A Five Part Series from TTBOOK!

Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

LIONS, WITCHES & WIZARDS

Program 06-11-05-B

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Walk into the children's section of any bookstore and the magic wands and secret portals almost materialize in front of you. Wizards, witches, demons, time travel, dragons, orphans, orphaned dragons – doesn't anyone know how to write a non-magical book anymore?! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll examine the boom in children's fantasy publishing. Is this a Golden Age for children's books, or a marketing feeding frenzy?

SEGMENT 1:

Award-winning children's writer Geraldine McCaughrean tells Jim Fleming why she wrote a sequel to "Peter Pan" and why she's glad Peter's a brat. Her book is "Peter Pan in Scarlet," and we hear readings from the author as well as an excerpt from the BBC Radio Four dramatization.

SEGMENT 2:

Matthew Skelton's debut children's novel is called "Endymion Spring." It's a tale of ancient manuscripts, old libraries and magic. Skelton tells Anne Strainchamps how the story came to him. Also, Steve Paulson talks with Sharyn November, senior editor for Viking Children's Books and head of Penguin Putnam's Firebird, about the current boom in children's fantasy writing.

SEGMENT 3:

Eoin Colfer is the author of the Artemis Fowl books. There are five of them now. The latest on is called "The Lost Colony." Colfer explains to Jim Fleming just who Artemis is, and what it is about his adventures that appeals to young, male readers. Also, Tamora Pierce tells Anne Strainchamps why she has devoted her career to creating strong female characters who challenge and exceed their societies' expectations of them. Her latest book is "Beka Cooper: Terrier."

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-11-05-B.

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Books:

Geraldine McCaughrean, Peter Pan in Scarlet (McElderry Books)
Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl (Hyperion)
Tamora Pierce, Trickster's Queen (Random House)
Matthew Skelton, Endymion Spring (Delacorte Press)

Websites:

• The Artemis Fowl website:
  http://www.artemisfowl.com/
• The Endymion Spring website:
  http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/endymion/
• The Peter Pan in Scarlet website:
  http://www.peterpaninscarlet.com/
• Tamora Pierce website:
  http://www.tamora-pierce.com/
• Sharyn November website:
  www.sharyn.org
  www.firebirdbooks.com

Music:

• Soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• Soundtrack for Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney Records)
• Soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest (Disney Records)
• Soundtrack for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Warner Bros)
• Danny Elfman, “Edward Scissorhands”, on the CD Music for a Darkened Theatre (MCA Records)
• Camille Saint-Saens, “Danse Macabre”, Orchestre National de France (EMI)
• Theme from “Mission Impossible” and “Peter Gunn Suite” on the CD The Crime Scene (Ultra Lounge/Capitol)

week of 10/14/2007 - hour 1 week of 11/05/2006 - hour 1

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