book review, and Julie Day brings a unique perspective to her review of Sally Thibault's book on coping with her son's Asperger's Syndrome - David's Gift.

Finally, I know I shouldn't pick favourites, but I absolutely loved John Shelley's blog post all about the book A Father's Diary, a satisfyingly circular tale of illustrations lost and found.

Nick.


Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.

Nick found not one, but two things to celebrate on his blog this week - a new Oxford app and his short story finding its way into print. Why not Celebrate Everything?

1 comment:

  1. Thanks Nick - great choices again and YES you should write graphic novels!

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