Saturday 29 June 2013

CBCA Shortlists for Illustrators 2013

Picture Book shortlist for Illustrators

The Coat - Ron Brooks (Julie Hunt)
Tanglewood - Vivienne Goodman (Margaret Wild)
Herman & Rosie - Gus Gordon
Sophie Scott Goes South - Alison Lester
Lightning Jack - Patricia Mullens (Glenda Millard)
A Day To Remember - Mark Wilson (Jackie French)

If you would like to read about the criteria the judges use for selecting the Picture Book winner each year click here.

Crichton Shortlist for New Illustrators

The Whale Shark Song - Sadie James
Ruby Red Shoes by Kate Knapp
A Forest - Marc Martin
Yellow Dress Day - Sophie Norsa (Michelle Worthington)
Apollo The Powerful Owl - Stephen Pym (Gordon Winch)
One Very Tired Wombat - Renee Treml


Check out my posts for this year's CBCA early childhood book shortlist, Older & Younger readers shortlists & the Eve Pownall shortlist.

The Book Week (August 17 - August 23) theme for this year is Read Across the Universe.

The CBCA winners will be announced on Friday August 16, 2013

Friday 28 June 2013

Flashback Friday - Mandela The Authorised Biography

Flashback Friday hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies is a new meme that encourages us to remember a book we read over 5 years ago that is still in print and that we haven't blogged about previously.

This week the news has been full of Nelson Mandela's failing health.

Mandela has been such an inspirational leader and man that it is difficult not to feel personally involved and deeply affected by his illness.

In 1999 I read Anthony Sampson's Authorised Biography on Mandela. It was incredibly moving and at times, almost unbelievable.

Over the past few days, I've taken to flicking through my copy to touch, once again, some of this humble man's greatness.

Right from the Introduction you know that you're in for something special. Mandela promises Sampson "to discuss critical questions" with him, but also to leave him "free to make (his) own judgements and criticisms."


Sampson's aim was to "show the harsh realities of Mandela's long and adventurous life as they appeared to him and to his friends at the time, stripped of the gloss of mythology and romance; but also to trace how the glittering image of Mandela was magnified while he was in jail, acquiring its own power and influence across the world; and to show how the prisoner was able to relate the image to reality."

I'm too young to know anything of Mandela's early years except via books and articles. But the day after my 22nd birthday Nelson Mandela was released from jail and I wept at the images being beamed around the world. He looked so fragile and overwhelmed by the crowds and the outpouring of support. It was such a moving moment that I determined then and there to know more.



In 1991 I visited Glasgow during my 10 mnth 'gap year'. I visited Nelson Mandela Place (renamed by Glasgow City Council in 1986 to signal their support for the free Mandela campaign). The former St George's Place also just happened to be home to the South African consulate!

I followed closely Mandela's four year campaign to become the first black President of South Africa. I rejoiced at his victory, but was a little unsure how he and his party would manage the transition to power.

Reading his biography showed me Mandela the man - his insecurities, his flaws, his issues. But it also highlighted how much of a consummate politician he was. Mandela knew how to make the romantic myth that had built up around him work for him.

His political agenda and showmanship could have left him sounding and looking like every other politician in the world. But somehow Mandela managed to portray a genuine, authentic and humane aura at all times.

"He had a moral authority and concern for the truth with which few could compete, as a rock of continuity in a discontinuous world."

He was generous and gracious with his time in the public limelight. But when he retired he made it clear that it was time to step back from the public stage so that he could focus on his family life.

Sampson's final statement reveals not only why Mandela was a hero of our times, but why his biography has been so well received & praised & read over the years.



"Mandela remained a master of symbolic images, but they had become part of his own personality and history, acquiring more universal appeal as he retired from politics to become an ordinary old man. He has survived the most testing challenge to his reputation when he emerged from jail to face up to his overwhelming global icon; and he did so by presenting himself as a fallible human being. His biography in the end converged with his mythology; and it was his essential integrity more than his superhuman myth which gave his story its appeal across the world."

Sampson's biography was updated in 2011 (after his death in 2004) with a new afterword by South African journalist John Battersby.



Thursday 27 June 2013

CBCA 2013 - Shortlists for Older and Younger Readers



Older Readers

The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant
Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan
The Shiny Guys by Doug MacLeod
Creepy and Maud by Dianne Touchell
Friday Brown by Vicki Wakefield
The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail

Younger Readers

Pennies For Hitler by Jackie French
Other Brother by Simon French
After by Morris Gleitzman
Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett
Pookie Aleera is Not My Boyfriend by Steven Herrick
The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk by Glenda Millard


Check out my posts for this year's CBCA early childhood book shortlist & the Eve Pownall shortlist.

The Book Week (August 17 - August 23) theme for this year is Read Across the Universe.

The CBCA winners will be announced on Friday August 16, 2013

Monday 24 June 2013

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers

I admit up front that I'm an Oliver Jeffers fan. I am predisposed to loving any new books with his name on the front.

Some books are quirky and interesting but don't quite hit the 'I must reread this book as often as possible to as many groups of children as I can' category (i.e. This Moose Belongs to Me and The Huey's).

Some of Jeffers books are heart-warming and poignant but fill a niche need (i.e. Heart and the Bottle).

And others are books that have become instant modern day classics (i.e. How To Catch A Star, Lost and Found and The Way Back Home).

The Day the Crayons Quit is Jeffers latest picture book...and surprise, surprise...I loved it!

The Day the Crayons Quit is actually written by Drew Daywalt, but Drew and Oliver are obviously kindred spirits. The text and illustrations complement each other perfectly. The story is full of the humour, quirkiness and charm that we have come to expect from Jeffers solo ventures.

Duncan opens his crayon box one day to discover a pile of letters addressed to him. The crayons are concerned by how well-used or ill-used they feel they are by Duncan. Each colour writes a letter to Duncan outlining their issues.

Highly recommended for 3 - 93 year olds!

Postscript: 2/10/2014 - A new crayon book is in the works - click here for more information.

Wednesday 19 June 2013

My Childhood Favourites

And now for a Quick List of my favourite reads.

These are the books that changed my life, spoke to some deep need inside of me, made me laugh or cry or both. 

These books haunted me, inspired me and they have stood the test of time. 

Some of them I read as a child over and over again; some came to me later in life. But all of them have been well loved by me.



I Taught Myself to Read with:

Dr Seuss - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Inside, Outside, Upside Down
Ten Apples Up on Top

As a Young Person I loved:

Rose Red and Snow White by Tenggren
Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink
Famous Five, The Secret Island & Adventurous Four series by Enid Blyton
I Am David by Ann Holm
Silver Sword by Ian Serralier
Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott
Trixie Belden series Julie Campbell & Kathryn Kenny
The Railway Children by Nesbitt
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
Flambards series by K.M. Peyton
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Tintin by Herge
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Diary of Anne Frank
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
What Katy Did series by Susan Coolidge
Climb A Lonely Hill by Lilith Norman
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews
Sara Dane and Fiona by Catherine Gaskin
Agatha Christie

These books came to me later in life...

Koala Lou & Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
The Deep by Tim Winton
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Looking For Alabrandi by Marlena Marchetta
Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson
Harry Potter by JK Rowling (of course)
Wonder by R.J. Palacio

What are some of your favourites?

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Books to Share With Your Baby

Many studies have shown that babies who are read to and sung to from birth have higher reading skills than other children. Reading aloud to your baby is a wonderful shared activity that promotes lovely snuggling & cuddling time. Reading and singing to your baby also has the added benefit of calming & soothing your baby.
At birth babies see everything in black and white and shades of grey. They are unable to focus on close objects.
But by the end of the first couple of weeks they are able to see red, orange, yellow and green. (Blue and violet take longer to see as they have shorter wavelengths & the retina has fewer colour receptors for blue light.)
By 8 - 12 weeks, babies will follow you or bright moving objects with their eyes. Short, simple stories where you can point out & name the pictures work well.
Babies respond well to books with bright, bold, contrasting colours.
Cloth books are great - they're tough and washable. As are bath books.
Board books are heavier and harder for baby to pick up, but the tougher pages survive the 'lets put everything in our mouth' stage quite well.
As your baby approaches their first birthday, labelling pictures in books can be phased out and longer stories attempted. But don't be surprised if you still spend a lot of time naming everything as your baby tries to imitate your sounds & words. At this point, books with flaps and things to find are successful.
Repetition is the key here.
Reading repetition helps your child's language development, memory, curiosity, imagination, visual acuity and communication skills.
Try to select books that you enjoy reading and looking at. Very quickly, your child will clearly show preferences for certain books & you'll be reading them over and over again.
But the main reason to read, talk and sing to your baby is for the closeness that these activities promote between you and your baby.
Happy reading!
(A) Baby Bedtime by Mem Fox

Baby Catalogue by Alan and Janet Ahlberg

Baby Lit Primer series by Jennifer Adams

'Baby Touch' range of books from Ladybird

Dorling Kindersley 'Baby Touch and Feel' series

(A) Fancy That by Pamela Allen 

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins

(A) Kissed by the Moon by Alison Lester

'Maisy' books by Lucy Cousins
'Miffy 'series by Dick Bruna

Nursery Rhymes

(A) On the Day You Were Born by Margaret Wild
(A) One Woolly Wombat by Kerry Argent 


Priddy cloth books

'Spot' books by Eric Hill

(A) Ten Little Finger, Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox

'That's Not My' series by Fiona Watt

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

There are also many good licenced products put out by popular TV shows like Playschool.
These books can help you learn the words for simple songs to sing with your baby as well as providing age appropriate stories.



Check out my other posts for more books to share with your children.

Books to introduce a new baby to the family
Books for Sharing with 2 - 3 Year Olds
Books for 3 - 5 Year Olds
Books for Older Readers
Christmas Stories for Children
Holocaust Literature for Younger Readers
Holocaust Literature for Teens
My Childhood Favourites

Monday 17 June 2013

Sunday Sentence: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

David @ The Quivering Pen hosts Sunday Sentence.

Simply put, the best sentence(s) I've read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.



"And you seem to see numbers of tomorrows just all in a line, the first of them the biggest and clearest, the others getting smaller and smaller as they stand farther away; but they all seem very fierce and cruel and as if they said, "I'm coming! Beware of me! Beware of me!" "

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Saturday 15 June 2013

Housekeeping

I've been noticing a lot of chatter about the supposed demise of Google Friends Connect.

I decided to research it a little to see what I could find out.

So far, it seems that the Google Reader has gone (or will be gone in a couple of weeks time). But you can still view the blogs that you're following in your blog roll reading list.

Also non-blogspot folk cannot use Google Friends Connect any longer. But those of us with Blogger/Blogspot are fine.

If you're concerned about losing your GFC followers from non-blogger sites you can try adding bloglovin' or linky followers. Google is also keen for everyone to use their Google + options.

Linky looks like getting left behind now that bloglovin' is on the scene.

I created a bloglovin' account this weekend. It was easy. You can import the blogs that you already follow straight into their set-up. You can link multiple blogs to your account and the home page acts just like google reader did.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion!

Friday 14 June 2013

Bookish Friday

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys.

I really enjoyed Sepetys' last book for the teen/YA market called Between Shades of Gray (not to be confused with that other book with a very similar title).


Book Beginning: "My mother's a prostitute. Not the filthy, streetwalking kind. She's actually quite pretty, fairly well spoken, and has lovely clothes. But she sleeps with men for money or gifts, and according to the dictionary, that makes her a prostitute."

Page 56:  "The door to the shop flew open. "Get your hands off her!" Cokie ordered. He was carrying a tyre iron."



Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. Today's challenge is to create spine poetry.

              Strangers,
      We need new names.
          Out of the easy,
            Every breath,
          When we wake -
          Winter damage!
            You are here.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday - Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a lovely meme hosted by Bermuda Onion each week to highlight new (to us) words that we come across in our daily reading.

This week I'm rereading Tess for the Classics Club Spin.

I'd forgotten how angry this book makes me feel. Tess' neglectful, selfish parents and the manipulative D'Urberville just do my head in! I wish I could go back in literary time somehow to protect her.

I've just started the 'second phase - maiden no more' which means I will have to get a wriggle on to finish Tess by the end of the month. (I blame Barbara Pym - see previous posts)!

But for now here are a few puzzling words from the 'first phase - the maiden'.


1. Cerealia - "The club of Marlott alone lived to uphold the local Cerealia."

Definition - The Cerealia is the celebration of the Goddess Ceres, Goddess of grains and cereal crops. It lasts for eight days. In the countryside, people offer milk, honey, and wine on the Cerealia (particularly the final day), after bearing them thrice around the fields.
The Cerealia is traditionally held most dear by persons of the Plebeian class; this association stems from the struggles of the orders.


2. factotum - "This was the cheerful servant of the establishment, who, in her part of factotum, turned groom and ostler at times."

Definition - a general servant or a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities. The word derives from the Latin command (imperative construction) fac totum ("do/make everything").


3. clipsing and colling - "Tis melancholy work facing and footing it to one of your own sort, and no clipsing and colling at all."

Definition - embracing


4. mampus - "No doubt a mampus of volk of our own rank will be down here."

Definition - a crowd


5. mommet - "Had it anything to do with father's making such a mommet of himself."

definition - a scarecrow


6. plim - "Doesn't that make your bosom plim?"

Definition - to swell


7. dolorifuge - "as a species of dolorifuge after the death of the horse."

Definition - something that banishes or mitigates grief


Saturday 8 June 2013

An Academic Question by Barbara Pym

As luck would have it, one of the Pym books I placed on order earlier in the week (after enjoying Excellent Women so much) turned up at work this afternoon just as I was leaving for my 4 day long weekend.

The first thing I want to point out is that the only versions available in Australia are the 2012 Virago's with the covers as pictured.

I don't actively dislike these covers, but after my gorgeous Designer collection cover for Excellent Women and seeing Thomas' book cover post at My Porch (where he highlighted the fabulous cover collection designed by Jackie Schuman), I was left feeling somewhat disappointed.

Thomas poses the question that perhaps these new covers by Jessie Ford appeal to a younger audience.

After extensive research (ie chatting with my 19 year old colleague) whose immediate and unprompted response when she saw the book was "cool cover!" I can only assume that, yes, these new covers do appeal to a younger audience!

An Academic Question (1986) was published posthumously by Pym's friend & biographer, Hazel Holt who combined the various versions, notes and drafts left by Pym on her death in 1980.

All the usual Pymesque elements are at play in An Academic Question (cups of tea, gentle observation, biting humour, index cards and solitude). However this time we follow the day to day life of a married woman unsatisfied with her 4 yr child and household duties.

I've read many comments about how unsatisfactory this 'married with children' plot since Pym was obviously writing about something she was not familiar with herself!
This type of criticism gets up my nose for three reasons!!
1. Where would we be if authors had to restrict themselves to writing about what they know? We would have no historical fiction, no science fiction, no fantasy, no poetry, no magical realism.
2. Just because she was unmarried didn't mean that Pym's life was devoid of relationship experience or that she was somehow unable to use her sharp-eyed observational skills on the married couples in her circle.
3. As a teacher of 18 years I can assure you that there are many women who struggle to feel maternal instincts and who chaff at the whole domestic arrangement. Pym is simply writing a story about one of those women.

Now that I've got that off my chest, let me say that this story is not as enthralling as Excellent Women was. But there's enough there to keep me going until the finish.

Finally, a big thank you to Thomas at My Porch for hosting the Pym Reading Week. It has been entertaining and informative. My life feels richer for having discovered the world of Pym :-)
 
"The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard."
 

BARBARA PYM

Thursday 6 June 2013

CBCA 2013 Eve Pownall Shortlist

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Shortlist -

Cheng, Christopher & Jackson, Mark

Python


Kerin, Jackie Ill. Peter Gouldthorpe
Lyrebird! A True Story
Murray, Kirsty
Topsy-turvy World: How Australian Animals Puzzled Early Explorer
Queensland Art Gallery
Portrait of Spain for Kids


Weidenbach, Kristin Ill. Timothy Id
Tom the Outback Mailman

Many of the books that end up in this shortlist have a very specific topic and therefore their appeal can be limited to those who share a similar interest or to school curriculum's.


In the past, we've had books on Indigenous issues, the environment, historical figures, art, native flora and fauna.


I've yet to see all of the Information shortlist books this year as they have been difficult to order in.


But I have two clear favourites so far.


Topsy-Turvy World is quite remarkable. It's beautifully presented - full of fabulous pictures, photos and illustrations. 


Each chapter is devoted to one Australian animal. 


Murray creates a fictionalised history of their discovery by European explorers based on the journals of people like Captain Cook, Banks, Bligh, Hunter, Flinders, Mitchell and Labillardie. 



There are text boxes with interesting facts and dates as we learn about the kangaroo, echidna, platypus, bandicoot, koala, black swan, lyrebird, flying fox, frilled lizard, kookaburra, thylacine, Tassie devil, emu, wombat and sea dragon.

 
This book is not only great for teachers and school libraries, but it would be a great asset to any home library where wonderful non-fiction is appreciated. In fact, Topsy-Turvy World's appeal is one of the widest ones I've seen in the Eve Pownall award for quite some time. It would also be the perfect gift to send to those grandchildren now living overseas!

Portraits of Spain for Kids features 10 paintings - one each from 10 different Spanish artists (Goya, Ramirez, Velazquez, Esquival etc). 


Each chapter has a full page copy of the selected painting with brief explanations of art techniques, the artist and historical significance. 


Text boxes provide fun facts, true and false quizzes, recipes, jokes and I Spy elements. 


The Queensland Art Gallery have put together a great book for art fans.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

The Apprentices by Maile Meloy

The Apprentices is the sequel to The Apothecary.

It continues the story of Janie, Benjamin and Pip two years after their adventures in Nova Zembla.

Everything about this book is a little more sophisticated than The Apothecary. Multiple story-lines and perspectives with each chapter. Historical immersion in the Korean and Vietnam wars and a romantic triangle.

The fantasy elements are more prominent (& convenient at times) so that this book is more of a fun romp through history with magical sideshows. (Whereas the first book was more grounded in reality with the magical elements added gradually so that you barely noticed them.)

The romance is gentle and still appropriate for good 11+ readers, although it is more obviously aimed at the younger teen market.

The hundreds of ink & acrylic illustrations by Ian Schoenherr added to the enjoyment of the story with their attention to detail. In fact, some of the full page drawings were simply beautiful.

Monday 3 June 2013

Finding Mr Darcy by Amanda Hooton

I went to many events at the recent Sydney Writers Festival, but my favourite was the Pride and Prejudice lovefest on Sunday morning.

One of the guest speakers was Amanda Hooton who has written a modern day woman's dating guide to finding her own (modern-day) Mr Darcy.

Finding Mr Darcy is fun from start to finish. And it is also, quite surprisingly, very apt and practical advice for the modern single woman.


Hooton uses quotes and examples from all of Austen's novels to highlight her points and she explores the pro's and con's of all the main heroes and heroines.

Below is a little teaser of Hooton's four main points that the modern dating women should cultivate!

Be Nice: "For Jane, it's what you're like on the inside that matters....Jane's heroines are genuinely nice people. Even when they're occasionally excrutiatingly annoying (ahem, Emma Woodhouse, Marianne Dashwood, Fanny Price), you like them, because they're honest, kind and have a sense of humour."

Be Humorous: "All Jane's most beloved female characters manifestly possess what the personal ads coyly refer to as a GSOH. In fact, their SOH is not merely G, but E....Humour...helps us behave like adults....To employ humour - not to mention dignity, decorum, discretion, and other adjectives beginning with 'd' - in our daily dealings with the world."

Be Clever: "Jane Austen's heroines are rescued by men - mostly from fates as spinsters, governesses or parental wranglers. But they never, never hide their intelligence in order to provoke such rescue. All of them operate, at all times, to their full mental capacity."

Be Beautiful: "Jane is a realist. She understands that though it's not essential, beauty - at least as much of it as we're capable of - does matter. It's important to look nice and carefully groomed as we can, because it helps us put our best foot forward in society."


It's hard to argue with such obviously sensible advice.