Carpet Court Storybook Challenge- Young NSW

 Below is an excerpt from  the Young Witness newspaper Sept 14, 2012

 A class from Bribbaree Public School is now the proud owner of $1000 worth of new books and a colourful reading mat thanks to one of their fellow students.

Grade 3 student, Alex Newell, won the inaugural Terry Bros Carpet Court Storybook Challenge. 

Alex submitted a story about what he loves the most in his community, winning the prize for his classroom, as well as a book package worth $250 for himself. Alex’s story talked about his quiet and friendly neighbourhood. 

There was an overwhelming response from the Young community to the competition with wonderfully creative stories and pictures submitted from primary schools in the local area. 

The entries were voted for by the community to establish five finalists, which were then judged by Peter Terry of Terry Bros Carpet Court along with author Tracey Hawkins. 

Mr Terry said Alex should feel very proud of his creative efforts and it was great to see his take on our community. 

“Congratulations to all the students that entered the Storybook Challenge, there were so many great drawings it was hard to pick just one winner!” he said.

Tracey Hawkins, author of Max Meets a Monster said, it was a pleasure to judge the finalist entries in the competition.

“I was delighted to discover common valued themes within the entries,” she said.

“Many of the children wrote of the fabulous community sporting facilities provided, the green space and parklands available for play, and how friendly people were in their community. Congratulations to all who entered,” Ms Hawkins said.

More than 1700 NSW children entered the Storybook Challenge, describing what they love about their community. 

The program, which is being run in conjunction with the National Year of Reading, aims to encourage more shared reading and creative writing in classrooms across Australia. 

http://www.youngwitness.com.au/

                                                              This is Alex's winning entry

To view all entries received, visit www.facebook.com/CarpetCourt. 

                                

Research and writing

Spring is here at last- hooray! The weather is warming, albeit with a few cold snaps to keep us on our toes, and cast a little doubt the weather report of a sunny 22 degrees the next day will be just that. 

Today it is 22 degrees and sunny, no wind and beautiful. However a few weeks ago we had giant flakes of snow spiralling from black clouds with gale force winds to boot. I was at the National Library and took some photos of the Parliamentary Foreshore and Lake Burley Griffin.



The Foreshore




Captain Cook Memorial Jet




The High Court and Embassy flag display


Spring in Canberra heralds strange unpredictable weather patterns and with the warm still days we are prone to sudden, wild storms and hail. The confusion for what to wear each day is understandable. One minute it is glorious and the next ingloriously freezing!

The birds in my back garden have decided it is springtime regardless of the weather and spend the day fighting, mating and singing.  It is beautiful to hear them sing and the constant hum of bees. On days like today, I can smell the grass growing.

                                  

No longer able to stay locked indoors, I have felt a buzz with the onset of warm days and have began to spend more hours outside once more. With a coffee in hand, armed with pens, writing pads, and my Ipad I love nothing more than to sit at my little Parisian cafe style table and chairs and enjoy.

After a long cold winter and having been locked away in my study for months, the freedom of choice for a work environment is refreshing. No longer tied to a room warmed by a heater, the heat of the sun on my back is divine.  A change of scenery is welcome as for the past 6 weeks I have been ever so busy with a new non-fiction book. The excitement of starting new work is pure bliss. Although it has involved hours and hours of research, all those scrawled sheet of ideas and notes to myself are slowly but surely leading closer to a new section of finished work. I am proud to admit I am a walking treasure trove of all sorts of odd and funny information, and very happy to share my wealth of knowledge with my grown up children. We chat over dinner and think on unusual snippets of history as a lead in to each new section of the book.

For me the best part of the writing process is the journey, not that the completed/published book isn't a joy to hold in my hand, it's just that whole start- to finish process that drives me each day whereby I can't wait to get started. From that blank page to a page full of scribbled ideas, sketches, and arrows, to plot points,and hastily written sentences that beg to be written. The pages fill with the strange coded thoughts of what looks like rot and rubbish, but it all makes sense to me. It is a written journal of my thoughts and vision. This jumbled script paves the way for longer paragraphs, crossed out sentences and lines that quickly fill with inserted words and suggestions. Oh what bliss it would be if I could take a snapshot of my thoughts like I can a page on the IPad and print them up. 
Thinking, sorting and gathering are just a part stage of the process. I love that all this can be done while hanging out washing or grocery shopping. My brain hardly ever stops and even asleep I have many dreams.

For the past few days I have been editing, drafting, editing and drafting.  Finally I have settled on the work I am happy with and so today I start another section of the book and can't wait. Bye for now, it's time to go sit in the late afternoon sun and work the magic of the pen on paper.

Chief Minister's Reading Challenge 2012

Exciting news:

 Nancy Bentley, The First Australian Female Sailor  has been selected for the ACT Chief Minister's Reading Challenge 2012.

Below is a lovely book review from the Kid's Book Review.

http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2012/09/review-nancy-bentley.html

Book Review: Nancy Bentley

When I picked up Nancy Bentley, I expected to learn about a grown woman sailing around the world in the style of Amelia Earhart. Nothing could have prepared me for the tale of little girl who was bitten by a deadly whip snake in 1920.

Medical help was too far away. The poison was racing through Nancy’s veins. What would you do to save your daughter? Row out to a naval ship anchored in the harbour? Who would have guessed that females were prohibited from even boarding naval vessels in those days?
Lucky for Nancy, the captain was quick to render assistance. He even had a solution for Nancy’s unusual predicament. Can you guess how Nancy was saved? How did she manage to become Australia’s first female sailor?

I won’t spoil the suspense. Go on. Read Nancy Bentley and find out for yourself.

Nancy Bentley is simply written with illustrations tinged with an old world charm. Grounded in fact and condensed for pre-schoolers to enjoy, Nancy Bentley is a keeper.

Title: Nancy Bentley: The First Australian Female Sailor
Author: Tracey Hawkins
Illustrator: Jacqui Grantford
Publisher: New Frontier Publishers, $24.95 RRP
Publication Date: January 2012
Format: Hard Cover
ISBN: 9781921042768
For ages: 4 +
Type: Picture Book

Storybook Challenge 2012 winners Announced

Storybook Challenge Winners Announced.

During June of this year, as you know I took part in a whirlwind tour of regional country schools in NSW and the ACT to launch the new literary competition, The Storybook Challenge.

That's me surrounded by the lovely students of Sacred Heart Central School in Cootamundra


Congratulations to the regional schools I went out to visit, and a huge congratulations to the students who did such a brilliant job with their winning entries.

Cootamundra- Zara English from Sacred Heart Central School

Young- Alex Newell from Bribbaree Public School

Tamworth- Grace Maloney from St Edwards primary School

Armidale- Ruby Straker from The Armidale School

Canberra- Lachlan Ogden from St Benedict's Primary School

Bateman's Bay- Bella Coetzee from St Bernard's Primary School

Ulludulla- Emily Stein from Milton Public School

 I'm sure the students will be delighted with their $250 book prize and the schools very much delighted with the $1000 worth of books and colourful reading mat  they receive for their classroom or library.

To view a complete list of all the students and winning schools in NSW follow the link to the Carpet Court site. 

 http://www.carpetcourt.com.au/storybook-challenge

CBCA Book of the Year Winners 2012

On Friday, 17th August 2012,  I attended the Children's Book Council Australia, Book of the Year 2012 Awards announcement at the National Library of Australia.

The CBCA Book of the Year awards recognise and award the outstanding literary talent from Australian authors in Children's literature. Australian Olympic Gold Medallist Petria Thomas, Andrew Leigh MP and members from the CBCA ACT branch waited with bated breath to hear the awards announced. 

Book of the Year: Older Readers

WINNER: The Dead I Know Scot Gardner

HONOUR: A Straight Line to My Heart Bill Condon

HONOUR: When We Were Two Robert Newton

Book of the Year : Younger Readers

WINNER: Crow Country Kate Constable

HONOUR: Nanberry: Black Brother White Jackie French

HONOUR: The Truth About Verity Sparks Susan Green

Book of the Year: Early Childhood

WINNER : The Runaway Hug Nick Bland, Ill. Freya Blackwood

HONOUR: Come Down, Cat! Sonya Hartnett, Ill. Lucia Masicullo

HONOUR: That's not a daffodil! Elizabeth Honey

Picture Book of the Year

WINNER: A Bus Called Heaven Bob Graham

HONOUR: Flood Bruce Whatley, Text: Jackie French

HONOUR: The Dream of the Thylacine Ron Brooks, Text: Margaret Wild

Eva Pownall Award for Information Books

WINNER: One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch

HONOUR: The Little Refugee Anh & Suzanne Do, Ill. Bruce Whatley

 HONOUR: Surrealism for Kids Queensland Art Gallery



Andrew Leigh, Petria Thomas and Mollie Bialkowski with the shortlisted books.




Book of the Year winner Early Childhood- The Runaway Hug, and Honour Book-That's not a Daffodil



Girls from Canberra Girls Grammar School performing That's not a Daffodil.



Storyteller Mollie Bialkowski reading Come Down Cat



After the Awards announcement  Tania McCartney, Pauline Deeves, Katie Taylor, Stephanie Owen Reeder and myself were invited to sign our books outside the National Library bookshop.



Book signing is always a pleasure.



My picture book Max Meets a Monster on display inside the bookshop.



After signing lots of books, we seized the opportunity to have coffee and a chat which was a rare treat as we don't meet very often. Then we braved  the wild wind and snow as we headed home.



The National Library




View across Lake Burley Griffin with storm clouds building




The lake and foreshore




Flags on display along the foreshore.





Captain Cook Memorial Jet



Could writing become an Olympic Sport?

I'm writing this with one eye on the telecast of the Olympic Games. I see the nerves, agitation and stress in the mannerisms of those competing. Why not? If it was me lined up to compete with the worlds fastest who made Olympic selection I too would be sweating it. After many years of training, and finely tuned to perfection, the day arrives and the athletes compete in their chosen field. For the most elite, it is success, and dreams achieved. For many, their dreams are shattered in minutes.
For writers, life is somewhat the same. A lengthy period of months or years slogging away writing what they hope will be the book that sees great success can end with a simple letter. The rejection letter! Not what one wants to find in a letterbox or an email. Like the athlete who returns home determined to train harder, and become the best they can, so too must the writer revisit the rejected work and make it their best work. The world is competitive and we all strive for success, however,  learning to accept failure along the way is also a vital part of life. 

SCBWI Conference Sydney June/July 2012

Wow here it is the end of July and I am ashamed to admit I haven't updated my blog in a month! It has been such a busy time in the past couple of months for me. Late June I had a wonderful trip to the South Coast visiting Ulladulla and Broulee schools as part of the Carpet Court Storybook Challenge. It was a fabulous finish to what had been a very busy and rewarding month of visiting schools in Regional Australia. Soon the competition entries will be judged, and the winning entry from students will be selected, and the student's schools will be rewarded for their participation in the challenge. Fingers crossed to the schools I have visited and to all the gorgeous children I met. I hope you win the fabulous prizes on offer.

It was a quick visit home with my family for a few days before I was yet again packing a suitcase and off to the bi-annual SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) writing conference at the end of June. Oh how I love SCBWI!  It is such a fantastic time. I love nothing more than meeting up with many wonderful Australian writers who attend every two years for what is an action packed conference. Not only do writers and illustrators attend, Publishers and agents also join the line up.

This year the conference opened with a meet and greet book launch, an Illustrators showcase of artwork and a fabulous cocktail party on the Friday evening. Saturday was a huge day, with packed sessions at the NSW Writer's Centre and the welcome dinner at the Hugheden Hotel later that night. As always we laughed and talked into the wee hours after a wonderful night of entertainment by some talented writers and illustrators who not only write books, but can sing and play instruments!

Sunday settled into the regular norm of a full day of sessions that kept everybody running between listening to guest speakers, manuscript assessments, lunch, book launches and more fabulous sessions in the afternoon. This year we were offered the chance to partake in another day for Masterclasses. I jumped at this chance to learn more from the masters and did two classes. What a full on day it was with much scribbling of pens, taping of keys on Ipad's and laptops. It was like being back at University and so worthwhile.

Sadly my 4 days had come to an end.   I said farewell to my friends, both old and new and headed home - with my bags loaded with books and business cards and inspired to get stuck into my writing.

SCWBI