Definitely one for the bookmarks and RSS readers. And it has one of the best urls I’ve seen in ages - carbags.wordpress.com (I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind it)

And while I’m at it - have you read any of these other rampaging monsters?

Stony River Farm, Sinead Keogh, Brian Coldrick, Niamh Sharkey, PJ Lynch and Achockablog

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Robert Dunbar (who really does live up to his title as the nicest man in letters) reviews some of the latest Irish books for young readers in the Irish Times.

To explain the picnic basket reference comes the news that Yogi Bear is being developed for the big screen. More over on the FP Blog.

Edel Coffey in the Irish Independent look at the latest (and some upcoming) new books for teenagers - have a read.

And back to the Irish Times for Adam’s interview with Bob Byrne, the man behind clamnuts.com and the brilliant Mister Amberduke.

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And now it’s back on the silver screen. (!) Yup. As part of their Halloween series the IFI are showing The Witches. One more chance to see Anjelica Huston as Mrs Ernst (or, if you’d prefer, The Grand High Witch)

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Happy October 2nd to all the poets and poetry readers (and 30th birthday to Poetry Ireland)

There are events across the country today - see here for more or click on a county to see what’s on what’s happening near you.

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There is far too many things for me to recommend, so you’ll  just have to go to all of them. Or, if that’s not an option - over the next month you will see all of these names cropping up in libraries, schools, town halls and other weird places around the country: Derek Landy, Cathy Hopkins, Karen McCrombie, Keith Gray, Kevin Crossley Holland, Jenny Valentine, Michael Scott, Jon Berkeley, Tom Kelly, Kate Thompson, Steve Weatherill, Tony Ross, John Dougherty, Nick Ward, Julie O’Callaghan, Gabriel Fitzmaurice,  Cathy Cassidy, Joe Craig, Alan Gibbons, Julia Golding, Celine Kiernan, Michael Carroll, Padear Ó Guilín, Malachy Doyle, Keith Charters, Maeve Friel, Marie Burlington, Joe O’Brien, Ali Sparkes, Babette Cole, Niamh Sharkey, Adrienne Geoghegan, Judi Curtin, Roisin Meaney and Conor Kostick.

One of the highlights I should recommend is the Writing for Teenagers discussion on October 20 with Cathy Hopkins and Jenny Valentine (Chaired by Patricia Kennon) - might even see ya there! There are two competitions during the festival too that are open for anyone under 15 and there’s a festival blog that (I’m sure) will have pics and videos and other bits as the festival goes on…

So where can you find out more about all of this? Over at the rowdy website of Children’s Books Ireland. (Where else?!)

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The Children’s Books Festival was launched this morning in the crypt of the Liberty Hall Theatre in Dublin. There were all manner of posh speeches from the who-be-wots-its but the main event was a Q&A with the dastardly (hilarious rocker) David O’Callaghan and the spooky (hilarious rocker) Derek Landy.

Derek let slip a few state secrets - including the name of the new book, The Faceless Ones, that will be out next April. He also mentioned owning the cape from Superman (the original movies), a replica lightsaber, a gun from Aliens and a 1966 Ford Mustang. So that’s where the HarperCollins cheque went…

By lunchtime I was up-to-speed on karate, dancing and how to wear an alien mask. Fun was definitely had.

The Children’s Book Festival rolls out across Ireland through October (more about that tomorrow) or you can go direct to the source and check out what’s happening on CBI’s website.

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Congrats to Louise and to all of the shortlist (with a mention for the two special commendations Malorie Blackman and Stephanie Meyer) Pics, speeches and more will be up on the Queen of Teen site soon - head on over and have a peek.

Update: The Bookwitch has an altogether far-too-girly-for-me (that’s the point though really) review of the awards - with pics of tiaras galore.

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Neil Gaiman has one of the most recognized names in fantasy writing. He has written almost everything; from television and film scripts to comic books, graphic novels, picture books and fiction for adults, children and teenagers alike. (In between all of that he manages to keep a blog that is read by more than one million people every month, keep bees and travel for research, book tours and fun - which leads me to believe that he has found a way to stop time, write stuff and then restart time again without any of the rest of us noticing.)

The Graveyard Book throws everything that Gaiman has learned into the mix and the result is impressive. The book is made up of 8 short stories that he has been intermittently working on for two decades and has finally put them together - with huge attention to detail.

A bone-chilling killer named Jack has murdered an entire family, all except one, a small baby who escapes to a nearby graveyard. The resident spirits discover the toddler, Bod, and agree to raise him as their own, under the watchful eye of the mysterious guardian, Silas.

Each chapter is deftly crafted to an inch of its (after)life and there is little missing from the story. The tribulations and awkwardness of Bod’s adolescence are all there but with the twist of being surrounded by mausoleums and lessons on how to fade from sight. But the man Jack is still out searching for the boy-that-got-away and he won’t stop until he finds what he is looking for.

Chris Riddell masterfully illustrates the Bloomsbury children’s edition with black and white ink sketches that only add to the suspense of each chapter. The Graveyard Book does stretch itself to cover all genres and to meet the expectations of Gaiman’s legions of readers of all ages. For this dedicated fan it didn’t disappoint.

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Sticking with Saturday’s Independent - the paper is running a competition to mark the launch of The Children’s Book Festival 2008. Closing date is this Wednesday (1 October) and the prize sounds great - lots and lots of free books. Go on put your name down.

And the other catchey-up bits that I missed this morning:

> Sally Williams reviews Anthony Browne’s new book Little Beauty in the Independent UK.

> And Declan Burke (who still seems a little sore with Kilkenny for some reason) reviews his weekend at the Castlecomer Writers’ Festival over at Crime Always Pays.

Right. Back to work.

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> Julia Eccleshare talks about Patrick Ness and winning the Guardian Prize… (You heard about that, right?)

> Eoin Purcell is going back through the archives and revisiting old favourites. (Gmail IM is great sometimes)

> The crew at Just One More Book have a really interesting discussion on independent/self-published books.

> The Bookwitch ponders who the Queen of Teen will be… (The Queen of Teen has a very pink website - the opposite of a yorkie bar)

> Eve Harvey has a look at Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child and Kate Thompson’s Creature of the Night on Vulpes Libris. (And Chicklish have an interview with the Kate up to boot - spoiling us.)

> Amanda Craig has a look at Phillipa Pearce’s A Finder’s Magic and Edward Ardizzone’s Johnny’s Bad Day over at the Times UK.

And to make Monday that little bit easier why not check out Chicklish’s interview with Meg Cabot, as part of their ‘Meg Cabot Week‘.

Enjoy!

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