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| Emma Stone |
WOMEN II
Mario Testino
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| Blake Lively |
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| Blake Lively |
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| Carolyn Murphy |
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| Jennifer López |
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| Cameron Díaz |
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| Carmen Kass |
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| Keira Knightley |
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| Keira Knightley |
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| Keira Knightley |
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| Keira Knightley |
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| Keira Knightley |
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| Linda Evangelista |
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Jaquetta Wheeler                    |
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Mario Testino / Women II
The Book of Dust Vol 1 / La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman review / Worth the wait
The Book of Dust Vol 1: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman review – worth the wait
In Pullman’s longed-for return to the world of His Dark Materials, two children battle to protect baby Lyra as enchanted allegory combines with a retelling of the Biblical story of the flood
Marina Warner
Thu 19 Oct ‘17 00.01 BST
Philip Pullman is the living heir of Lewis Carroll and George MacDonald and, yes, CS Lewis – in spite of Lewis being his chief bugbear, whom he attacks furiously for his religiosity and misanthropy. While JK Rowling carried on the tradition of jolly school adventures and gripping supernatural yarns, he has chosen the pilgrim road of fantastic metaphysical allegory, and his new book nods to Spenser’s The Faerie Queene in the same way as His Dark Materials took on Milton and Paradise Lost. In this longed-for opening volume of the new trilogy, Pullman faces his lineage without apology: his young heroine is even called Alice, and the story follows her as she is swept down the Thames in the eponymous canoe of the hero, Malcolm. But whereas the Thames offered Carroll’s Alice an idyllic, pastoral meander, a very contemporary apocalypse explodes around this older Alice.
The best children’s books of 2017
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| Luscious ... one of Emily Sutton’s illustrations for Katherine Rundell’s One Christmas Wish. |
The best children’s books of 2017
Whatever their age, kids will be engaged and inspired by this year’s diverse offerings
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| Illustration by Matt Blease |
Imogen Russell Williams
Sat 2 Dec ‘17 07.30 GMT
Age 0-4
Katinka’s Tail by Judith Kerr
(HarperCollins)
From the beloved creator of Mog and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, this feline adventure – featuring the snow-white Katinka and her unusual tail – will enthral toddlers with its gentle, gold‑flecked domesticity.
Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht
Illustrated by Jarvis (Walker)
Anticipation builds throughout this rhyming, ritual account of choosing and bedecking a tree. Everyone in the blocky, soft-glowing images is beaming, from people to pets to plump Santa ornaments; by the end of the book, readers will be, too.
Mopoke by Philip Bunting
(Scholastic)
In a series of splendid visual/verbal jokes, a mopoke (or southern boobook owl) is denied the peace he craves – until, refusing to be a snowpoke, a slowpoke or a glowpoke any longer, he takes to the wing, leaving Nopoke.
Frog lords ... The Twelve Days of Christmas, illustrated by Anna Wright. Photograph: Faber
Illustrated by Anna Wright (Faber)
Gorgeously gilded, darkly leafy and understatedly humorous, this richly textured version of a well-loved carol features frog lords a-leaping and woodpecker drummers, as well as partridges, pears and calling birds in ink, watercolour and collage.
Age 5-8
One Christmas Wish by Katherine Rundell
lllustrated by Emily Sutton (Bloomsbury)
Costa shortlistee Rundell’s first foray into younger fiction is a witty story of a lonely boy, four mischievous tree decorations and a wish on an unlikely star, complemented perfectly by Sutton’s intricate, luscious illustrations.
Fairy Tales by Hilary McKay
Illustrated by Sarah Gibb (Macmillan)
Via enthralling framing narratives, deft twists and thought-provoking details, McKay renews classic tales – including The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Rumpelstiltskin – in this sumptuous collection, enriched by Gibb’s evocative black-and-white line drawings.
Colourful ... a Harry Bloom illustration for David Long’s Pirates Magnified. Photograph: PR
Pirates Magnified by David Long
Illustrated by Harry Bloom (Wide-Eyed)
An absorbing non-fiction variation on the search-and-find trend, this treasure chest of pirates’ lives, skills, ships and booty boasts a 3x magnifying glass (incorporated ingeniously into the cover), a rogues’ gallery and a pirate-slang glossary. Hoist the mizzen!
A is for Art by Paul Thurlby
(Hodder)
Amid a plethora of art-focused children’s non-fiction, Thurlby’s alphabetical guide – an introduction to the National Gallery and to many artists, techniques and movements – stands out for its demystifying enthusiasm, bold, cheerful design and inspiring sense of possibility.
The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
(Frances Lincoln)
Beautifully designed and vividly illustrated, this mouth-watering musical book contextualises excerpts of Tchaikovsky’s ballet music within a sugarplum-sweet retelling of the story.
Age 8-12
The World of Moominvalley by Philip Ardagh
Illustrated by Tove Jansson (Macmillan)
Bound in celestial blue and gold, featuring a foreword by Frank Cottrell-Boyceand Tove Jansson’s glorious illustrations throughout, Ardagh’s weighty, witty, carefully curated guide to the Moomins, their friends, their philosophies and their habitats – as well as the life of their mysterious creator – offers hours of browsing to aficionados young and old.
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano (Hodder)
Twelve-year-old Ebo’s journey from his village in north Africa, following in his siblings’ wake, brings him to a dangerous Mediterranean crossing in this arresting graphic novel. Full of contrasts – cold sea and scorching desert, small kindnesses and casual cruelty, hope and sorrow – it tells the stories behind the blunt headline statistics.
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| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay. |
Illustrated by Jim Kay (Bloomsbury)
Harry’s third adventure at Hogwarts is reinvigorated by Jim Kay’s superb painterly images. From the crepuscular grandeur of the towering Knight Bus to the dappled, strokable feathers of Buckbeak the hippogriff, his work invests Rowling’s world with yet another layer of magic.
(Chicken House)
Amihan has lived all her life on the island of Culion, where many people have leprosy – including Ami’s mother. It is a place of joy, however, until harsh authority descends, parting families and uprooting children. Shortlisted for the Costa award, Milwood Hargrave’s second novel is original, poignant and saturated with a sense of wild nature.
Age 12+
The Book of Dust Vol 1: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls
(Andersen)
Nicholls’ compelling narrative follows Evelyn, groomed for marriage over study; May, the free-thinking daughter of a Quaker; and Nell, the tough, capable mainstay of her poor family. All of them will fight for the right to vote, but, as the spectre of war grows ever closer, what will they sacrifice – and what will be taken from them? An unforgettable historical novel.
(Walker)
A standout debut, this US novel is the Black Lives Matter-inspired story of Starr Carter, whose friend Khalil is shot dead by a police officer as she watches – and whose divided life is jolted out of kilter in the fallout. Full of evocative detail and wry humour, with a charismatic narrator, it reads like a canonical text.
Satellite by Nick Lake
(Hodder)
Leo was born in space, living all his life on space station Moon 2 with fellow space-children Libra and Orion. Now, at 15, he is almost due to go to Earth for the first time, but more awaits him there than his grandfather’s ranch and the experiences he has been promising himself. Told in Leo’s abbreviated, allusive diction, this is extraordinary science fiction, as diverse and humane as Iain M Banks at his best.
Ice Age Paradise / An interview with Sienna Dahlen
Ice Age Paradise
An interview with Sienna Dahlen
I met Sienna Dahlen on a hot summer night in Padua during her tour in Italy this past spring where she was promoting her latest album, Ice Age Paradise. She did an intimate showcase at Ca Sana but was disappointed that she hadn't had the chance to see Venice. She told the story of her father who fell in love with this unique place in the world and she sang a song called, Venezia which was written by her father and appears as a duet with him on Sienna's latest album.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
My writing day / Julie Myerson / ‘I am a solipsistic maniac who can think of nothing but the book’
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| Julie Myerson … ‘I need to be able to lose myself when I am writing.’ Illustration: Alan Vest |
MY WRITING DAY
Julie Myerson: ‘I am a solipsistic maniac who can think of nothing but the book’
The author and columnist on her powers of concentration, the importance of Pilates and the trials of co-existing with an inquisitive tabby cat
Julie Myerson
Saturday 30 December 2017
Iwrote my first novel at evenings and weekends, with an office job, two babies and another one on the way. I also had debilitating back pain and often had to lie down on the floor between paragraphs. I now wonder how I did it (a husband untroubled by childcare is the honest answer). These days it’s all very different but it still feels like the biggest luxury, to be allowed to think, write and work exactly when and how I want to. The only non-negotiable is twice weekly Pilates: if I didn’t stretch my body seriously and regularly, I don’t think I’d be able to sit and write.
Otherwise, my requirements are straightforward: a desk, a good chair, a screen and a door that shuts. I do need quiet (right now the bell ringers are rehearsing at the church next door and it’s not ideal). I also need it to be daytime – I’ve never been able to write a coherent word after about 6.45pm.
What I don’t really need is for a tabby to sit on my desk and stare at me or pat the cursor with her fat furry paw, but I seem to have that anyway. But I do need calm, or the appearance of it. I have never found chaos creative. I need to be able to lose myself when I am writing, and I can’t do that if I’m even slightly anxious about what might happen next.
I wake up, have coffee, do my meditation and the Guardian quick crossword (often simultaneously, which is not good), put on a wash, wipe the kitchen counters, send my children some annoying texts and answer emails. Which sounds boring but it’s vital – I can’t sink into my writing until I feel there’s nothing else pending, no one and nothing else to worry about.
Once I start, my concentration is absolute. Nothing distracts me. All my working life I’ve had to set alarms to prise me from my writing trance and remind me that kids need picking up or appointments need to be kept. But if this makes it sound as if I work very hard, I don’t. In fact the first months of writing a novel always feel like a con. I’ll tell people I’m writing something – and I probably am, or trying to, or thinking about trying to – but the so-called writing is as likely to be happening in my head, on the bus, on the backs of shop receipts, in the bath, even while talking to someone who (wrongly) presumes they have my full attention.
Once I’ve started thinking about a novel, it’s as if I’m hyper-sensitised. I am curious, open, alert to anything and everything. I daren’t pass up a single random detail or idea, just in case it turns out to be relevant. But at this stage of writing, I’m still laughably unproductive. I’ll tread water for pages and pages, sometimes spending weeks on a couple of (very bad) pages or even paragraphs, only to delete, delete, delete.
I’d love to be one of those writers who can do a whole draft and then rewrite it better, but I can’t. The only way I can find the story is by writing. And unless the last page I wrote startles and excites me – unless it feels, actually, as if someone who’s not me has written it – then I can’t move on in any way at all.
And even when I do move on, it’s still unlikely I’ll have any idea of where the novel’s going. I follow my instincts, almost always in the dark. If I knew what the book was, I doubt I would write it. The need to write comes from not knowing. It’s like solving a problem. I only write in order to discover what I have to say.
The second stage, though, is ferocious. Now I am mad, distracted, terrible to live with, a solipsistic maniac who can think of nothing but the book. I used to be slightly appalled at how a novel would suck up all my energy – physical, emotional, everything – but I’m used to it now. During this period my family and friends are saint-like, as I duck out of meetings, forget to answer emails, ruthlessly cancel on people. I will write for hours at a time at this stage, staying at my computer sometimes until I am in physical pain. But still I can’t speak about what I’m doing or show it to anyone until I am satisfied, or at least no longer embarrassed by it.
I’m finishing a novel right now and am still at that final, brutal stage. It doesn’t help that it’s Christmas. My poor family. The tree is up and people will be getting presents, but only just.
In brief
Hours: seven or eight a day right now, then I fall apart
Words: I’m a deleter. A good day ends with less, rather than more
Cups of coffee: three; espressos with almond milk, but no more or I’m unmanageable
Instagram posts: I’m a Colourpop fiend. When I’m sick of words, I make pictures!
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