Showing posts with label The Search for Mister Lloyd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Search for Mister Lloyd. Show all posts

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Happy St David's Day!


Today is the 1st of March (*pinch, punch, first of the month!*), and so we go hurtling on towards Spring. Finally!

But even more importantly, we have arrived at St David’s Day! As a Welsh company based in the capital, we take this day very seriously... which means looking at loads of pictures of cute family members/random babies/pets of acquaintances dressed up in traditional Welsh costume*, eating Welsh cakes, and maybe buying a bunch of daffodils on the way home from work.

But, to celebrate, here are some of our Welsh-iest titles: written by Welsh authors, based in Welsh settings, and inspired by Wales!

 

WINNER OF THE TIR NA N-OG 2016
(Best English-language Book with an authentic Welsh background).

"My pigeon’s gone missing. Seen him waddling about? Answers to the name of Mister Lloyd. Light grey feathers, dark underbelly. No? Yes? What? You think so? In which direction?"

Where do you even begin to search for your lost pigeon? Of course you put up LOST posters, pinning them to as many tree trunks as possible and handing them out to people in the street, but it’s not like you can actually look for a pigeon... or can you? Mister Lloyd fails to return home from his first international race much to the distress of Mostyn Price, a young pigeon fancier from North Wales. His grandfather presumes he’s been devoured by a falcon but Mostyn is hell-bent on proving him wrong, determined to conquer his sense of loss, especially as his own dad also vanished a few years earlier.

A mysterious tip-off suggests Mister Lloyd has landed in London and the search shifts to the metropolis


Silent Mountain – Michelle Briscombe
NOMINATED FOR THE TIR NA N-OG AWARD 2013
(Best English-language Book with an authentic Welsh background)

Jack Jupiter is not cool, he is not brave and he is altogether unremarkable. That is, until his grandmother uses her ‘talent’ and foresees a terrible future for Jack. With this, our young hero is dragged into a world of fantastical creatures and unrelenting enemies who force Jack to muster whatever courage he can find to escape, discover the truth about his

father and reach the mythical Silent Mountain.







In 1836, Harriet’s papa, a ship’s officer on HMS Beagle, returns from a long journey at sea. On his arrival home, Harriet and her friend Lily become involved in a dangerous secret with tragic consequences.

Almost two centuries later, Flora’s best friend Archie experiences a ghostly encounter at her dad’s reclamation and salvage yard.

The haunting takes the two friends on a detective adventure with a difference, and leads them to an unexpected and supernatural discovery.

Flora and Archie & Harriet and Lily’s lives are soon entwined in a way that they could never have imagined possible.

 

A magical story of cave dwellers, clowns and vegetarian dragons.

Dion has Asperger's Syndrome. He is an intelligent boy who lives in the functional ordered world.

When he is kidnapped and taken to a place beyond the imagination, Dion finds that his disciplined mind becomes strength. But little does he realise his life is now in danger.

Will his sister Megan get to him in time? Not if the evil Queen has anything to do with it.

For a boy who doesn't like change. Dion's strength and determination is the one thing he will have to rely on.
 

Tommy Parker: Destiny Will Find You! - Anthony Ormond


Whilst the idea of time travel seems like great fun, an innocent trip into the past could have devastating consequences.

When Tommy Parker goes to his grandpa's house for the summer he has no idea that his life is about to change forever. But that's exactly what happens when he uncovers a fantastic secret: a pen that lets him travel through his memories and alter the past!

This book deals with the everyday problems of time travelling teenagers. It will appeal to fans of Doctor Who, Terry Pratchett and JK Rowling.

A genuine page turner that combines historical events with a fantastic sci-adventure.

 

Book Worms - Jane Cohen


Meet Professor Wormsworth and his twin boys, Wurzel and Walter. The cleverest worms in the wormiverse! But on a holiday to China by wormaplane they discover a terrible secret. It’s the ghastly ‘Earth Dragon Soup’ made by an evil wizard. Walter and Wurzel find themselves on a mission to save a million billion earth worms. But can they do it?
 
 
 
 
 
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus!
 
 
Click here to check out all of our Candy Jar titles, or click any of the titles above to buy!
 


*If you have never seen a dog dressed as a leek, please take a moment to search it. We’ll wait.

Friday, 27 May 2016

THE SEARCH FOR MISTER LLOYD ANNOUNCED winner of 2016 TIR NA N-OG Award



Candy Jar's young adult book The Search For Mister Lloyd written by Griff Rowland has become the fortieth winner of the Tir na n-Og Awards.

In April the shortlist for the 2016 Tir na n-Og Award was announced - the fortieth consecutive year of the prestigious Welsh literature award – and displayed a vast wealth of fantasatic books by talented authors across Wales. One such talented author was our very own Welsh television director Griff Rowland, shortlisted for his debut young adult novel The Search For Mister Lloyd.

Now, we are delighted to announce that The Search for Mister Lloyd was named the winner!! The announcement was made during the CILIP Cymru Library and Information Conference on Thursday 26th May.

Griff Rowland said: “I’m absolutely delighted that my book has been recognised for such an important Welsh award.”

As a winner of the Tir na n-Og Award, Griff is in impressive company. Previous winners of the English-language award include Merlin's Magical Creatures by Graham Howells, The Grey King by Susan Cooper, The Candle Man by Catherine Fisher, Cowgirl by Giancarlo Gemin, Welsh Cakes and Custard by Wendy White, Tree of Leaf and Flame by Daniel Morden and Full Moon by Jenny Sullivan.

Set against the background of the Welsh town of Bangor, The Search For Mister Lloyd has been called “a tale that draws you in from the start and never lets you go", beginning when 11 year-old Mostyn Price’s beloved racing pigeon Mister Lloyd fails to return from his very first race.

“Where do you even begin to search for your lost pigeon? Of course you put up LOST posters, pinning them to as many tree trunks as possible and handing them out to people in the street, but it’s not like you can actually look for a pigeon... or can you?

When Mister Lloyd fails to return home from his first international race, Mostyn Price, a young pigeon fancier from North Wales, is inconsolable. His grandfather presumes Mister Lloyd has been devoured by a falcon but Mostyn is hell-bent on proving him wrong, determined to conquer his sense of loss, especially as his own dad also vanished a few years earlier.

A mysterious tip-off suggests Mister Lloyd has landed in London and the search shifts to the metropolis where the 11-year-old hero finds himself increasingly isolated and in danger.” 

We're delighted that one of our talented authors has won such a fantastic and proudly Welsh award. The Tir na n-Og Award celebrates new literary titles with an authentic Welsh background written in both English and Welsh. “It’s more important than ever that publications for children and young people are exciting, attractive and of the highest quality," said Elwyn Jones, Chief Executive of the Welsh Books Council. "This is the way to attract children and to ensure that they become lifetime readers.”

Set in both Bangor and London, The Search For Mister Lloyd weaves Welsh phrases and names into the narrative. Griff's Welsh background and its influence runs deeply throughout yet never overpowering or undercutting the story’s unique plot. He said: “Setting the story in north Wales felt almost inevitable to me as a writer. The Welsh landscape itself, as well as the language and the culture, has been influential to me in all my work. This is an achievement that I am very proud of – it’s a real honour to receive this incredible award for my first book.”

Dubbed “a pacey modern quest story full of emotional peaks and troughs,” The Search for Mister Lloyd is a blend of heart-pounding adventure and heart-warming, relatable characters. Through the story of Mostyn and Mister Lloyd, Griff poignantly explores the complexities of family relationships and true friendships encountered by readers at all stages of life.

Griff thinks that the more adult themes of abandonment are very important to the story.  “Dealing with loss is an incredibly difficult at any age, but even more so at the age of eleven," he said. "I think that it’s important for children and young adult fiction to deal with real-life issues that might be affecting readers, and I think a lot of people will relate to what Mostyn goes through.”

Hayley Cox, senior publishing co-ordinator at Candy Jar Books, said: “The Search for Mister Lloyd is the second of our titles to be shortlisted for the Tir na n-Og Awards, but the first to win! We are delighted that Mostyn and Mister Lloyd have won over the hearts of the awarding panel, and we’re certain they will win the hearts of many more readers to come.”

“As an independent publishing company, we take a lot of pride not only in producing quality books but, just as importantly, telling engaging stories that people love by talented authors like Griff Rowland. We are all extremely proud of Griff.”

The Search For Mister Lloyd is available as paperback RRP £7.99 and also as a Kindle ebook. You can buy the book direct from Candy Jar, from Amazon, as well as other good retailers.


If you've read The Search For Mister Lloyd, let us know your thoughts on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #TheSearchForMisterLloyd

For other Candy Jar titles, check out our website www.candy-jar.co.uk and follow us to see what we're up to!






Tuesday, 5 April 2016

The Search For Mister Lloyd by Griff Rowland shortlisted for Tir Na n-Og Award

Big News! The Search For Mister Lloyd by Griff Rowland has been shortlisted for the Tir na n-Og Awards 2016. We couldn't be prouder!




The Welsh Books Council has announced the titles on the shortlist of the prestigious Tir na n-Og Awards for 2016. The awards celebrate a special 40th birthday this year and there is much excitement surrounding the announcement of the winning title.

This year’s shortlisted titles for the Best English-language Book with an authentic Welsh background, as chosen by the awarding panel are:

The Search for Mister Lloyd – Griff Rowland (Candy Jar Books)
Longbow Girl – Linda Davies (Chicken House)
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi – Siân Lewis (author) and Valériane Leblond (illustrator) (Rily)
Ruck in the Muck – Ceri Wyn Jones (Gomer)

Bethan M. Hughes, Reading Services Manager at Denbighshire Libraries and Chair of the English-language Selection Panel, said: “The panel was pleased with the general standard of the output, with particular praise for the physical quality and design of the selected titles. We were delighted to agree on a shortlist which provides for the widest age range, from a picture book to young adult fiction.”

The Search for Mister Lloyd by Griff Rowland (Candy Jar Books) tells the tale of Mostyn Price’s attempts to find his racing pigeon, Mister Lloyd, which failed to return from a race. Full of rich language and creative images, this is a pacy modern quest story full of emotional peaks and troughs. Told from different narrative viewpoints, it intrigues and engages the reader from the outset with its chatty direct style which cleverly parodies old public information films and modern online chat. It explores family relationships, especially the role of the father figure, and the support and loyalty of friendships. Set in both Bangor and London, it weaves Welsh phrases and names effortlessly into the narrative. This is a novel which makes you laugh one minute and which tugs at your heartstrings the next, full of memorable scenes and dilemmas.

Elwyn Jones, Chief Executive of the Books Council, said: “It’s more important than ever that publications for children and young people are exciting, attractive and of the highest quality. This is the way to attract children and to ensure that they become lifetime readers. The Tir na n-Og Awards, for Welsh and English books from Wales, have an obvious role in exhibiting and promoting the best in the field and we congratulate the authors, illustrators and publishers who have reached this year’s shortlist.”

The Tir na n-Og Awards were established in 1976 with the intention of raising the standards of children’s and young people’s books in Wales, and to encourage the buying and reading of good books. Three awards are presented annually by the Books Council and are sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Cymru/Wales and Cymdeithas Lyfrau Ceredigion.

Also highly commended by the 2016 judging panel were:
· White Petals by Maria Grace (Firefly Press)
· Mo Can’t Go by Rob Lewis (Pont Books)
· Elen’s Island by Eloise Williams (Firefly Press)

Full details and reviews of the books can be viewed on www.gwales.com.

Woo! We're so pleased that The Search For Mister Lloyd has been recognised for its quality, creativity and all around greatness. A massive congratulations to the talented author Griff Rowland.

The name of the winner of the English-language award will be announced at a special event at Swansea Library during the CILIP Cymru Library and Information Conference on Thursday, 26 May.

The full Press Release can be found here

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed!


The Search For Mister Lloyd, Griff Rowland
ISBN: 9780993119170
RRP: £7.99

The Search For Mister Lloyd is out now and available from the Candy Jar webstore and other good retailers.






Check out the GWALES review of The Search For Mister Lloyd here


Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Review: The Search For Mister Lloyd by Griff Rowland

We've received a great review from the lovely people at Love Reading for The Search for Mister Lloyd by Griff Rowland.



"A gorgeously quirky and magical story about friendship, hope and discovery, for young and older adults alike. Mostyn is a pigeon fancier, Mister Lloyd the pigeon has gone fly-about and Mostyn is determined to find him. Including emails, posters, as well as the adventure itself, Griff Rowland transports you into the lives of Mostyn and Mister Lloyd. Full of moments to make you giggle, ponder and go "ahh", 'The Search For Mister Lloyd' is a lovely and captivating tale."


A big thank you to Love Reading's Liz Robinson for taking to time to review the book, and we're so glad that she enjoyed it as much as we do! 



The Search For Mister Lloyd is out now and available for purchase as paperback and Kindle download

RRP: £7.99
ISBN: 9780993119170

Friday, 13 November 2015

COMPETITION TIME

To celebrate the release of Griff Rowland's new book The Search for Mister Lloyd, we are launching a new competition; #FindMyPigeon. The aim of the game is to figure out at which famous UK landmark Mister Lloyd the pigeon is hiding. Each week Mister Lloyd will be hiding in a different location, and clues giving more information will be released each day to help you figure out where he is.

To enter on Twitter, retweet & reply with your guess including the hashtag #FindMyPigeon, or Like, Share and Comment on Facebook to tell us where you think Mister Lloyd is hiding.*

If you guess right we'll enter you in to our prize draw to win a FREE copy of The Search For Mister Lloyd. 

**Remember: enter on Facebook and Twitter to be entered twice to draw!!**

Click here to get your copy of the book!

Happy searching!
















*T&Cs: 
Entrants must like and share on Facebook, or retweet on Twitter, to qualify for entry to the competition. 
One winner will be chosen at the close of the competition week, and will be contacted directly.
Entry closes 4pm Friday, and the competition will re-open with a new landmark the following Monday.