The BBC’s Blue Peter programme has announced their nominations for ‘The Best Children’s Book of the Last 10 Years’, and J.K. Rowling’s fifth Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, has made the list!

Jo will be battling against the works of John Grishman, Lemony Snicket, and more, in a short-list of the top 10 bestselling children’s fiction books of the past decade. The full list of books and their respective authors can be seen below.

The winner will be determined through an online poll, in which fans can select their favorite book from the list. Voting is open until February 23rd, and the winning novel will be announced on March 1st. Head on over to this link to vote, and help Jo win the much-deserved accolade of author of the top children’s book title!

Full list of books:
Alex Rider Mission 3: Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend by Francesca Simon
Mr Stink by David Walliams
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
The Series of Unfortunate Events: Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
Theodore Boone by John Grisham
Young Bond: SilverFin – A James Bond Adventure by Charlie Higson

In an effort to jazz surroundings up a bit, Ocean City Library in New Jersey, USA has created a mural of famous authors reclining in deck chairs on the beach. There are 10 authors in all, sitting with copies of their works in front of a backdrop of ‘recognisable’ buildings. When it was decided that JK Rowling would be one of the featured authors, the artists couldn’t resist painting Hogwarts into the backdrop! Here’s a picture of Jo’s section of the mural:

Let us know what you think of it!

As you may remember, last year JK Rowling and her literary agent Christopher Little parted ways for reasons unknown. There had been talk of legal action on the part of Mr Little, but it was revealed today that he and Jo have come to an ‘amicable agreement’ regarding the end of their working together. From The Telegraph:

Rowling has reached a financial settlement with Christopher Little, the enigmatic agent who spotted the potential of her first manuscript and turned her novels about the child wizard into a multi-million pound industry.

“JK Rowling and her former agent, Christopher Little, have reached an amicable agreement concluding their long-standing business relationship, the terms of which remain confidential,” I am told by a spokesman for Little. “No further comments will be issued by either party.”

We were recently given the opportunity to interview Joseph Galliano, the editor of Dear Me- More Letters to my Sixteen Year-Old Self’; a book to which Jo Rowling has contributed and written the foreword. The interview and details of how you can get involved with Dear Me are right here!

According to scientists, Jo was onto something when she created the “invisibility cloak”! How amazing is that!

Scientists have now discovered a way to put a hole in time by bending light so that objects become invisible. They’re calling it an “invisibility cloak,” very similar to the one in the Harry Potter series.

I won’t pretend to understand the mechanics of how this difficult illusion is accomplished. In simple terms, scientists have found a way to make time appear to stop, at least for 40 trillionths of a second.

To make it work, scientists at Cornell University, discovered a way to manipulate how fast light reaches the surface of an object. They figured out how to stagger light, making the object invisible for a short period of time. During this time, the object virtually does not exist but the results of its actions still do, thus creating a “hole” in time.

Whoa that’s a lot to wrap my brain around; luckily I have Harry Potter to help me understand. In the series Harry inherits an invisibility cloak. Under this cloak he is unable to be seen by the outside world. However, he can still perform the same tasks as if he were visible.

If this new skill can be perfected, it makes me wonder what human kind will do with such a powerful tool. I mean invisibility, really!?

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Last week, it came out that in 1961, C.S. Lewis nominated J.R.R. Tolkien for the Nobel Prize in Literature and that Tolkien was summarily dismissed by the committee. As far as I know, there has never been much public discussion of Tolkien’s merits as a Nobel laureate, but it was still interesting to see some behind-the-curtains commentary on his candidacy. Anders Osterling articulated the central objection to Tolkien, who he said “has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality.”

Anyone who follows the literature Nobel at all will not be surprised by this; they know that the Nobel is interested in writing that is decidedly literary (and increasingly that is under-appreciated and/or political). This makes sense, as the award is the ultimate arbiter of what literary excellence means.

But what does literary excellence mean? In his will that established the prizes, Alfred Nobel wanted the Literature award to go to “to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” This phrase is as ambiguous as it is telling; the “ideal direction” of literature is not stated, but the award clearly is intended for authors whose work strives toward some kind of literary ideal.

These days, we know better than to claim any central, unyielding quality that makes a written work literary, but we can get a sense of what literary means to the Nobel committee by looking at some recent commendations. The most recent winner, Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, received the award “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.” 2009’s laureate, German writer Herta Müller, was cited for her “concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose” that “depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.”

The structure of these two commendations is repeated in most of the recent award descriptions, and shows how the committee imagines the highest achievement of literature–the combination of exemplary craft (concentration of poetry, condensed, translucent images) and important subjects (“the landscape of the dispossessed” and “fresh access to reality”). This formulation feels both reasonable and desirable, as it captures both the aesthetic and topical demands most readers of literature value.

But it is also a limited formulation of what the “ideal direction” of literature might be. There are other ways of thinking about what literature’s goals should be, and the one that jumps to mind for me is reading itself. Reading is an end in itself and therefore writing that inspires people to read does indeed work in “an ideal direction.” And what living author has inspired more people to read and more love of reading than J.K. Rowling?

Put the artistic imperative aside for the moment and consider this: she is the formative writer for millions and millions of children. She doesn’t write great sentences, and it would be hard to argue that the subject matter is hugely important. But the questions, characters, stories, and values in her work have resonated with the world.

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The EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle has commissioned a survey of Britain’s national treasures. The Independent reports that Jo Rowling is placed 7th in the list (behind Sir David Attenborough in 1st and Stephen Fry in 2nd place); she is the youngest person on the list, has been famous for the least amount of time and is the highest-ranking woman on the list.

Of course here at IHOR we’re a little biased into thinking that Jo should have been number 1, but we definitely agree that she is someone to be treasured by Britain, and glad this survey has recognised it!

As we’ve been reporting, yesterday Jo Rowling gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, as part of an investigation into the culture & ethics in the press. Jo spent around two hours giving evidence into how the press had harassed her children, published her addresses & details of her houses, and made false claims against her. Amongst some of the most serious incidents were when Jo found a note from a journalist in then 5 year-old Jessica’s schoolbag; when she became so frustrated with journalists camped outside her house after the birth of David that she chased a photographer down the street with the pushchair; and when a journalist contacted Jessica’s headteacher with a false story of Jessica upsetting other pupils by revealing what happened at the end of Deathly Hallows.

She also revealed for the first time who was the basis of Harry Potter character Gilderoy Lockhart: an ex-flatmate, rather than her ex-husband as the Daily Express had reported.

A full video and transcription of Jo’s evidence can be found at this page, and Jo’s 33 page witness statement can be found here.

At In Honor of Rowling we’d just like to state that we are disgusted by the extent to which Jo’s privacy and the privacy of her family has been invaded over the years. As Jo’s fans anything that she is not comfortable with, we are not comfortable with; and we will never post articles or images which we believe to be untrue or an invasion of privacy.

We still don’t have a confirmed time for Jo Rowling’s appearance at the Leveson Inquiry tomorrow- we will get this to you as soon as it’s published. All we know currently is that it will be between 10am & 1pm, or from 2pm onwards GMT. The session will be broadcast live on the Leveson Inquiry’s website and we will be providing summary updates of Jo’s evidence as soon as we can.

Amongst others, The Independent reports that Jo Rowling will be one of the many people giving evidence next week to the Leveson Inquiry. The inquiry, as we’ve previously reported, will look into allegations of phone hacking on the part of News of the World and possibly other British newspapers. Jo will appear on Thursday along with three other potential phone hacking victims.

There have been suggestions that proceedings will be recorded/televised; we will find out whether this is accurate on Monday when the first set of witnesses (including Hugh Grant and the parents of murdered children) give evidence. Check back next week to keep up-to-date!

Update: Hugh Grant and the Dowlers, parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly, were filmed as they testified today.