Dark lord and shouting tot pick up Roald Dahl prize

Source:Reuters Published: 2012-11-7 19:35:04

 

Rebecca Patterson (left) and Jamie Thomson Photo: IC
Rebecca Patterson (left) and Jamie Thomson Photo: IC



"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" are the first words yelled by Bella, the central character in My Big Shouting Day, winner of the 2012 Roald Dahl Funny prize in the category aged six and under.

The victory was announced Tuesday at an award ceremony in London by British literary charity Booktrust.

One may think Bella's response reasonable upon waking up to find your jewelry being licked by a baby brother.

But things do not improve from here, and nothing anyone does for Bella is right and it seems the only solution is to shout as loud as possible about the injustice of it all. The response will be familiar to parents of young children, and it draws on the experience of author Rebecca Patterson with her daughter.

Dark Lord: The Teenage Years, a tale about a powerful netherworld lord who finds himself inhabiting the body of a chubby teenager scooped the 7 to 14 year category prize.

The book by Jamie Thomson focuses on Dirk Lloyd and his tribulations from being taken care of by social services and settled into his local school, when all he really wants to do is be appreciated as an evil force and return to his reign of terror.

Thomson used his experience writing fantasy books for role play as a springboard for the book.

"I wanted to show what it's like to be a dark lord in more detail, and why people would want to be one," Thomson said.

He added that recent big name fiction like Harry Potter had bolstered interest in fantasy books.

The book also shines a light on the bizarre way that people in the real world behave, said Michael Rosen, author and chair of the judges. "This is a wonderfully absurd take on beings from another planet or another world and like all books with this theme it makes us think about how odd and crazy we are."



Reuters

 



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