Ink Pellet is immersed in the non-literary but brilliantly-written 28 Business Thinkers Who Changed The World by former journalist Rhymer Rigby. It is amazing how many of the world’s great business ideas started at university so I hope the same can be said for the writing career of Laura Woodland and her colleagues at IntED (short for International Edinburgh). Laura is a former colleague at Ink Pellet and has set up a lovely, eclectic tumblr blog covering the cultural world of the Scottish capital with ‘an Irish Lassie and a girl from Hawaii’. She has already scooped an interview with Cats’ star Cameron Ball. Follow the fun at http://inted.tumblr.com
Theatre-goers in Wales have a pair of treats to look forward to at the end of this year and next. First comes Singin’ in the Rain to keep you warm (or do I mean soaked?) over Christmas and then Wicked rolls into town as part of the award-winning production’s national tour and to celebrate the Wales Millennium Centre’s 10th birthday. (Tenth? How time flies!) Tickets are now on sale for the show that runs from March 12-April 26 next year. Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. To book tickets or for further information visit www.wmc.org.uk or call 02920 63 6464. For further information about the Wicked Official UK & Ireland Tour head to www.WickedTour.co.uk
Fans of Roald Dahl should be finding a space in their diaries as the long-awaited Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical opens in London this June. Directed by Sam Mendes, the cast includes acclaimed actor and director Douglas Hodge as Willy Wonka, Nigel Planer as Grandpa Joe and Jasna Ivir as Mrs Gloop. The ‘ingenuously-staged’ production opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on June 25th. Tickets are on sale through the various outlets and there is already a brilliant educational resources programme available from the website at www.CharlieandtheChocolateFactory.com.
It’s Carnegie Medal time! And with a brilliant line-up of books on the shortlist (see panel), have you thought of signing up to the celebrated Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme to increase your little darlings’ confidence and enjoyment in reading? If not, here is why you should seriously consider this in the words of leading academic and President of the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), Alayne Öztürk, who told a recent conference: ‘This is a wonderful programme that enriches reading for pleasure, through the engagement with high quality whole books.It encourages communities of readers to share responses to texts, encouraging the young participants to become confident and enthusiastic lifelong readers, with wider reading repertoires. Every school should sign up.’ My! Meanwhile, double-award winner Patrick Ness added his characteristic, passionate response: ‘I’ve long thought the Carnegie and Greenaway Shadowing Scheme is one of the very best things in the entire book world. I’ve been to a bunch of shadowing events, and they’re amazing to watch. The care and thought and enthusiasm they put into it. The Man Booker Prize should steal the idea immediately.’ Groups can register now for the 2013 Shadowing Scheme via the website www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk The 2013 Carnegie Medal shortlist The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury) A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle (Marion Lloyd Books) Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Hot Key Books) In Darkness by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury) Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Bodley Head) Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (Indigo) A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton (David Fickling Books) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Electric Monkey)
Teachers of our younger viewers might like to take a look at a lovely new book by Cardiff artist Patrick Coombes. The Witch’s Assistant tells the story of a pot-bellied bat called Franklin whose attempts to help his pretty witch Dot are thwarted time and again by his clumsiness. In despair, he eventually leaves and meets Hoblin the Goblin, who plans to turn all the witches to statues. Could clumsy Franklin be the one who saves the day? The Witch’s Assistant tackles themes of difference and acceptance through gorgeous illustrations and is a simple tale, which was inspired by Coombes’s own experience of being bullied. Published by New Generation (£6.99) it is available at all good bookshops. I