September Contest – One Day Left!
Posted on by Bethan

There is one day left to enter our September contest, so get your entries in if you haven’t already! This month we’re giving you the chance to ask Philip Pullman a question!

We’re looking for creativity, not a question he’s been asked a million times before. You can send up to three questions to us. We’ll pick our favourite from all of your suggestions, and Pullman will answer it for us!

Send your question(s) in to us at contest@bridgetothestars.net, with the subject line “September Contest” by 11:59pm GMT on the 17th of September. This contest is open to everyone. Good luck!




Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on September Contest – One Day Left!



Essay about His Dark Materials on Smart Pop Books
Posted on by Aletheia Dolorosa

Smart Pop Books is running a series of essays, ‘Navigating the Golden Compass’, on all aspects of Philip Pullman’s trilogy. The latest, ‘Dismembered Starlings and Neutered Minds’ by Naomi Wood, looks at Pullman’s treatment of notions of innocence and experience, especially as these concepts relate to our understanding of childhood.

In The Golden Compass, Pullman subverts our notions of innocence by first showing children’s innocence not as guiltless, but rather as uncouth, even feral—as the absence of knowledge and of culture rather than the presence of purity, love, or virtue. Lyra, the spirited heroine, is described initially as “a coarse and greedy little savage,” a “half-wild cat.” […] And although adults may see children’s play as “pleasant,” “innocent and charming,” children are actually just as political as their elders: Lyra is part of a “rich seething stew of alliances and enmities and feuds and treaties”; as leader of her own gang of children affiliated with Jordan College, she leads the others in “deadly warfare,” delighting in physical combat and tactical victories. In her leadership ability, her physical courage, and her rhetorical power, Lyra possesses the same qualities as her parents, Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter, and has similar power to influence the people around her for good and ill. Being a child makes her no more inherently moral or immoral than any of the other individuals in the series.

Source



Posted in critical essays, Northern Lights/The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman | 1 Comment



Pullman to appear at IBBY/Books for Keeps event
Posted on by Bethan

Philip Pullman will be appearing at an event in London in October, ran by the International Board on Books for Young People and Books for Keeps magazine. He will be joined by John Burningham, who, like Pullman is a nominee for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Awards.

The event will be on Tuesday, the 18th of October, from 7-9pm, and will be at the Royal Overseas League, Park Place, London SW1A 1LR.

Tickets are £10 and £7 (For concessions and IBBY members) and will be available to buy on the night.

There will be books for sale and John and Philip will be signing at the end of the session.

To book tickets for the event in advance, please email: Bridget Carrington at bicarrington@nasuwt.net or phone: 01362 860886

Source



Posted in Philip Pullman | Comments Off on Pullman to appear at IBBY/Books for Keeps event



September Contest and Mark Reads Week 8!
Posted on by Bethan

It’Â’s September, and that means time for our September Contest! This month, we give you a chance that many of you have been waiting for, and that hopefully you’Â’ll all love – a chance to ask Philip Pullman a question!?



We’re looking for creativity, not a question he’s been asked a million times before. You can send up to three questions to us. We’ll pick our favourite from all of your suggestions, and Pullman will answer it for us!

Send your question(s) in to us at contest@bridgetothestars.net, with the subject line “September Contest” by 11:59pm GMT on the 17th of September. This contest is open to everyone. Good luck!

It’s also the last week of MarkReads! We hope you’ve all had a lot of fun reading along with him. Join us at our last weekly forum thread where we’ll be reading and discussing chapters 36-38 along with Mark.



Posted in Discussion, The Book Trilogy | 2 Comments



August Contest Winner!
Posted on by Jaya

Congratulations to the winner of our August Contest: Nancy, who correctly deciphered our changing anagrams in the first four Mark Reads The Amber Spyglass banners: MARY MALONE, ALETHIOMETER, PANSERBJORNE and PHILIP PULLMAN. She wins a signed copy of the latest UK edition of The Amber Spyglass!

Thanks for all your entries, we had a lot of correct answers but unfortunately only one person can win the prize. If you entered but didn’t win, then please accept our heartfelt commiserations. There’ll be another context next month with a very special prize, so watch this space!



Posted in Contests | Comments Off on August Contest Winner!



Content © 2001-2011 BridgeToTheStars.Net.
Images from The Golden Compass movie are © New Line Cinema.