the children’s book council of australia wa branch...
TRANSCRIPT
1
The Newsletter of The Children’s Book Council of
Australia WA Branch (Inc.) No. 3 July 2015
PO Box 473, West Perth WA 6872 - email: [email protected]
o. 3 2 No. 3 2013No013
2015 Executive Committee
President Aniek Ragan Vice President Sue Stopher
Secretary Francine Nababan Treasurer Karina Oliver
Past President Chloe Mauger
Email news items to: [email protected] and [email protected]
Committee meetings: Held at 7pm on the third Wednesday of every month. All welcome.
Oasis Lotteries House 37 Hampden Road, Nedlands
What’s Inside This Issue
Topic Page Topic Page
President’s Report 2 Make Your Own Story Book Competition 2015
8
2015 Judge’s Talks 3 More News 9
Reports from The Reading Matters Conference 29-30 May 2015
4 Book Discussion Group 10
Merchandise 6 Newsletter Deadlines 2015 Dates for Your Diary
11
CBCWA Dinner Congratulations! Recent Book Launch
7 WA Branch Bookshop Supporters CBCA Awards Foundation
12
2
President’s Report Dear Members Here’s a summary of what’s been happening since our last newsletter.
Members of the committee have been busy behind the scenes sorting MYOSB entries, planning
the Book Week Opening and Dinner, packing merchandise, chasing up lapsed members, updating
the website, attending network meetings and the national AGM and attending to the many jobs
which keep the WA Branch running smoothly.
We had very positive response to the shortlist talk presented by our 2014-2015 judge Anne-Marie
Strother. A Bunbury audience was the first to hear Anne-Marie comment on the shortlisted books,
followed by two talks in Perth. Anne-Marie gave very insightful and informative comments about
the Notables and shortlisted books including ideas on how best to share and promote the books to
our students, families and friends. Thank you to the members in Bunbury, The School of Isolated
and Distance Education and The A.H Brack Public library for hosting these important events. The
2016 judges Bev Jacobson and Anne-Marie have received their first boxes of books and have
commenced their reading.
The celebratory Dinner and Opening of CBW, with award winning guest speaker Norman
Jorgensen will be held at Claremont Yacht Club on Friday 21st August, so note the date in your
diary, gather some friends and book your tickets for this delightful occasion.
http://www.trybooking.com/IHCR
If you missed the deadline for orders please go to the website
http://wa.cbca.org.au/wamerchandise.htm, complete the order form and send it to our merchandise
manager via email: [email protected]
I look forward to seeing members at our forthcoming celebratory events
Best wishes Aniek Ragan
2015 JUDGE’S TALKS
Once again our WA Judge Anne-Marie Strother educated, enlightened and delighted all who
attended the two judge’s talks held in the first week of June, at SIDE and the AH Bracks Library in
Melville.
Anne-Marie spoke with great knowledge and enthusiasm about the judging process and the
collegiate atmosphere of this year’s judge’s conference, which was beautifully organised by the two
WA based Awards Coordinators, Trish Montgomery and Sue Wyche. Anne-Marie encouraged us
to direct our attention to the books on the Notable Lists and Notable they certainly are!
3
The Older Reader list containing works by Davis Metzenthen, Alice Pung and our wonderful
Children’s Laureate, Jackie French. The Younger Reader list included another fabulous Violet
Mackerel book and works by Roseanne Hawke and Catherine Jinks. Seeing these beautiful books
displayed and enthusiastically promoted, it’s easy to feel proud of our Australian children’s writers
and illustrators and the role our Awards play in promoting them.
With use of the excellent judge’s PowerPoint and some personal anecdotes, the 2015 Short List
titles were highlighted and their strengths emphasised. Anne-Marie discussed the many themes
that appeared in this year’s entries, including the Gallipoli centenary and the ‘absent mother’. She
encouraged Teacher Librarians to read the Older Reader books before recommending them as
some of the themes and plots are quite confronting.
As a Grandma, I am excited by the wonderful books in both the Early Childhood Short List and
Notables while the quality and range in the Picture Book category is amazing.
At the SIDE talk Chloe Mauger, one of this
year’s Eve Pownall judges, detailed the
Information Books Short List. Chloe noted that
although the numbers of information books are
dropping, the quality is excellent and the
information contained in them far exceeds what
can be found on-line.
More than sixty people attended the two talks,
including an intrepid group of six from the City
of Mandurah libraries and many attendees took
up the first time offer of Professional
Development certificates. All who came took
away useful information and a lot of enthusiasm for using and promoting these books in their
schools and libraries.
Many thanks to the wonderful staff at SIDE, Cathy, Helen and Liz; and the indomitable Dominique
at Bracks Library. They are always ready to step to the front and offer to host these events and
willingly complete the tasks to make them successful and enjoyable.
Congratulations and thank you to our WA Judge Anne Marie who, in the midst of Year 12 English
exams, took the time to travel from Busselton with a carload of books to impart her knowledge and
enthusiasm. Due to her diligence and professionalism the three judge’s talks were great
successes.
Ruth Nitschke
The CBCA Book of the Year Awards Short list 2015
4
Reports from The Reading Matters Conference 29-30 May 2015
From Yvette Thompson
I was absolutely thrilled to have my name drawn from the Early bird membership payment draw
and win a registration to the Reading Matters Conference in Melbourne. Having never been to a
Reading Matters conference before I was very excited and it certainly met all my expectations.
This conference was the 11th organised by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of
Victoria and apparently the first held in the ANZ Pavilion at the Arts Centre Melbourne, which
was a fantastic venue, close to where I was staying and a very short walk up St. Kilda Road from
Flinders Street Station.
On the first morning I met with fellow winner Sooz Dalgliesh from Capel, who was just as excited
as I was!
Both days consisted of performances, panel discussions and presentations by fabulous YA
authors and illustrators. It was wonderful to see Laurie Halse Anderson from the US and Sally
Gardner from the UK, who both gave inspiring presentations and of course necessitated my first
visit to the bookshop, one of many over the two days!
We in WA don’t often get to hear from Australian authors from ‘over east’’. I loved hearing Clare
Atkins and Jared Thomas presenting their thoughts on giving readers new ideas and seeing
outside the box. Jared’s telling about his biggest influence as being witness to racism at an event
he attended was astonishing. I enjoyed chatting with him about the prospect of visiting WA, and
Clare’s book is a CBC shortlisted one this year! I’ve yet to read it but certainly hope it wins. Of
course I bought both Jared’s and Clare’s books at the bookshop…
I also really enjoyed the presentation of Nowhere Boys: Interactive Storytelling about engaging
teen audiences in new ways. Nowhere Boys is a Logie Award winning production about four
boys, a story depicting everyday life but in a supernatural setting. One of the presenters is the
producer of an on-line video game about the ‘5th boy’ that has been responsible for lots of
audience interaction. In short, the show and the game has been a huge hit. And I had never
heard of it! Needless to say, I bought the DVD of series 1 & 2 and the book.
Being a history buff I was very interested in Clare Wright’s presentation about her 2014 Stella
Prizewinning book ‘The forgotten rebels of Eureka’, the forgotten rebels being the women. Clare
will be releasing a YA version of the book in September. Of course, that meant another visit to
the bookshop. How could I not get my copy signed by the author, a Stella Prize winner?
We had a delayed flight back to Perth so I spent the time browsing Clare’s website in the Virgin
lounge. What an inspiring and clever person she is and she rocked a great pair of boots too!
On the Friday evening we were able to attend ‘Inspiration by Design: Word and image from the
Victoria and Albert Museum’ an exhibition at the magnificent State Library of Victoria. What
treasures the exhibition contained, including stunning hand drawings by Edward Lear, better
known as the nonsense poet and illustrations from Beatrix Potter.
Thank you so much CBCWA for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference. I loved
every minute of it.
5
From Susan Dalgleish……..
The end of May will be etched into my brain for a long while to come. I was delighted to be the
recipient of a prize from CBCA, due to early registration of my membership, in the form of a
ticket to the Reading Matters Conference 2015. Thrilled with the prize, I had little knowledge of
what to expect….
On the plane to Melbourne, I perused the program of speakers. I had contacted my counterpart,
Yvette Thompson from Kalamunda Library prior to leaving WA and found her to be equally
enthusiastic and anticipatory as me. I have to admit I was familiar with some of the authors and
had even purchased a new series by one of them in anticipation of autographs, but I still had no
idea how amazing my weekend was about to become.
The first morning of the Conference dawned sunny and cool (no sign of the pre warned chill or
forecast showers), and after a short walk to the Arts Centre I was quickly surrounded by eager
faces, colourful scarves, and excited chatter. I had primed myself with my iPad, Twitter account,
books for signing, and free coffee from the venue. After a quick exchange of text messages to
locate each other, Yvette and I found ourselves in the front row. The proceedings began with the
brilliant Abe Nouk reminding us that “we all have the same alphabets (sic), it’s up to us to write
the stories”; an amazing man, I hung off his every word. Over the course of the next two days, I
barely knew where to look: authors, actors, gamers and graphic novelists speaking about topics
that are relevant to the youth of today, speaking about topics I could identify with from my
younger years, and oozing passion about their creatively charged works.
We were enlightened by a great panel of young people who spoke from the heart about what
they wanted to see in their books: heroes that were not long-limbed, blonde haired and athletic,
but ordinary, relatable, imperfect and real human beings.
A common theme that ran through the entire Conference was diversity, diverse characters,
diverse cultures, diverse genders and equally diverse backgrounds of authors, teenagers and
poets. I could hardly keep up with the Tweets as creative quotes poured from our presenters.
The only exception to this was whenever the beautifully talented Abe Nouk spoke – tellingly, all
tweeting was silent as all the delegates were captivated by his every utterance.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the CBCA for the gift that they presented to me – it
may have been an early bird prize, but the insights, words, and stories it has provided me have
scarred my psyche in a most indelible way. Thank you for the networks they have allowed me to
establish, thank you for the friendships I have been able to create and most of all thank you for
the exposure to authors from all over the world, especially from Australia, who have allowed me
into their creative genius. Knowing how a writer’s characters are born, evolve, and become
whole is a process that everyone should know and cherish, as it makes those characters real,
and you can recognise them in the people you meet.
6
Merchandise
AUGMENTED REALITY INSTRUCTIONS
Children’s Book Week sticker and bookmark
CBCAWA Book Week Dinner
Date: Friday 21st August 2015
Time: 6.30 for 7.00pm
Venue: Claremont Yacht Club
Guest Speaker: WA author Norman Jorgensen
Cost: $65.00 members $70.00 non-members, plus drinks on consumption
Bookings: Bookings available through Try Booking... http://www.trybooking.com/IHCR
Further information: Book Week Dinner - Invitation (pdf)
Contact: Liz Allen [email protected]
7
Congratulations!
Congratulations to WA author and illustrator Briony Stewart!
Briony’s book The Red Wheelbarrow, University of
Queensland, Queensland, 2012 has been included in the
wordless book collection ‘Silent Books. Destination
Lampedusa - second edition’, that was inaugurated in
Rome, at Palazzo delle Esposizioni.
Congratulations Lesley Reece!
Lesley Reece, founder and Director of the Literature Centre in Fremantle has been awarded the
Member of the Order of Australia.
Recent Book Launch
Meg McKinlay’s : A Single Stone
Fellow author, Amanda (AJ) Betts launched the latest title by Meg McKinlay, A Single Stone,
published by Walker Books, in fine style to an appreciative crowd at Kidogo Arthouse on Thursday
7 May. AJ entertained the audience with a rare glimpse into Meg's writing journey by sharing
snippets from emails they exchanged as the work progressed and by constructing an illuminating
word map of the whole process. The cover of the book is stunning and it is a great read. An
excellent review of the book by our very own Chloe Mauger can be found in the latest edition of
Magpies magazine Volume 30, Issue No 2, May 2015, p42.
Jan Nicholls
Amanda Betts, Julia Lawrinson, Kris Williams, Meg McKinlay, Frané Lessac
Katy Watson-Kell, Teena Raffa-Mulligan, Frané Lessac, Jen Banyard
Meg McKinlay with celebratory cupcakes created by Rebecca Newman
8
Make Your Own Story Book Competition 2015
The Make Your Own Story Book Competition, which is open to all students from years one to eight
in Western Australia, closed on Friday June 5th. The competition is an opportunity for students to
show their narrative writing and illustrative talents through the creation of a picture or story book.
Westbooks (at their new Burswood address) was the collection point for the entries with James
Caffey, Heather and the staff kindly assisting the me by
receiving and storing the entries.
On Saturday June 6th, eleven CBC committee members met at
my home to sort the entries into the four judging categories. We
enjoyed viewing and sorting the entries and then chatting over
lunch! A total of 800 entries were received from a range of
public, private and home school students. Contributing entries
spread from Albany across to Dowerin, Kalgoorlie and north to
Binnu and South Newman.
A change in categories and increased entry numbers in 2014 meant that extra volunteer judges
were recruited this year, bringing the total number to 23 judges. Twenty of these dedicated and
hardworking volunteers met with me on Sunday June 7th to review the judging process and collect
their entries. There was plenty of chat as the judges caught up with one another and shared their
ideas and plans.
Judging will take place during June and July, with each judge reading and reviewing between 30
and 40 entries. After reading their allotted entries, each judging team meets to read and share their
thoughts about all the possible winning entries. Following a group decision about the final winners,
the judges use their notes to compile comments for each winning entry. These comments are
incorporated into a presentation album to accompany the entry display at the Awards Ceremony at
The Literature Centre in Fremantle and afterwards at the State Library. The winning authors and
illustrators receive a copy of the Judges’ comment related to their winning entry.
Winners will be notified in the last week of July through their school or parent contact. As part of
the Book Week celebrations, prizes will be awarded in a ceremony at The Literature Centre in
Fremantle and the prize-winning entries will be displayed. The winners and their guests will be
treated to morning tea and a presentation by a Western Australian children’s author.
Sincere thanks to the students, parents, teachers, judges, Westbooks¹ staff, Jill and Anne Lyons
from IGA Bullcreek, CBC committee members who support the competition with their contributions.
Denise Robins
MYOSB coordinator
9
More News!
Upcoming Book Launch: Kelly Canby
Kelly Canby is an emerging local writer/illustrator who has just had her first picture book published. You are welcome to attend the launch. Please come and help celebrate the launch of All the Lost Thing'- a picture book written and illustrated by Kelly Canby. To be launched by James Foley. Thursday July 2nd, 6:30pm for a 7pm start at Studio 2, 622 Newcastle Street, Leederville. RSVP to Kelly: [email protected] Wine and cheese will be served!
IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People)
Latest news from IBBY
Book Week in Schools 2015
Perform Educational Musicals
Touring into schools during Book Week 2015 is the educational theatre incursion Shine A Light! celebrating the CBCA theme ‘Books Light Up Your World’.
Featuring a selection of the 2015 CBCA shortlisted books, Shine A Light! will explore the themes of positive psychology and self-esteem with performances appropriate for both junior and senior primary school audiences.
Subscribe to the new Reading Time Online
You know that Reading Time is now online but did you know that you can still subscribe? New reviews, news articles and interviews are posted to Reading Time every week, along with other treats including the CBCA Awards Judge’s Reports and acceptance speeches from winning authors and illustrators. How can you ensure you never miss out on any of this children’s literature goodness? By subscribing!
Go to www.readingtime.com.au enter your email address in the box on the right side panel, click submit and every Friday afternoon you’ll receive all the week’s reviews and news directly to your inbox. It’s as easy as that! Why not subscribe today?
10
Book Discussion Group
Short List Discussion
Two weeks after the announcement of the 2015 Book of the Year Short List at Matilda Bay
Restaurant, members of the Book Discussion Group met to familiarise themselves with the books and
enjoy reviews from participants and a reading by Jenni Woodroffe of Scary Night by Lesley Gibbes
and Stephen Michael King.
We were very fortunate to have one of the judges for the Eve Pownall for Information Books Chloe
Mauger, to talk about the shortlisted titles in that category.
Many thanks to the Awards Coordinators Sue Wyche and Trish Montgomery for providing copies of all
the shortlisted books for our meeting.
We enjoyed hearing what the WA judge Anne-Marie Strother had to say about the books in her
Judge’s Talks on 3 and 4 June.
Books on the 2015 Eve Pownall
for Information Books Short List
Margaret Robinson and Karen
Goddard
Ruth Nitschke, Chloe Mauger and
Jan Nicholls
May Far Rockaway by Scottish author Charlie Fletcher brings
together a mythic world with twenty-first century reality. Books and
stories are central to the relationship between Cat Manno and her
grandfather Victor. When both fight for life in hospital after a traffic
accident in Manhatton, Cat slips into a coma and finds herself in a
world of books Victor has read to her: Treasure Island, The last of
the Mohicans and Kidnapped. Cat becomes embroiled in
swashbuckling adventures as she embarks on a quest to find the
castle of Far Rockaway and rescue Victor. With themes of love,
loss and hope the messages in Far Rockaway are that ‘story makes
the world’ and ‘real girls rescue themselves’.
Upcoming discussions
July 22 A small madness by Dianne Touchell
August 26 Prince of Afganistan by Louis Nowra
11
Newsletter Deadlines 2015
Issue 4: Friday September 4
Issue 5: Friday November 6
Please email copy in the body of the email or as a separate Word Document and attach photos as individual high resolution jpeg images. Early contributions will be appreciated.
Email Sharon - [email protected] and Sally - [email protected]
Dates for your Diary 2015
Date Event
Wednesday 22 July
Book Discussion: A small madness by Dianne Touchell
Contact: Gail Spiers [email protected]
Friday 21 August
CBCA WA Book Week Dinner.
Time: 6.30 for 7.00pm
Venue: Claremont Yacht Club
Guest Speaker: WA author Norman Jorgensen
Cost: $65.00 members $70.00 non-members, plus drinks on consumption Bookings: available through Trybooking after 1st July
Further information: to be emailed to members
Contact: Liz Allen [email protected]
Sunday 23 August
Make Your Own Story Book Awards ceremony for invited guests
Saturday 22 August –
Friday 28 August
Children’s Book Week. The CBCA celebrates its 70th Anniversary in 2015. Theme: Books light up our world
Wednesday 26 August
Book Discussion: Prince of Afghanistan by Louis Nowra
Contact: Gail Spiers [email protected]
Friday 30 October –
Saturday 31 October
Celebrate Reading National Conference: The Inside Story on Quality Australian Literature for Children @ The Literature Centre, Fremantle. (Primary School focus). More details: www.celebratereading.org.au
12
SoeWit
WA Branch Bookshop Supporters
As a CBCA WA member, please support these bookshops.
Show your membership card to receive 10% discount on books.
If you would like your WA business to be listed on this page, please contact us at [email protected]
Bookcaffe, Swanbourne 137 Claremont Crescent, Swanbourne WA 6010
Ph: (08) 9385 0553 Website: www.bookcaffe.com.au
Beaufort Street Books
567 Beaufort St. Mt Lawley WA 6050 Ph: (08) 6142 7996
Website: Beaufort Street Books
Child Education Services
96 Royal Street, East Perth WA 6004 Ph: (08) 9225 6516
Website: childeducation.com.au
Millpoint Caffe Bookshop 254 Mill Point Rd (crn Douglas Rd) South Perth WA
6151 Ph: (08) 9367 4567
Website: Millpoint Caffe Bookshop
Westbooks Children's Book Centre
119 Burswood Road, Burswood WA 6100 Ph: (08) 9361 4211
Website: www.westbooks.com.au
CBCA Awards Foundation
Proudly Funding Prizes for the Children’s Book of the
Year Awards
________________
Benefactors: Scholastic Australia
Allen & Unwin Laurie Copping OAM
(in memoriam) Thyne Reid Trust No. 1
Major Donors:
Australia Post • Jill Bruce • Sandy Campbell • Jean Chapman (in memoriam) • Era Publications • Max Fatchen (in memoriam) • Five Mile Press • Libby Gleeson AM • Bob Graham • Hachette Children’s Books Australia • Hardie Grant Egmont Pty Ltd • HarperCollinsPublishers Australia • Ipswich District Teacher-Librarians' Network • The James N Kirby Foundation • Kinross-Wolaroi School • Koala Books • Library Board of Queensland • Beryl Moncrieff Matthews (in memoriam) • Jill Midolo (in memoriam) • Angela Namoi • The Northern Territory Government • Jan Ormerod (in memoriam) • Parents and Boys at Sydney Grammar School, Edgecliff Prep • Penguin Books Australia • Eve Pownall (in memoriam) • Random House Australia Pty Ltd • Marion E Robertson (in memoriam) • Emily Rodda (Jennifer Rowe) • Gillian Rubinstein • Maurice Saxby AM • SA Dept of the Arts & Cultural Development • Cathie Tasker • University of Queensland Press • Julie Vivas • Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd • Cassandra Weddell, Qld (in memoriam) • Margaret Wild• Miss Maisie Williams, Garah NSW (in memoriam) • Sue Williams
Donations to the CBCA Awards Foundation are tax deductible and can be sent to: PO Box 172, Blackheath, NSW, 2785 Phone : (02) 4787 8492 or (02) 9630 2424/ Fax : (02) 9630 2594 or donate on line at: http://cbca.org.au/foundation.htm