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The Graveyard Book
''The Graveyard Book'' is a young adult novel by the English author Neil Gaiman, simultaneously published in Britain and America in 2008. ''The Graveyard Book'' traces the story of the boy Nobody "Bod" Owens who is adopted and reared by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered. Gaiman won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Newbery Medal recognizing the year's best children's books, the first time both named the same work. ''The Graveyard Book'' also won the annual Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Convention and Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book selected by '' Locus Magazine'' subscribers. Chris Riddell, who illustrated the British children's edition, made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist. It was the first time in the award's 30-year history that one book made both the author and illustrator shortlists. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series '' The Sandman'' and novels '' Stardust'', ''American Gods'', ''Coraline'', and '' The Graveyard Book''. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, ''The Graveyard Book'' (2008). In 2013, '' The Ocean at the End of the Lane'' was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards. It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London, England that '' The Independent'' called "...theatre at its best". Early life Gaiman's fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate Greenaway Medal
The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association. The Medal is named after the 19th-century English illustrator of children's books Kate Greenaway (1846–1901). It was established in 1955 and inaugurated next year for 1955 publications, but no work was considered suitable. The first Medal was awarded in 1957 to Edward Ardizzone for ''Tim All Alone'' (Oxford, 1956), which he also wrote. That first Medal was dated 1956. Only since 2007 the Medal is dated by its presentation during the year following publication. The Greenaway is a companion to the Carnegie Medal which recognises one outstanding work of writing for children and young adults (conferred upon the author). Nominated books must be first published in the U.K. during the precedin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M Is For Magic
M, or m, is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''. History The letter M is derived from the Phoenician Mem, via the Greek Mu (Μ, μ). Semitic Mem is most likely derived from a " Proto-Sinaitic" (Bronze Age) adoption of the "water" ideogram in Egyptian writing. The Egyptian sign had the acrophonic value , from the Egyptian word for "water", ''nt''; the adoption as the Semitic letter for was presumably also on acrophonic grounds, from the Semitic word for "water", '' *mā(y)-''. Use in writing systems The letter represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound in the orthography of Latin as well as in that of many modern languages, and also in the International Phonetic Alphabet. In English, the Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that is sometimes a vowel, in words like ''s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ifrit
Ifrit, also spelled as efreet, afrit, and afreet (Arabic: ': , plural ': ), is a powerful type of demon in Islamic mythology. The afarit are often associated with the underworld and identified with the spirits of the dead, and have been compared to evil ''geniī loci'' in European culture.Edward Westermarck ''Ritual and Belief in Morocco: Vol. I (Routledge Revivals)'' Routledge, 23 Apr 2014 p. 387 In Quran, hadith, and Mi'raj narrations the term is always followed by the phrase ''among the jinn''. In later folklore, they developed into independent entities, identified as powerful demons or spirits of the dead who sometimes inhabit desolate places such as ruins and temples. Their true habitat is the underworld.Chelhod, J., “ʿIfrīt”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 06 October 2019 First published online: 2012 First print edition: , 1960-2007 Etymology T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and leaving fern-like patterns on cold windows in winter. Starting in late 19th century literature, more developed characterizations of Jack Frost depict him as a sprite-like character, sometimes appearing as a sinister mischief-maker or as a hero. Background Jack Frost is traditionally said to leave the frosty, fern-like patterns on windows on cold winter mornings (window frost or fern frost) and nipping the extremities in cold weather. Over time, window frost has become far less prevalent in the modern world due to the advance of double-glazing, but Jack Frost remains a well-known figure in popular culture. He is sometimes described or depicted with paint brush and bucket coloring the autumnal foliage red, yellow, brown, and orange. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danse Macabre
The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, typically with a pope, emperor, king, child, and laborer. The effect was both frivolous, and terrifying; beseeching its audience to react emotionally. It was produced as '' memento mori'', to remind people of the fragility of their lives, and how vain were the glories of earthly life. Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest recorded visual scheme was a now-lost mural at Holy Innocents' Cemetery in Paris dating from 1424 to 1425. Background Historian Francis Rapp (1926–2020) writes that "''Christians were moved by the sight of the Infant Jesus playing on his mother's knee; their hearts were touched by the Pietà; and pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners. Writers and speakers typically use allegories to convey (semi-)hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey. Many allegories use personification of abstract concepts. Etymology First attested in English in 1382, the word ''allegory'' comes from Latin ''allegoria'', the latinisation of the Greek ἀλληγορία (''allegoría''), "veiled language, figurative", which in turn comes from both ἄλλος (''allos''), "another, different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy (), are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches, in the course of the Late Middle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death (personification)
Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures Death is perceived as female (for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology, or Santa Muerte in Mexico). By region Americas Latin America As is the case in many Romance languages (including French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian), the Spanish word for death, ''muerte,'' is a feminine noun. As such, it is common in Spanish-speaking cultures to personify death as a female figure. In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the "Queen of Mictl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaa's Hunting
"Kaa's Hunting" is an 1893 short story by Rudyard Kipling featuring Mowgli. Chronologically the story falls between the first and second halves of Mowgli's Brothers, and is the second story in ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) where it is accompanied by the poem "Road Song of the Bandar-log". Story The seven-year-old "man-cub" Mowgli, raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, is being tutored in the Law of the Jungle by Baloo the bear, but "runs off in a temper" when Baloo hits him over the head for inattention. Bagheera the black panther, who disapproves of this corporal punishment, persuades Mowgli to return and recite his lessons. These include the "Master Words" for various species that identify the speaker as a friend. Bagheera is impressed with Mowgli's progress, but both are horrified when the man-cub then reveals that he has been visiting the Bandar-log (" Monkey-People") who are shunned by the rest of the jungle. Mowgli is chastened, but soon afterward is abducted by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the ''Jungle Book'' duology ('' The Jungle Book'', 1894; '' The Second Jungle Book'', 1895), ''Kim'' (1901), the '' Just So Stories'' (1902) and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include " Mandalay" (1890), " Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), " The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is seen as an innovator in the art of the short story.Rutherford, Andrew (1987). General Preface to the Editions of Rudyard Kipling, in "Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. His children's books are classics; one critic noted "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".Rutherford, Andrew ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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