Little bits of Cambridge

The future is bright

We all became time travellers here in the UK last night as the clocks went forward an hour. Things seem fairly similar in this future world, except that it seems much sunnier and warmer. Next time they should make it more interesting and put the clocks forward by, say, one hundred and fifty years.

Snow last weekend, and today Cambridge was bathed in brilliant sunshine and herds of tourists wandered about in their shirt sleeves eating ice cream. Bizarre. We wandered through town, sneaking a peek into Sidney Sussex (noting the plaque telling you that Oliver Cromwell's head is buried nearby in a secret location). More of that another time.

I have decided to set myself a little project of taking photographs of details around Cambridge - architectural details, door numbers, stone carving, sculptures, that kind of thing. The details of a place fascinate me for some reason. I have a vast array of fire hydrant photographs from a holiday in New England and far too many pictures of door knockers.

Reader in illustration

I bumped into Martin Salisbury in Borders. Martin has become one of the leading experts on children's book illustration - even though he always seems reluctant to think of himself as such. He is also Reader in Illustration (which sounds a little baffling) and Pathway Leader on the excellent MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University. The criminally under appreciated Ronald Searle attended Cambridge School of Art and Martin was responsible for bringing an exhibition of Searle's work to the Ruskin Gallery recently.

I always come away from conversations with Martin re-enthused about illustration. He is Illustration Man (though I'm not sure what his super powers might be). He is always full of stories about new books and exhibitions and today was telling me he has been filmed for an upcoming TV programme about illustration. And tomorrow he is off to Bologna for the Children's Book Fair.

In the evening I met up with Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge after their Wordfest event, cycling past hordes of students in gowns queuing to receive their degrees. Philippa Dickinson, the MD of Random House Children's Books was with Chris and Paul (which shows how much Random value the pair of them). We had a glass of wine and a chat before she had to leave, during which Rosemary Sutcliff's name came up and Philippa began a sentence 'I remember Rosemary telling me...'

It seems silly to say it, given that I'm a writer myself, but I'd sort of forgotten Rosemary Sutcliff was a real person that someone could remember talking to. I was deeply impressed.

Book Journal

I bought my son a book journal today, so that he can keep a record of the books he reads (or has read to him) and say a little about what he thought of them. This present falls into the 'I wish someone had made me do that when I was a kid' category and as such may come to a grinding halt (as his scrapbook did). We'll see.

But what a fantastic thing it would be: to have a record of everything you had ever read from the age of ten. I can remember some stand-out books from when I was a child. I remember dragging Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea home from the library when I was about nine and being read A Christmas Carol at about the same time. I can remember Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth series and Henry Treece's Road to Miklagard and War Dog. I can remember C S Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and even the mawkish Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. I remember the brilliant Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish and I remember Enid Blyton's Famous Five stories. But as to all the countless other books I read or heard at that age; they are probably gone for good.

And in any case it is different remembering books as an adult and having the evidence there in front of you of what you really thought at the age you read the book. One of the nice things about writing for children is that they are such an appreciative audience. That is not to say they are uncritical. If they do not like something, then they are far more resistant to it than adults. The difference is that they are enthusiasts by temperament and so, if they do enjoy something, each book (or movie, or holiday, or birthday party) will be the 'best yet' or the 'best ever'. There are always caveats with adults.

Anyway - the first two books in my son's journal will be Jack London's The Call of the Wild (another book I can remember reading), which he read to himself and finished yesterday, and Mark Walden's 'Hive 2', which was read to him. He thoroughly enjoyed both, but it will be interesting to read what he has to say about them.

Wordfest

Chris Riddell phoned today. He and Paul Stewart are taking part in the Cambridge Wordfest (and how come I wasn't asked?). They are at the ADC Theatre on Saturday at 4.oo. Hopefully I shall get a chance to catch up with them afterwards.



I also got a copy of Joe Rat by Mark Barratt that I illustrated just before Christmas under the influence of a hideous cold. It is published by Random House/Red Fox and is a good book, I think - quite dark with a real sense of danger and some genuinely nasty characters.

Skyscape

There was a discussion about the merits of the landscape around Cambridge as we walked to Grantchester on Monday. It can seem a bit dull at first glance. The flatness doesn't appeal to everybody, though Judith, who is Swiss, made the point that mountains can be claustrophobic. Judith likes the view. So do I.

I like hills. Despite having a fear of heights, I like hill-walking because of the view it affords. Flatlands like Cambridge (and Norfolk where we lived for over ten years before moving here) are strangely the only places that give a similiar open sense of being able to see all the way to the horizon. You get an amazing view: not of the land, but of the sky. It makes you lift your head up.

And that can't be bad can it?

Billy Wizard

I had a nice surprise this morning: I received a package in the post from Random House. It contained their Young Corgi Library - a set of books in a slipcase that includes my book Billy Wizard. I had no idea this was happening, but it was nice to see Billy Wizard in there. I really like that book but as with so many books for that 7+ age group, it tended to get a little lost after publication in 2005.