The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is go with more than 150 features and short films, workshops and special events coming next month. The festival begins on 14 February and features a plethora of special guests including Danny DeVito, Robert Towne and Joss Whedon.

One highlight of the programme is a screening of Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, with director Brad Bernstein coming to Dublin to discuss the film.

Ungerer rose to prominence in the late 1950s as the creator of acclaimed children’s books such as Crictor, Emile and The Three Robbers. In the film Bernstein sets about rediscovering Ungerer after his work was effectively banned in the early 1970′s after his adult work came to the attention of the American Library Association.

‘I dare say, no one was as original. Tomi influenced everybody.’ – Maurice Sendak.

Check out jdiff.com for more details about Far Out Isn’t Far Enough and more of the JDIFF programme.

What happens when you invite some writers, illustrators, editors, broadcasters and publishing folk to sing a Christmas carol or two?

We filmed the results!

Huge thanks to The Blurbs (Sarah and Don Conroy, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Michael Emberley, Jane Micthell, Síne Quinn, Conor Hackett and on ukeleleGrainne Clear and Deirdre Sullivan).

Jon Klassen’s debut picturebook, I Want My Hat Back, has won an international audience of fans since its publication in 2011 with its deadpan humour, dark sensibility and distinctive visual style. His most recent picturebook, This Is Not My Hat, published this week, offers a similarly irresistible tale of the theft of another oh-so-desirable hat and the owner’s relentless quest for justice.

Jon talks about the pacing and power of visual narrative, the digital revolution and collaborations. Go on… get clicking

Something to get the festive juices flowing!

I bumped into PJ Lynch outside Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dublin, looking a little nervous… He’ll be painting inside the shops main display window next week.
Definitely worth checking out!

Last Saturday, deep in the bowels of Dublin’s Mansion House, the great, the good and the misbehaved, of the internet gathered round to celebrate the best of the Irish websites.

And it was no mean feat that Liam and Craig of The Comic Cast fame nabbed the gong for Best Independent Podcaster. Our very own scamps are now, officially, Ireland’s best podcast!

Congratulations lads!! Hugely deserved and fantastic recognition for all of the hard work.

Have you heard the latest and greatest show to hit the airwaves? Check out Gráinne Clear’s show, Little Pages on RTEjr – tackling all things books from way back when to the the hottest thing next week.

You can catch the first show here.

BBC Radio 4 talks to legendary illustrators and authors Tomi Ungerer and Judith Kerr about their work and growing up during World War II.

Laureate na nÓg Siobhán Parkinson, Children’s Books Ireland and the Austrian Embassy are launching an exhibition of illustrations by children’s illustrators from Ireland and Austria – Images Beyond Borders.

The exhibition will be launched with a discussion on children’s book illustration by Niamh Sharkey and Valerie Coghlan (7pm on Friday 7 October, at the No Grants Gallery/ The Culture Box)

Click for more details.

Those clever folks at The Ark have a great line up coming up – including a SPOOOOOOKY season in October with illustrators Bruce Ingman and Chris Judge.

But wait. There’s something else. Something BIG.

They have Cliff Wright. You know Cliff Wright the guy from Sussex… draws pictures, paints a little, sculpts, teaches. No? Oh, you mean you’ve never seen the cover of a Harry Potter book?? Yup – that’s him!

Not to be missed!