Jodi Picoult, Samantha Van Leer, Off the Page, Allen & Unwin, June 2015, 372pp., $24.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781743439982 Oliver is a prince, a real one. Delilah is a 16 year old girl who has always dreamt of meeting her prince and now he is here, transported from the pages of a fairy-tale into the real world. To exist beyond the pages of the book however Oliver must take the place of a real boy, another teenager so Edgar, who has always wished for an adventure, agrees to go to fairy-land. As the story evolves, other characters also move between both…
Author: Admin
Nicole Hayes, One True Thing, Random House, 1 May 2015, 389pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780857986887 Sixteen year old Frankie seems to have it all. She’s smart, has a loving family and she plays guitar in the band No Politics with her best friend Kessie. She’s also recently met a hot guy called Jake who is interested in photo-journalism and wants to do an article on her band. The problem is Frankie lives politics; ten months earlier her mother took up the position of Premier of Victoria and is now gearing up for the election that could see her become the first elected…
What have the knights and ladies of the Twelfth Century got in common with the children in today’s schools? If we want to get our children reading, then the answer to this question is extremely important. Sean McMullen, (pictured far right in image on the left) tells us why. Like modern children playing computer games, medieval knights played at war by fighting in tournaments. The ladies of the court sat in the stands and watched while their menfolk committed heroic acts of violence and stupidity in their honour. True, knights and spectators did get killed when things got out of…
Libby Gleeson was awarded the CBCA’s Nan Chauncy Award, created to honour individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of Australian Children’s literature, in a reception at the Baillieu Libray, Melbourne University on Friday 21 August. In her thank you speech she celebrated Nan Chauncy’s legacy and spoke about the state of support for Australian Children’s Literature, and literature in general, in Australia today… Thank you all very much for this award – truly today has been pretty amazing for me and I want you all to know how happy I feel. There are a few things I want…
Winner of the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books 2015, man of few words, Simon Barnard, gave a short and sweet thank you speech at the Awards Ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall on Friday 21 August. It’s a honour and a privilege to be standing here. The CBCA do a phenomenal job supporting and promoting children’s literature throughout Australia. Thanks to the CBCA, the judges, volunteers, and my fellow authors and illustrators. Thanks to Text Publishing, and in particular senior editor Jane Pearson. Thanks to my family, and thanks to my loving partner, Amelie Mills. Read Roslyn Kirk’s review of A-Z…
Winner of the Book of the Year (Younger Readers) Award 2015, Libby Gleeson, spoke about the importance of imaginative play in her thank you speech, given at the Awards Ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall on Friday 21 August. Thank you very much for this honour that you have placed on The Cleo Stories. Like so much of the work I have written for younger children, this book has come from the children I have lived with, the way that I have learnt of the rich imaginations that little children have. Many years ago I was a teacher trainer at the…
Winner of the Book of the Year (Early Childhood) Award 2015 for her picture book Go to Sleep, Jessie!, Libby Gleeson, spoke about using her children as inspiration in the thank you speech she gave at the Awards Ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall on Friday 21 August… Getting up to speak at a moment like this usually calls for thank yous – and who am I to buck a trend. But the first thank you, in connection with this book, goes to Jess and to Jo: two of my daughters who didn’t blink when it dawned on me after this book was accepted, that I…
Winner of the Book of the Year (Older Readers) Award 2015, Claire Zorn, talked about the emphasis on rankings in our education system, and the importance of creativity, in the thank you speech she gave at the Awards Ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall on Friday 21 August… I often say that I write for my seventeen year-old-self, right now my seventeen year-old-self is standing here saying ‘What the frig? How did this happen?’. I’m the kid who had a panic attack in the middle of her first HSC English exam and left. I’m not here because of the wonders of our education…
Jack Heath, The Human Flytrap (Scream #1), Scholastic, 1 May 2015, 144pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760152086 Jack Heath, The Spider Army (Scream #2), Scholastic, 1 May 2015, 137pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760152093 Classic horror stories, complete with an outrageous cover to lure in the lover of a good old spooky yarn, these books with their black edged pages and short chapters are sure to be winners with younger readers ready for some scary adventures. The stories rattle on at breakneck speed with no gory detail spared, as they lurch from Axe Falls to ruined houses, science labs, libraries and hospitals.…
Luke Saliba, The Animalcorns, Self-published, 1 May 2015, 42pp., $20.00 (hbk), No ISBN Billed as a self help book, this little volume explores the exploits of a diverse number of “corns” who buck the the trend of conformity and achieve amazing fame in the universe. It was difficult to see a plan here or feel a great empathy with the characters. The use of a bold red font for the text gives the book a disquieting note. Reviewed by Chris Dayman