Read it!

YAY! Takeshita Demons was recently featured in Read it! magazine, put out by Books etc and Published World to encourage reading for all ages.

The Read it! magazine is FREE and part of a fundraising scheme for UK schools, where 5% of total book purchases goes back to the school.

Win prizes, read reviews

There are heaps of cool prizes you can win, puzzles, articles, author interviews and more. This issue includes articles on World Book Day, dyslexia action, Reading for Life and more. Plus you can win DVDs and books and read some great reviews.

Here’s what Read it! said:

Takeshita Demons – Cristy Burne (aged 8-12)

Takeshita Demons has done amazingly well. In 2010 it was the winner of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Childrens Book Award and featured on the BBC’s Blue Peter in 2011.

We cannot wait for Cristy’s next book, the Filth Licker, which will be coming out in June 2011 so keep an eye out for it!

When Miku Takeshita moves from Osaka to London, she thinks she has left her grandmother’s strange world of spirits and demons far behind. But then her little brother falls strangely ill and a freak snowstorm arrives along with a fox-mouthed supply teacher.

Suddenly, Miku and her best friend Cait are facing off with faceless demons and on the run from flying heads. Alone and stuck at school after-dark, they must use all their cunning to stay alive.

A thrilling adventure for younger readers, Takeshita Demons weaves Japanese mythology and culture into a gripping tale of good versus evil.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

What inspired you to write?

I’ve always loved reading and making up stories. One day I had an idea about a superhero who had a pet giraffe, so I just sat down and started writing. That was the first book I ever wrote.

Now I get inspiration from everyday life: I keep a notebook in my pocket and write down story ideas and ‘what ifs’ whenever they pop into my head. For example, today I went to the zoo and wrote down: What if humans were kept in an alien zoo? And: what if I had a tail like a spider monkey? Inspiration to write can come from almost anywhere.

You can see that Japanese mythology has clearly inspired you in both the books, how did this inspiration come about?

I lived in Japan for three years and kept seeing signs of Japanese mythology in everyday life. For example, in restaurants it is common to find food that Japanese demons like to eat, like kappa-maki sushi (the favourite of a half-turtle water-demon who likes to drink blood and eat cucumbers) or kitsune udon (because shape-changing foxes just can’t resist noodles served with deep-fried tofu). That’s like going to a restaurant and ordering vampire sandwiches or werewolf pie.

— YAY! —