HisDarkMaterials.org

The BBC reports: Literary stars Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson are set to headline the first ever Dundee Literary Festival. During the two-day event the authors will also receive honorary degrees from the University of Dundee.

Philip Pullman, author of the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson will both read from their novels at the festival.

Inaugural book festival kicks off

Author Philip Pullman will read extracts from his books

Literary stars Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson are set to headline the first ever Dundee Literary Festival. During the two-day event the authors will also receive honorary degrees from the University of Dundee.

Philip Pullman, author of the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson will both read from their novels at the festival.

The event will also feature local talent and advice for would-be writers.

Anna Day, festival director, said the city's rich literary heritage made it a natural choice to hold the new event.

She said: "This is the first year and it is always a gamble as you just don't know if people will want to attend the events.

"But it has been great, we've got schools coming from across Scotland to see Jacqueline Wilson and we've had ticket requests from customers as far away as Manchester and London."

The popularity of the festival has resulted in some events being moved to larger venues with the university's Bonar Hall now being commissioned.

Other attractions include a creative writing workshop and an appearance by Orange Broadband prize winning author Alice Greenway.

The Independent reports: More than 100 celebrities, academics and pressure groups challenge Gordon Brown today to give ordinary citizens a direct say in overhauling Britain's democracy.

The call follows a promise from Mr Brown to re-engage people in the political system by reforming the constitution. The independent Power inquiry, which has warned about the dangerous gulf between the public and politicians, is urging Mr Brown to match his words with a real commitment to involve ordinary voters in modernising the way they are governed.

Signatories include the novelists Philip Pullman and John le Carré, the singers Damon Albarn and Billy Bragg, the radio presenter Emma B, the comedian Mark Thomas, the actors Miriam Margoyles and Patricia Hodge and the anti-poverty activist Bianca Jagger. The statement has also been backed by prominent figures from across the political spectrum, more than 20 academics and an array of pressure groups.

Brown urged to transfer power to the people

More than 100 celebrities, academics and pressure groups challenge Gordon Brown today to give ordinary citizens a direct say in overhauling Britain's democracy.

The call follows a promise from Mr Brown to re-engage people in the political system by reforming the constitution. The independent Power inquiry, which has warned about the dangerous gulf between the public and politicians, is urging Mr Brown to match his words with a real commitment to involve ordinary voters in modernising the way they are governed.

The commission has called for an end to the first-past-the-post electoral system - the goal of The Independent's Campaign for Democracy - because parties can win power with a minority of the votes. It has also backed the lowering of the voting age to 16, imposing a £10,000 limit on individual donations to parties and decentralising power.

Today's statement, signed by public figures of all backgrounds, says that faith in the political process has deteriorated under Tony Blair and calls for urgent action by his successor to repair the damage. It suggests setting up a national assembly or convention to involve the public.

Signatories include the novelists Philip Pullman and John le Carré, the singers Damon Albarn and Billy Bragg, the radio presenter Emma B, the comedian Mark Thomas, the actors Miriam Margoyles and Patricia Hodge and the anti-poverty activist Bianca Jagger. The statement has also been backed by prominent figures from across the political spectrum, more than 20 academics and an array of pressure groups.

It warns: "There is a problem with British democracy. It began before 1997 but from the way the Iraq War was executed, to cash for peerages, to the far-reaching but insufficient constitutional reforms which Labour has introduced, there is a growing sense of a failure of government and a deepening public distrust in politics." And the statment argues that, "constitutional change must take place democratically through the direct involvement of citizens".

The signatories, who acknowledge they have a range of opinions on reforms, say: "We call for a full deliberative process, like a people's assembly or convention, which engages people from across the country.

"We oppose top-down decision making on matters central to our lives and the way our nations are governed.

"All who wish to be involved should be able to participate in this process of change. We refuse to be patronised with a 'dialogue' if the outcomes have already been decided."

Mr Brown has promised to build a "shared natural consensus for a programme of constitutional reform". His words have been interpreted as signalling support for a written constitution but reformers fear that the issue will be buried after a brief flurry of initiatives.

Pam Giddy, director of the Power inquiry, said: "Gordon Brown seems to have recognised the problem - the distinct lack of trust and belief in Britain's democracy."

She also urged him to "show his trust in the British people".

Buzz Report reports: New York’s Scholastic will release seven formats of books around the release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass in December, which the publisher is co-producing. Additional products will include multi-platform video games from Sega, figures from Corgi, collectibles from Master Replicas, trading cards from Inkworks, playsets from Mega Brands and games from Sababa Toys.

"We're reaching all these different ages," says Leslye Schaefer, senior vice president of Scholastic Media, told Playthings. "This property has such a large fan base." The first push of product will debut about six weeks prior to the release of the film, with additional promotions and support throughout the subsequent release of the DVD and, hopefully, ahead of another movie in the series, since Compass is the first book of a trilogy, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Buzz Report: Licensing Show

NEW YORK—Licensing show started with a loud Vroom! Even though the vehicles weren’t revved up (and we wish they were), Warner Brothers Consumer Products opened this year’s event by unveiling the Mach 5 car from Speed Racer as well as Batman’s Bat Pod from The Dark Knight. Both films are out this summer, with Mattel at the steering wheel as master toy licensee for both.

The thrills continued throughout the day. As exhibitors and attendees settled in, preparing themselves for the next two days of back-to-back appointments, constant leafing through schedules and, perhaps, sealing some deals, several television and film licensors were already making big announcements of partnerships and other agreements that will impact the industry into 2008 and 2009.

Glendale, Calif.-based Dreamworks' Rick Rekedal, head of interactive, toy and wireless licensing worldwide, told Playthings that the toys will keep coming for Shrek moving into 2008 with Shrek Ever After, a special retail program that will section off Shrek product as a more distinct destination in retail with special displays that give the brand "a natural home" on shelves, including a boys’ toys category, Ugly Ever After; Pretty Ever After, which will include dolls, hair play and dress-up play products for girls; and, for infants, a Shrek-themed product section called Cuddly Ever After.

“[Shrek] is big enough that we can have a presense in each of these areas,” he said. Rekedal added that the company wants to focus on releasing just two films per year to avoid contributing to the animation fatigue that has plagued the industry. He would rather people know that the films are specifically Dreamworks properties—and anticipate their high quality—than get lost in the mix. The two films in the works for 2008 are Kung Fu Panda, the tale of Po the Panda, a lazy animal that is picked to be a Kung Fu master, and Madagascar 2, the sequel to the popular 2005 feature featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Raven Symone and more. Having one of its two films be an established sequel is "ideal," Rekedal said, noting, "It seems to really help our momentum at the box office."

For the adult market, Dreamworks will continue to work with McFarlane toys for action figures, including Shrek.

Paramount Pictures, Hollywood, Calif., is also giving the collectors something to look forward to later this year, especially if they are fans of the The Spiderwick Chronicles books, or of the Robert Zemeckis-directed Beowulf. For Spiderwick, iToys is partnering to create interactive toys, including the "Seeing Stone," featured in the film, as well as figures that feature magnetic motion action.

"The Seeing Stone is such a centerpiece of the book and the film," Michael Bartok, executive vice president of licensing for Paramount, told Playthings, noting that additional toy products will ideally also be very integral to the look and feel of the movie. "One of the cool things about our toy program is that the partners are very sophisticated," he said. "We think we can really partner together with them and add value." Some products will hopefully expand all the way to the mass market, with other versions or products likely to be available in specialty, Bartok said. "There's quite a few tiers." Additional licensees for Spiderwick include University Games and Simon & Schuster.

For Beowulf, McFarlane will produce action figures and 3-D wall pieces; Diamond Select Toys will develop figures, prop replicas and resin busts; Ubisoft will develop a video game; Fantasy Flight Games will develop additional games; IDW will create a four-part comic book series adapted from the movie's screenplay; and publishing products will debut from both Chronicle Books and HarperCollins.

Products for both films will likely begin in specialty and then expand to mass if the audience is as large as expected, Bartok said. “With each property, we look at the different ways the license gives the product resonance with consumers and the way the film resonates with the audience...We don’t want to do any category for the sake of doing the category. We’re not in the business of logo-slapping.”

And while the upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight, is a bit darker than past films, this hasn’t stopped Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Burbank, Calif., from giving younger fans something to play with once the film premieres. With Mattel at the helm, new chunkier Superfriends action figures and vehicles designed for smaller hands, plus role-play items like a Mega Cape with cowl—which opens 6 feet wide—a Grapnel Launcher and Attack Bat, will debut soon. Additional partners for the brand include Rubies (adult/kid costumes); Lego (construction sets), Digital Blue (electronics) and Jada Toys (plastic figures).

And for the upcoming Speed Racer, licensees now include Rubies, Pacific Cycle, Zizzle, Jada and Sakar. Warner Bros. is also working on signing more licensees for the new live-action Where the Wild Things Are, with Crocodile Creek (literary plush), Fisher-Price (view finders), Sababa Toys (games) and Mudpuppy (puzzles) already on board.

New York’s Scholastic will release seven formats of books around the release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass in December, which the publisher is co-producing. Additional products will include multi-platform video games from Sega, figures from Corgi, collectibles from Master Replicas, trading cards from Inkworks, playsets from Mega Brands and games from Sababa Toys.

"We're reaching all these different ages," says Leslye Schaefer, senior vice president of Scholastic Media, told Playthings. "This property has such a large fan base." The first push of product will debut about six weeks prior to the release of the film, with additional promotions and support throughout the subsequent release of the DVD and, hopefully, ahead of another movie in the series, since Compass is the first book of a trilogy, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Al Kahn, president of 4Kids Entertainment, sat down with Playthings to discuss strategy moving into the fall and beyond. Overall, the company intends to focus more on programming and product based on games like the upcoming Dinosaur King, which is inspired by the popular trading cards that first launched in Japan in 2005, and Chaotic, which launched in January in support of 4Kids' new games division, TD Digital. The division will produce trading card games for various properties. Kahn explained 4Kids' licensing strategy this way: “In this business, you have to think of each license as a chair. If the chair has no legs it falls, the license falls. We want to understand the target audience first and if any product takes away from the drivers—for example, bringing in action figures may drive down the age, so even though you make some money, you feel the downside. We’re not in a rush to throw out product. We take our time.”

Some other news out of the show:

San Francisco manga publisher and anime producer Viz Media has named Bandai its American toy licensee for products based on the new anime series Blue Dragon, which is based on the popular Microsoft Xbox 360 Role Playing Game, for release this August. Earlier this year, Viz was named the master licensor for the television, home video and non-video game merchandising rights for Blue Dragon.

HIT Entertainment, New York has partnered with Chapman Entertainment of the U.K. for the representation rights for two new preschool series, Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary and the Racing Car in the U.S.

The Oxford Mail reports:  Residents in Jericho, Oxford, are meeting tonight to discuss new plans to build flats in the area. Spring Residential has applied to the city council for planning permission to build 54 flats on a narrow strip of land next to St Barnabas church.

Jenny Mann, secretary of the Jericho Community Association, said the "This is currently a towpath walk of great character and historic interest, enjoyed by local people and visitors to Oxford alike, and the canalside here is the setting for the famous "Gyptian" episodes in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy."

Meeting over controversial flats

Residents in Jericho, Oxford, are meeting tonight to discuss new plans to build flats in the area.

Spring Residential has applied to the city council for planning permission to build 54 flats on a narrow strip of land next to St Barnabas church.

Jenny Mann, secretary of the Jericho Community Association, said the three and four- storey blocks would "crowd in" on both sides of the church and obliterate most views of it from the towpath.

She added: "This is currently a towpath walk of great character and historic interest, enjoyed by local people and visitors to Oxford alike, and the canalside here is the setting for the famous "Gyptian" episodes in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Artist Valerie Petts, a Jericho resident whose Oxford scenes are regularly seen in The Oxford Times' magazine Limited Edition, is preparing to draw before and after views of the area.

She added: "It's horrifying. We can not let this happen."

The meeting starts tonight at 7.30pm, at St Barnabas Church, and the plans will be on display in the church before the meeting from 7pm.

The Telegraph reports: Children will be able to choose a free novel when they start secondary school in September - but they may not recognise most of the authors.  The list of the 12 books from which they can choose, published yesterday, excludes the best-selling authors J K Rowling (Harry Potter), Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider) and Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials).  Instead, the 620,000 children aged 11 in the first term of year seven will select from books chosen by a panel of authors, publishers and teachers to provide diversity of style and difficulty.

Popular reads have been excluded to give children an opportunity to try something new, said Booktrust, the charity implementing the £2.8 billion Government-funded initiative announced by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, last December.

No room for Harry Potter in free book scheme

Children will be able to choose a free novel when they start secondary school in September - but they may not recognise most of the authors.

The list of the 12 books from which they can choose, published yesterday, excludes the best-selling authors J K Rowling (Harry Potter), Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider) and Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials).

Instead, the 620,000 children aged 11 in the first term of year seven will select from books chosen by a panel of authors, publishers and teachers to provide diversity of style and difficulty.

Popular reads have been excluded to give children an opportunity to try something new, said Booktrust, the charity implementing the £2.8 billion Government-funded initiative announced by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, last December.

A spokesman for the charity said: "Secondary school children are less likely to find reading difficult than they did 10 years ago, but their enjoyment of reading has declined rapidly with one in four saying they find it boring."

The 12 books will be given out between September and December at schools in England. The spokesman said the funding was for one year only, but it was hoped that the scheme would be extended to future years.

Michael Rosen, the Children's Laureate, said sharing free books would help children make the difficult move from primary to secondary school. "This campaign will help children become creative readers for years to come," he said.

However, Bethan Marshall, a senior lecturer at King's College, London, who trains English teachers, admitted that even she had not heard of some of the books on the list.

"Journey to the River Sea is an excellent choice and I've used it with the whole class but the narrative is a bit tricky so it needs a competent reader," she said. "I'm surprised by some of the others because they are not mainstream.

"To get children hooked I would have chosen Coraline by Neil Gaiman, because it's chilling and compelling, and David Almond's Skellig, which is hard to put down."

Schools must make sure they use the scheme to follow up the children's experiences of the books and encourage discussions about them, say librarians.

"It's not enough to give out free books, children must be encouraged to read them," said Ingrid Hopson, the School Library Association's librarian of the year, who manages two libraries at George Abbot School in Guildford, Surrey, which is one of the biggest comprehensives in the country with almost 2,000 pupils.

"It is a very good list in terms of genres and levels of difficulty but giving the books is one thing and encouraging children to be readers quite another.

"We find that many children don't understand what reading is. They treat it like a comprehension question because that is the way books are treated in the classroom.

"Quite often they don't realise that reading a book is not about right and wrong answers but about how you feel and the questions it raises, about the inferences you make and the thoughts you have.

"A book can make you laugh or cry and you don't have to answer questions on it at the end but you can discuss it with your friends and find out what they thought."

The Booked Up scheme is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at wooing children of all ages away from computers and television.

Launching a list of titles for school libraries to aim at boys this year, Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, said families spent four hours a day watching television. "If they read to their children for a tenth of that time we could practically eradicate illiteracy," he said.

From next September, children starting primary schools at the age of four or five will be given an illustrated book, Funnybones, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, in a special book bag along with guidance for parents on shared reading.

The Christian Science Monitor reviewed the His Dark Materials audiobooks: Parents be forewarned: The audio book trilogy I'm about to recommend may raise more questions than answers. But if you – and your children over 12 – are willing to grapple with such philosophical queries as: What does it mean to have faith? and, Does growing up mean living the storyline that's been scripted for you or writing your own?, then by all means pop the set of CDs that make up this trilogy into your vehicle's player and hit the road.

Bottom line? You won't be disappointed. In fact, you may even regret reaching your destination. (It's tough to hit pause in the middle of this story without first finding out what happens.)

(book three of the trilogy)Parents be forewarned: The audio book trilogy I'm about to recommend may raise more questions than answers. But if you – and your children over 12 – are willing to grapple with such philosophical queries as: What does it mean to have faith? and, Does growing up mean living the storyline that's been scripted for you or writing your own?, then by all means pop the set of CDs that make up this trilogy into your vehicle's player and hit the road.

Bottom line? You won't be disappointed. In fact, you may even regret reaching your destination. (It's tough to hit pause in the middle of this story without first finding out what happens.)

Philip Pullman's trio of novels – "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," and "The Amber Spyglass," also referred to as the "His Dark Materials" trilogy – caused no small stir when the first title hit bookstores over a decade ago. Since then, the books have provoked heated theological discussions and endless chatter among children's lit aficionados, and sold over a million copies in Britain alone. There is also a movie version of the first novel (with a cast including Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and Kevin Bacon) scheduled for release this December.

Together all three novels provide an excellent adventure story that manages to be compelling even as it deals with complex, nuanced themes.

Pullman also navigates the male-female divide with ease. Rather than a single protagonist, the trilogy offers two: spunky, impetuous Lyra Belacqua, and her more thoughtful – but equally courageous – male counterpart, Will Parry. Quick plot summary: these kids are – literally – out to save the world.

I first encountered – and was enthralled by – these books in college. But to listen to the audio versions recently was to remember what a layered, miraculous narrative feat the novels are – and to marvel over how skillfully the cast on these CDs brings Pullman's opus to life.

To start, there's the narrator, Pullman himself. His grave, slightly-scratchy voice is the glue that holds the rest of the cast together. And his reading – storytelling, really – effortlessly does so.

Lyra is passionate, with the perfect, semischooled street-urchin accent. And Will progresses appropriately from a boy on the cusp of adulthood to a deeper-voiced young man.

Most fun of all, though, are the huge range of voices offered by other cast members. The terrifying Iorek Byrnison. The gentle, musical "mulefa," Atal. And dear Pantalaimon, Lyra's daemon, whose tones change from gently chastising (as her conscience) to adoring (as her soul) and back again.

For those who have yet to dig into the trilogy, all this talk of mulefas and daemons might not make much sense. So let me sum up by saying this: Listening to these books on CD is really not just a simple matter of being read to. It's more like attending a performance.

24dash.com reports: Philip Pullman, world-renowned author of ‘His Dark Materials’ children’s trilogy, has pledged his support to a new environmental initiative at his local primary school on the outskirts of Oxford.

The Norwich born former schoolteacher, whose work is inspired by his adopted home of Oxford, officially launched ‘Cumnor Goes Green,’ Cumnor Primary School’s drive towards becoming carbon neutral, at the annual school fete. “I am naturally concerned about the environment and our energy use, so I applaud my local community’s positive steps to combat climate change, particularly those of the younger generation who will inherit this threatened planet,” said Pullman, a keen supporter of sustainable energy schemes.

Author backs 'carbon conscious' school

Philip Pullman and children

Philip Pullman, world-renowned author of ‘His Dark Materials’ children’s trilogy, has pledged his support to a new environmental initiative at his local primary school on the outskirts of Oxford.

The Norwich born former schoolteacher, whose work is inspired by his adopted home of Oxford, officially launched ‘Cumnor Goes Green,’ Cumnor Primary School’s drive towards becoming carbon neutral, at the annual school fete.

“I am naturally concerned about the environment and our energy use, so I applaud my local community’s positive steps to combat climate change, particularly those of the younger generation who will inherit this threatened planet,” said Pullman, a keen supporter of sustainable energy schemes.

“The children here have enthusiastically embraced the maxim ‘think globally, act locally’ and I know that their positive approach in doing their bit to tackle climate change has been hugely inspiring for pupils, parents and teachers alike,” he continued.

“I firmly believe that the collective power of children can change the world, if nothing else by shaming grown ups and the people that run the world into doing more to tackle climate change,” added the writer, whose trilogy hits the big screen in December with the release of the The Golden Compass.

Cara Lynch-Blosse, Headteacher of Cumnor Primary School said; “The children enjoyed the day enormously and are excited that Mr Pullman has recognised the big difference they have already made by switching off unused lights, reducing power consumption and composting school waste.”

“We were already a Bronze Eco-School, but having been awarded Silver Eco-School status earlier this week, the launch of ‘Cumnor Goes Green‘ is our commitment to go for the ultimate, Green Flag status, which although a far greater challenge is one that the children and teachers are very positive about taking on.”

“The School sits on an exposed ridge, so ultimately our aim is to purchase wind turbines and solar panels which we hope will have a wider community impact by us leading the way to becoming carbon neutral. 

"We also hope to build a new foundation stage unit using tried and tested, albeit unusual sustainable building materials, including straw bale insulation,” she added.

The initial aim of the ‘Go Green’ campaign will be to raise both awareness and funds to help purchase equipment such as weather stations and power consumption meters so that the children can measure their power use and the changing weather patterns. 

“It’s very important that the children not only learn from the project, but that they are actively engaged in the decisions that we take as we work towards becoming more environmentally sustainable,” said Mrs Lynch-Blosse.