Kings Place and The Magic Finger

Interestingly I grew up with the Tony Ross
illustrations for 'The Magic Finger"

The other week a little girl came into the library with about 10 fake witch's fingers piled up on one finger like a horrific, rubber tower. Instantly I was reminded of the Roald Dahl book, "The Magic Finger".

Of course, in the book the girl's finger appeared normal but I couldn't help thinking of the story and I asked the children whether they had read it yet. 

Often when you speak to children they are really reluctant to read. These days with the immense wealth of instant entertainment, they are unwilling to commit to the charms of a book which requires more of an intellectual engagement. More used to the tapping of the keyboard than the rustle of a page these children look at a book as one would look at a brick with the thought of "what use would I have for this?". Despite this, if you mention a Roald Dahl book such as "James and the Giant Peach" or "Danny, the Champion of the World" their faces light up as they tell you about how they read it in school and about what happened that was so wonderful.

This didn't happen when I mentioned the book "The Magic Finger" to the little girl but her older brother stood deep in though for a minute before saying that yes, he was sure that they'd read it, didn't this and this happen? His face began to brighten up and his younger sister looked envious that she might be missing out.  These children did not seem the sort of children that you could persuade to read under any threat but again, as has been proved time after time, a Roald Dahl book had opened up a whole new world for them. Upon leaving the father thanked me with a look of relief upon his face that screamed finally, we may get them to take books and read more!

This episode came back to me this week when my friend invited me to a Foyles event at Kings Place, York Way near Kings Cross.  Kings Place is an intimidating building which confuses many passers by because its windows seduce you with artwork and graphics and promises of events but the architecture looks like offices, private businesses where you might need a pass to enter. In fact the building houses both with the offices and businesses above and the restaurant, bar, gallery and lecture theatres below. 

Monday night though we were lucky enough to be going in to listen to Donald Sturrock and Quentin Blake talk about their history with our best loved and missed children's author. First we got a short but detailed biography of Roald's life and career which was followed up by Quentin talking about his role in illustrating some of our most treasured stories. It was fascinating to see the illustrations and be talked through them and to learn about the process and partnership which led to the finished books. 

A lot of people know that Roald had written adult books and a few short story compilations are widely available in libraries and book stores now. What I didn't realise was exactly how much of his career had been devoted to adult fiction and how reluctant Roald had been to make the move into children's fiction, which he seemed to pair up with tales about fluffy bunnies. For £9.50 the tickets to the event were definitely worth their price; the venue was beautiful and actually quite informal which wasn't what I was expecting from the outside. 

All in all I shall be looking at Kings Place for more educational and fun nights out in the future and I shall be looking up some more of Roald Dahl's adult work- who knows, it may be a good way to bring those reluctant readers back in to the fold as adults too.

Donald Sturrock's book "Storyteller, the life of Roald Dahl" came out last month from Harper Collins::

http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/38460/storyteller-donald-sturrock-9780007254767

Quentin Blake is working with illustrators to create The House of Illustration which will be a real home in the UK for illustrators and their work:

http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/

Kings Place is a wonderful venue and have a list of events and happenings on their website:

http://www.kingsplace.co.uk

Recipes Post No.1

I was addicted to this game for weeks.

It turns out that when I am in the kitchen, I cannot just cook any old thing. No,  I have to go that little bit further, having been inspired by the number of library loaned cookbooks on my shelves (some of which have been repeatedly renewed for 5 years)!

Last night I cooked stuffed marrow. Now, I'd never eaten a marrow before but the grocer told me that it tastes somewhere between a potato and greens... this did not leave me any wiser. He did tell me though, that a lot of people enjoy them stuffed with mince.

This led me to create a recipe for stuffed marrow last night which tasted rather nice so I am sharing it with you lovely folks so that you may use it as a base for your own concoctions.

Preheat oven to 200C


Mix 400g mince with 2 finely chopped shallots, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 2 finely chopped leaves of cabbage ( I used the crinkly kind), some salt and pepper, 1 egg, 1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp cayenne pepper.


Phew!


Mush it up until it looks blended then cut open your marrow along the length, remove the seedy area to make hollows then quarter it by cutting again along the width. Stuff the little quarters with your mince mix then top generously with cheese and, if you like, some tabasco sauce. Cover then bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes. 

After eating my stuffed marrow I have come to the conclusion that marrow tastes like a big courgette.

Tonight's delicacy is a mash-up of what's in my fridge and cupboard. To recreate this dish here's what you have to do.

Preheat oven to 200C (see a pattern here?)
You will need some kind of broccoli/ cauliflower cheese sachet- try one by Knorr or Schwarz.


Boil 200g chopped broccoli ( about a small broccoli) for around 3 min. then drain. Then put a couple of handfuls of whole wheat pasta to boil for about 3 min, just to soften. Meanwhile, fry up 4 sliced mushrooms, 2 chopped slices of smoked bacon, 300g chopped turkey thighs and 4 quartered shallots in a big frying pan. Drain the pasta after 3 minutes; you can use the same colander and mix both broccoli and pasta if you wish.


Whilst the turkey etc. are frying up in the mushroomy liquid, follow the packet instructions to make up the sauce. (I'm lucky in that my sachet came from Germany and will therefore probably be somewhat superior in taste to the ones I usually buy in the UK. This is not a case of me saying that Germany is superior to the UK, but I grudgingly admit that their food often tastes better.) Hopefully you will get around 400ml of sauce and if the packet says 300ml then cheat and add 100ml of liquid to it...


So you should now have drained broccoli and pasta, fried turkey mixture and a saucepan of sauce. The next bit is easy, just chuck the broccoli and pasta into the bottom of an oven dish then layer the turkey mixture on top. Finally spread the sauce over everything and grate a ton of cheese on the top. I also sprinkled a little paprika onto mine. This will need to go into the oven for around 20 minutes until the top is melted and golden.


I cannot tell you how this one will taste as mine is still cooking but, do me a favour? If you cook either of these dishes, then let me know how it went! Both dishes should feed about 4 people if you serve the marrow with mash. The pasta bake shouldn't need anything to serve with it... I have a feeling it will taste very rich. I shall possibly add a picture of my pasta bake once it leaves the oven.

Bon Appetit!

The Crimson Petal and the White

Eastgate House in Rochester.
See www.medway.gov.uk, 'places to marry' for details

I never read Michael Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White", mainly because it looked so long. The cover attracted me but I picked up the hefty tome and just couldn't bear to drag it home (this was before I'd worked on my reading stamina). Having forgotten about it to read many, many other things, the book has been drawn to my attention again by the filming of a 4-part drama on location in Eastgate house, Rochester. This is actually in close proximity of one of the libraries in which I occasionally work so I'm rather excited. Today I've been walking down the path and seeing lots of bustle with furniture being prepared and props moved in. Luckily I'm working there on the dates that the filming is taking place so I can hang my head out of the window and keep an eye on what is happening and see whether any famous people are starring in it!

Pity that  I probably wouldn't recognise them if I saw them...

Would I be a hypocrite if I walked round the the "F" section now and had a peek for a copy of the book? Or should I not bother and punish myself for being so prejudiced against overweight novels?

I did overcome some scruples recently when I discovered the iBooks app a few months ago and found that I could get Project Gutenberg's "Complete Works of Jane Austen" for free. Having overcome prejudice to read "Pride and Prejudice", I delighted in "Sense and Sensibility" and rediscovered my favourite (trashy) film "Clueless" in "Emma". Previously I had shunned Jane Austen, believing her works to be boring and the language to be too difficult a terrain to circumvent but after reading them in easy pick-up, put-down, e-reader format, I actually found that I couldn't put the iPhone down. I went through her complete works in about 3 weeks. I then spent another 3-4 weeks telling everyone I met about my miraculous conversion and the "Good News" that I now know where Mills and Boon novels originate from, culturally.


So one would have thought that having learnt my lesson in one author, I could apply the same principle to another, yes?

The unfortunate fact of the book industry and it's main selling point (and a wonderful source of income for illustrators) is that people judge books by their covers. Figuratively and literally.

The humble book cover creates a whole industry of its own, which is a wonderful marketplace for today's top illustrators. Who would know who Quentin Blake was today if not for his fantastic drawings for Roald Dahl's books; and who would know a Jacqueline Wilson book if not for its bright covers drawn by Nick Sharratt? The only Jacqueline Wilson books that don't go out of the library seem to be the ones with different illustrators and when you show these books to children, they look at you as if you're trying to con them! With adults as well, sometimes a new cover can work wonders. Put an older cover for Nick Hornby's "Juliet Naked" next to the new sparkly one and you wouldn't believe the difference. I wouldn't pick up the old one if it were on the shelf, just because it has a dull cover.

It was the literal cover that first attracted me to "The Crimson Petal and the White" and it was the figurative cover, the size of it, that put me off. Perhaps I shall go take one more look at that shelf and see which way the cover swings.


http://gu.com/p/2gp8y  An interesting gallery from the Guardian about book covers in different countries.

New Trend

Taken from www.bookshelfporn.com, submitted by Dance With Voices

It's interesting that in the middle of this digital age, where libraries are threatened by the growth of digital e-readers that don't just scan the text of books but are evolving into a media of their own, that the collection of physical objects is enjoying a revival. My boyfriend tells me that in the 90s he used to buy new CDs every week, which has amounted into 3 columns on our wall [I myself had a couple of hundred CDs before my mum ordered me to get rid of my "rubbish"] and between us we have filled 3 1/2 large bookshelves with our books. My video games are piled into a spacious foot stool and we even have 2 drawers full of mini-discs.

I'm sure it's no accident then, that blogs such as http://bookshelfporn.com/ and http://theblogonthebookshelf.blogspot.com/ are popping up all over the place. Theblogonthebookshelf tends towards design, giving some practical solutions to those piles of books beside your bed. The site has some wonderfully creative examples of shelving which could be replicated in your own home. I was struck by the book bike which may also get rid of the bicycle rusting in the hallway of my flat. Bookshelfporn however, tends towards the artistic with beautiful images of places filled with piles of books, shelves where the books are organised by colour and even a bookshelf staircase. It also has a twitter page which is great to drool over whilst on the train.

My boyfriend likes moving stuff around so on our next weekend off I hope that we can find our own solution to our clutter and create something drool-worthy. Or, we could just revert back to the piles of books all over the floor. If you could create amazing shelving on the IPhone ibooks app. (imagine something like Windows Navigation- anyone remember it?), then we probably wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Or perhaps I should suggest at work that our libraries are shelved in more creative ways to create a more atmospheric visit for borrowers.

Would beautiful shelving attract more readers to libraries? Your opinions are welcome.