Guest Post: My Magnificent Seven Animals in Children’s Books by Abi Elphinstone

It is with great pleasure that today I am welcoming Abi Elphinstone to The Book Zone. Abi is the writer of the brilliant The Dreamsnatcher, which I reviewed last month, and also a fellow lover of middle grade books which she blogs about as Moontrug. Abi has joined us today to tell us about her favourite animals in children's books.

My Magnificent Seven Animals in Children’s Books

1. The Whereabouts Wolf in The Black North by Nigel McDowell. One of my favourite heroines, Oona, is given a Whereabouts Wolf to carry her away from danger: ‘a creature flecked with filth and reeking of the wild’. A Whereabouts Wolf has no eyes – Oona must simply whisper where she wants to go and the wolf will take her there. So when Oona says ‘take us to the middle of nowhere,’ that’s exactly what the Whereabouts Wolf does. I want one…

2. Aslan in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. One of my favourite childhood memories is watching the BBC adaption of this brilliant book around the fire with my siblings at Christmas. The opening theme tune conjures all the magic of my childhood and I fell asleep every night after listening to it imagining I was riding through Narnia on Aslan’s back. I liked the way Aslan was kind and loyal – that he never let the Pevensie children down – but that he was unpredictable and wild as well, as Mr Beaver said: ‘He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion’. And that’s kind of how I imagine magic to be. 

3. Iorek Brynison in Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. This was a tricky one. Whilst Lyra’s daemon, Pantalaimon, remains one of my all-time favourite characters, there is something about this ‘outcast bear’ who rises up to be a mighty ice warrior, willing to protect Lyra against the slightest harm. And nothing beats the wonder of imagining Lyra riding Iorek across the Arctic ice plains.

4. Wolf in Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. Torak’s bond with Wolf is one of the most well-drawn, touching and believable child-animal bonds in children’s literature. Wolf begins as a reticent, playful cub but as he takes up his place as Torak’s best-friend and ally, he becomes a brave, loyal and fierce wolf. And the closing chapter of this book shows the wolf-boy bond in a heartbreakingly beautiful way.

5. The White Pigeon in The Last Wild by Piers Torday. This little bird is basically ME in pigeon form – a misdirected ball of enthusiasm, often saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. His malapropisms are laugh-out-loud funny and hopelessly confused lines like ‘Here is your gift – some old sheep’ and ‘Not a bad-looking fat bird yourself’ cement this little chap as a truly memorable character. And it’s comforting to find someone else (even if this someone is a fictional pigeon) whose words tumble out all wrong – because I stutter and mix up words quite a lot, especially when I’m nervous.

6. Saracen in Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge. Without doubt the most amusing goose in children’s books. Owned by the feisty Mosca Mye (‘I want my chirfugging goose back!’), Saracen makes a star appearance at the beast fight disguised as King Prael’s Star-crested eagle. Brilliantly funny.

7. Snow Leopard in The Snow Leopard by Jackie Morris. In a world where we move at 100mph through almost everything we do (yesterday I was moving so fast I ran full pelt into a glass door), the Snow Leopard draws you away to a half-forgotten world of peace and silence. The illustrations of this big cat are mesmerisingly beautiful and snow leopards remain one of my all-time favourite animals.

It was so hard to pick just seven animals for this blog post. I mean, I could have gone on for ages about Joe (from The Diddakoi), Hazel (from Watership Down), Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh), Charles Scallybones (from A Boy Called Hope), Havoc (from The Burning Shadow) Tarka The Otter, The Ugly Duckling and, ummmmm, one more animal I’m very fond of: Gryff, the wildcat in my debut, The Dreamsnatcher. He is fearless, loyal and patient and although he is by nature a solitary animal full of secrets, he forms an extraordinary bond with Moll, a twelve-year-old gypsy girl. And that’s kind of cool.

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Super huge thanks to Abi for writing this for The Book Zone. The Dreamsnatcher is due to be published on 26th February, and it's flippin' brilliant.

Guest Post: My Magnificent Seven Mystery Series by Robin Stevens (author of Arsenic for Tea)

I am absolutely overjoyed that today we have been joined by writer Robin Stevens, who has written a fab post for us about her favourite detective series for children. Murder Most Unladylike, Robin's first book in her Wells & Wong mystery series, was one of my favourite books of 2014, and the sequel, Arsenic for Tea, has a very good chance of making the 2015 list at the end of this year.

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My Magnificent Seven Detective Series by Robin Stevens

I’m really excited to have been asked to do this – any excuse to talk about mystery stories! Here are the seven mystery series that most influenced me as a kid, and that I think will still fire children’s imaginations today.

The Famous Five

These books were my introduction to mysteries. Sure, Anne, Julian and Dick are basically dead weight (George and Timmy the dog solve everything), and sure, the mysteries pretty much involve smugglers, smugglers and smugglers, but Enid Blyton is marvellous at creating worlds and groups that you're desperate to be a part of. Kirrin Island is just possible enough to feel like an achievable fantasy – a place where it’s always the summer holidays, delicious, mysterious food like macaroons is piled up in front of you at every meal, and you get to wander around in castles and triumph over bearded, villainous men. I wanted desperately to be a child that things happened to, and the Famous Five’s was my very favourite fantasy life.

The Secret Seven

Like the Famous Five, but more densely populated. I remember, even as a child, being infuriated by how little the girls were allowed to do (especially as the boys made so many mistakes) but again, I was fascinated by the concept itself – kids, going up against adults and WINNING. I had my own secret society with my best friend (as I think most kids did) and we looked frantically for mysteries to solve. It made me really imagine that I could be a detective – if even the Secret Seven could uncover dastardly dealings, surely I could be able to as well.

Sherlock Holmes

I first read these books aged 8, so for me they're very much for children. I loved how no-holds-barred they were: people really died. The stakes were high, and the peril was real, but Sherlock was such a dashing superhero that I knew he’d always be OK. I loved how unashamedly smart he was, too – the cases rested on real information, logically assessed. And even though the stories all take place in the real world, there’s something just a bit magical about them: Sherlock goes up against vampires, ghosts and pantomime-evil villains. Basically, there’s a reason that Sherlock Holmes is the most beloved detective the world has ever seen.

Harry Potter

I'm convinced that this is really a series of mystery novels (starring Hermione Grainger) that just happens to be set in a wizard boarding school. The mystery to be solved is always quite similar, along the lines of 'and where is Voldemort hiding this time?', but although it seems simple, the answer is always wholly unexpected. Rowling is a brilliant plotter and a very clever misdirector – I remember feeling genuinely astonished the first time I read each book, and delighted that I'd found a book specifically for children that could trick me like that.

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew may not be enormously handy in a crisis (she screams and runs away a lot), but I loved her investigative style and her taste in coats (my favourite villain, incidentally, was Carmen Sandiago, for the same reasons). I liked the idea of a detective who was clever and also glamorous (why couldn't someone be both?) and I was so jealous about how free Nancy was. She had access to cars and boats and airplanes – she had all the benefits of being grown up with none of the boring bits.

The Sally Lockhart Mysteries

For me, this series has everything. A bold, clever, sharp-shooting heroine, a Victorian setting to rival Sherlock's, magic, mystery and exactly the right sort of romance. Just like the Holmes stories, too, there’s just a hint of magical otherness – you feel that anything could happen, and it usually does. Murders, fires, thefts, curses and terrifying mechanical contraptions capable of taking over the world, it’s glorious, swashbuckling stuff.

Encyclopedia Brown

My final pick is probably much lesser known over here than it is in its native country, America. All the same, I can’t mention my favourite mystery series without including it. As a kid I was absolutely hooked (and slightly in love with Encyclopedia himself), and I read Encyclopedia’s adventures again and again and again. The joy of them is that they’re such achievable mysteries – each story is only a few pages long, and hinges on a single logic problem which the reader must work out the key to. Basically, they ask you to spot what’s wrong with a scene: perfect puzzles for aspiring detectives to cut their teeth on.

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Huge thanks to Robin for taking the time to write this for The Book Zone. Murder Most Unladylike is available to buy right now and Arsenic for Tea is due to be released on 29th January.

My Magnificent Seven: Fiction Books for Tech Lovers

Hmm, so much for being an occasional feature, it looks like My Magnificent Seven is almost as rare as the Cuban Greater Funnel-Eared Bat. However, I've been thinking about this particular #mymag7 for some time as I know so many kids who love gaming and the internet who will rarely pull themselves away from their console of choice to read a book. And yet there are so many great books out there that have huge appeal for gamers and lovers of tech and the internet. So in no particular order:

Glaze by Kim Curran

I read this a while back and it completely blew my mind and if you love social media and the internet then it is a book that you simply must read. Kim Curran's scarily plausible futuristic story revolves around the populations obsessive use of the Glaze, the ultimate in social media connectivity. When teens reach a certain age they can be chipped so that to hook up to the network all they have to do is focus on accessing it. No electronic gadgets required at all. In fact, there's no longer any need for watches, TVs, mobile phones... everything is done inside the user's head. However, as with ever huge step forward in technology, the Glaze is open to abuse by those in power. Glaze is a superb dystopian novel (and I'm fed up with dystopian novels so that is really saying something)that also covers, amongst others, themes of peer pressure, feeling like one of the crowd, corruption and abuse of power.

The Metawars series by Jeff Norton

I've so far written reviews for the first two books in Jeff Norton's brilliant series, and I hope to get a review of the final book up on here very soon. This ranks up there as one of my favourite series of the past few years; the books are full of fast-paced action and high tech adventure in both the real and a virtual world. Set in a future where the planet has suffered from wars and depletion of natural resources, the quadrilogy raises many moral questions as the plot unfolds and would make great class readers for English lessons because of the discussions they would provoke.

The Bzrk series by Michael Grant

The first book in this series was a another that really blew my mind. When I wrote my review I said that "it is almost un-reviewable, in that to give even the slightest amount of information away would definitely spoil your reading experience" and I still feel the same now. It's high tech but in a very different way to the other books on this list.

Rat Runners by Oisin McGann

The tech used in this fab action thriller by Oisin McGann is much closer to the kind of gadgets that are around today than that found in the previous books I have mentioned, and this makes the story feel all the more real. Set in a city where surveillance is everywhere, be it CCTV, hidden microphones, or machines that can scan you for pretty much anything, it feels a little too close to modern Britain (supposedly there is a surveillance camera for every 11 people living in Britain). A team of young people who try to live their lives hidden away from the eyes of the Big Brother style Watchworld find themselves being hunted as the plot twists and turns. Gadgets and hacking aplenty make this book perfect for tech lovers.

Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black

In my review I described this as Leverage for 9+ kids, and I loved it. Again, like in Rat Runners, the tech used by the gang of young 'criminals' is not futuristic in nature, and therefore, with a little suspension of disbelief, it is easy to imagine the group out on the streets of London robbing the rich bad to give to the poor. There's something for everyone in this book and it's one of those books that can be described as unputdownable (at least, it was for me).

Insignia trilogy by S.J. Kincaid

Some might say I got a little carried away when writing my review of Insignia by S.J. Kincaid. I did, after all, describe it as "Harry Potter for gamers, with a six-pack of Top Gun thrown in for good measure, and reading it was like playing an incredibly addictive video game". Almost two years on I still stand by that comment: the parallels with harry Potter are impossible to ignore, given the 'school' setting, but if ever there was a book that would appeal to gamers it is this one. Since writing that review I have been told that Ender's Game covers similar ground, but I have to admit that I have not yet read that book, nor have I seen the film.

The HIVE series by Mark Walden

This ranks as one of my all time favourite series for Middle Grade readers, and whilst tech isn't the main feature of the books, it still plays an important part throughout the series, especially given Otto's special abilities. I've bought these books for godsons and various young male relatives and every one of them has come back asking me to get them the next in the series. I'm currently waiting impatiently for the ninth book in the series to be published, although it looks like I'm going to have be patient as I believe Mark has recently been concentrating his efforts on finishing the sequel to Earthfall, his brilliant alien invasion story.

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Naturally, I'm sure to have missed a glaringly obvious book out of my list, and I really wanted to include Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, as it is one of my all-time favourite books, but I've kept it off the main list as it is an adult book. Please let me know if I've missed off any of your favourites.

My Magnificent Seven: 80s YA Movies

Back at the end of January I posted the first piece in what I wanted to become an occasional feature. Unfortunately, because of work and a certain secret project time has been tighter than ever, and I had to prioritise reviews over other stuff. However, the secret project is now complete and it's the school holidays, so I've finally got around to typing up my scrappy handwritten notes, and I thought I would choose a topic that isn't strictly book related, although if the current popularity of YA reads had been around in the 80s then many of these films may have started off as brilliant YA books. They are in no particular order, apart from the first two which in my mind are the best YA films ever.

The Breakfast Club

Saturday morning detention! How cruel a punishment is that? When I was a teen my school ran a Saturday morning detention, but although I was no angel it was a punishment I never had to experience. However, if I had even the slightest hint at the time that it would be anything like that on The Breakfast Club I would have been breaking rules left, right and centre (everything I have heard about it suggests that it was NOTHING like TBC, and was in fact the most boring punishment in the world ever).

The Breakfast Club is the ultimate misfit-teen-bonding story. Before this particular Saturday each one lived in their own little world, with their own circle of friends (or not), and with their own personal problems. Like most teens they are far too quick to judge others for their appearance or the way they act when in their various 'tribes', but over the course of the film they begin to realise that they are not alone in having problems. I'm not a fan at all of many of the other brat pack style teen movies of the time (Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful) as I prefer more comedy than these offered, but for me this film is perfect in every way - even the ending, leaving the viewer wondering whether the changes they have gone through are long term, or whether they will revert back to the previous ways as soon as they are back in school on Monday.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Yes, another film written and directed by John Hughes and I can never decide which one I prefer more. Both of them are perfect teen movies, but where The Breakfast Club was all about a group of disparate teens bonding, this one is about three close friends who just want to have the best day off school ever. I can't believe that anyone has ever watched this and NOT wanted to be Ferris Bueller, hacking into the school computer to change his attendance record, fooling his parents whilst getting one over on the desperate Ed Rooney, and having that ultimate bunk off school. Seriously - Ferris performing Danke Schoen and Twist and Shout must be one of the biggest feel good scenes in teen movie history. And then there's THAT quote:

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Labyrinth

Yes, I firmly believe that this is a YA film, albeit wrapped neatly in a wonderful children's film package. Jim Henson was a master of creating work that could be enjoyed on many different levels (there's a reason that The Muppets are enjoyed as much by adults as by children, and it isn't just nostalgia), and Labyrinth is just as good an example of this. On the face of it, it is a story of a girl trying to rescue her little brother from the clutches of an evil Goblin King, in a world populated by many weird and wonderful creatures. But strip away that layer and there is a theme that is seen in many modern YA books - that of coming of age and sexual awakening (yes, it does make Bowie's Jareth character seem more than a little disturbing when you look at it this way).

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

(Note to pedants: I appreciate that Bill & Ted's wasn't released in the UK until April 1990, but as it was released in the USA a whole twelve months earlier I'm still classifying it as 80s YA.

Hmm, as I start to write about this film a huge grin is already forming on my face, and I'm wondering whether I should be putting it at the top of this post. I seriously loved this film when I first saw it, and I love it just as much today. It is also, to my enduring shame, an example of me judging a book film by its cover. I ignored its cinema release as I was pretty sure by its title and poster that I wouldn't like it. When I started at university a friend tied to persuade me that it was, like, totally excellent, but I resisted watching it on VHS for some time. However, I eventually gave it and it cost me numerous drinks (I had even bet him that I would not like it). The magic for me was its originality, the clever time-travel plotting, its sheer audacity (Abe Lincoln, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc... in a time-travelling phone booth?!), and, of course, the performances of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Every now and again you hear rumours of a third film, but I keep my fingers crossed that this never happens. Both Bill & Ted films were a thing of their time, and really should be left alone (and while I'm at it, so should The Goonies - please don't make a sequel!)

Stand By Me

OK, so the four boys who set out on their journey of discovery are all twelve in the film, which is younger than the majority of protagonists in YA books. However, the themes that the book explores and the language used by the characters are most definitely YA territory. Yes, it is based on a brilliant short story by Stephen King, but if it wasn't it would make a brilliant YA novel. Its truly timeless quality make it a great film for teens today, rather than just a great piece of nostalgia for those of us who saw it the first time around.

The Lost Boys

Made before popular teen culture became oversaturated with vampires, this is still one of my favourite vampire films of all time. It is just such a cool film - great cast,  sexy vampires who are vicious bloodsuckers (who don't sparkle), fab 80s soundtrack, great splatter-ful special effects and brilliant humour (this film would just not have been the same if it had been a straight vampire horror movie). And of course, Corey Feldman at his best.

Back to the Future

Is this a YA story? I think so, because of Marty McFly's age and because of the romance aspects of the story. I still remember seeing it at the cinema back in 1985, and I went straight out and bought the novelization (I bought a lot of movie novelizations back in the mid 1980s - and it's still a great way to get boys reading). Every single member of the cast puts in a flawless performance, and Dr Emmett Brown, as played by Christopher Lloyd, is still one of my all time favourite movie characters. In fact, there are so many great things about it that you pretty much forget some of the implausible issues related to the time travelling. Also, if I ever win the lottery, I am so going to buy a Deloran.